“Jesse Walker told Vlad what was available, so he knows.”

“Is there a reason your guests don’t want to stay at your settlement? Just asking.”

“Vlad was specific about the living arrangements.” But not specific about who was arriving with the books. That made him uneasy, but there was no point howling about it until there was a reason to howl.

They reached the platform just as the train pulled in. Half the station was a waiting area for humans. The other half was an area for merchandise and packages that came in by train. It made Joe think of Meg Corbyn’s office with a person at the counter and a separate room to hold packages until someone came to collect them.

Humans hurried down the steps of the two passenger cars. Some looked pale, smelled weak. If he were hunting with a pack of Wolves, he would focus on the weak-smelling prey as the easiest to bring down.

“Must have some la-di-da folks on the train this time,” Tobias said.

“La-di-da?” Joe had never heard of such a human.

Tobias lifted his chin to indicate the third passenger car. “Rich. Important. Don’t always see a private car.”

Rich. Important. Or lethal, Joe thought as he watched a male with a carryall descend, then turn and offer a hand to the female. The male was dressed in a black suit with a pale gray shirt. The female wore a long, old-fashioned black velvet gown with draping sleeves. They both had olive skin, black hair, and dark eyes. The male, by himself, could have passed for human and blended into a crowd—at least for a little while. The female made no effort to hide what she was.

“Gods above and below,” Tobias breathed. “Are they...?”

“Sanguinati,” Joe finished. “Come on.” He moved quickly, more to keep the humans from panicking if they realized who was now among them than because he was in a hurry to meet his guests.

The male saw them and smiled, while the female glided down the platform to watch the men who were unloading the baggage cars.

Joe smelled fear in Tobias’s sweat. Not a good way to begin with predators like the Sanguinati.

“Joe Wolfgard?” the male said. “I am Tolya Sanguinati. We met a few months ago in Lakeside.” He moved his hand in a slight gesture that indicated the other Sanguinati. “Vlad told you to expect us?”

“He did.” Joe glanced toward the men who were carefully unloading boxes near the female, stacking them as if to build a wall between the humans and her.

The Sanguinati had been among the terra indigene who had destroyed the Controller and the compound where he had kept cassandra sangue like Meg Corbyn. Joe could appreciate them as predators, but he wasn’t sure he could be friends with one the way Simon was friends with Vlad.