Chapter 16

A father's wraith, a magic man, and short on payment seem like a bad time for all, hm?

“Let me go,” Evangeline ordered as Mr. Crow tossed her out of the pool of shadows in front of John’s house where all the cars were resting, and a lot of her father's men were sitting around. Most of them were smoking and drinking with their guns nearby but at rest. She grunted as she tried to get up, but the wounds in her leg were causing her problems. Mr. Crow reached out to help her get to her feet. She jerked from his hand once she could stand alone, making him grin at her.

                “What?” She hissed.

                “You got fire in your soul,” Mr. Crow said, looking into her eyes. “Fire is good; it means you’re a mighty warrior in a past life.”

                She didn’t say anything to him, staring into his dark eyes. They stood there as her father’s men got to their feet, waiting for something to happen, and one of them, a man named Bull Waters, glanced down at the blood dried on her pants. He eyed the bandages around her wound.

                “You were told not to harm her,” Bull said, almost growling at Mr. Crow. Mr. Crow turned his dark eyes to the man holding the Tommy gun chewing on a cigar, giving the hunter the look of a killer. Mr. Crow lifted his head, letting his fingers dig out some jerky from a tiny pouch, and tossed it in his mouth.

                “Did you hear me red skin?” Bull asked, almost storming forward, but all Mr. Crow did was chew on the tough jerky. “I’m talking ya. Are you dumb and deaf?”

                “Bull,” Evangeline said, stepping between them. “It wasn’t he who hurt me but your men.”

                He rolled his jaw, looking down at her, and shook his head. “You’re in big trouble, Miss Arkansas.”

                “Sure,” she said, “where’s Pa?”

                “Inside,” Bull said, “come on, I’ll help ya.”

                Mr. Crow put some more jerky into his mouth, following behind them like a cat being led into the house. Evangeline tried her best not to walk with a limp, but the wound was deep, and the pain was a bit too much. She grabs onto Bull’s arm as one of the men opens the door to the house.

                Mr. Crow followed in behind them, watching the men who were standing near him. He didn’t like working for the whites, but they paid well, and he needed the money for his people. His people hid in the shadows of this world, plotting and planning to take back their lands, but it was a joke to him. He knew better; there was no taking back the land from the whites. His people, along with all the natives of the New World, lost the war. It was a cold fact of life. They lost, and spoiled goes to the victor.

                If Mr. Crow’s people, the Shadow Riders, got their victor, then all the white men would be put to death, giving them old powers while all the white women would be sold into slavery, but time had marched on, and there was no winning the war.

                Now, Mr. Crow and a lot more of his other people lived in the shadows, working and killing where they could for the right price.

                 He chews on his food, thinking about that mighty fine necklace he saw in New York City a few months back. He would travel back up there if the spells would hold and get his lovely girl that rich necklace. Sweet Annabeth would love such a thing. She was fully white, not like he cared, but she would make a good housewife. He wanted a good housewife. He needed someone to go home to, too.

                “Boss?” Bull said, everyone stopping in the living room. Mr. Crow saw Evangeline looking around for John, but he was dead and buried outside. They heard a chair move in the kitchen, and Mr. Arkansas came storming out.

                “You,” he roared, making Evangeline straighten herself up like she was getting ready for a fight. Mr. Crow was amused at the sight; he could see it in Mr. Arkansas’s eyes, but it wasn’t the first time she had stood her ground against him.

                The fire burns in her soul; he thought right as Mr. Arkansas nailed her in the nose with a full-on punch, causing her to be thrown off her feet and some of his men catching her. She was almost shocked by the force of the hit as Mr. Crow was, and the men held her as Mr. Arkansas gave her a few good hits into the stomach, causing her to gasp for air.

                “You got many of my people killed,” he roared, “and for what? You w***e of a mother. I’ll show what it’s like to be treated like a w***e.”

                He was going to town on her, and he wasn’t holding back, it seemed. Evangelica was trying her best not to cry, but the tears were mixing with the blood coming from her nose. It was a nasty sight, and Mr. Crow wasn’t one to watch it.

                He wasn’t paid to stop it, but he didn’t have to stay around to watch it either.

                “Mr. Arkansas,” he said, making Willy stop and look at him with rage still burning in his eyes, “my payment.” He tossed another piece of jerky in his mouth. “Sir.”

                Mr. Arkansas took a step back from his daughter as she almost went limp from the attack. He looked at her, shaking his head, and then down at her leg. He nodded, pulling out his wallet and giving Mr. Crow his payment, but it was only two hundred short.

                “You brought her back hurt,” he said. “That’s not what I paid for.”

                Mr. Crow rolled his jaw. “Your men hurt her,” he said smoothly, “not me.”

                “Not my problem,” he said, almost growling and locking eyes with Mr. Crow. “But you can make it your problem.”

                “You don’t want to play this game,” Mr. Crow said, stepping up and all the men moving closer, “white man.”

                “You’re outnumbered, red blood,” he said, “you’re not going to win.”

                Mr. Crow narrowed his eyes at Willy, and before anyone could start the killing, one of the men outside stuck his head in and said, “Uh, boss, you aren’t going to believe this.”