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I put a hand on Taavi’s thigh, feeling the tension in his muscles. If I’d been a shifter, I’d probably also have smelled his fear. The hand that covered mine was clammy.

Because the asswipes on the sidewalk were holding signs that read things like “Shift Society Away from Shifters!” and “No Nids in Government!” and my personal ‘favorite,’ “America is for HUMANS!” Where the fuck that jackass thought the rest of us were going togo, I certainly had no idea, and I’d have laid down good money that he didn’t, either.

At least nobody had a “The only good Nid is a dead Nid” sign. Talk about low thresholds.

I heard my dad hit the automatic door locks. If I were seen, I suppose someone could have tried to drag me out of the SUV, which would be harder if the doors were locked.

I saw Dad check the rearview, and I glanced behind us—there was already a line of cars, which meant he couldn’t back up to get around the traffic, which was creeping along in front of us, probably both trying to avoid the people who kept spilling out into the road and gawking at what was going on.

“Marshall? What’s happening?” Mom sounded scared.

I met my dad’s eyes in the rearview and watched his lips thin. “It looks like a protest, Jude,” he replied calmly. But I could see the tension in his face. Mom was staring out the window, so she wasn’t looking at him.

“What are they protesting?”

“Me, Mom,” I answered from the back seat. Taavi’s fingers twitched over mine, although I wasn’t sure if that was because he was scared or because he was telling me to be less of a dick to my mother.

Dad also apparently didn’t think much of my answer, because this look in the mirror was definitely annoyed. “Probably has to do with the law passed down in Madison this morning.”

“What law?” my mother asked. I couldn’t answer that one, so I stayed silent.

“The WERA law,” Dad replied.

“WERA?” I asked.

“Wisconsin Equal Rights for Arcanids.” It was Taavi who answered this time. “It’s been on WPR for the last three weeks.”

I hadn’t been listening to the radio, and the local news hadn’t mentioned it the few times I’d seen it. Just the protests—

“Is that why everybody’s been digging into their local school boards and whatever?” I asked. “Janice Butcher and that city council member in Green Bay?”

“Oliver Childress,” Dad replied. “I expect talk about WERA has gotten folks riled up.”

“But why are they so upset about it?” Mom asked, and she sounded genuinely concerned. “Isn’t it supposed to help people?”

“Arcanids, Mom.” I tried to at least make my voice sound more gentle than normal. Not sure how well I succeeded, but I was trying. “It helps Arcanids.”

My mother turned around, a frown on her round, familiar face. “Arcanids are people, Valentine.”

“Try telling them that, Mom.”

In the silence while my mother thought about that, I could hear the sound of chanting, although I couldn’t make out the words. Judging from the way Taavi’s fingers tightened around mine, he could.

“Bad?” I whispered.

He nodded.

“Do I want to know?”

A head shake.

I squeezed his hand and tried not to let myself get too agitated.

My phone buzzed, and Taavi twitched a little.

Using my free hand, I checked it.

A text from Smith:You’ll want to avoid the area by the courthouse today.