He breathed a short, hard laugh, then lifted his head with an equally hard little grin. “What was that about the French Revolution? That was amazing. How did you know that?”
“The Council of Ancients. They weren’t even really that old. You had to be over forty, I think, to hold a position, but that wasn’t sticking him where it hurt. I don’t know, I was looking up some craft thing for the kids and went down a rabbit hole that ended in the French Revolution, and that stuck.”
Zane thunked his head back against the door, eyes closed. “I’m afraid to ask what kind of craft project led you to the French Revolution. It was great, though. Virtue’s Council of Elders is a real thing, though. Or it was, like actual hundreds of years ago. As far as I know it hasn’t been invoked in decades, at least. Itismeant to protect the city, on the assumption that the wisdom of the elders will guide us through times when we might be in danger of being exposed. But…” He rubbed a hand across his forehead and opened his eyes, staring sightlessly across the room. “Those assumptions were made most of four hundred years ago. They had no idea what was coming. You can’t just…pretend the world away. I think my father really believes you can, though.”
“Your father,” Vicki said after a measured moment, “is a real jackass.”
“Wolf’s ass, technically.” Zane gave her a brief smile. “Yeah, he is. There are some other elders—David Whelan’s one—who are less isolationist, but there are always factions, even in small towns. Sarah was telling me a little about what they’re trying to do…I should text her and find out more. She said she’d learned a bunch of things about the town that she hadn’t known, or rather, that I think even a lot of the shifters here don’t know. Things she thought were important for bringing Virtue into the future without breaking it. I should talk to her more and find out what exactly she’s talking about, because I’m sure that’s what Dad is so pissed off at.”
“Why don’t we ask her to come over and tell us?” Vicki suggested softly. “Or we could go to the library.”
Zane smiled again, wanly. “That wasn’t exactly the evening I had in mind.”
She grinned. “No, me either, but it’s only late afternoon now. There’s still time for…whatdidyou sew?”
“Oh.” Zane brightened at the reminder and pointed with his chin toward the back of the studio. “Why don’t you go look?”
Vicki, amused, went to open a store room door at the back of the shop, taking half a beat to notice it had been outfitted with mirrors, a changing area, and a dais for a model to stand on. Butmuchmore importantly, a…police woman's uniform hung on the inside of the door. Most of a police woman's uniform. Well, maybepartof a police uniform. A little tiny blue jacket with brass buttons that had long sleeves but would barely cover the breasts, and a dark blue pleated skirt that was barely wider than her hand. It would have to be worn precariously low on the hips to have a hope of coveringanything. She made a small sound, and Zane, who had come into the changing room behind her, slid his arms around her and down her belly toward the heat sizzling between her thighs.
“I’m going to make you another one,” he murmured. “Appropriate for school wear, so you can look prim and proper and so, so naughty all at once. But this, well. I thought we could just go straight for naughty.”
Vicki turned around in his arms and said, emphatically, “I think we should go to the librarylater.”
CHAPTER 16
They made it to the library before it closed, but only just.
Zane, in fact, had to run ahead as the second librarian—Pam, he thought her name was—was about to lock up, and blurt, “Sorry, can I talk to Sarah? She’ll want to let me in.”
Pam eyed him momentarily, then shrugged elaborately, as if to sayon your head be it,and Zane held the door for Vicki as she hurried to catch up. They exchanged a sheepish glance, both fully aware theycouldhave gotten to the library in a more timely fashion, and slipped inside to a mostly-dark, mostly-quiet space of comfort and familiarity.
Sarah and a good-looking man around her own age were working behind the library desk, clearly tidying things up before leaving for the night. They both glanced up, and Sarah’s expression brightened as she realized Zane was with Vicki. “Oh, yay! You two talked? That’s amazing! Congratulations! Are we going on a double date or something?”
Vicki breathed, “Wow, that’s fast moving even for small town gossip,” as Zane chuckled.
“No, no dating. Hi,” he said to the man. “Zane Bellamy. This is Victo?—”
“I know Matt,” Vicki said dryly. “Matthew Rojas, this is?—”
“Zane Bellamy,” Matthew agreed. “Sarah’s told me about you. Good to finally put a face with the name, and yes, I know that doesn’t work so well for you, so I won’t be offended if we run into each other later and you can’t figure out who I am.”
Zane, genuinely grateful, said, “Nice to meet you too, and thanks. No, sorry, not here for a date, Sarah. I ran into my dad this afternoon and I wanted to ask you what exactly is going on around here that he’s so uptight about.”
“I mean, it’s your dad,” Sarah said with a dramatic eye-roll. “What isn’t he uptight about? No, come on and sit down, though, I’ll fill you in. Can I get you coffee? Water? Soda? Just don’t tell the kids I’ve let you have a drink in the library…” She went off to get water, which was all anybody asked for, and Matthew led them to one of the big tables near the back of the library. He was handsome, with huge dark brown eyes, and had a casual personal style that made Sarah’s retro look stand out even more. Zane figured she probably loved that.
Sarah rejoined them with a, “Okay, tell me what your dad’s trying to pull so I can be efficient about what I tell you,” as she sat.
“He’s talking about the Council of Elders, which…” Zane grimaced. “I don’t know if you even know about that. It’s shifter stuff.”
“Is that in the charter?” Sarah asked Matthew, who shook his head. “Yeah, no, I didn’t think so. Hit me with it, because…well, we’ve been reading up on as much Virtue history as we can, but even the secret town meeting notes don’t cover everything. But the Council of Elders sounds like something Wallace Evans would be involved in.”
“The secret…” Zane took a few seconds with that, then switched to trying to remember Wallace Evans. “The weird old man in the woods? Is he even still alive? He must be ancient!”
“Oh, you have no idea. But yes, he’s alive. He’s been protecting Virtue for a long, long time—do you know Helen? She lives in the woods, too, an old Native woman, and she’s all tied up in the charter and the history and…no,” Sarah said firmly to herself. “Focus. There’s way too much to explain otherwise. Tell me about this council thing.”
“You know the old shifter families here hold a lot of power,” Zane said cautiously. At Sarah’s nod, he found himself also looking for the quickest way to explain things, and landed on, “The Council is—or was—made up of the oldest people from those families. The Barlows, the Hartnells, my family, um.” He closed his eyes, trying to remember other names, then shrugged it off. “Anyway, the founding families. They used to guide the town council in times of crisis, or that’s what my father said. He’s actually the only person I’ve ever heard talk about it, and it hasn’t been convened in his lifetime, I don’t think, or not since he was young, anyway. He thinks he can use it to stop…” Zane waved a hand. “Whatever you’re doing? And he wants me to support him. Whatareyou doing?”
Sarah sighed explosively and gestured to Matthew, who exhaled almost as heavily. “We’re trying to maintain Virtue as a shifter sanctuary town that can also survive the modern world. Which doesnotmean selling out to developers, but it also means not trying to pretend we can live in the past. I told you about the upcoming state proposal to re-open the northern train line, for example. It used to come right through Virtue, but it closed down decades ago. Your dad and a few of the other older families think we should fight it tooth and nail, but…”
