Chapter Six

 

 

Lost in thought, replaying the conversation he’d had with Junior in his mind, Gage damn near jumped outta the truck when Owen asked, “So, you wanna tell me what was so important that you had to chase Mac’s boy through the courthouse?”

Knowing his dad never asked a question he didn’t at least have a hint at the answer of, Gage sighed, “What else? A woman.”

Nodding as a grin lifted the side of his mustache, his dad probed, “Just ‘a’ woman or ‘the’ woman.”

Opening his mouth to speak, immediately shutting it, then doing the same routine a total of four times, Gage thought he knew what to say when Owen laughed out loud, “Enough said.” Slapping his free hand on the steering wheel, the patriarch continued, “I knew it. Not only did your eyes almost jump outta your head to follow her, but your Dragon and your Wolf were taking bets on who’d get out first.”

“I wasn’t that bad,” Gage scoffed. “Sure, it took me by surprise, but…”

“But you thought you got away without me noticin’.”

“Yeah, okay, alright.” Gage squirmed in his seat, suddenly overtaken by the need to get out and pace, climb a tree, or disappear into thin air. Not a moment too soon, the site he’d been checking out the day before came into view.

Pointing out the window, he abruptly changed the subject, “There’s where Carrick had to save my ass yesterday.”

Pleasantly surprised that his dad let him off the hook and pulled the truck onto the shoulder, Gage jumped out of the truck and headed towards the star-shaped anomaly. Explaining as he walked, he felt the spindly tentacles once again reaching from their hidden depths, seeking the magic flowing through his veins.

“It’s that lazy star right over there.” His index finger outstretched as he slowed his gait. “There’s these weird…”

“Trails of darkness,” Owen finished his sentence. “This is a true Hotbed. I thought Carrick was overreacting, but I can see he was right.”

Keeping his eyes on the scorched sand, Gage watched carefully as Owen appeared at his side before continuing towards the star. Following the perimeter just as he’d done before, the oldest of the MacAllen brothers knew the exact second that the evil switched its focus to his dad.

Dragon Magic sizzled in the air. The scent of the Wolf floated on the breeze. Hunger – deep, dark, malevolent, and blood-thirsty – rose from the sand, its phantom appendages slithering like noxious smoke reaching for Owen.

The ground shook. A foul stench permeated the atmosphere. And all the while, his father stood strong, but it was impossible for Gage to do the same. He could not, no, would not let the bastard harm even a single hair on his dad’s head.

Racing around the top of the star, he met his dad face-to-face and yelled over the roar in his head, “It’s stronger than before.”

Shaking his head as he turned to face the center of the star, his father mentally countered, “Not stronger, more determined. You need to…”

“Yoooooouuuuuuuuu!” An unearthly, inhumane, skin-crawling yowl rattled the airwaves. “You…will…be…the…”

The pounding of racing horse hooves immediately followed by, “Get back! Get Back! Get Back!” blasting through his mind forced Gage’s hand around his dad’s upper arm as he threw not only himself but Owen backward and face down onto the sweltering sand.

Another unearthly howl, this one so grating it was like nails on a chalkboard, had Gage rolling onto his back, sitting up, and getting to his knees in one fluid motion. An eardrum-bursting boom and a whirlwind that damn near knocked him back on his ass had the Dragon turning his head to avoid sand assaulting his eyes and nose. A sucking sound, like a thousand drains simultaneously being unclogged was followed by the falling away sound of whatever fresh hell he’d awakened just before a thunderous clap shook the ground and left his ears ringing.

Wiping the dirt and sand from his face and eyes, Gage rapidly blinked away the grit as from one galloping step to another, the Black Stallion transformed into the tall, broad-shouldered figure of his cousin, Jed Thorntree, Detective Inspector with the Cherokee National Sherriff’s Department. Getting to his feet, the younger Dragon met the full-blooded Cherokee Peace Chief halfway, and held out his hand as Jed barked, “What the hell are y’all doin’ out here? And what in all that’s holy was that explosion? Do you two have any idea what you’re playin’ at?”

Pulling his hand back, ready to tell his cousin what a dick he was for not shaking his hand and say ‘hello’ before bitchin’ about something he knew nothing of, as well as what the young Brave could do with his nasty attitude and tone of voice, Gage didn’t even get his mouth open before his dad responded from over the younger Dragon’s shoulder, “Guess I could ask you the same thing since the piece of land you’re standing on is mine and not part of the Reservation or any other Tribe I’m aware of.”

“Sorry, Uncle,” Jed’s answer was quick and short, but filled with regret. “I – I felt something strange yesterday and followed it here. I was coming back today after talking to some of the Elders to see if what they told me could be what’s happening.”

“Oh yeah, that ‘something’ you felt - that would’ve been me,” Gage chimed in as he slowly turned and followed behind the Sherriff. “I stumbled onto that thing over there and damn near got sucked in.”

“Sucked in?” Jed asked, his brow furrowing as his nearly black eyes tried to bore a hole in Gage’s forehead as he continued, “Well, it can’t be what they thought then.”

Holding up his hands in surrender, the oldest MacAllen brother warned, “Dude, if you want to read my thoughts, just ask. No need to try to burrow your way in. I know I don’t use my brains often, but I’m thinkin’ I still might need ‘em.”

Watching as the Stallion’s head fell forward and he audibly exhaled what sounded like a metric ton of stress, Gage smiled when his cousin apologized, “Dammit, I’m sorry. I’m just so used to interviewing suspects that I forget where I am. Not to mention, that whatever is under there has me and my Horse just about to come unglued.”

“I hear ya, Cuz.” Clapping Jed on the shoulder, Gage snorted, “Just next time you’re trying to roll through my mind, at least buy me a drink first. It makes me feel cheap and a little used.” Finally getting a chuckle out of his cousin and his dad, he went on, “Now, spill. Did you find anything I missed? I’m guessing the Elders were wrong or at least not right all the way?”

Stopping about five feet from the east side of the star, Jed stuck his hand in his pocket and instead of answering Gage’s question which made the Dragon want to kick his cousin’s ass all the way across the desert and back, asked, “What’s the ‘sucked in’ you’re talkin’ about? Was that the explosion?”

“Give that boy a cigar. He got it in one,” Gage chuckled, adding a, “Ba-da-ching,” figuring if nothing else he could be the comic relief ‘cause they damn sure needed a laugh about then.

However, instead of laughing Jed scratched his chin and asked, “And what the hell was that rumbling?”

“That just happened to be the nasty piece of shit trying to talk to us,” Gage answered. “I’m guessin’ it was the evil bastard with the black magick’s version of sweet nothings.”

Taking a step forward, acting as if he wanted so bad to make contact with whatever was there but needed more information, Jed added, “I mean, I can feel something’s there. Something that once was powerful, but is kinda in its half-life right now.” Dropping his hand from his face, he turned and looked at Gage, “I mean, its there, but not there. It’s waiting, festering…looking for something or…”

“Yeah, I know…whoa, Dude. What the hell?” Gage shouted, jerking his hand away just before Jed grabbed it. “What the hell is up with you?”

Shaking his head as Jed motioned for him to come closer, the Dragon took a step back and warned, “Listen, Cuz, you gotta use your words. I’m not goin’ nowhere near that…that – thing, until you tell me what’s up.”

“Just come here,” Jed asserted. “Just frikkin’ walk closer, ya’ big baby.” Turning his head back towards the anomaly he whispered, “Can’t you feel it?”

Gage took a chance and stepped forward.

Jed’s hand shot up and his head spun as he gawked at Gage before swinging back to the star. “Look! Look at that shit.” Once again, Gage looked at his cousin while the Stallion was freaking out, “Every time you move, talk, even breathe, whatever’s down there is reactin’…to you.”

“No shit,” Gage swore. “If you’d have just listened. I was trying to tell you that. It took Carrick to save me from my own stupidity yesterday.”

“Now, that’s not what Carr told me,” Owen chimed in to which Gage shot him a look and mouthed, “Shut. Up.” before looking back to his cousin as the Stallion Shifter asked, “Carrick?”

Waiting as Jed stepped back to stand next to him, Gage was happier than a pig in shit that his cousin was too involved in what was happening to ask what Owen was talking about. “The really old Dragon?” Jed went on, pointing at Owen before verifying, “The Head Elder guy who trained you?”

Swatting his cousin in the arm, Gage playfully scoffed, trying to keep the conversation going before his dad could spill the beans and use the ‘M’ word. “Yeah, that’s the one. Jed, you really gotta learn to look before you leap and shut up and listen sometimes. I mean…”

“Hello, Pot,” Owen scoffed as he walked up on Gage’s other side. “Can I introduce you to Kettle.” Taking off his hat and hitting it against the side of his leg to knock the sand off the brim, Owen snickered, “Y’all have been this way since you were little boys. Always havin’ to one up each other. Never listenin’ to a damn thing each other’s sayin’, or what anyone else has to say for that matter.” Putting his well-worn, dark brown Stetson back on his head, he looked at Gage then at Jed before going on, “It’s a good thing y’all were Shifters ‘cause the hospital bills alone for all your broken bones, cuts, and concussions would’ve put the MacAllen’s and the Thorntree Tribe straight into the poor house.” Glancing back at the scorched sand, he added, “Now, y’all are too damned old and I’m too damned hot for all this messin’ around. Let’s get up to the house, get something to drink, and see if we can’t figure this out…without a whole lotta bitchin’ and belly achin’.”

“Hang on,” Jed urged as he reached back into his pocket and pulled out five brightly beaded Assiniboine Amulets. Leather bags no bigger than the palm of his hand, decorated with brightly colored beads and shells, filled with sacred stones, feathers from the blessed Eagle and Raven, claws and teeth of the Wolves who’d already gone to the Heavens, and herbs to detect, protect, contain and/or heal. Each bag would’ve been blessed by the Elder Peace Chief, the Tribe Healer, and the oldest living descendent of the Alpha Female Wolf, otherwise known as Auntie Camillia.

Gage would never forget the first time his old auntie tied a beaded leather pouch around his neck…

“What is this thing?” Curling up his nose, he exaggerated a shiver with a shake of his shoulders and held the bag by its leather strap.

“It’s for your protection,” she clipped. “Put it under your shirt and leave it alone.”

“Is it safe?”

Shaking her head as she frowned, the Elder Healer sighed, “Of course, it’s safe. That is its purpose, your safety.” Wagging her finger at his chest, she reiterated, “Do as I say, put it under your shirt and leave it alone.” Getting to her feet, she slowly approached. Laying her hands on his shoulders, she looked him right in the eye and ordered, “You will not take this off until you return home, do you hear me, Gage?”

“Yes, Auntie, I hear you, but what is this thing? Why do I have to wear it? We’re just going out to hunt.”

Snickering as she patted his shoulders, she grinned, “The bravado of youth is a wonderful thing.” Dropping her hands and shuffling back to her chair, Camillia started to rock as she explained, “That is an Assiniboine Amulet, little Dragon. Our ancestors have been using then for centuries and centuries. The protection, luck, healing power – the magic – of the amulet will only work for you. I made it from items that are special to you and only you.”

Motioning with her hands for him to come closer, Gage moved forward, setting his hands on the wooden arm of her rocking chair. Laying her hands over his, she smiled sweetly, her watery blue eyes full of love, Auntie Camillia went on, “Yes, you are only going out to hunt, but anything can happen. No one but the Great Creator and the Universe know the future. I only ever want you and your brothers to be safe, to be happy, and to live very, very long lives.”

“And this leather bag is gonna make you feel better, Auntie?”

Nodding, she chuckled, “Yes, Gage, it will.”

“Then I’ll wear it.”  

Pulling himself from his memories, the Dragon watched his cousin start at the point of the star closest to them. Praying aloud, he spoke the Tsalagi Invocation that would not only allow the Assiniboine Amulets to do what they were designed to do, but would also keep them in the exact spot where he placed them no matter who or what tried to remove them. Following along, Gage was surprised when his cousin asked the Great Spirit to allow the talisman to absorb some of the essence of the Hotbed and the one who had set the evil upon them. Auntie Camillia had never said they could do that.

I’m gonna need to catch up with old Auntie and see what else I’ve missed…

Waiting until Jed had finished setting out all five amulets, the three men walked back to Owen’s SUV in silence, the reverence of the moment lasting until Jed leaned up from the backseat and with a shit-eating grin asked, “So, if it wasn’t Carrick who saved your mangy hide, who was it?” A knowing chuckle slipped out as he added, “Didn’t happen to be anybody I might know, did it?”

“Shut up, Jed. Just shut up.”