Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World #1)(18)

“So why’d that Law Dog call you a freak?”

I answer around a mouthful of jerky. “Longarm’s an idiot.”

“Clearly. But that didn’t really answer my question.”

I swallow the meat. Take my time picking a roasted pi?on from a small cloth drawstring bag. I eye the medicine-man-in-training as I pop the nut into my mouth. It’s turned rancid and I spit it out, disgusted. “What has Tah told you about clan powers?”

He loosens his tie and pulls at his dress shirt, tenting it away from his chest, sweating. “That they’re gifts from the Diyin Dine’é. That they come from your first two clans only, mother’s first and then father’s. That they manifest in times of great need, but not to everyone, and not everyone is blessed equally.”

“Tah called them a blessing? Said they were gifts from the Holy People?”

Kai takes another bite. “You don’t agree?”

“I’m just saying that your cheii means well, but he doesn’t get out much.” I’m leaning against the wheel of my truck, across from Kai, and I pull a knee up to my chest. Scratch at a place on my calf that itches.

“I suppose it’s all perspective, really,” he says. “Some people see the bad things that happen to them as a burden, others as potential for growth.”

I snort loudly. “Some things are just bad. There’s no redeeming value in suffering. All that noble savage shit is for suckers.”

Kai looks unperturbed. “I met this girl while I was stuck waiting in Rock Springs for border control to process my papers. I don’t remember her mother’s clan, but she was born for T?zhii Dine’é.”

“T?zhii? Don’t know it.”

“Turkey. She was born for Turkey People clan.”

“Huh.” For the life of me, I can’t imagine how that might manifest as a clan power.

“She had a natural thing for turkeys. Like she could find a wild turkey a mile away. And they came to her. She’d call them—she had this turkey call she could do—and they would come. It may not be the superpower you hoped for as a kid, but if you’re starving to death and you need to eat, being able to call a turkey is pretty damn useful. Plus she could sell the feathers for trade.” He gestures, hand open. “There you go. A gift.”

“Just because one clan power manifested benevolently, doesn’t mean they all do.”

“You said nothing good could come from suffering. I’m saying that’s not always true.” He takes another bite of meat, and we pass the canteen. “So why such strong feelings from your law enforcement friend there?”

My mouth twists involuntarily. “Why do you want to know, Kai? You worried about being seen with me?”

“Not at all,” he says with a disarming smile. “I’m new around here, remember? I figure if you and Longarm are natural enemies, that’s probably a sign that we should be friends. Because that guy’s strung way too tight. And I tend to take my cheii’s view of things. If the Diyin Dine’é blessed you in a time of need, I hardly think that makes you a freak.”

I dig my nails into the itchy place on my leg until I feel skin split beneath the fabric. “You sure know how to talk nice.”

He dips his chin in a little bow of acknowledgment. “And you know how to avoid answering a question.”

What the hell. “I’m Honágháahnii, born for K’aahanáanii.”

He nods, thoughtful. “Honágháahnii I know. ‘Walks-Around.’ And that means you’re . . . ?”

“Fast. Really fast.”

“We’re talking . . . ?”

“Faster than human, let’s put it that way.”

He whistles low in appreciation. “Now, that’s a superpower. Wish I could see.”

“No, you don’t,” I say. “If Honágháahnii comes, it means we’re in trouble.”

“Right,” he says. “Forgot about that part. So what’s your other clan? What does K’aahanáanii mean?”

“?‘Living Arrow.’?”

“So does that mean you’re good at archery or something?”

“No, Kai.” I stand up, stretch. Brush the dust from my backside and my thighs. I can feel blood trickling down my calf where I dug into the flesh hard enough to make it bleed. I look down at Kai, still sitting with his tie over his shoulder, face curious like clan powers are an intellectual exercise. Or maybe cool superpowers that don’t make people distrust you, don’t get you treated like you’re diseased or a step away from being one of the monsters yourself. That they don’t make your mentor turn from you in disgust, your bloodlust so terrible that even he, a warrior of legend, cannot fathom what drives you. Tah may think them a blessing, and Kai, too. But I know better.

“Living Arrow means I’m really good at killing people.”

Kai pushes his aviators up, like he’s trying to get a good look at me. Then he blinks, slow and heavy-lidded, before he lets them drop. Flips his tie back in place and yawns big, stretching his arms over his head. Leans back to rest his elbows on the Pendleton and says, “Well, Mags, at least you know what you’re good at, right?”

I stare. I was ready for disgust. For horror. Even disbelief. But equanimity? I remember Kai back at Tah’s, gently petting that severed head like it was a house cat and not a . . . well . . . monster’s severed head.