Ren could have definitely done without that last bit. His gut knotting over what he was sure he'd just condemned his friend to, he closed his phone and met the woman's gaze. His only comfort came in knowing that his other friend, Sundown, was safely hidden from Coyote along with Sundown's wife, Abigail. Ren and Choo Co La Tah had sent them off months ago so that Coyote wouldn't find them. Not because Sundown and Abby were cowards, but because Abigail was pregnant. None of them were willing to risk the baby to Coyote or any other danger.
Until their child was born, Ren would not go near them or ask for their help.
"What happened?" the Ixkib asked.
Right as he started to answer, something slammed into the roof of the house so hard, it sounded like it might have come through the tiles.
Ren rushed to the door to find Rain running up the hallway.
"Man, there's something wicked outside. Like a tornado or ... I don't know. I didn't go to meteorology school."
Ren grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him into the room. "Guard her."
Kateri scowled as Ren left them alone. "What was that action?"
"I don't know. The man scares me."
She scoffed at Rain's words. "That's not saying much, cuz. As I recall, spiders render you catatonic and even ladybugs make you scream like a girl."
Rain stiffened indignantly. "Not my fault. I promise you. If you ever saw my dad dressed like a Killer Ladybug with my uncle, Seamus, for Mardi Gras, you'd be terrified of them, too. Just saying. Ain't nothing more scarring to a young mind than two straight men in drag, singing 'It's Raining Men' to me, and then telling me I was named after that song. And if that wasn't damaging enough, my mom agreed with them. It wasn't until I was old enough to realize my birth predated the song that I finally calmed down."
An image of Uncle Daniel, who was a scary man in his own right, in a dress and bad makeup went through her mind and made her laugh. Yeah, she could easily picture him torturing his son that way, and so would her aunt Starla. They were hilarious people. "I've never met your uncle Seamus."
"Be glad. Seamus is like a head injury. Funny as hell so long as it's happening to someone else.... Imagine Dad, taller, meaner, thicker, and wielding an Irish brogue."
Yeah, that was something that would probably motivate her to gouge out her eyes. "Okay, no more jokes about ladybugs making you their bitch."
"Thank you."
The lights flickered.
Kateri froze for a minute as she heard things breaking. She looked back at Rain. "What did you see, exactly?"
"Honestly? I think it was a vortex. It looked like something out of Doctor Who."
Glass shattered from the direction of the living room. Even though she'd seen enough horror movies to know better, Kateri went to investigate.
Rain crept along behind her. "I don't think we should leave the room."
She ignored him as she moved cautiously down the hallway, closer to the sounds of fighting. As she came even to the living room, her head spun. Once again, she saw Ren in a different time and place. In her mind, he was fighting in a deep valley with his peculiar war club. His chest bare, every vein stood out while he fought against an older man.
Blood covered both of them. It soaked Ren's hair and stained the white feathers that were attached by leather cords.
"You don't really hate me, Makah'Alay. You know this." The older man's voice was thick with fatigue. "And if you don't change direction, you're going to wind up where you're headed."
"I am sick of your pithy sayings, old man. Do us both a favor and die already."
The old man ducked his swing and kicked him back. "They say that your love has blinded you and that your greed is insatiable. But you're not greedy. Not for material things. I know that and so do you."
"Shut up!" Ren bellowed.
"The truth bites hardest through the deepest treachery. You are nothing but a tool being used, Makah'Alay. As you were with your father and your brother. Are you telling me that that is all you ever aspire to?"
She saw the agony in Ren's dark eyes as those words stung him.
"If Windseer loved you, she would be here now. But she isn't, is she? No. She opened the door for the Grizzly Spirit and then he freed her. Like everyone else, she has abandoned you to die alone."
"So what?" Ren challenged as he swung his club at the man's head. "I entered this world alone, and alone I shall leave it."
He dodged the blow. "And the time in between? You are content to have nothing throughout your life? No one? Ever?" Those words were punctuated by blasts of fire that Ren tried to deflect with his club. They caused him to stagger back and drove him to the ground.
Pain echoed in the older man's eyes as he moved to stand over Ren. "Who will weep for you when you're gone? Tell me, boy. What do you live for?"
Ren blasted him in turn. "Revenge!"
The old man paused so that Ren could regain his feet. "You are right to be hurt, Makah'Alay. But your actions have turned a little right into a great wrong. And your vengeance has spilled over to the innocent who have never caused you harm. Would you have the seed you have planted take root in the heart of another boy? What crops do you sow with such vim? Do you really want them to grow uncultivated? For those boys, those orphans, to have the same venom in their veins as you?"
"What do I care? This world has never shown me kindness. They have never once welcomed me."
The old man dropped his club. "But you do care. Don't you? I see it in your eyes. Even now. Even after all you've been through. You still want what all men do. Comfort-"
Ren bellowed so loud, he drowned out whatever else the old man said. "I want nothing! Nothing!" He renewed his fight with such vigor and rage that his blows came too fast to be seen by a human eye. Only the thunderous sounds of them could be heard.
Just like what was going on in the living room.