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harmony, that we can accept each other in our
differences. I will fight with you in this battle for the greater good, but it
must start here. It must start with acceptance and…trust.”
    God, I hoped that didn’t sound as
cheesy out loud as it did in my head. At least no one had fired another arrow.
    A woman with soft green skin that
shimmered slightly stepped forward then, and her emerald eyes settled on Nelly.
Her face was young, but her voice and those striking eyes spoke of years
unregistered in appearance. She approached Nelly slowly, and I tensed. When she
reached my sister, her green hand came up and lifted Nelly’s chin gently,
searching her face. “What are you, child?” she asked.
    Nelly swallowed once, but her
voice carried across the silence that had settled. “I am Searcher…and
Accursed.”
    I expected more shouts, but only
a soft murmur ran through the crowd. When the green woman turned away from
Nelly, she faced the crowd with squared shoulders. “Let her stay,” she said.
    Now people shouted again. Mostly,
they seemed to be disagreeing with the green woman, but the ones who had gone
silent seemed to be considering the idea very strongly. When Soraya stepped
forward and spoke, everyone fell silent once more, prey to that sweet little
voice of hers.
    “She saved my life,” she said,
and rolled the sleeves of her little dress up to reveal the black and blue
bruises in the crooks of her arms where her blood had been stolen so many
times. Tears welled in her big brown eyes as she spoke. “That mean man kept me
and my mother in a village where they stole our blood from us. Every day.”
Soraya pointed to her harelip, and now sympathy was strong on most of the faces
in the crowds. It was hard not to love this brave little girl.
    She continued on. “Because I’m
not perfect, see? No one is perfect. I am half Searcher and half Brocken,
something I can no more help than Nellianna can help what she is.” Her eyes
swept the crowd, accusing. “How many of you knew that this was happening? That
your beautiful cities were being paid for with the blood of your people? How
many of you have stood by and known ? All of you. And now you stand here
and throw stones at the two people who have sacrificed everything to right the
wrongs in our world. You should be ashamed of yourselves. If you force them to
leave,” now she held her poor, bruised arms up for all to see, “you force this
fate on all the Vampires and Wolves. And there will be no one to blame but
yourselves. And if the rest of you think King William will stop there, then you
really are fools.”
    The green woman, a Fae, if the
black tattooed wings on her arms and back were any indication, nodded. “This is
a decision for the Vampires and Wolves among us, but know that you have my
consent,” she said, and then she turned away and headed off to other matters.
    I held my breath, almost unable
to believe that this bullet could be dodged; almost afraid to hope. Slowly, the
other races started to depart, leaving me and my group with the Vampires and
Wolves. Of course, it was the burly Brocken who felt the need to speak for all.
“She should be watched,” he half-growled, half-grumbled.
    Again, my temper flared. I didn’t
know who this Vampire was, but he had just earned himself a prime spot on my
shit-list. Luckily for him, Arrol stepped up once more. “She will be,” he said.
“Allow me the honor of doing so, Darvin. I will watch the girl closely, so that
you can sleep soundly in your bed tonight.”
    The Brocken, Darvin, I guess his
name was, shot back that he was “not afraid”, but then to my utter
astonishment, he too turned and left.
    Slowly, painfully slowly, the
others followed his lead. After what seemed like an eternity, I was left with
just Kayden, Tommy, Nelly and Arrol. By the grace of God, the worst had been
avoided. For now.
    “Thank you,” I told Arrol, as he
led us back to Silvia’s cottage, where I had a feeling another whole