I moved toward the hogan. “When you say ‘usual,’ where are you headed with that?”
“Blood, guts, the souls of children.”
“You aren’t funny,” I said.
“I didn’t mean to be.”
“You aren’t ready to turn over a new leaf?” I asked. “Start helping us out of the goodness of your heart rather than . . .” I paused.
Jimmy had said Sawyer trained federation members for money, but Sawyer didn’t seem the type, and I knew now that Jimmy lied.
I reached the arched dwelling, pulled back the woven mat that served as a door and peeked inside. The place was empty.
Sawyer hadn’t disappeared into thin air, as much as it might seem so. I’d been distracted. So had Luther. Our gazes had not been on the hogan the entire time, and Sawyer only needed an instant to turn into whichever one of his beasts he desired; then in a blink he’d be gone.
“Can’t do that.”
His voice came from farther away. He still sounded as if he were all around me, but fainter. More the wind than the night. Could he turn into the wind? I had no idea.
“Can’t do what?” I backed out of the hogan.
“Help you out of the goodness of my heart.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t have one.”
“Goodness or a heart?”
“Exactly.”
I rubbed my forehead. Whether I was woman or wolf, talking to Sawyer always gave me a headache.
“What are you going to charge for training Luther?” I demanded.
I had a pretty good idea. With Sawyer it was always about sex. His powers were based in sex. His body was built for sex. His mind was filled with sex.
Or perhaps that’s just what he wanted everyone to think. If he were dismissed as a supernatural nymphomaniac, he didn’t have to connect with anyone. He didn’t have to put himself out there. He didn’t have to risk rejection or heartache. If Sawyer was all about sex, then no one ever expected love. I certainly didn’t.
Besides, according to legend, loving Sawyer, or having him love you, was a one-way ticket to Deadsville.
“I’ll put it on your account,” Sawyer answered.
I didn’t like the sound of that. I already owed the Dagda a favor.
“Can’t I just . . .” I paused. What? I had very little money. My power was minuscule compared to his. The only thing I had that he wanted was me, and he’d already had that. Many times.
“I think you already did,” he said, seeming to echo my thoughts.
“Then we should be even.”
“Not yet,” he whispered.
“Great. Put it on my account,” I snapped. “At this rate, I’ll be doing you until the end of the world.”
“That should work.”
My only consolation was that the end of the world appeared to be right around the corner.
As we’d been talking, I’d been strolling around the yard, behind the hogan, the house; I’d peeked into the sweat lodge and the ramada. No Sawyer. I gave up.
“Where are you?” Supernatural hide-and-seek just wasn’t my thing.
“Remember the lake? On the mountain?”
I turned, staring up at the shadowy expanse of Mount Taylor, and as I did so, thunder rumbled in the west. “Yes.”
“We need to do something about that lightning.”
“What kind of something?”
“Bring it forth.”
“You said we had to wait for it.”
“I say a lot of things.”
Not really. Sawyer was the least likely sayer of a lot in this world.
He took a breath, let it out long and slow. “I don’t want the boy to know, to follow. He should stay here.”
I glanced uneasily at the house where Luther had disappeared. “But—”
“He’s safe. He’s a lion when he wants to be.”
“There are so many of them now.”
“And so few of us,” he agreed. “He’s going to have to go out on his own soon. I’ve nearly taught him all that I know. All he lacks is practice.”
The thought of ordering Luther—who insisted he was eighteen, but I had my doubts—to kill demons made me slightly ill. I’d sworn I wouldn’t send teenagers out to die. But once again, I didn’t have much choice.
“He’ll be fine, Phoenix.” Sawyer’s voice was soft, low, and he sounded so certain. “I need you here. We have to bring the lightning.”
“How is it that I can hear you?” I asked.
Not telepathy. I wasn’t a beast, and I was hearing him on the wind, or the air or the stars—who knew?—but not in my head.
“Magic,” Sawyer said. “I can do all sorts of great things.”
“If you’re so damn special, why do you need me to bring the lightning?”
“You’ll see.”
The last time I’d gone up the mountain to the lake I’d been on two feet. The trip had taken a good portion of a day.
This time I didn’t have a day. The storm was rumbling. I didn’t need Sawyer to tell me I had to move my ass. I didn’t need him to tell me to make my ass furry and run like the wind. I just did.