Ten

ten

Kris

After my conversation with Zhen, I made a phone call and arranged a meeting. Trina at the store had been dead-on when she’d said the medicine man would be most comfortable meeting up with us on that patio area. I was fine with that, honestly, so after dinner we went back to the general store for a meeting. I was grateful the Airbnb had a kitchen because otherwise we’d have been stuck with what the general store offered. There wasn’t another restaurant for a good half-hour’s drive in any direction. Sheriff Parker joined us, bringing along a few of the crime folders so Joe could get a look at everything.

I entered the store, grabbed a soda, and went up to the front to pay for it.

Trina rang me up and informed me at the same time, “Joe just came in about five minutes ago. He’s on the patio.”

“Thanks, Trina.”

She gave a respectful nod to Sheriff Parker. “Sheriff, whatever you want is on the house.”

“Oh! Thank you. Uh, can I have a strawberry milkshake, then?”

“Sure thing. I’ll bring it out to you.”

I thanked Trina and then went out the side door, Zhen and Jake following after. There was a white porch patio area I’d noticed on the walk in but hadn’t paid much attention to. It was mostly situated on the back of the building, so it hadn’t been in direct line of sight. There were string lights up around the area, giving a nice illumination without it being overbearing, and a gathering of multiple round tables and rocking chairs. Three men sat in the rocking chairs, smoking, with two of them using very, very long pipes that had to be two feet long at the stem.

The smell of tobacco and something else I couldn’t identify mixed in my nose, not completely unpleasant or unfamiliar. My grandfather had smoked, too.

I walked over and gave my best smile. “Hello, gentlemen. I’m looking for the author of this book.”

One man lifted his head, looking around. His straight black hair was in braids on either side of his head, he wore glasses, and he looked like your average Joe in a black button-down shirt and worn-in jeans. I had a good vibe from him.

“I’m Joe Featherwalk. I’m the author.”

I came around to sit down in the rocking chair next to him. “Can I ask for a signature?”

“Sure.” He seemed pleased to even be asked and readily took the book, pulling a pen from his breast pocket.

“I’m Kris, the one who called you earlier. I hope you don’t mind, I made it a party. This is my husband, Zhen, and that’s Jake. They’re both demon slayers. Sheriff Parker is getting a milkshake before joining us.”

“A fine decision,” he agreed while handing the book back. “Milkshakes here are excellent. Gentlemen, how do. Come, sit, join us.”

Zhen and Jake pulled up rockers and sat.

Joe inclined his head toward the other two men. “This is Enoli—”

Enoli looked about Joe’s age, somewhere in his early fifties, with some fine white hairs at his temple, hair drawn back in one long braid at his back. He gave an amiable nod, those dark brown eyes sharp and questioning.

“—and Tsali.”

Tsali was at least ten years younger than both men, perhaps late thirties. He was more physically fit, for one, with a clear farmer’s tan and blue eyes. He looked very striking with his high brow, and he had one feather braided into a smaller braid that hung on the side of his head.

Tsali barely gave us a glance. His eyes were fixed on something just off the porch. They kept growing wider, too, like he didn’t at all like what he was seeing.

Why was he looking over there like that?

“ Huodou ,” Zhen said without prompting. “Relax, man, they’re good.”

“What the hell’s a huodou ?” Tsali demanded, still staring at the night air around the porch like it was going to eat him.

“Think of it as a Chinese hellhound, but it’s friendly. Feeds off of fire. Or the dog food my wife keeps feeding them.”

“They like the salmon and rice one,” I threw in, just to help offset the tension.

Joe choked on his own tobacco smoke and spluttered. “You tamed hellhounds with dog food ?!”

“In my defense, I honestly thought they were stray dogs. I didn’t realize my mistake until much later.”

From the shadows, there was a deep chuckle of amusement. Sounded like Mùchén, the bastard. He still teased me about that.

Enoli threw his head back on a laugh. “And, what, they’ve adopted you now? You’re something else, young lady. I can see how you’re a demon slayer’s wife, all right. You fit right in. Now, I understand you think the deaths out here are because of something otherworldly.”

“Pretty sure of that,” Jake said. “I’ve read over the files, seen the crime scenes myself, and there’s no way a human did this. Edward Scissorhands couldn’t have done this. This was something animal, and rabid. Something that kills for the sheer pleasure of it.”

Sheriff Parker arrived at that point, milkshake and files in hand. “Sorry about that, everyone, got caught up inside. Introductions done?”

“Yup.” I repeated the introductions for her sake and pulled a chair around for her, and she took it with a thankful nod. “We were just getting into the case.”

“Then I’ll let you review it for yourself.” She handed over the files, then settled in with her milkshake.

All three men took a file and started perusing it. Enoli didn’t get very far before he hit the photos, and his face scrunched up in distaste as he flipped through them. Same, my man, same. I didn’t like them either.

Tsali frowned deeply at one picture, flipped to the next, then flipped back again. “I don’t like the look of that. That’s a bird’s track, and it’s far too big.”

“No tracks leading up to the scene, either.” Jake let out a long sigh, which sounded resigned already. “Just those tracks right around the corpse, and then nothing. It’s why we’re very afraid it’s an evil flying thing.”

“It is.” Joe let the report rest in his lap for a moment, looking pensive. “Enoli, those look like raven tracks to you?”

Enoli tapped one of the pictures. “Sure do. That longer middle toe’s something of a giveaway.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s what I was afraid you’d say.”

From the way they looked at each other, I could tell they knew what it was and that it wasn’t anything good. Which alarmed me. Nothing good followed reactions like this.

“Uh, gentlemen, care to share with the class?”

“The thing of it is, this looks all wrong,” Joe said. “Listen. I think this is a Raven Mocker.”

I had no clue. Seriously, none. “What’s that?”

“Evil,” Tsali said flatly. “It’s evil. It takes the shape of a raven and feeds upon those that are in poor health or close to dying. It’s one of the worst things you can fight, as they’re generally invisible, even while feeding, and it takes a special concoction to be able to track its location.”

I gave my husband a long look. “You sure know how to show a girl a good time.”

Jake busted out laughing. Zhen just groaned, head in hands.

“I told you, I hate the EFTs more than you do.”

Seeing the others’ confusion, I translated, “Evil Flying Things. He hates fighting anything that flies. Usually because someone gets injured in the fight.”

“Usually me,” Zhen grumbled. “All right. So, a Raven Mocker. Joe, why did you say it looked all wrong to you?”

“Well, for one thing, there shouldn’t be this much damage to the bodies.” He tapped the file still sitting on his thighs. “Traditionally speaking, a Raven Mocker likes to kill by splitting the victim’s head open and then consuming the heart. When they take the heart, there’s no mark on the victim’s skin. Not sure how they consume the heart without leaving a mark on the chest, but they manage somehow.”

Oh. Now I saw what he meant. Every victim had been shredded, basically, so this didn’t fit with the MO.

Sheriff Parker had a very grim expression. “Can you think of a reason why they wouldn’t kill like normal?”

“Only one of two reasons. Either we have a very, very young Raven Mocker who wasn’t raised by parents, and they’re just freestyling this—”

Now, that was alarming. A baby monster with no training? Yikes!

“—or, you’ve got a pair of ’em claiming this as territory. They’ll kill indiscriminately before settling in, building a nest, and raising young. They don’t want anything alive within a thirty-mile radius when having young.”

My insides twisted with both fear and disgust. Ewwww, no thank you. Like, seriously, no thank you. I would like an option C, please.

Zhen slumped farther into his chair. “The only thing worse than one EFT is two EFTs. Not a fan.”

“I’m hoping it’s a young one.” Joe looked down at the photos, then winced. “How these people died is horrible, either way, but it would make it easier for us to hunt it down and kill it. It won’t know how to defend against strong medicine.”

Meaning their method of magic. I could see what he meant and agreed with him.

Jake shifted to lean forward a little, elbows propped up on the arms of his chair. “All right, but how do you fight it?”

“Fighting it isn’t the issue,” Enoli said. He closed the folder and looked perturbed. “Finding it is. They look like old men or old women to the naked eye. Even a trained medicine man has a hard time distinguishing them, that’s how good their disguise is. They don’t switch to Raven form until they start hunting.”

“If we can lure them out somehow, there’s a way to detect them,” Joe mused. His eyes were trained upward, like he was thinking hard. “Some ashes, tiny pinches of crushed old tobacco, and we can tell their direction as they come.”

That made no sense to me, but every culture had its own methodology, and if it worked, it worked. Why question it?

“Once they are exposed, they’ll take to the air and cry like a raven,” Tsali tacked on. “Makes it easier to find them at that point, but it’s not something most people can see.”

“Like my huodou ?”

He gave me a nod. “Precisely. As big as they are, as visible as they are to our eyes, most won’t see them. But if we can expose them enough to drive them to that point, it won’t make any difference how they try to hide, we can see them fine. The trick is luring them out and exposing them to begin with.”

“How do we lure them out?” Zhen inquired. “Because I have no clue.”

“Now that’s the trick. We don’t often go chasing after Raven Mockers. If someone falls ill, or they’re on their deathbed, we sit vigil over them to keep the Raven Mockers off. We’ll fight them if they come, but it’s usually foolhardy trying to chase something that can fly.” Joe glowered at the folder. “But with this situation, we’d better get on the offensive. Tell you what. Let’s pause this conversation. I want to talk to my mother.”

Um, okay…?

Seeing our expressions, Joe unbent enough to grin at us. “My mother’s my master as well. She’s been a medicine woman for sixty years and has likely forgotten more than I’ve ever known. She might have some wisdom to share, at the very least, and be willing to help.”

“Ahhh. Then by all means, ask her.”

“Give me your phone numbers before you go. I’ll call you when we have a plan. I’ll say, though, either near sunrise or at sunset is our best bet to lure them out. They’re very nocturnal, they sleep during the day, and if we don’t want to fight them in pitch darkness, then that’s our best bet.”

Zhen ran a hand over his face, looking absolutely done already. “Yeah. Yeah, okay, let’s plan for that. Anything’s better than pitch darkness.”

Sheriff Parker stirred in her chair, putting her milkshake down for a moment. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Not for the fight itself,” Joe said. “You’re a fine woman, Sheriff, but you don’t have the sight necessary to see what’s coming at you. We’ll have to give you special eye drops in order to help. If you’re okay with that?”

“I am.” She seemed satisfied with that.

I truly appreciated having experts who had some idea of what was going on and how to combat it. So, so much. Still, combating something we’d have to bait into the open—something that could fly—sounded less than ideal.

Also, I refused to be bait. If anyone even hinted at that, I’d react with prejudice.