“Will you weave cobwebs across the sky tonight, old woman?” Its voice was a knife that sliced through rational thought. It made me want to tear my own face off and offer it up to him as a ceremonial mask.
This is only an echo of what the vampires suffered under him. And a preview of what life will become if we lose.
Grandmother Spider answered, “It is not yet time for the Blue Star Kachina. Ash will not fall from the sky.” The sound of her words soothed the madness like cool rain on a fevered brow.
“Then what’s in the bottle?”
“You know who it is. And I know you want him and why.”
Every word she said brought me back to myself.
Kokopelli laughed and I felt a million ants crawl through my brain. I fought the sensation, determined to keep my sanity.
“Give him to me. He is my brother.”
“Give him to me, for a lover.” Kokopelli-Mana’s voice was worse, a twisted version of Grandmother Spider’s that wanted me to come to her arms where she’d change me into—
Stronger arms wrapped around me, stopping me from walking to my death.
Brand.
He held me the way he did at the rave. His ears were stoppered up with a pair of earplugs he’d stolen off a bloodsucker. He leaned in close.
“Daphne was the last. I don’t leave anyone behind anymore, Kelly. Especially not the woman I love.”
He grounded and centered me, damn it. My kind.
And the soothing balm of Grandmother Spider’s voice cleared the rest of the insanity from my mind. “He is no brother of yours. He will never be your lover. You will put a stop to this.”
“No. Summer is our time. Your stories are told after the ground freezes and the snow falls. You have no power now.”
“No?” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the three sticks she’d shown me earlier.
“You’re a foolish old woman. That game is for wintertime. We don’t play it in the summer.”
Grandmother Spider smiled and looked at me. “Now, Kelly.”
“Is….” My voice creaked out of me “Is it…time to release the Kachina?”
“Yes.”
And Chasing Star Dancer flew into the sky.
The stars disappeared behind thick clouds and suddenly the air filled with swirling snow. The ground frosted under our feet.
Grandmother Spider laughed. “Looks like winter came early.” She held up the sticks, fanned out between her fingers. “Let’s gamble!”