“Simon and Meg are on another call with Jackson. There was an... incident... with Hope this morning.”

“Jackson’s prophet pup?”

Jesse made an effort not to react. Prophet pup. Was Joe talking about one of the cassandra sangue that she’d read about in the newspaper? Girls who could speak prophecy? News about them had been a blip, there and gone, leaving her wondering what had actually happened.

We need to be part of this, she thought. I don’t know how or why, but we need to have a connection to these girls.

Silence. Then Vlad said, “Why does your voice sound distant?”

“I am using Jesse Walker’s phone. It is on speaker so we can all hear.”

“Who, exactly, is we?” No longer any warmth in Vlad’s voice.

Jesse watched Joe’s ears change from human-shaped to Wolf ears, caught a glimpse of a fang she was sure didn’t belong in a human mouth. Vladimir, whoever he was, made their new Wolf leader wary.

“I’m Jesse Walker,” she said. “With me are Shelley Bookman, the town’s librarian, and my son, Tobias. We’ve had an incident here too, which is why we asked Mr. Wolfgard if we could participate in this conversation.”

“I am Vladimir Sanguinati, comanager of Howling Good Reads, a bookstore in the Lakeside Courtyard.”

Shelley turned deathly pale upon hearing Vlad’s last name. She hadn’t reacted to his voice or his first name, which meant she didn’t know him personally. And that meant the Sanguinati as a group were something to be feared. Jesse would find out why later.

“Joe?” Vlad said. “Does your incident have anything to do with dead bison?”

Joe growled. “Yes. A hundred bison were shot this morning.”

“What did they look like?”

Joe stared at the phone. “They looked dead. They dropped where they were killed.”

“So you wouldn’t describe them as a mound of bison?”

“Mound? Bison are big. You don’t drag them into a mound. Although full-grown bulls are big enough that you might think one was a mound.” Joe continued to stare at the phone. “You know something about our bison? How? I’m just calling now to tell Simon.”

“That’s why Jackson is on the phone. Hope drew a picture of dead bison, and something about the picture upset her so much, she cut herself. It’s the first time she’s made a cut since Jackson and Grace brought her to the Sweetwater settlement to live with the pack. They’re understandably upset, which is why they, and Hope, are on the phone with Simon and Meg.”

“The pup will be all right?”

“If Jackson doesn’t bite her out of frustration—a feeling Simon sympathizes with.”

“Meg and the exploding fluffballs won’t sympathize.”

Jesse blinked. What were exploding fluffballs? Rabbits that blew up when attacked? No, that was silly. They had to be connected with the blood prophets somehow.