CHAPTER 64

"Pestilence is a girl?" She looked at the rider in the spacesuit and realized it was a high-tech hazmat suit.

"No. They're complicated, and still figuring things out." Death led her to the door. "Their identity has been in flux for millennia. In fact, Pestilence is their new name. I think they like it, but it's hard to tell now that I can't see their face. When I'm standing really close, I can hear what sounds like thousands of bees buzzing inside. Can you imagine that?"

"Guess I won't have to." She put her hand on the knob and pulled. If Death's siblings couldn't be seduced, then half of Mike's typical strategy was already out the window. "Let's see if we can get lucky."

The cabin smelled like hot butter and cinnamon. When Mike stepped out of his bedroom, the smell intensified, and he saw Yuki standing in the kitchen. She was ladling oatmeal into a bowl and winked when she saw him.

"Morning." She smiled knowingly before taking a bite. "There's plenty left. You should have some to replenish that energy of yours."

Mike blushed. "I'm guessing everyone heard?"

"Not only that, but you fucked up Bigfoot's VHS collection. His tapes are all messed up. They have these wavy lines all over them."

"Oh, shit, really?"

"Yes!" Bigfoot shoved open the bathroom door and limped to the couch. "I had to switch to DVD and I hate it!"

"Why do you hate DVD?" If Bigfoot was not moving like a geriatric patient with arthritis, he would have felt threatened by the angry Sasquatch.

"My fingers are too fucking big for the remote." Bigfoot sat down with a grunt and held up a black piece of plastic that was dwarfed in his palm. It was clear to Mike that each button would be very difficult for the cryptid to press.

"Where's Quetzalli?" he asked.

"Using up what's left of the hot water." Yuki tapped her spoon on the table. "Your bedroom smells like a fuck-pit, and you're no better."

"Oh." He couldn't even argue. His stomach was still covered in dry spunk. "I guess I could always take a cold shower."

"You'll freeze your balls off." Bigfoot glanced over his shoulder. The television was displaying the DVD player's loading screen. "Our water comes from a well. Darren put in a heater, but it's old. About twenty years ago, you could get a couple of showers out of it. But now?" He shivered. "If you're in a hurry, you could drop by the hot springs. It isn't a far walk."

"Hot springs?" Mike's mind immediately went to Naia. He wondered how she was doing.

"Yeah, there's a few. Big enough to swim in. Just don't try diving to the bottom, they're deeper than they look. The water gets much hotter and you might pass out." Bigfoot uncapped a beer that had been down by his feet. "This one time, I was at Yellowstone and saw a guy go swimming in one that was near boiling. Cooked him like a brat, he split open along the sides toward the end."

"Gross." Yuki frowned at her oatmeal. "I saw something like that once in Japan. Very unpleasant."

The front door opened and Dana walked in. Her nose wrinkled and she looked at Mike.

"Oh, wow, that's strong." She covered her nose and gave him a wide berth as she moved to sit next to Bigfoot.

A door shut in the cabin, and Quetzalli appeared with a towel around her body and another towel wrapped around her head. She gave Mike a wink and disappeared into their bedroom.

"Maybe I'll hit those springs." He stood and moved to the front door. "Where are they?"

"I'll take you." Dana stood and moved toward the door. "I don't want you getting lost."

Mike grabbed his coat, and they walked outside together. He shivered in the cool air, wondering if the hot spring would be warm enough to counter the chill. Up above, he saw Abella circle for a landing.

"Are we going home today?" She looked unusually grumpy.

"Not yet. Once Bigfoot is up and about, we'll plan for going home." He pulled out his phone and frowned. "I'm also thinking that I should head for the boundary. See if I can't get a signal on this thing."

Abella rolled her eyes and held out a hand.

"Give it here. It will take you all day to walk there and back. I can do it in a quarter of the time."

"Thank you." He handed over his phone. "Let them know that we're safe. I think our Nirumbi issue is solved." If that was our main issue, he thought to himself. Whatever had been watching him didn't seem to be around now. Hopefully it had gone with the Nirumbi.

"I'll be back." Abella launched herself skyward in a motion that scattered a flurry of snowflakes in every direction, blasting Mike with icy shards. He brushed himself off and watched as the gargoyle disappeared over the trees.

"She's in a foul mood," Dana muttered under her breath.

Mike sighed, but kept his thoughts to himself.

They walked into the forest, exchanging chit-chat. Dana was working her way through a ton of science fiction novels on her phone and was also learning conversational Russian. She also told him about her progress on the telescope, and how she thought it may be operable in the months ahead. The observatory was a room he hadn't spent much time in. It unnerved him how it looked out on an unfamiliar sky. Sometimes if he stared for long enough, it felt like the sky was looking back.