Twenty

twenty

Kris

I was getting a crash course in how to set up a barrier. Wheeeee.

Why yes, I was strung out and on my last nerve.

Our moonshiner friend had given us access not only to his property, but to his new barn. Which I thought was rather gutsy of him, but honestly, with all the rain happening this week, being inside somehow was a priority. The barn was a fifty-by-twenty-foot structure with a tin roof on it. He’d stocked quite a bit of stuff in here haphazardly, so while we were setting up a barrier, Jake, Joe, and Enoli were stacking things away to make more fighting room.

We had people going every which way. I didn’t even have names for them all. The deputies were doing an outer perimeter check, too antsy to sit still. Sheriff Parker was in charge of them.

Zhen? Oh, Zhen was pushing his limits, as usual.

Apparently, Zhen’s definition of “take it easy” was to hijack Jun Hie and go out on a patrol around the area. Color me surprised. At least he was riding Jun Hie, though, and not trying to walk around. “Take what you can get” was my motto with him.

I felt stressed about what was coming, so I did appreciate him not going far. The bond wasn’t at the point of throwing a tantrum, but if we pushed it much tonight, it might. I’d rather avoid that, thanks.

I stacked up logs on the little bonfire thingy Ama had designated. She had a whole circle she was drawing out, and it looked very grey to me and smelled like soot. Ashes?

“Are those ashes?”

“And old burned tobacco,” she answered, still carefully laying it out. “That’s what works best in keeping them at bay.”

“Huh. So, it works as both barrier and detection?”

“That it does.” Ama shot me a look, quick but penetrating. “Mix some iron shavings into it, and it’ll repel most legendary beings.”

“You don’t say.” I felt the distinct need to have lots of fires. Fires to burn as much tobacco as I could lay hands on. Then carry the ashes around with me. Didn’t know where that urge came from.

“After you’re done with the wood, can you get the chains made up?”

“Sure.”

Zhen had bought some chains before we left the store. My task was two-fold: First, lay the bulk of the chains just inside the ash barrier as a protection against the Smoke Wolves. Second task was to take the chain left over, cut it up, and create a sort of large rattle with it. I had a nice pipe and some zip ties to aid with that. The rattle of the chains was what really worked best with the Smoke Wolves, so we were taking no chances and making up both protections.

I picked up the chain and started following Ama around inside the circle. She’d given us about six feet in diameter—enough to stretch and move about in, but giving the fighters plenty of room to maneuver outside it too. Or so I hoped.

“Why ash?” I asked her. Ama seemed quite open about talking, so I figured it didn’t hurt to ask.

She paused, head canted to the side for a second, then shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know.”

“Eh? Really?”

“I’m sure there’s a reason why my ancestors tried it to begin with, but they certainly didn’t record the reason. I just know it works.”

“Fair enough.” We had a lot of things like that in life. Figured this was one of them.

I got the chain laid out nicely, so I came back to sit near the middle with a bolt cutter, chain, zip ties, and a rod. I started cutting the chain up into one-foot sections, the easier to rattle it with.

Ama struck a match and got the fire going, throwing tobacco on top. It smelled kind of sweet. Brought up good childhood memories of my grandfather.

I was focused on not chopping a finger off but sensed I had someone staring at me, so I paused to look up. Mùchén sauntered from a dark corner toward me, and from the look on his lionlike face and the way his green-gold eyes sparkled, he had all the tea to share.

“Hi, Mùchén. Uh, be aware I’m in a barrier.”

“I see it,” he assured me calmly. “I will not tread across it. Greetings, wise one.”

Ama gave a cautious nod back to him. “Greetings. Are you another of Kris’s friends?”

“Human That Feeds Us calls us that.” His tongue lolled out in a laugh. “We consider her Pack.”

“Awww.” I put a hand over my heart, which had just skipped a beat. “I love you, too.”

“Yes, I know.” Mùchén stretched out his front paws, much like a cat would, then settled into a sit, tail idly flicking at the tip. “I have come to see how you are and to report what I have learned.”

“As you can see, I’m okay.” I set the chains down for a second, as I wanted to focus on the conversation. “Zhen’s reinjured his foot, though. Can you stay for the fight and help support him?”

“I can and will.”

“Thank you so much.” Mùchén was one of the best fighters in the pack, so it was like a weight taken off my shoulders knowing he’d be here to help. “What did you learn?”

“You were right about the man.” Mùchén huffed out a breath of disgust. “He is not a good one.”

Ama came over to sit next to me, easing down onto a cushion in deference to her bad hip and knees. “What man?”

“I have a younger sister, Charlotte. Our parents are very toxic people, but she won’t cut them off, not like I did. She’s still under their thumb, even though she’s twenty. Our parents set her up with a man from an affluent family. I told her this is a mistake because they’re not going to choose someone good for her. Just good for their business. Mùchén went to see what he could find out about the fiancé.”

“Ahhh. I see that happen too many times.” Ama waved a hand, like come on, dish . “Tell us. What is he like?”

“His death will better the world.”

Ouch. “That bad, huh?”

Mùchén let out another breath of disgust. “He parties all night, drinking, doing any drug handed to him, and has slept with multiple women. I’ve followed him to three different apartments—he keeps multiple girlfriends, and two of them are pregnant. The third has already had a child by him. He gambles excessively.”

I’d have loved to be surprised by this, but unfortunately, it sounded about right. “His parents are paying for everything to be hushed up, I take it?”

“Yes. They argued with him all of today because he will not stop what he is doing. They took away cards, cars, and tried locking him in the house. He climbed out of the window, stole the cards back from his father’s desk, and left the house again with them none the wiser.”

“Woooooow. So, they’re trying but not trying to actually rein him in.”

“That’s my take on it. They punish him, but there is no appropriate follow-through. He knew precisely where his cards were. He didn’t even have to search through the desk. His parents aren’t really trying.”

“Seems more like they gave up to me.” Ama shook her head sadly. “They still get mad at him, which is why they argue, but they’ve given up actually parenting him. They should have thrown him out of the house without a dime. Forced him to grow up. Keeping him at home with their money will be his downfall.”

“Agreed. Forcing him into a marriage isn’t helping.” Mùchén didn’t seem too bothered by this. “I came to tell you what happened but also to help with the fight. Tomorrow, upon our victory, I will return and expose him for who he is. Your sister will likely make her choice then.”

“She always said she just wanted a man she could respect who would be faithful to her. When she’s confronted with the reality, maybe she’ll finally call it quits with the whole thing.” Not to mention go no contact with our parents, which was way overdue.

Mùchén cocked his head a little. “I think it will not take much.”

“Uh…really?”

“She’s already quite unhappy. She’s been given no say in the wedding or where they will live after marriage, and he ignores her if his parents are not nearby. Charlotte’s had multiple arguments with your parents about all of this. She is not happy.”

“Wait a sec, she called me two days ago and was happy then. How long has this behavior been going on?”

“Since I arrived, at least. I think his tune changed the second he put the ring on her finger.”

Yeah…I could see how his tune would change now that he had her “locked in.”

“He’s revealing his hand a little too quickly if she’s already upset with him.”

“I do not think it will take much more before things break.”

“Oh, gooooood.” My smile probably came out evil, but I didn’t try and cage it. It was about time Charlotte got a clue and started standing up for herself.

A nasty gust of wind swept through the open doorway and nearly put the fire out. Another storm was barreling in, and it was a miracle it hadn’t started raining already. The air was very humid, the smell of rain prevalent, so I expected the sky to let loose any second.

Chasing the wind inside was Zhen, on top of Jun Hie. They cleared the doorway effortlessly, and he looked both windswept—like one of those romance heroes—and also peeved.

“Kris,” Zhen greeted me with a scowl, “you would not believe how bad our distance is right now.”

“Uh-oh. How bad?”

“Just past the tree line. I kept having to backtrack.”

I kinda wilted right where I sat. “Shit, seriously?”

“I wish I was kidding. Oh, hey, Mùchén.” Zhen gave a wave but didn’t attempt to dismount. “Everything okay?”

“I came to report my findings and help with this fight,” Mùchén explained. “The short version is: The man your sister-in-law calls fiancé is a piece of shit.”

Don’t ask me why, but it always amused me when I heard the huodou swear. It was like hearing modern lingo out of an old man’s mouth. The discrepancy was both jarring and funny.

Zhen didn’t look surprised. “I figured. My in-laws have no discernment when it comes to people. Money is their god anyway, so it’s not a surprise. You going to expose the man behind the curtain when you go back?”

“I will, yes.”

“Awesome. The sooner that happens, the better.” Zhen looked around at what we had done and gave two thumbs-up. “You ladies are doing great work over here. How about I help?”

“Come cut up chains for me.” That was more plea than request. It took a lot of hand strength to cut up one chain, and frankly, my hands were getting tired. Not to mention my bad arm was throbbing and giving me signals to stop. I knew Zhen could knock this out.

“Sure.”

I got up to help him down, as it was tricky to dismount with one bad leg. It didn’t seem to bother him much at all, although he did steal a hug while he had me close. Zhen carefully stepped over the barrier line, not disturbing the ash, then plopped down on a cushion next to mine. I’d brought three from the cabin, hoping to get him to sit at least a little, so I was pleased they were already coming in handy.

Zhen readily took up the chain and bolt cutter, but he paused before cutting it. He had a calculating look I rarely saw, but when I did, it often prefaced something smart.

I poked him in the shoulder. “Out with it.”

“Hmm, not sure if this is a good idea or not, but—”

“Consider the source?”

He winked at me. “Exactly. How about we try to make up a reveal spell?”