Kealan Burke - Currency of Souls

“That’s not how it is.”

Dean looks at him, grins widely. “Look who you’re talking to. There’s no sense arguing with me, and why would you want to? You’re stressed out enough as it is.”

“Please, look…”

“I’m not going to kill you, kid.”

Every muscle in Brody’s body unclenches, and he allows himself to sit back.

“That’s not how I do things. I just wanted you to know who that girl was those guys put in the ground back there. She wasn’t just another one of your crack-whores good for a hundred miles only. She was someone, and she was a damn sight more human than you’ll ever be.”

Brody nods. “I know you don’t believe me, but I did care about her.”

“Sure you did, kid.” Dean cracks open his door, puts one foot out on the road. “Sure you did.” He exits the car, brushes dirt from his trousers and leans in the open window. “Do me a favor, will ya?”

Brody looks at him. “Sure.”

“When you get on your way, play some of Carla’s discs. I don’t imagine there’d be a nicer way to sing her to sleep.” He winks, “See you soon, kid,” thumps a set of gold-ringed fingers down on the door, and walks away whistling a song Brody has heard but can’t place. It comes to him by the time he finds the strength to sit up and start the ignition again. It was one of Carla’s favorites. ‘There’s No Tomorrow.’

Though Blue Moon’s face is made of black glass, I can see the doubt and wariness etched into it, or perhaps I’m seeing those emotions swirling beneath the surface. Can’t say I blame him. He has risked everything to be here for a man he has always trusted. Problem is, I’m hiding in the body of a man he doesn’t.

He nods that great big hunk of glass, his eyes glimmering jewels in a dark mask. “Sheriff.”

“Thanks for coming, Blue. You too Red.”

There is nothing about Red Cloud to suggest he’s a living thing. He’s standing there to the right of the door just as he always stands by Blue’s door, motionless, face raised to the sky, painted eyes staring upward, mouth set in a grim line. He’s a cigar store Indian, nothing more, but I know he’s listening, and his quiver is full.

Something slams against the door.

Blue looks down at the witch. She’s on her knees now, head lowered, lank hair hanging almost to the floor. “She goin’ to make it?”

“Don’t know. Would be better if she didn’t.”

He sighs and steps closer to me. Seen through him, the flame from the hurricane lamp on the bar is fragmented, the light dulled and trapped in feeble shards inside his chest. “What do you want us to do?”

“She’s not going to let this slide,” I tell him quietly. “Chances are she’s going to make me very sorry I crossed her. If that happens, I want to be sure I’ve done at least one thing right. I wanted to give you and Red Cloud what you want. I want to set you both free.”

Blue glances from Red Cloud to me. “I didn’t come because of that.”

“I know you didn’t.”

“And after all this time, I’m not sure I want it.”

“Maybe not, but it’s no way to live, Blue. You deserve better.”

A sigh that sounds like someone blowing air over the top of an empty bottle and he shakes his head slowly. “Sheriff, we’ve been friends for a long time, but that don’t mean you know all there is to know about me. Now I’ve had plenty of time to think it over and it seems like everyone comes to this town for one reason only, and that’s to pay for the bad things they’ve done. I don’t know why it has to be Milestone, or whether or not there are a thousand places like this all over the world, if there even is a world outside this town anymore. All I know is we’re here because we brought ourselves here, and I figure if I’m meant to pay for my sins by living out the rest of my days like this, then that’s what I’ll do.”

“What about Red?”

“Hell, Red doesn’t know how to do anything else now but use that bow and arrow of his. Truth be told, he was never much of a talker even back when he was flesh and bone, but his company was always good, and company enough for me.”

“I’d go crazy stuck in that damn house, Blue.”

“You’re stuck in a house of your own now, Sheriff, and I don’t figure that’s much of a way to live either.”

A bang and a crack as antlers splinter the door.

As if it’s her cue, Lian Su raises her face, looks from Red Cloud to Blue Moon, before settling her gaze on me. Her eyes are gone, the remains of them already hardening on her cheeks. The teeth she bares are bloodstained. “You tricked me,” she says, with what might be delight. “You hid the mark, that’s all. A simple thing. What a fool I am.”

I take a step back. Blue Moon doesn’t move.

Thunder slams against the door.

“You don’t belong here, Lian, and you’ve done enough damage.”

“I’ve done enough damage?” She stands without moving, as if invisible hands have jerked her up from the floor. “I haven’t even begun to do damage.”

The light from the hurricane lamp goes out. Automatically, I move away from the queer gray light that seems to cling to Lian like a second skin. Again she looks around, as if counting her adversaries, and then, grinning, starts moving in my direction.

“Don’t,” I command. It isn’t directed at Lian but Blue Moon, who, though the darkness has made him all but invisible, is moving toward her. I can tell by the sound. I can tell…just because I can.

He ignores me, and suddenly the gray light around the witch begins to swim. Fuzzy misshapen shadows clamber up the walls. He’s standing before her. She looks up at him, a tall obsidian man, utterly fearless and with nothing to lose, and admiration flickers across her chalk-white face. “If I broke your heart,” she asks, almost sweetly. “Would it break the rest of you?” She doesn’t wait for an answer, and he doesn’t wait for her to hurt him. In an instant, his hands are around her throat, lifting her off the floor, and from the gloom comes the telltale sound of Red Cloud loading his bow.

“My, but you’re a strong one,” Lian says and brings her arms up between his, her hands grabbing his wrists. As three of Red Cloud’s arrows pierce the flesh at the side of her neck, one after the other, thwick-thwick-thwick , with barely a second separating them, she screeches. Her hands convulse, shattering Blue Moon’s wrists. Glass rains to the floor. He staggers back, stunned, and raises arms that no longer have hands at the end of them.

Thwick-thwick-thwick . Another trio of arrows fly forth from Red Cloud’s bow, this time hitting home in the side of Lian’s face. She whirls, ducks low, and ends up in a crouch, one leg splayed out, the other folded beneath her, hands like claws on the floor. It could be ballet; it could be martial arts, but either way it means trouble for the wooden Indian.

“Stop…”

She doesn’t acknowledge my request, doesn’t look over her shoulder at me. Blue Moon, forgetting his newly acquired handicap rushes her. By the door, which continues to deteriorate under the weight of the deer, Red Cloud calmly draws back the string on his bow, his face forever expressionless.

Lian Su raises her hand in the air, palm faced in my direction, as if she’s calling a halt to proceedings. But then something swishes by my ear, catches the hazy light and smacks into her palm. It’s the bottle we drank from at the bar, still half-full, and before I can begin to guess what she’s going to do with it, she brings it to her lips, empties it into her mouth, then almost immediately spits it back out. In Red Cloud’s direction.

Before it hits him, it ignites, and abruptly Red Cloud is engulfed in violet fire.