Faith twitched at the question. She obviously hadn’t expected him to publicly admit to his ghost.
Jude’s face tensed. The lines bracketing his mouth deepened in disapproval and discomfort. “It is not wise to speak of the biitei. Acknowledging it brings it much power.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” Rawls snapped. He had no intention of being led down an Arapaho rabbit hole. “Why did it disappear when you approached?”
His face impassive, Jude tugged up the thin leather cord draping his neck, and lifted it from beneath his T-shirt. Dangling from the bottom was a tiny, circular weaving.
“Okay.” Rawls leaned in for a closer look. It resembled a primitive sun, with eight triangular spokes circling the outer edge. Upon closer look, the spiked sunburst was repeated again and again within the weaving—the pattern stacked in on itself in rich reds and blues. “You want to tell me what that is?”
“Protection,” Jude said succinctly.
From ghosts, apparently. Which made sense considering Pachico had vanished as Jude approached.
“Wolf have one of these things?”
Jude tucked the weaving back under his shirt and rearranged the cord around his neck. “We all wear a hiixoyooniiheiht.”
Wolf had known about Pachico. He’d known Rawls was being haunted.
“No shit,” Rawls said, fury rising. “Why the hell didn’t Wolf tell me about this thing? Loan me one? Help me out just a fuckin’ bit?”
Faith shot him a surprised look as the f-bomb broke loose, but sweet Jesus, he’d been going certifiably crazy over the past few days. Not to mention how dangerous his transparent troll had become recently. Someone could have been seriously hurt. Wolf could have saved him a boatload of frustration and worry if he’d just opened his damn mouth and explained about this ghost-protection amulet.
Jude shrugged. “Hiixoyooniiheiht are created specifically for an individual, using the individual’s blood. They are not interchangeable.”
Blowing out a frustrated breath, Rawls regrouped. “How’s it work?”
Jude’s face collapsed back into its normal fountain of inscrutability. “That is the notonheihii’s domain, not ours to know.”
Rawls took a deep breath and counted to ten. The bastard had to be deliberately trying to piss him off.
“Did you see it?” Faith interrupted, sharp interest in her eyes.
“Only one who has dwelled in hiihooteet and walked the other side can see a biitei.”
Faith’s eyebrows crinkled. “Then how do you know it was there? How do you know ghosts even exist?”
Jude turned an indulgent look on her. “How does one know the wind exists?”
Faith’s eyes widened and pure exasperation flooded her face. “That’s not the same thing at all!” She leaned forward, her body practically vibrating with irritation. “I can quantify the wind. I can measure its velocity with an anemometer. I can see its effect on vegetation or kites or birds with my own eyes. I can capture it to power a sailboat or a windmill. I can measure everything about it from direction to miles per hour.”
Rawls choked back a sputter of laughter and hauled her back, anchoring her to his side. Sweet baby Jesus, she looked like she wanted to go after the man with her bare hands.
“I reckon the wind wasn’t the best comparison,” Rawls drawled.
Faith tipped her head back, gazing up at him with wide, earnest eyes. “I’m just saying there are plenty of scientific experiments that prove the existence of wind. However, there isn’t one that proves the presence of ghosts.”
He reached out to stroke her cheek. “You may not be able to see Pachico, Faith—but I can. I have.”
“Well, you might think—”
“Let’s table this discussion for now,” Rawls interrupted before she had a chance to launch an attack on his credibility or mental stability and get him all disgruntled again.
After a small hesitation, Faith nodded.
Rawls turned back to Jude. “So as long as you stick close to me, we can keep my invisible hitchhiker at bay.”
Jude frowned, looking uncomfortable again. “This biitei is bound to you. Only a hiixoyooniiheiht created for you, from you, will keep it at bay. Nor is it wise to allow it access to my or Wolf’s hiixoyooniiheiht. It will test the protection spells. Adjust to them, weakening your own hiixoyooniiheiht once Wolf arrives with it.”
Well that was news. “Wolf’s bringin’ me one of those things?”
Jude simply nodded.
“You said it had to be made from my blood—”
“Created, not made,” Jude corrected.
Yeah, well, same difference as far as Rawls could tell, not that it mattered in the grand scheme of things. “How’d he get my blood?”