“Hailey,” he said, “we’ve decided you should know some things about your family.”
Hailey uncrossed her arms, anxious to hear whatever her uncle was about to share.
“You see, dear, a long time ago—a very, very, very long feckin time ago,” he said with clenched teeth, but then he relaxed, “my brothers and I met a…a man, who asked us to watch over…eh…you and your sister.”
“How long ago? Who asked you? And…and why?”
“Long before you were born,” he said with a dismissive wave, but she furrowed her brow at him until he expounded. “It’s been a few generations now. Started with our sister in Ireland. Then her daughter and her daughter’s daughter and so on.”
“How…old are you—wait” She held up her hand. She didn’t want to know. “Just tell me you’re my uncle.” She left off the great-’s, because, honestly, at this point she didn’t know how many to add, and she didn’t care how distant his blood was anyway. She still had family. That’s all that mattered.
Pix nodded, his eyes softening. “And it was more of a ‘what’ than a ‘who,’ dear.”
“You mean an Envoy.” Finally some information on her nightmare monsters!
“Monsters, all of ‘em,” he said angrily as if he could read her mind. “They don’t belong on this Earth, dear, but they’re trapped here. They want to go home, and you girls were…eh…helping them by living a good, long life.”
“How does that help them?”
“That’s a story for another day.”
He patted her leg, and then he pointed to her letter.
“One exists at Bear Towne, and most of us think he meant to keep you and your sister safe.”
This sounded vaguely like something Hailey had dreamed, but she couldn’t quite remember.
“What do you think, Uncle Pix?”
“I think that we can’t protect you here,” he said, looking at her sadly, “but this one in Alaska… I think this one might be friendly, might want to protect you.”
“Protect me from what?”
“I think you already know what killed your sister,” he said ominously. “But. I don’t think it will bother you, especially not at Bear Towne.”
“What do you know about Bear Towne?” she asked.
He drew a great breath.
“Eh…” He shook his head and crossed his arms. “Strange place, for sure, and cold—feckin cold in the wintertime and swarming with bloodsuckers in the summer. Couple’a earthquakes and an explosion here and there, too.”
Hailey’s face fell.
“But,” he said more cheerfully, “your Uncle Dale works near the University. Drives one of those big machines that moves the earth around. Oh and…eh…the staff are very, very knowledgeable. You’d learn a lot studying under them. And Woodfork is a good man. We’ve known him for…well, for quite a while,” he concluded with an exaggerated nod, which Hailey recognized. Uncle Pix was done talking about this.
Sighing, she leaned back into the couch and caught a whiff of cologne.
“Where do you suppose Fin is?” she asked.
“Who the hell cares?” was her uncle’s response.
“I thought you liked him.”
“He’s a pain in the arse, and he’s probably off chasing women and getting into trouble.”
“Oh.”
It was probably no use asking if Uncle Pix was worried about him. She was pretty sure she already knew his answer. Hailey stared at the floor, but caught a glimpse of white flit through the reflection on the coffee table.
