Twenty-three

twenty-three

Kris

I hoofed it to Joe’s truck along with Zhen, praying the vehicle wasn’t locked because we needed in it and I had no idea where Joe was in this madness. While I ran, I kept a sharp eye out above me because the odds of something swooping in and trying to grab me were very high.

Mostly because I was right next to the bait.

With Ama’s bad knees and hips, I threw her up on Guo instead of trying to ride him myself. She clung to him, afraid of falling off, most likely. Zhen wasn’t moving at all with that bad ankle of his except via Jun Hie, which left me on the ground. Honestly, I didn’t mind. The closer I was to the ground, the safer I was.

Jake split off from us at that point, trying to flank the other way. I let him go without a word and hoped he’d be fine. My heartbeat was so loud it sounded like a war drum in my ears, but I felt strangely calm. Honestly, I think I was so high on adrenaline that fear couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

Right now, above all else, I was determined to stand my ground. The only way out of this mess was through it. I’d protect people’s backs as much as I could, too. We were all coming out of this alive. That I was determined on.

Joe’s truck wasn’t far away from the barn, fortunately, so we got there quickly. I dove for the door, and blessed be, it wasn’t locked. I got into the cab as quickly as possible, then rooted through the back seat because there was a lot back there. Typical guy’s truck, really. The back seat of Zhen’s truck was just as bad—with a lot of the same things, which I found kinda funny.

Ah-ha, there it was. I snatched up the quiver and compact bow, then wiggled my way backward and out.

“Found it!” I put a foot on the ground and pivoted, handing it over to Zhen. “Now, explain to me why arrows work better than bullets? Because that’s not making a lot of sense right now.”

Zhen accepted both—the bow balanced on his thighs—and gave me his wicked, boyish grin that he used when he was about to do something naughty and would enjoy every second of it. He pulled out an arrow, then fished something out of his cargo pants pocket, and it was…ribbon?

Huh?

I caught a bit of writing on the white ribbon, and the obvious struck. “That’s a talisman!”

“And that’s why arrows are better,” Zhen answered, all while tying them on. “Hard to tie these things around a bullet.”

It made perfect sense. The bullets were silver, but at the same time, there just wasn’t a lot of surface area. It was why the damage done to the Ravens had impacted them but wasn’t enough to take them down. These were legendary creatures and really hard to kill. The talismans would be a great power boost. Like donning legendary equipment before going on a raid against the final boss, I guessed.

Seeing the sense in this, I immediately darted around to Jun Hie’s other side and dug a hand into Zhen’s pocket. “If you knew this, why didn’t you bring your bow?”

“I didn’t think I’d be encountering EFTs,” Zhen said, finishing off the tie on the talisman. “And, Wife, if you’re going to feel me up, that’s the wrong pocket.”

I ignored his teasing because he was ridiculous even in the middle of a battle. “Give me the rest of the arrows. I’ll tie them on for you.”

“Oooh, smart. Yes, do that.”

Ama silently gestured for arrows and talismans as well, so I handed some off to her. With the two of us both tying, it’d speed the matter along, and I wanted those two birds dead sooner rather than later.

“Heh,” Jun Hie said with satisfaction. “Good move.”

Huh? Zhen hadn’t fired his arrow yet. I paused in tying to look where Jun Hie was and realized what he meant.

The huodou had actively joined the fight.

With it being so dark out here, only the barn lights gave any kind of illumination, and of course, the storm overhead wasn’t helping. Although it thankfully had backed down to a light drizzle instead of the hammering rain of before. With the lights, though, we had very sharp definitions and shapes—and shadows.

The huodou were using those shadows to their max advantage. They hopped from one to another, using the shadows from the trees and launching themselves from the top and down. I saw a few aim for the Ravens and miss. Mùchén somehow got the timing right, jumping from a higher branch and catching his prey midair, landing right on the smaller Raven and bringing it to the ground.

I cheered. “Go Mùchén!”

Zhen lifted the bow, nocked an arrow, and called, “Mùchén, keep it down!”

“HURRY!” Mùchén shouted back, and he did sound like he was struggling.

In one fluid motion, Zhen pulled back and fired. I watched the arrow sail through the night air, and it hit directly in the side of the Raven’s neck. The bird let out a piercing scream of pain, thrashed, and threw Mùchén off in the process. I didn’t worry for my friend because Mùchén landed cleanly.

Then all light from those red eyes died out, the Raven stopped thrashing, and oh my god, did Zhen kill it?

WITH ONE ARROW?

“Someone must have gotten the necklace off the male too,” Zhen remarked calmly. “Otherwise, one arrow wouldn’t have killed it. All right, ladies. Load the Zhen.”

I snorted and handed him the arrow I had done up. “Do one more?”

“Two. I’m a good shot, but this is chaos on a unicycle. Hard to hit what I’m aiming at.”

Fair enough.

I tied two more quickly, and Ama gave him three, which meant he had six arrows to work with. We moved as a unit away from the truck, hurrying closer to the battle.

The female Raven was mad as hell. I mean, granted, in its shoes I’d be mad if someone killed my mate too, but its rage was incandescent and making it sloppy. Even with the gaping wound in its chest, it was flopping all over the ground. No, wait, someone had managed to break a wing. I was relieved to see it grounded. That took a lot of stress out of this fight.

It kept charging at different people, snapping at them, nearly taking off limbs and heads. The huodou howled—which was a piercing, blood-curdling sound that made the heebie-jeebies crawl up and down your spine—and the Raven took it as a challenge instead of a warning. It charged and snapped at them, too.

My heart was in my throat as Zhen lifted the bow once more and took another shot. With all of the Raven Mocker’s attention on the immediate threats, it paid no attention to the archer sitting in the corner of the barn.

And that was its mistake.

The arrow pierced its chest cleanly, in the wound Zhen had created earlier, and the impact of it threw the female Raven backward. It landed with a thud against the nearest pine tree, a strangled squawk of pain dying in its throat, and then all life drained out.

I stared at the still form for a full second, not truly believing it was dead, but…it was really dead.

My god, had we somehow won this fight?

Everyone let out a ragged cheer, sounding more relieved than victorious. I joined them, almost laughing from the relief that poured through my system. Finally. Finally, this horrible fight was over.

Joe came trotting over to us, grin wide. “Zhen, that my bow?”

“You don’t mind that I borrowed it, I hope.”

“Hell, man. For winning this fight, you can keep it.”

Zhen laughed in return, then offered it back. “I’ve got my own at home. Which I won’t leave at home next time.”

Something was strained about Zhen’s laugh. I couldn’t see his face properly with his back to the light like this, but he seemed mad? Or upset somehow? I couldn’t put my finger on it. Could’ve been the pain from his ankle was bothering him. It probably was that.

I moved ahead of him, wanting to wrap this up so I could get him back to the cabin, his leg propped up, and painkillers administered. “Sheriff Parker, any casualties?”

She turned from where she was inspecting the larger Raven and waved this off. “No one’s hurt. For all the damage these two did to the barn, they didn’t do much damage to us. I think Zhen got the biggest knocking around.”

That was ’cause he always charged in when everybody else hung back. I needed to talk to him about his survival instincts. I think they were broken.

I felt someone move beside me and turned to see Ama still riding Guo. She caught my eye and requested, “Help me down. I want to check the female Raven.”

Turning, I offered her a shoulder and a hand to brace herself as she slid off.

“It’s thoroughly dead,” Sheriff Parker said in assurance.

“Oh, that I know. But I want to see if she’s laid her eggs yet. If not, there’s a nest we need to hunt down.”

Shit. I hadn’t thought of that. But that was very much a good thing to check, yup. I did not need a nest of little Raven Mockers running around causing havoc over here. Words couldn’t express how much I did not need that.

Ama gave a grunt when she touched earth but seemed fine as she walked steadily to the Raven. Guo helped her turn it onto its side, and she examined the bird. Honestly, I had no idea how she was checking. My knowledge of bird anatomy was rather dismal.

Shaking her head, she turned and came back to us. “Bad news. Eggs were laid.”

I felt my heart sink. “Nooooo.”

“We’ll need to find them,” Ama stated, expression grim. “I don’t know what the hatching period for these things is, but I want them dead before they can try.”

“Yeah. Me, too.” RIP my plans to leave tomorrow. I wasn’t going anywhere until we found that nest and it was in smoking ruins. “Um, Guo?”

“We’ll search for it,” he promised me. “Do not fret.”

“Thank you so much.” Seriously, me feeding stray dogs in a cemetery had become one of my better life decisions.

Sheriff Parker let out a groan and turned, already heading for the other deputies. “I’ll let them know. We’re calling it quits for the night, though. Tramping about in the woods with a storm raging on us is not a wise idea.”

“It can wait until we’re rested,” Ama agreed.

Well, with everyone going home for the night, I chose to be one of their number.

Ama caught my arm before I could do more than take a step backward. “Wait. You need to talk to your man.”

“About how reckless he is?”

“No, about the guilt he carries.”

Uh. “Come again?”

“You might not see it,” she acknowledged with a shake of her head. “He controls his expression well when you’re looking at him. But he’s clearly beating himself up for not protecting you.”

I pointed to myself. “Not a scratch on me.”

“I think it’s the protections failing, leaving you vulnerable, that he’s most upset about.”

Oh. Shit. Yeah, he would be upset about that. If I wasn’t so tired and strung out, I’d have realized it sooner.

“Please don’t let him wallow,” Ama implored of me. “I reassured him multiple times that my barrier was strong and would keep them out. I was sure of it myself because we’d be in a dry, protected space. I didn’t think they’d come up with a way to destroy the barrier.”

“I don’t think it’s anyone’s fault,” I assured her. “Hell, I thought it would work, too.”

“I know you did. But he’s a protector, your Zhen, and he’s not going to take this well. He’ll see it as a failure that you were exposed to danger at all.”

She was right. One hundred percent on the money. Which meant I had an unhappy husband to somehow calm down. One who was a bad patient, too. Lovely.

“I will say, Kris, you surprised me tonight. You said you’re not a fighter.”

“Really not.” So much not.

“But you fought fine.”

I stared at this woman like she was speaking in a foreign language. “I was scared out of my mind, especially when that barrier fell.”

“We’re all scared in a fight.” Ama smiled at me like I was being silly. “But it didn’t stop you. The second that barrier fell, you fought back.”

“Uh, yeah? My life was on the line.”

“My point is, Kris, people who are truly scared out of their minds don’t do that. They cry, they wait for someone to rescue them. They don’t fight. They don’t use common sense in a fight. And they don’t usually live through it.” She gave my arm a pat. “You’re too hard on yourself, my friend. You’ve been thrown into this world without much time to adjust, true, but you’re still on your feet and victorious. Give yourself some grace.”

I honestly had really needed to hear that. She was right in that I was holding myself to some kind of standard that might well be unreachable. But I wasn’t failing. I’d come out of three fights—in one of which I’d made the kill shot—and wasn’t scathed in the process. How many people could say that?

I mean, given a choice, I still wouldn’t be chasing evil flying things in monster-infested woods, because sanity. Still, I could do it. And I shouldn’t dismiss my accomplishment. I hadn’t frozen, I hadn’t let anyone down. Somehow, this second battle had been easier. I wasn’t as terrified this time. I was really kind of proud. I’d kept a cool head and stood my ground, and I’d really impressed myself.

Also, this whole battle had highlighted the real problem. It wasn’t that I was terrible when I was in danger, I just wasn’t demon slayer level.

“I think”—I spoke aloud here, slowly, feeling my way through the words—“that I’m comparing myself to Zhen.”

Ama snorted a laugh. “That was your first mistake. He was born into this. Born for this, really. A natural warrior, that one.”

“Yeah. I should stop doing that. I mean, I adore him, but he’s crazy.”

“He certainly is.” Ama gave my arm another pat and let go. “He’s also so wound up it’s going to be hard getting him to relax and let his leg rest. Good luck with that.”

“Yeah, thanks.” I sighed.

I was going to need it.