16, The barn

Tite

I had been so close to losing control and giving in to the mate bond. Fuck, it was stronger than I had expected and it clearly affected Nash as well, just not in the way I wanted it. In a way I felt sorry for him. It must be frustrating to feel the pull but don’t understand it, thinking it’s just some super charged sexual tension. I sighed and reminded myself I needed to be the responsible one, because I knew what was happening. I got back into the bar and before I knew it, Essme had walked up to me with four other women I hadn’t met before. She introduced me to them and told me they were all offering to help with the clean up after lunch. I thanked them and joined in. I knew from experience that working together loosened the tongues and this was a valuable opportunity to get information.

“I really like having lunch like this,” Rosa said as we worked. The others agreed.

“I haven’t seen that many old ladies, or kids, around here,” I said.

“Well of course not. With what’s been going on here the last couple of months, no parent would let their kid be around,” Manuela told me.

“Right,” I agreed. I should have thought of that. No parent would take their kids to a place that regularly were turned into an active gunfight arena.

“Even before that, we have never spent much time at the clubhouse,” Rosa said.

“You weren’t here when Ram was prez. Things were different then. Us old ladies used to hang in the bar, the club purchased all the land around here. Ram and the others in the top were planning on letting members build homes on the land,” Essme told us.

“It never happened?” I asked.

“Some did, like Little. I think he was the first one to ask permission. Me and Doc also built a house on club land. Back then you just needed to hand in a blueprint and tell how much land you needed to the prez or the vice prez. then they would bring it to church and if it wasn’t unreasonable you got permission. Nowadays, things are different. I don’t think anyone has got permission to build in the last three years,” Essme said.

“Yeah. Roller and I applied last spring, but were told no. We never got a reason why,” Candy said. Everyone nodded.

“But where do you all live then?” I asked. “You can’t all be living in the clubhouse?”

“Oh gosh, no. The rooms here are tiny. You can barely live two people in one room, never mind raising a family. Well, except for Chief’s apartment, he has the top floor to himself,” Rosa said. “There are some of the single members and the prospects who live here. The rest of us live in town or rent a house somewhere close by,” she continued.

“But how does the club keep you safe when you are so spread out?” I asked. I was trying to think of a way to plan a patrol schedule, but it was a logistical nightmare.

“Our men keep us safe, and the club's reputation,” Maya explained.

“That was one of the reasons Ram wanted more of the members to build on club land. It would be easier for the club to keep us all safe,” Essme said. I nodded. We continued to chit chat as we worked and the cleanup was done in no time with so many of us helping. When we were done I had been added to the group chat with the old ladies of the club, as an honorary member. It would give me a way to organise more events and keep up with the gossip. I headed out in hunt for Shadow. I found him in the parking lot, looking over his bike.

“Do you have some time to spare me?” I asked as I walked up to him. He gave me a smile.

“Sure. What did you have in mind? I’m not going shopping with you,” he told me. I laughed.

“Thank the fuck for that. No, I was thinking you could show me around the back and the sheds out there. Maybe we could have a look at the one who makes your nose tingle,” I suggested.

“Sure,” he agreed and we walked through the main building. The backyard was completely fenced in with a high wooden fence. There was a gate leading out at the far back.

“I heard the club owned quite a bit of land, is that true?” I asked as we walked. I was keeping my voice low, making it improbable for humans to overhear me.

“How did you? You know what, I don’t want to know. Yes. I’m not part of the leadership so I don’t have the details, but we own most of the land around the clubhouse. As far as I know it goes all the way up to the city limits in the east, and about as far in the other directions as well,” he told me, using the same whispering voice.

“That is a big chunk of land. What is it used for?”

“A handful of members have been given permission to build homes on the land. Those are mostly to the west as it’s easy access to the city and it’s been easier to connect to the electricity grid and things like that. The rest of the land is untouched. We sometimes use it for getting rid of the unwelcome guests we get. There are quite a lot of coyotes that help us out,” he said.

“So you have all this land and you don’t use it?” I asked. We had walked into the first shed. It looked like a regular shed. I could see tools and a lawnmower. Nothing tingled in my nose and I didn’t feel any magic.

“As Chief tells us, it was mostly bought to make sure no one else bought it. It gives us the privacy we want.”

“I can see how that comes in handy. Not that different from how a pack does it. But we try to use the land we have,” I said as we walked to the next shed. This one was smaller. Tools were hanging on the walls and there was a sturdy-looking chair in the middle of the space. There was an unmistakable scent of old blood and urine. I scrunched my nose.

“Not the most pleasant place,” Shadow said.

“No, but I guess it has its uses.” He grunted an agreement. Although it wasn’t a nice place, I didn’t get the feeling anything out of the ordinary was involved. That only left the big shed, more like a small barn, for us to look into. “Is this the one that makes your nose tingle?” I asked.

“Yeah, I saved it for last,” Shadow told me. I nodded. As soon as we opened the door and stepped inside, I could feel it. My nose tingled and I felt the disturbance in the aether.

“Yeah, there is magic here,” I told him and cautiously moved into the large building. Shadow followed me and I could feel he was just as on the edge as I was. “There,” I said to him and pointed to a place where a ceiling beam met the wall.

“The small brown thing?” he asked.

“Yes. A hex bag,” I told him.

“Someone is cursing us?”

“Not necessarily, they can be used for a lot of things. We need to look inside,” I said. I was getting excited. It was rare that I got to work with magic and when I did, it was always a treat.

“Will it hurt us?” Shadow asked, and I got a mental image of the bag developing a mouth with sharp teeth and chasing us around. I giggled and got a look from Shadow.

“No, the bag is safe to touch. We should make sure not to touch what’s inside it though. At least until we figure out what it does. Do you see a ladder?”

“Over there, I’ll get it,” he said. He got the ladder and climbed up. Shadow grabbed the bag cautiously between two fingers and tossed it down on a nearby workbench. I walked over to it and examined it. There was clearly magic seeping from it, but nothing on the outside seemed dangerous. I untied the string that was keeping the bag closed. Shadow joined me and looked at what I did. I emptied the bag out on the workbench, careful not to touch anything inside it. I looked down at the pile of items.

“Oh,” I said.