Eight

eight

Kris

Sheriff Parker informed me everyone liked to hang out at the general store cattywampus to the depot. It was my time living in the South that let me translate that as across the street and up a ways.

Really, there were only so many places people could choose to hang out in this village. Aside from the general store, there were two houses, one of them a bright yellow farmhouse, and a church a little farther up—that was a historical building and not open to the public. Truly a one-horse town if there ever was one. Even the gas station was part of the general store.

I thanked her, stepping out, thinking as I did so. The second Zhen stepped out as well, I caught his arm and pulled him a little to the side. “Hey. Want to test it again?”

His eyes narrowed slightly. “Bond, you mean?”

“Yeah, I told you how Boss said we should factor in moods. I’m not upset or stressed right now. You?”

“Eh, maybe a little stressed. ’Cause flying things.”

“Ah, yeah, that’s fair. But we’re conscious of your mood right now. So, I still want to test this. Let me walk over to the general store, talk to people, see if there’s anything over there to find out.”

“Hmm…” He looked back at Jake, who was already climbing behind the wheel of the Jeep. “Jake and I wanted to run by one of the murder sites, since it’s so close, and take a good look.”

“Do that, then. You’re close enough that if it starts feeling off, you can swing back and get me.”

“All right, it’s a plan.” He smacked a kiss against my mouth before sauntering to the Jeep.

He was either not as stressed as I thought, or he was trying to not show how stressed he was. Flip of the coin either way. I shrugged and walked across the road. The boys passed me the second I got across and waved. I wasn’t actually sure they weren’t just playing because they were having way too much fun with this.

I let them go, walking the short distance to the store and enjoying the sunshine.

The store looked like an antebellum mansion converted over. It stood two stories tall, with red brick and round white columns in the front, complete with a colonial porch on the second story. When I stepped in, the impression was rather enhanced, as there was some very nice crown molding going on inside. The floors were wide wooden planks, polished to a shine.

Other than that, it looked like an average country store to me. There were rows of canned goods and groceries, with a line of freezers along the back wall. To my left there was a whole section of handcrafted goodies, including jams, quilts, and the like.

Dead ahead was a very large counter that ran half the length of the room, with barstools lined up in front of it and a cash register on the very far right of the L. I saw several regulars, most of them munching on snacks or drinking a milkshake. Oh, there was the menu, and it included typical bar fare.

I pulled a barstool over from the nearest man—who had farmer written all over him with those overalls, boots, and faded plaid shirt—and addressed the woman who was working behind the counter.

“Hi, I’m Kris.”

She looked up and gave a friendly smile. “Hello, there. Name’s Trina, nice to meet you. You visiting?”

“Of a sort. Sheriff Parker called myself and my husband in to hunt down what’s killing people in this community.”

Now I had the attention of everyone here—all six men at the counter, Trina, and the two people who had been shopping.

I flashed everyone a smile. “Zhen—my husband—is a demon slayer. We’re actually hoping it’s not a monster, but either way, we’re here to track it down. I’d dearly love to talk to a Monocan medicine man, if you know of one.”

“Well…” Trina drew the sound out before pointing to a wire bookcase near the cash register. “That top book in khaki has all of the local myths and legends of the area.”

Ooooh, I liked books. Books were friends. I headed immediately to it.

“Or,” she tacked on, “you can meet the author himself. Book’s author is a medicine man, and he’s from this area. I’ve got his phone number, if you’d like it.”

I bounced a little on the inside. “I’ll do both, thank you. How much is the book?”

“Twenty.”

I whipped out my wallet and paid for it. I knew how to get people to open up to me and talk—and flattery was the best first step to opening doors in this case. “What’s his phone number?”

Trina rattled it off, and I typed it into the Notes app on my phone. Harder to lose that way.

“Thank you so much.”

“We’ll do what we can to help.” Trina made a face. “It’s been damn scary here recently. Now, Joe likes to hang out here sometimes, so he’ll be amenable to meeting here if you need a place.”

“Sure, sounds great. Thank you so much.”

I took my book with me and headed out. Ooh, maybe I could browse for some souvenirs—

Uhh. There was a ghost lingering near the dining area. I was honestly still not sure what to do about ghosts. My sight was too new, I guessed, and I didn’t have enough experience to handle them on my own. He was a very transparent white, with barely more form and substance than fog. He spotted me the very second I spotted him, and I kinda froze.

“You see me?” he asked, and he sounded kind of upset, but monotone upset. If that made sense.

“I do, yeah. Hi, I’m Kris.”

“Earl,” he said with a grimace that could have been a smile. “Hi. I got killed by some huge-ass bird. I’m not buried, though.”

Uh, what? In a flash, I realized this could be one of our victims. “Earl, I think I’m working your case.”

“Yeah? Why you?”

“My husband and I are demon slayers”—kinda, sorta, mostly Zhen, ANYWAY—“and we’re in town to deal with these things. You said it was a bird?”

“Yeah. Didn’t see it, but I heard the wings right before it attacked me from behind. I was dead so quick, I didn’t realize what happened until hours later.”

Death confusion was a common problem with ghosts. It took them hours after death to realize what had happened, and usually they were angry about it for decades afterward. I wanted to ask more questions, but his general attitude said leave it be. Plus, if he was dead before he understood what was happening, he didn’t have anything helpful to tell me.

“You’ll be buried soon,” I assured him. “The coroner’s office will release you for burial in the next week or so. Rest easy until then, okay?”

Earl did seem a little happier about that. “Okay. Thanks.”

That was apparently all he cared about, as he moseyed on and ignored me after that.

My phone rang. I fished it out of my pocket and answered. “ Zhàng fu . How are you?”

“ Not great ,” Zhen admitted, and it sounded like he was clenching his teeth. “ Apparently, two miles is too far today. ”

Well, shit. It was interesting, though. I didn’t feel anything on my end. Maybe Boss was onto something when she said stress might be an indicator. Zhen was more stressed than he was letting on.

I went out onto the porch, and not a minute later, Zhen and Jake swung into the parking lot. Zhen launched himself into the back seat, and I slid in next to him. He immediately latched on to me like a limpet who had finally found a lifeline. I scooted in closer, not worrying about the seat belt, and looked him over.

Yeah, he clearly wasn’t doing great right now. His jaw kept flexing, a sure indication the bond was a live, unhappy thing in his chest. After a second, he stopped trying to squirm in closer. He wasn’t settled, but I could tell he was better.

Jake twisted in the front seat and looked us both over. “Guys, you’ve got to figure this out.”

“We’re trying.” I sighed. “There’s just no baseline that we’ve found yet. Some days, five miles is fine. Other days, five yards is too far. There’s no rhyme or reason that we’ve found yet.”

Jake gave a gusty sigh. “Well. This hunt’s going to be challenging with you two forcibly joined at the hip.”

That was an understatement if there ever was one.

“Good news is, I did find a medicine man.” I lifted the book still in my hand. “He wrote this. I’ve got his phone number, too.”

“Awesome. Then let’s get to our new hotel and call it good for a few hours. Just until Zhen’s back in action.”

His head was heavy on my shoulder, and Zhen muttered something like it fucking better only take a few hours .

I pretended not to hear him.

“Oh, I think I ran into a ghost of one of our victims? He told me some giant bird killed him. Not sure how much stock to put into that as he also said he didn’t see what killed him. Death confusion got him, I think.”

“Is that really all he said?”

I gave a shrug with my free shoulder. “That and he was bitching about not being buried yet. It’s why I didn’t bring him out with me to talk. He didn’t have much constructive to say.”

“Figures.”

Jake put the Jeep in Drive, and off we went again, him following the GPS on his dash. We didn’t have a hotel room right in town because there wasn’t one to be had. But there was an Airbnb not far away—a cabin on the river—so it had been booked for us. It came with two bedrooms, and that was all we really needed, so no complaints here.

My phone rang again, but this time it was Jasha.

Please let this not be an emergency…he was kind of house-sitting for us while work was being done.

I answered with some trepidation. “Hey, Jasha.”

“ Kriiiiiiis !”

Okay, that was the tone of utmost excitement. Phew, no trouble. Awesome.

“Jaaaaaasha,” I said back. “What’s up?”

“ It came in !”

“You’re determined to make me guess this whole conversation, aren’t you?”

“ No, no, remember ? How I applied to have a cat rescue be part of my shop ?”

It took a second before it clicked. Oh, right, he’d been talking about this ever since he bought the shop. He wanted to have a cat rescue be part of the store so that anyone who came in could apply for adoption. It had taken months to get the nonprofit paperwork done, approved, and what have you. Then he’d had to make a relationship with the other cat rescues in the area. Which I didn’t think was the hard part—they were always swamped with too many cats and not enough adoptees.

Now, if he was calling me, then… “So, the paperwork for the nonprofit part came in? You’re licensed?”

“ I am !”

“Congrats, friendo! I know you worked really hard to get that. So, are you good to start today?”

“ Basically, yeah. I absolutely want to throw a party because you’re right, that took forever to get done, but I’ll wait until you’re back in town. Today I’m closing early so I can run out and get the rest of the stuff I need to set cats up. I’ve already talked to a rescue nearby who’s overrun and told them I could take probably a dozen cats, and she almost shed tears of relief. They’re coming to me tomorrow .”

“Damn. You do not let moss grow on that rolling stone.”

“ That I do not. Anyway, it’s like the best week ever for me. Kitties are coming, plus the sword is coming. ”

“Eh? Sword?” Now he’d lost me entirely. What sword?

“ You remember how I have Norse ancestry and my grandfather still has the family sword from our Viking ancestor ?”

“Ohhhh, right.” It had been a pretty cool story when he’d told me back in college. “He’s giving that to you already?”

“ He’s having to downsize, and there’s just no good place to keep it. So, he’s sent it via special courier to me. I want Zhen’s opinion on the best maintenance once it’s here. ”

“I’ll be happy to,” Zhen responded.

“ Oh, he’s nearby. Good. Tell him thanks. I’ve got to go, but text me when you’re sure you’re coming back .”

Heh. Heh heh heh, yeah, when I had a clue, I’d do that. “Sure. Bye!”

Jasha made happy snickering sounds as he hung up. There would be absolutely no living with him for the foreseeable future.

Zhen tilted his head back a little on my shoulder. “Jasha’s a Viking?”

“Viking is more a thing they did,” I corrected him. “It meant to go and explore. He has Norse lineage. At least, they’ve traced his ancestors back to the Norse villages. The sword was something handed down from father to son, and Jasha’s been promised since he was, like, twelve that he’d get it. I’ve seen pictures. It’s got all these cool runes on the hilt and blade.”

“Huh. That’s really cool. I’ve never seen a Viking sword before.”

“Few have, for good reason. Not many survived until now. He’ll be happy to show it off.”

“I would be in his shoes.”

Zhen seemed to have unclenched some, and he sounded less strained. He wasn’t holding on as tightly as before, either. Both good signs. Talking swords and cats had apparently relaxed him some. Or being in close proximity to me was doing the job. Either way, I’d take it.

A shop full of painting supplies, pottery, and kitties, huh? That sounded like a disaster in the making to me, but I was sure Jasha had this figured out. He’d been planning it for nearly a year, after all. He’d had all the time in the world to think it through. I knew he was making cat tunnels that went around the top of the ceiling so the cats could have a lofty view. That should help keep them off the shelves.

Another thought occurred to me.

“Zhen? How do you feel about adopting cats?”

He slanted one eye to look at me. “You want to adopt cats. While you have huodou ?”

“Oh. Shit. Yeah, that might not work, huh?”

“Or it might, but you better test that theory before making any commitments.”

He was right, but from the way he said it… “Then you’re fine with it?”

“Sure. I like cats. I just traveled so much I didn’t try to get pets. Bootsy and I are bosom buddies for a reason.”

“True. Okay, I’ll put this to the test later, then.”

Although how did you test compatibility between cats and huodou without scaring the cat into losing one of its nine lives? Inquiring minds wanted to know.