Fledgling

Shori leaves her symbionts at Wright’s cabin and visits Theodora to explain their situation. She promises to return, and Theodora reluctantly accepts and gives the former some money to help her survive. After the group packs their things, they travel to California, stopping at motels along the way. Brook is worried she will not be able to find the Gordon community, but Shori trusts her memory. Eventually, they find the hidden community in Punta Nublada. As they approach Daniel’s home, Shori smells guns and realizes the community may be hostile. Shori explains her amnesia to Daniel, but he and his family are distrustful of her, especially knowing Iosif and his community were killed.

Shori and her symbionts meet and are questioned by the rest of the Gordon family. She explains her story and asks for help, despite finding the Gordons’ attempts at intimidating her symbionts frustrating. When the Gordons ask Wright who he believes could have murdered Shori’s family, he suspects Ina racists outraged by Shori’s very existence. The Gordons fervently reject this idea because according to them, Ina are not racist. Shori notes that this accusation might have wounded their pride. The Gordons invite Shori to stay with them until the danger passes and request that she keep watch during the day, as only she can. She notes that her presence has already caused the Gordons discomfort due to her pheromones and is surprised by her attraction to Daniel.

Shori and her symbionts stay in the Gordon guesthouse. The next morning, Preston, one of the Gordon elderfathers, visits Shori to ask if she will take a human named Joel into her fold. Joel is the son of one of Preston’s sons’ symbionts who has requested to join the newcomer. Shori likes Preston and admits to needing the Gordons’ help because she does not “really know how to be Ina” (152). He kindly assures her that she can ask him questions. He introduces her to Joel, whom she learns is Black and eager to join her in the guesthouse. When Shori tells Wright about Joel, he reacts angrily and is frightened by how much he loves Shori. She assures him that he will come to accept Joel. When Joel arrives, Shori drinks from him and asks him to keep the peace with Wright. Joel promises to help Shori build her new family.

Later, Shori explores the Gordon community and meets more of its humans and Ina. She meets Martin, Joel’s father, who gives her a cell phone and shows her how to use it. On her way home, she overhears Brook and Wright discussing some of their issues with the Ina. Wright admits that Shori has proven kind and ethical despite his reservations about his lack of free will. Shori is hopeful that they can make their family work. That night, Wayne and Manning, two of the Gordon sons, inform Shori that they will be travelling to Washington to settle her financial affairs—for which she is grateful. They promise to bring Theodora to her as well. The next morning, the compound is attacked.

Shori orders the symbionts on guard to wrap their sleeping Ina in blankets and move them somewhere safe. She also orders them to shoot the invaders before they set fire to more homes. After killing several invaders, she checks on the symbionts and Ina from the ignited houses, guaranteeing they escaped. Soon, all the invaders are either dead or wounded, except for a hidden straggler whom Shori finds. She bites him and brings him to the guesthouse for questioning. She learns that all but two of the invaders are dead, and only five symbionts have been injured in the attack.

The straggler, Victor, tells Shori that he and his men are from Los Angeles. He appears to have already been bitten and compelled to hate and kill Shori. He calls her a slur but immediately apologizes for it and seems to be in pain. Believing Victor to be a mere tool of another Ina, Shori lets him rest for the time being. She worries about some Ina hating her for who she is: a Black Ina with human DNA.

Shori is exhausted, so she lies with Brook who reminds her that physical touch helps both Ina and symbiont feel better. When Shori wakes, Daniel asks her to bring Victor for questioning. Victor is afraid but answers questions at Shori’s insistence. The group learns that someone in Altadena has been biting and compelling humans to murder Shori and her family, and Victor was unwillingly part of them. The Ina responsible have been supplying these humans with cash and guns to complete the job. When the Gordons name the Silk family, the only Ina in Altadena, Victor cries out in pain and passes out. Shori feels guilty for causing Victor pain and agrees to bite him and the other surviving invaders to make them forget their ordeal. She learns that her female venom is the only reason the invaders have not died. Before Shori leaves, she asks the Gordon elders for Ina history books so she can learn more, wondering if she can even read the Ina language.

Shori learns that she can read and speak Ina; she reads about the Ina goddess and other stories. Hayden, the other Gordon elderfather, tells Shori about Ina oral tradition—which later translated to written tablets and read like human history. He explains that the earliest Ina lived and traveled with human nomads, eventually evolving alongside them. Some humans suspected Ina of magic, which led to inaccurate vampire folklore. Hayden mentions that the murder of entire families like Shori’s is historically rare and needs to stop.

After seeking comfort from Wright, Shori and the Gordons question the other two invaders and confirm Victor’s story. The Gordons plan to summon a Council of Judgment, a trial judged by several Ina families to determine the Silk family’s fate. If the Silks attack after the Council is called, they can be executed, so the Gordons are not worried about another attack. Shori learns that her female venom has the power to compel another Ina to die. She will have to speak at the trial where the convened Ina elders will judge her honesty.