Page 119 of The Rut in the Road

I walked into the lobby, and they both turned to look at me. “Who do you need?” I asked, feeling a bit awkward. I hadn’t seen either of them for the last three days—since Hart had picked up Taavi and Raj had dropped Vi and me off afterdía de muertos.

“Everyone,” Raj replied.

We goteveryone into the conference room, tension thick in the air.

Ward opened his mouth, but Hart started first. “So here’s the deal,” he said, leaning forward on his elbows on the table. “Things are getting fucking nasty, politically speaking.”

This wasn’t anything we didn’t already know. The news, whether you watched it on television, listened on the radio, or had it fed to you online through social media or searches, it was impossible not to know that the government was only getting more polarized around the question of Arc-Arcanid rights.

A few weeks ago, the Assembly had just passed—barely, but still passed—yet another law about the treatment of predatory Arcanids by emergency services, including fire, police, and ambulance services. There were other provisions, too, but those had been the big ones.

We were also more than painfully—literally—aware that the number of anti-Arcane protests had increased, and not just because of Halloween. Yes, there had been Halloween-specific protests, but there had been more than those specifically targeting Halloween events that included or catered to Arc-humans.

Especially because they hadn’t stopped with Halloween.

There was another one scheduled for Monroe Park tomorrow.

“What does that have to do with us, exactly?” Ward asked.

“You should increase your security,” Raj told him, his eyes skipping over to me, then back to Ward.

Ward frowned. “Why?” he asked. “We haven’t received any direct threats, at least not that I know about. Do you know something I don’t?” His grey eyes were sharp.

“No, not specifically,” Raj replied. “I imagine if there are, you will know before we do.” He shifted a little in his chair.

“Thing is,” Hart jumped in. “You might find out when somebody puts a brick through your windows. Or a car.”

Ward let out a harsh breath. “Do you really think that’s likely?” he asked.

Raj’s expression was serious. “No one thought it was likely a few days ago, either,” he replied grimly, his eyes once again flicking over to me—to my arm in its cast, specifically.

Mason grunted, a sound that meant he agreed with the sentiment, although was waiting to see where this was going.

“Our recommendation,” Raj said, “given not only current political conditions, but also the fact that you do work closely with the government, is that you increase security here, and make sure that you’ve got protective measures in place.”

“We have an alarm system,” Ward said.

“That’s off during the day,” Hart replied. “And that isn’t going to do jack shit if someone intending harm comes through the door.”

Mason crossed his arms over his chest. “What are you suggesting?” he asked.

“Not having a giant fucking wall of windows would help,” Hart answered. “It increases the risk to your clients as well as yourselves if any asshat can see or break through them.”

“So, what?” Ward asked. “You’re suggesting we redo the whole front wall to be as unwelcoming as possible?”

“There are security bars,” Raj put in.

“Absolutely not,” Mason replied shortly. “You’re suggesting that either we pay a lot of money to brick up our front room, turning it into a bunker, or that we turn it into a jail cell.” He shook his head, the beads on the ends of his braids clacking. “Out of the question.”

“What about magic?” I asked.

Everybody turned to look at me, and Mason suddenly looked very chagrined.

“What about it?” Raj asked.

“Warding, protection sigils, even threshold spells that can seek out harmful intent,” Mason replied. “Rayn is absolutely right.”

“Are spells going to keep out a car?” Raj wanted to know. I had the feeling he didn’t think the answer was going to be yes.