Tricked

grabbing it for me? «
    » What are you planning to set on fire? « he asked.
    » Skinwalkers. Extinguisher is just in case. « He looked at me as though I might have gone mad, but then he shrugged and moved to get the extinguisher. I gathered up the stakes I’d made and dumped them on the floor of the hogan underneath the SUV’s roof, ignoring the escalating argument between Sophie and Granuaile and the continued shouting match in Navajo between Frank and the skinwalkers outside. I started for one of the kerosene lanterns to extinguish it but then had a better idea.
    » Hey, Ben, do you have extra containers of lamp oil in there too? « I asked.
    » Yeah, « he said.
    » Great. Need some of those. «
    I dumped a whole container of the lamp oil over the stakes and then started handing them up to Granuaile after she got herself perched on a chair.
    » Just sort of arrange them in the center of the roof area, « I said. » They need to be touching one another. « I would have preferred to bind the stakes to the SUV’s roof so that they would point upward, but the manufacturer had lined the roof with a synthetic material I couldn’t work with, and it was impossible to get in there and tear it out. The stakes would simply have to serve as kindling.
    » I can’t get them to always lie on top of one another, « Granuaile reported. » We need to throw some in from the other side too. Plus a lot of them are rolling to the front, because it’s not exactly level in there. «
    » Okay, « I said, » I’ll get over there, « and I went to get another chair. Sophie protested.
    » Look, we heard your dire warnings, and if we die it’s not your fault, okay? « I said. Sophie threw up her hands and turned her back on us, muttering about idiots.
    » Hey, Mr. Collins, « Frank interjected, » whatever you’re gonna do, you might wanna hurry. They ain’t buyin’ what I’m sellin’. «
    I hopped up on the chair and asked Granuaile to hop down from hers and hand me some stakes. No sooner was I up there than the SUV shuddered. The skinwalkers had leapt on top of it again, taking advantage of the dead space in the Blessing Way ward. This time they’d be ready for unexpected shifts and were hanging on; taking such care would slow them down, but they were also determined to rip through the chassis to get to us.
    I tossed a few more stakes in the window and saw what Granuaile meant. Most of the stakes had rolled down to where the roof met the front windshield. But I could fix that, since no one could see what I was doing. I bound the stakes together end to end and then crosswise so that they spanned the roof in a rough grid—or a grill would be a better image. A grill primed with kerosene. A tearing noise and starlight above me indicated that the skinwalkers had punctured the cabin. They were wrestling with the seats now.
    » Need a lighter, quick! « I said. » Or matches! « This was one of those times I wished Druids could do neato things with fire. Maybe I should try to figure out how to make friends with a phosphorous elemental.
    Ben and Frank patted themselves down helplessly and looked around. Granuaile didn’t have anything, I knew. » How’d you guys get the lanterns lit without matches? « I asked.
    The driver’s seat disappeared with a shriek of metal, and a skinwalker in human form dropped down onto the roof. I saw a flash of orange eyes and ducked as he took a swing at me through the window.
    » Here! « Someone pressed a lighter into my hand. It was Sophie. I didn’t have time to thank her. I bobbed back up and socked my left hand through the window, not caring if I hit him or not. He dodged back easily and began to turn, considering an exit out the passenger side, because the confined space wasn’t to his advantage. And then I lit the nearest stake and watched the flames travel along my improvised grill, even as the second skinwalker landed next to the first.
    They burned and screamed and climbed on top of each other in an attempt to escape, which only made it worse. They eventually exited through the roof and forgot, in their haste, that the roof of the hogan was still warded. The Blessing Way burned them again and they tumbled off the hogan, howling.
    Frank grinned at me as their cries of pain faded; they were clearly retreating.
    » Think that got ’em, « he said.
    » For the night, anyway, « I agreed. » They’ll be back tomorrow night. We didn’t do any permanent damage to them, but now they have