Hexed

first fight, an’ maybe the second an’ third fights too, you know we’ll keep comin’ back. How many times can you come back from the dead, Mr. Druid? Me an’ my brothers can come back all we want, but I reckon we only have to kill you once. «
    › Atticus? ‹ My hound flattened his ears and showed his teeth, but didn’t quite growl at our guest.
    It’s okay, Oberon. He can hear you, so don’t give anything away. I’ll let you know if I need you . He subsided but kept watching Coyote warily.
    I nodded for Coyote’s benefit. I didn’t tell him I was awfully tough to kill, since the Morrigan had promised never to take me. Still, Coyote could do a lot of damage I might never recover from, as my mangled right ear testified. I just wanted to know how serious he was about this, and now I had my answer.
    » Think ya can give me a ride out there? « I asked. » I ain’t got a car. « Skyline High School was on the east side of Mesa, near the borderline with Apache Junction—which, of course, was the city right outside the Superstition Mountains where the demon had escaped from hell. It would be a twenty-mile bike ride for me one way, which would be less than comfortable.
    » I ain’t got a car neither. « Coyote grinned as he took another slug of beer, threats forgotten. » But that shouldn’t stop me from gettin’ one by tomorrow. «
    » All right, pick me up here at ten in the mornin’, « I said. » And bring a bow. We’re gonna shoot us a demon out o’ the sky. «
    » With regular ol’ arrows? « Coyote’s eyebrows rose so high they got lost underneath his hat.
    » No, we’ll get ourselves some special arrows, « I said. » I think I know where we can get us some holy ones, some demon-slayin’ arrows. «
    » You do? I ain’t never seen any for sale in any of those Cath’lick churches, « Coyote said.
    » When were you ever in a Cath’lick church? « I asked incredulously, and Coyote started to laugh. It was infectious laughter, the kind you cannot help but smile at. » I mean, how would you know, right? They could be passin’ out holy arrows with their Jesus crackers and you’d never know any different. «
    Coyote hooted and hollered and howled his laughter, and it wasn’t long before I was doing the same. He doubled over; he slapped his thighs; he laughed silently for a while because he was out of breath; he laughed until he had tears streaming from his eyes. » I bet it was just like that, Mr. Druid! « Coyote finally managed to gasp. » Them priests would come on up to the soldiers and say, ‘In the name of the Father and the Son, here’s a cracker, now go kill some fuckin’ Indians!’ « And abruptly the laughter died in our throats, and our smiles fell quietly like death shrouds on the fallen. It was simply too close to the truth to be funny. We spent some small while staring down at the flower bed in front of my porch. I cannot speak for what Coyote was thinking, but personally I was haunted by the ghosts of those who had trespassed against me; I was the only survivor of the Holy Roman Church’s war against Druidry.
    Coyote eventually wiped at his cheeks, finished off his Stella, and said, » Thanks for the beer an’ the laugh, Mr. Druid. « He stood up and put the empty on my porch rail, then held out his hand to shake, a huge grin on his face again. » You’d be a good guy if ya wasn’t so damn white. «
    I shook his hand firmly, grinned back, and said, » An’ you’d be a good guy if ya wasn’t a damn dog. « That set Coyote off to laughing again, but this time it seemed not entirely human. He let go of my hand and then I saw what was happening. He fell to all fours, and in another heartbeat he was bounding off my porch in his animal form, yipping his amusement into the cool November night.
    He didn’t even leave any clothes behind; they just sort of melted away somehow. Oberon noticed too. › Bitchin’, ‹ he said. › You should learn how to do that. ‹
    » Right. « I looked down at Oberon and clapped my hands together as Coyote disappeared from view. » Now we can go see the Polish witches. «
    › I think Coyote’s messed with your head, ‹ Oberon observed. › You just said that like it’s some sort of treat. ‹

Chapter 5
    Detecting some ambivalence, I asked Oberon if he’d rather stay home than visit the witches.
    › Actually, a run doesn’t sound all that great right now, ‹ he admitted. › I just had all those sausages. I think a nap would be