Page 67 of Carnal: The Beast Who Loved Me

Free smiled. “Marvelous.”

“Thank you,” she said.

Through that exchange it wasn’t lost on anyone present that Thorn didn’t appreciate being ignored for a cheerful domestic dialog that seemed to belie the gravity of their situation.

When he was finished appreciating his mate’s cooking, Free looked at Thorn, but continued to eat. “If it wasn’t for Rosie, we would be happily going about in complete ignorance of the dangers, like lambs to the slaughter. Did you alert us to the potential of what we discovered today, Thorn?”

Thorn glanced at Rosie, squirmed in his chair a little, and said, “No,” in his exceedingly gruff voice.

“I would think that, instead of trying to make Rosie feel like an outsider, or an enemy, we should be thanking providence that Kellareal asked us to give her a place to stay for a while.”

Breaker looked at Thorn. “That’s true, brother. Hybrids are not all like Rautt. Humans are not all the same either.”

“Maybe not, but we found out today that the humans we’ve spent a quarter century protecting planned to massacre us. Wipe us out of existence without another thought,” Thorn replied.

“That’s what we’re here to talk about,” Free said. “Rosie has the building blocks of a plan that may change our futures for the better, but the key word is change and I understand it’s never easy. I’m going to propose some things that may go against the grain, but I’m going to count on you to support me and help persuade our people anyway.” Free looked at Thorn. “I’m going to need your pledge that you’ll keep an open mind?”

Thorn stared at Free for a few beats. Thorn had been kept in a cage across from Free when they were young captives. That sort of history made for a strong bond, the kind that was capable of overcoming almost any obstacle. “I will,” said Thorn.

Free’s gaze made a circle around the table. “Good. Let’s begin.” He looked at Rosie. “Elora Rose Storm, you were right. Humans are wily. They smile at us in the marketplace and share their bodies with our unmated males. All the while, at least some of them have been plotting our destruction.”

He looked away for a moment and sighed. “If the school was discovered, the Rautt would destroy books and possibly murder teachers and students. If the lab was discovered, equipment, facility, people… It would all be destroyed. Same with the foundry. But the weapons cache would very likely never be found unless one of the humans led them to it. It’s brilliant. It makes me feel inept that I didn’t anticipate something of the sort.

“We were, apparently, only six weeks away from the likelihood of being wiped out. Gone as if we’d never existed. Our memories. Our children. Our history. All gone. If we don’t make some changes, the humans will go on looking for ways to get rid of us until they do it.”

Serene continued to look quietly alarmed. Breaker nodded his head in agreement. “What’s your plan, Free?”

“It’s fourfold and each part depends on the others. We need to form an alliance with the humans and fightwiththem to rid this world of Rautt. We need to abandon Newland, move to the city, and encourage our young to intermarry. Last, we need to make sure that we know everything they know. That means educating our young in the same place, in the same way. Not separate. Together.”

Thorn could hardly contain himself. “Live with humans? You cannot mean that, Free!”

“I do mean it, Thorn. Humans fear us partly because we are superior in many ways, but that’s not the only reason. They fear us because they don’t know us.” He glanced at Rosie in acknowledgement. “It’s been pointed out to me that familiarity is the first step toward trust. We will help remove the idea of hybrids as threat by living with them and helping them rebuild a world with the magic of technology, making sure that it’s used for us and not against us, ever again. We will integrate into their world so thoroughly and deeply as to render ourselves impervious to being the targets of conspiracy in the future.”

“You’re dreaming, Free.” Breaker’s voice was calm, but firm. “Humans will always see us as animals.”

“They will unless a change is forced upon them. If they were smart enough to make us, they’re smart enough to figure out that we’re not animals just because we’re different. This could be good for us. Think about it. If there were no Rautt to fight, we could… Well, see? We’ve never had the luxury of dreaming about what we might do if we didn’t have a debt to pay for our freedom. But as Rosie pointed out to me, simply being outside a cage is not the same thing as being free.”

He paused for a minute and looked at each person at the table, letting that sink in.

“If we do nothing, what then?” He looked into Serene’s eyes where she sat at the other end of the table. “Serene and I know better than many the cost of status quo.” Serene gave a tiny flinch at the reminder of Crave, and the tiny drawing of skin around her eyes betrayed the pain of a mother who didn’t know the fate of her child.

“All of us here, with the exception of Rosie, have children. What do we want? For them to go on living at the ready to answer an alarm at a moment’s notice, putting themselves and their children and the children of those children in the way of death or capture by Rautt? The way I see it, that’s the choice. We can hold onto hard feelings about humans, or we can try to forge a new world for Exiled by becoming allies, neighbors, even friends and in-laws with them.”

The elders shifted in their chairs uncomfortably as they mulled over the proposal as it was laid out by Free and looked at each other as if they could glean what others were thinking by doing so.

Sky was the one to break the silence. “I want my children to have options. My grandchildren, too.”

Thorn gaped at her. “Options! You think we’re going to restore their power and your daughter will dance the ballet?” he scoffed.

“If you don’t think that’s a possibility, Thorn, then maybe your thinking is too narrow to sit in this circle.” Sky’s retort was biting, but on point.

“Let’s weigh the pros and cons.” Cage spoke for the first time. His voice was deep and rumbly like most adult Exiled males, but it was also melodic and had a soothing effect.

Breaker looked at Free. “I think that’s a good idea. We need to consider how to proceed carefully.”

Serene simply nodded, while Thorn looked aghast that living with humans was under discussion.

Free nodded at Serene in return. “Let’s get started,” he said. “Rosie,” she sat up straighter hearing her name, “you will participate. If we forget something, let us know. If we’re wrong about something, let us know. Breaker is right. We can’t weigh the risk without an analysis.”

---