Now, two months later, Simon is developing feelings for Meg, who may not strictly be like other humans, but neither is she an Other. Simon offered Meg the job as Human Liaison to be the interface between the humans and the Others, since neither side is comfortable dealing with the other species. Meg, 24, was taken in by Simon Wolfgard, handsome, mid-thirties, and the dominant Wolf and leader of the Others’ Courtyard. But one of the girls, Meg Corbyn, escaped (in Book One), and somehow made her way to the Lakeside Courtyard, where humans and Others mix in an uneasy but mutually beneficial detente. Sessions offering their prognosticating services are sold to interested (and wealthy) parties.

These girls are kept in compounds, tied up, and often raped or brutalized in other ways. These Others include shapeshifters, vampires, “elementals,” and “harvesters.” There is also a third sort of in-between species with extra-sensory perceptiveness, one of which is the cassandra sangue or blood prophets, females who can see visions of the future after self-mutilation. (My review of the first book, Written In Red is here.) This is the second book of The Others series, a paranormal saga about a world mostly divided into humans and the terra indigene, commonly known as The Others.

Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop