Emily snorted.
“Not the way you’re thinking. You’re welcome to come in, but they’ll get a lot louder before they get quiet.”
As if they heard her, the thumping noise increased in frequency. There was a sharp female cry then a low rumble.
“I think Merdon heard we have company,” Emily said, removing her headphones completely. “They should be down in a few minutes. Come on in.”
Face flushed with understanding what the noise had been, I refused to look at Tor.
“I’m really sorry for coming over unannounced,” I said as I followed Emily inside.
“Seriously, don’t even worry about it. Everything is unannounced these days.”
She had a point.
“What can I help you with?” She gestured to the couch, and I took a seat.
“Something needs to be done about Tenacity,” I said bluntly. “The fear and desperation are spreading, and it’s only a matter of time before the situation explodes.”
“I agree. I’m trying everything to get them to come over to Team Fey’s side, but the people there are extremely stubborn.”
“Mya and I came up with a plan to help with that. We both feel the stubbornness stems from a small group of people. The extreme fey haters. The ones who will continue to hate the fey no matter what gestures the fey make to amend past mistakes. Matt’s afraid to start removing them one at a time, believing such a move will provoke the ones who remain. After what they did to Adam, I agree. So, we need to identify all the potential troublemakers before Matt can make a move. That’s where you come in.”
“Me?” She looked completely surprised.
“Yes. You’ve been the lead for the fey and human integrations. It won’t look suspicious if you start something new over there.”
“Like what?”
“A fey-run soup kitchen. Tolerance will provide the supplies and the fey to man the kitchen. The food will be cooked and served all by the fey. At the end of the day, anything that’s left will be taken back here by the fey.”
Emily’s concern was plain on her face.
“It’s going to cause trouble.”
“We want it to lightly stir things up. The people who don’t like the fey won’t show up. Or they will show up and throw attitude about the fey presence. Either way, we’ll have names on our list. But having a fey-run soup kitchen will do more than make a few people angry. It’ll show the rest of the people at Tenacity that the fey have a gentle and compassionate side. That they can do more than kill infected and hellhounds and gather supplies.”
Emily slowly nodded.
“I like that. It’s good.”
“You’re on board, then?”
“I am. How soon do we want to start this?”
“Angel’s rounding up the names of some fey volunteers we’ll need to train to cook for large numbers. Mya spoke with Ryan last night so he could plan for bigger supply runs for the next few days to accommodate for this. Drav has a crew out looking for tables. And Matt should be prepping an area where the fey can cook and serve the food. So, a few days from now, maybe?”
Emily nodded thoughtfully.
“That sounds good. I’ll let Ryan know that we should plan on five hundred servings of whatever the fey will make each day. I don’t expect we’ll see everyone, especially not that first day. It’s going to take a few days for word to spread through Tenacity. But those we do see will appreciate the opportunity for seconds. That’ll really go a long way to paint the fey in a good light. And I’m guessing we’ll need to continue this for at least a week. Maybe a little more.
“That’s a lot of soup, even if it’s soup kitchen style. It shouldn’t be too hard to manage. The worst part is going to be the dishes. Yeah, I can coordinate it. No problem. I’m going to need help from someone who knows Tenacity, though.”
Emily smiled widely as Hannah jogged downstairs just then, her curls bouncing with each step.
“Hey, June. Sorry about that. I didn’t know you were planning on coming over.”
Hannah looked completely fine and happy. Tor’s comment still had me worried, though.