Blood in Her Veins (Nineteen Stories From the World of Jane Yellowrock)(2)

“Black Water”—Jane is back in the Deep South, near Houma, this time chasing a human predator, racing to save the lives of the two women he has kidnapped.

Black Arts—The seventh Jane Yellowrock novel

“Off the Grid”—Jane is in Knoxville to do a favor for her boss, the chief fanghead of the southeast U.S. It’s supposed to be an easy investigation, but a very important vampire has gone missing and Jane is drawn into the search. This is where Jane meets Nell Nicholson Ingram for the first time.

Broken Soul—The eighth Jane Yellowrock novel

“Not All as It Seems”—A short story featuring Molly, who gets a surprise visit from vampires looking for a relic their master lost long ago Dark Heir—The ninth Jane Yellowrock novel

“Cat Fight”—Jane is back in Bayou Oiseau, where the witches and vamps are again at war, this time over a magical talisman called le breloque.

“Bound No More”—Angie Baby and Molly come to visit Jane. When an arcenciel also shows up, bent on mischief, Angie proves she is growing up—into the most powerful witch in Everhart history.

Shadow Rights—The tenth Jane Yellowrock novel, releasing in April of 2016





Wesa and the Lumber King

Author’s note: This story takes place in the Hunger Times of the late 1800s–early 1900s.

I/we climbed stunted tree, sat in twisted limb. High on ledge at top of gorge. Hidden by smoke from man fire far below. Man fire burned limbs, leaves cut from trees. Smoke filled air. Sound of axes echoed across gorge. Sound of train whistle split air. Hurt ears. Bad sound. All sound of man was bad sound, but sound of white man was worst sound. No sound of birds. No sound of prey on ground. No good sounds anywhere since white man came to mountains. Below, in gorge, limbs and trees and branches were dropped into water, dropped there by human men. White men.

Wesa, little bobcat, said into back of mind, Yunega tsiluga tala tlugvi, tsiluga totsi tlugvi. White man kill white pine trees, kill white oak trees. Asgina. Devils.

Alpha devil is there, I thought at her. White man in gray pelt. Do you understand his words?

Yunega talk is not Tsalagi talk, she said in mind speech. I do not understand.

I flicked ears, twitched tail, and said to her, Alpha devil points with paw to other white men which trees to cut. With paws and tongue, tells them to load dead trees onto flat thing that moves, flat place called train car. Tells them to throw dead limbs and branches into river below. River is full of trees and does not run. Fish die. Animals run away and die. Birds fly away and die. Smoke fills air, and I cannot breathe.

I/we had talked in mind den about this. I said to wesa again, White devils must die. If white alpha devil dies, then all white men will stop killing earth. Yes?

Wesa did not answer. Wesa shivered in back of mind, in cave den of mind, in place she had made her own. We watched white men in gorge. We had watched them for two days. We knew where the den of the alpha devil was. We knew he went there at night, always by the same path. Just as deer once used to take same path to water in gorge below, alpha devil took same path to his train-car den. I had been ambush hunter even before wesa came to me. I knew to study prey.

After long time, shadows began to stretch upon ground. Wesa stirred and asked, We will kill yunega asgina? Wesa knew this, but still she thought, silent in mind as we watched white man, I do not like to kill humans.

White humans are devils. They kill the earth. I/we will kill them.

But not eat them, wesa said. Elisi, grandmother, say man flesh makes us sick.

We will not eat him. But I/we will kill killer of hunting territory. Killer of trees and killer of prey.

Man was not good hunter, man was stupid. But man was winning and I/we were losing. After killing alpha male human, I/we would leave this place for deep gorge, many days’ walk away. Wesa knew this as well. She did not like it, but she understood. Wesa had once been human, but not white man human. Tsalagi human—Cherokee. Tsalagi understood how to live with earth and not kill it. Some Tsalagi did not protect the earth, some killed her, but not most. All white men killed earth. White man was evil.

I stood up on paws on tree limb and watched as night dropped darkness over all of earth. When shadows were long and human men left from killing trees to go eat food, I leaped to ground. Wesa hid in dark of mind den, afraid.

I raced down from ledge and trees on sheer part of gorge, place where white man could not get to easily, place of stunted trees and snakes and rock. I leaped straight down, thick tail whirling for balance. Halfway down gorge fall, I twisted like snake, and whipped tail. Changed direction, and landed on tiny ledge. There was small cave in back of ledge. Had once used this place for den to have kits. Liked this place long ago. White man had ruined it. Killed it. I did not go to den now, but pawpawpaw down across tiny ledges, leaping from ledge to ledge, which white men called outcropping, until I reached bottom of gorge. Then I moved in shadows for train car of white man, den of white alpha devil.

Night vision came as sunlight left. Earth turned into silvers and greens and grays. Liked this time of day/night. Wesa called it beautiful. I called it safe. Shadows were dark and deep, and wesa had explained that humans could not see in dark. I padded through dark over rutted bare earth to den of alpha devil. Curled into darker shadow beneath train car. I waited. I/we are good at waiting. Time passed. Night was dark. No moon stood in sky. Moon had died and would be reborn as kit moon in one night, tiny and shaped like thin claw. I/we had chosen this night for this reason. Wesa closed her eyes, afraid.