Etched in Bone (The Others, #5)

by Anne Bishop

To: Tolya Sanguinati, Urgent Officer Debany is concerned because Barbara Ellen is moving into a house with a male named Buddy. Do you know him? Is he a suitable mate for her? Please reply as soon as possible. —Vlad To: Vladimir Sanguinati, Urgent Buddy is a suitable roommate for Barbara Ellen, but he is not a suitable mate. Buddy is a parakeet. —Tolya

All right, so she couldn’t fly. But she was the one who could tell her friends when to stay on the ground because there was a storm coming.

Vlad stared at Simon. “Meg told the Elders they were . . .” “Bad puppies,” Simon finished. “Yeah.” A minute passed before Vlad said, “Why?” “They didn’t say ‘please’ when they asked for cookies.” “I don’t know what to say.” Simon scratched behind an ear that was now Wolf-shaped and furry. “That’s okay. Meg said plenty for all of us.”

In a weird way, the Sanguinati became a kind of neighborhood watch. Wrongdoers weren’t arrested and their fines weren’t paid in money, but the blood that was taken seemed in proportion to the wrongdoers’ misbehavior.

“I ate a human,” he snapped, feeling cornered. “All by yourself? You must have been hungry.”