“Then they should have made sure there was someone here to sign for it,” I said.

“They did. They sent us.” He leaned farther forward, eyes slowly sweeping across my face, and finally frowned. “Have you been eating?”

By which he meant “Have you been drinking human blood?” I didn’t credit his discretion to Mandy’s presence. No one went into politics without developing a habit of talking around the subject. “I have,” I said. I wasn’t ashamed. I still didn’t look at Mandy. I didn’t want to see the betrayal in her eyes, if there was going to be any … and I was almost more afraid to find acceptance there. I no longer knew how to feel, and so I decided to go with what had served me well in the past: anger. “Now a question for you. Didn’t you have a wife back in Washington?”

“I did, and I do.” His smile was quick, practiced, and gone almost before I could blink. “Julia understands her current role. She has been keeping our house, speaking sorrowfully to the press when necessary, and avoiding radio transmissions. She sleeps as little as possible. I promise you, she’ll be among the last to shed their human guise. She makes this sacrifice for all our sakes, to make it easier for us to move on to the next stage.”

The penny dropped. My eyes widened. “You married one of us.”

“Not an easy thing to arrange, with how widespread we were in the beginning. It took me years to find her, and years more to have her groomed into a perfect politician’s wife. Officially, she’s my childhood sweetheart: we met at summer camp, and we’re very happy together. The records are perfect, and support our story, although she’s worried about those dreadful things people are saying about me in the press.” He made an exaggerated face of concern. “To be honest, we were originally planning to reverse our positions. She would listen to the signal and connect through the forest, and I would tell people she was ailing while I continued to go about my business, undetected. Unfortunately, Agent Brown thought we needed to understand what we were going to be facing, and played that damned signal for the whole Senate before I could get out of the room. My conversion was triggered, and the plan changed. Julia can’t wait to meet you all.”

“She will soon.” The voice was Toni’s. We turned.

Toni and David were walking across the patio, Tahlia at their side. The Newfoundland plant woman looked faintly amused, like babysitting two humans was the thing she’d been hoping to spend her morning doing.