Mark of the Harbinger (Book 1)

2 - A Riot and a Lecture

We were on the main road, speeding through the county's desolate outskirts for several minutes before Sibbie's shoulders finally relaxed. "What the heck, Grae? It isn't like you to go showing off—especially in front of cops. What happened?" 

I lay sprawled on the backseat. My braid was an uncomfortable lump against my back and my glasses were askew. I inspected my shredded sleeve and scowled at the ethereal cyan light leaking along the torn edges as I grimaced. Great, just what I needed. "The vamp threw a nasty attack our way. I didn't notice it until it was almost too late."

Sibbie sighed, her knuckles white on the steering wheel. I couldn't see outside the window, but I could feel Roccia Nera creeping closer. The supernatural mecca had a fugue of magic hanging above it that was an electric pall I could taste with minimal effort, a kind of static that lanced through me whenever I drew in a breath. I could always sense the city like it was a living thing haunting my periphery, a choking gas of preternatural presence I often struggled to breathe through. 

"I don't mean to give you grief. You know that. But there were a lot of cops there, Grae. I'm going to have some difficult questions to answer back at the station once they sort out what happened." 

"It'll be fine. My paperwork checks out. I work at the University, for pity's sake." I knew my tone was sullen and I didn't care. I glared at the unlit dome light. 

"Don't give them a reason to dig." Sibbie reached into the backseat to touch my glowing arm. "Even if it means letting me get hurt by my own stupid mistakes. Got it?" 

I shooed her hand away and held the torn sleeve together. Damn, that was one of my favorite cardigans, and now it was ruined. "Don't worry about it."

"You've got a change of clothes in the trunk, right?"

"Of course." 

"Good."

Wrinkling my nose at Sibbie's concern, I sat up and peered through the windshield. We were passing the decrepit outskirts of Roccia Nera. The crumbling buildings on the east bank of the aqueduct were dark and dismal. 

In 1913, the Fae courts revealed their existence to human society, dropping the spotlight on themselves and their preternatural cousins. No one was sure what exactly prompted their revelation; declining birth rates? A desire to expand politically? For thousands of years the supernatural kept humans blind to their creepy presence. They had policed themselves in the shadows of civilization since the dawn of time, disposing of witnesses, peeling away evidence of their existence until only myths and legends remained in human culture.

And then, they stopped.

One hundred and two years ago, the Seelie and Unseelie kings stepped forward and told the world of their presence. They whipped off the metaphoric human-blindfold and demanded recognition. Naturally, the answering hysteria lasted for decades. The appearance of the Fae and the conflicts that followed were attributed as the cause of the Great Depression twenty years later. 

Why the history lesson? Because, even a century later, the paranoia hadn't lessened, even when the others were given legal citizenship. Stipulations were attached to that recognition. The Fae were considered foreign nationals required to register with their local dark or light court. They had to carry their diplomatic papers with them wherever they went.

Vampires belonged to different cadres each fronted by a Master, and that Master reported to their territory's Baron, and the Baron listed every vampire created and living within the territory to the city's registries. The Masters and the Baron wielded utter control over the other vamps.