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"Need a lighter, quick!" I said "Or matches!" This was one of those tis with fire Maybe I should try to figure out how to make friends with a phosphorous elemental
Ben and Frank patted themselves down helplessly and looked around Granuaile didn’t have anything, I knew "How’d you guys get the lanterns lit without matches?" I asked
The driver’s seat disappeared with a shriek of metal, and a skinwalker in hue eyes and ducked as he took a swing at hter into my hand It was Sophie I didn’t have time to thank her I bobbed back up and sockedif I hit hi an exit out the passenger side, because the confined space wasn’t to his advantage And then I lit the nearest stake and watched the flarill, even as the second skinwalker landed next to the first
They burned and screamed and climbed on top of each other in an attempt to escape, which only h the roof and forgot, in their haste, that the roof of the hogan was still warded The Blessing Way burned therinned at
"Think that got ’ereed "They’ll be back toe to them, but now they have this hole in your ward, and they’ll probably just sit back and et to us"
Ben Keonie offered uisher "Ready for this?"
I looked at the fire and the sood idea," I said
Chapter 25
Dawn brought us a scene of chaos The site looked like the aftermath of a natural disaster, except that we all knew there was nothing natural about the destruction Sharp knives of wood lay strewn about like Van Helsing’s personal weapons depot, and vehicles had been forcibly disasseloomy heavydrah their spectacular uitars and lovingly fondled their favorite minor chords
When Sophie, Ben, Frank, and the crehat was left of their trucks, they began to chirp "Fuck" in various registers like a small flock of birds--perhaps a new species of finch The calls were varied and delivered with gusto Granuaile joined in thechorus when she saw the skeleton of her ride nestled in the an
"Fuckity fk fk!" she sang
Sophie was especially dis stakes for the plant site down in the flat had been pulled up and destroyed "We’re going to have to start all over," she ain This project is doo friends for a ride into town I wondered if anyone was going to call Coyote--Mr Benally--and let him know that the skinwalkers had trashed the site I wondered if Coyote wouldup to collect us after about a half hour Granuaile and I cli with Sophie Betsuie Frank got to ride shotgun, and he directed the driver--a friend of his--to drop us all off at the Blue Coffee Pot for breakfast The place was hopping again, because the coal ood to have visual confirood mood when I settled down to have another chat
Once ere seated near a ith cups of strong coffee in front of us, I asked Frank if he could tellat all that ht help me understand theht help me to defeat the but a geologist But, surprisingly, Frank tilted his head at Sophie and said, "She can actually tell youthose two"
"You know theers danced nervously around the edges of her coffeehiave her a nod to go ahead
"It’s speculation, not hard fact," she stressed
"Understood," I said
"I only know this because ofBen, are from my clan, if that helps you understand e’re on board with Frank here There was adeal Divorced woman killed in her hoel pen out of her jacket pocket and then grabbed a napkin out of the dispenser lying on the table Before she could continue, the waitress arrived to take our order, and we paused to do that It was a bit depressing forto order for Oberon; I asked for an extra side of bacon anyway in his honor
When the waitress departed, Sophie began to write on her napkin "All right," she said, "I don’t want to say the names of the dead or attract the attention of those who ely at her caution--"so I’ to just show you these names and explain fro, okay?"
Granuaile and I reement Sophie flipped around the napkin and pointed with her pen to the name at the top, which read Millie Peshlakai
"This person was the murder victim, distantly related to me and the rest of the crew She was only about forty, and the cause of death was clearly violent Nicest lady Nobody could figure out why she’d ever be a target And these two here," she paused, pointing to the names Robert and Ray Peshlakai, "were her sons Twins in their late teens They disappeared Haven’t been seen since the day their ured they were kidnapped by their father, and they thought he’d done the murder too He’s a bad sort, lives up in Utah But once they tracked hi to do with it Ironclad alibi and everything So the murder’s been unsolved all this time, and we still don’t knohat happened to the boys"
"So you think …?" I said
"Anybody can start followin’ the Witchery Way whenever they want But there’s only one way to becos we’ve been dealin’ with," Frank rasped "Only one way to make your soul so black you attract a spirit frohtta have"
Sophie circled the two boys’ names and then drew an arrow to their mother’s name "You have to kill a family member," she said "You become pure evil"
Chapter 26
"Hold on a second," I said "If they’re so evil, how co people?"
" ’Cause they haven’t had to go around anywhere to do that," Frank explained "Plenty of people climb Tyende Mesa for the hell of it You kno those climbers are They see a rock that looks cool, an’ their life won’t be co their pitons an’ rope an’ shit an’ walk around town s at everybody ’cause there’s a decent chance they’ll fall down an’ go splat Well, for the last ten years, soo splat, they si them?"
"The bones, maybe After all the meat’s off ’em"