Ghoulies Abroad, Julie Steimle [libby ebook reader .TXT] 📗

to be frank, I did not want to bring the likes of Semour here with his silver sword among nervous wolves. Besides that, the rest of you have killed too many werewolves yourselves.”

Semour bristled a little. Yet Eddie shared a comprehending look. James seemed a little put out by it, and Andy seemed downright offended. Yet Andy said, “I get it. Wolf versus hunter. You had to choose a side.”

Rick rolled his eyes. “No. Abey—”

“It’s Andy,” his friend snapped with hard bite. It was the worst whenever they corrected each other. It proved his old friend was angry.

“Fine. Andrew,” Rick bit back. “The point is, I didn’t know how they would react to you. And yes. I do protect packs from you. I honestly don’t know how impulsive you guys are when it comes to werewolves. And I am afraid to ask. Besides, between wolf packs there is a trust—a trust that I do not lead hunters to them. Understand? My family cannot do business with wolves if we break that trust, no matter how much I may trust you with my own life.”

His friends in the Seven shared looks. Expressions softened. They sighed.

Andy leaned back, frowning. “I get it. It’s just… it hurts when you keep secrets from us.”

Raising his hand as though making a vow, Rick said, “From this moment on, I will not keep any more secrets from you guys on this trip.”

“Notice how he added ‘on this trip’,” Eddie murmured to Semour.

Semour snorted, nodding.

Rick moaned. “Yeah. Ok. I know you don’t like being led along like this, but I had to protect that pack. Sorry.”

Their silence answered him.

“That aside,” Daniel lifted his voice, rising, “We also had a little help on the trip back.”

“A friendly elf?” Tom suggested, smirking with arms folded. “He was an awesome driver.”

All those who had been in the car with him shot Tom a wan look. Tom’s definition of awesome must have included near-death experiences.

“There’s usually two sides to a battle,” Chen murmured. He glanced to Rick. “Maybe it was someone connected to that monk.”

Rick nodded. He had thought of that. Their monk had to be connected to or hyper aware of the supernatural.

“Well, I’m whipped,” Tom said, turning to go. He waved to them. “See you in the morning folks.”

Chen followed him.

Rick remained only because he still felt the air needed to be cleared. He said, “Look. I know wolves. And that pack would not have trusted me if I had come with all of you. They hardly believed they had demons among them as it was. And as for me bringing only Chen and Tom, trust me when I say, among wolves that was all I needed. It will only be harder when we face the tigers—because they are going to hate me for being a wolf.”

The group of five cringed, nodding. That would be true, especially if the tiger village was in a feud with the wolf pack.

Rick turned to go.

“What was that thing about Chen being a Bai Nian that got those wolves upset?” Daniel asked.

Rick shrugged. “That, I don’t know. My guess is that Chen’s family is a lot like Tommy Whitefeather’s.”

“He hates being compared to Tommy Whitefeather, though,” Eddie said to his fellow men-in-arms. “Have you noticed?”

They all nodded.

Sighing, Rick thought about that. He wondered about the exact reason. He knew a number of Chinese attitudes well enough to have a few guesses, but he did not want to voice them as it painted his friend in a bad light and also put himself in a judgmental position. “True. But that does not mean they still aren’t the same. Those wolves probably see Chen as the equivalent to the SRA, if his family had acted as monster hunters. But honestly I am only guessing.”

They agreed. It was only a guess.

Rick returned to his room.

It was a while before Andy went to bed, clearly having counseled with the others in his group before returning to his room. And when he did, Andy did it soundlessly. Rick hardly knew when he had gone to sleep.

*

Waking, Rick felt a little more balanced and less jet lagged. It was amazing he had been able to sleep through the night at all. No monkey visits at least. When he met his friends down in the cafeteria where the local fare was being served for breakfast, most of them looked ready to get going—except Chen. Chen slumped against the table like he had hardly slept.

Rick sat next to him. “Hey, how are you doing?”

Chen lifted his eyes and shook his head.

“Really bad dreams,” Tom explained, eating two large baozi in succession, one right after another.

Everyone in the Seven shared commiserating looks, all of them a little worse for wear.

“Did you get any sleep at all?” Rick asked, now surprised he had.

“Some,” Chen muttered. “I don’t know why it is happing, but I keep dreaming of going to Hua Guo Shan where I am supposed to help in the fight against, like, hordes of demons—and I can’t transform—not even into a monkey.”

With unmasked incredulity, Rick said, “You changed pretty well last night.”

Chen nodded. “Yeah, I know. That’s the weird thing. In the moment, with those demons near, it was easy. But I’ve been dreaming that they have semi-automatic rifles—”

“I can take care of that,” Tom announced confidently, then popped another baozi into his mouth, cheerfully chewing.

Chen shot him a confused look.

“Tom is good at disarming people,” Rick and Daniel said. They shared a look and smirked.

That eased Chen’s worries a degree. He said, “Ok. But what about the hordes. There is only the eight of us, and one is just a wolf.”

“Hey!” Rick laughed. It was the first time anyone said he was ‘just’ a wolf.

“No, he has a point,” Eddie muttered, stirring the cooled congee in his breakfast bowl. He looked to Chen as he said, “Do you think these are premonitions?”

Chen shrugged, unable to eat his plate of food. “I don’t know. I’ve never had them before.”

“Ok, this is what I think.” Andy rose, his own breakfast plate completely cleaned off. “Tom, you are on disarming duty, especially when it comes to guns.”

Tom saluted him, eating another baozi and stuffing two into his hoodie pockets. Disarming people would be easy for him to do. Imps loved listening to that silent click of a gun that was supposed to have a bullet while watching the dumbfounded faces of those holding the weapon. He just had to remind them that dead people were no fun and the game would be over if any of them died.

“Chen, Swift told us you can sense demons and read pasts just by touch,” Andy gazed solemnly on him. “We are going to need that.”

“I am afraid that word will get out that a Bai Nian is among us,” Daniel said, raising a hand. “We’re going to have to watch his back more.”

Chen gazed gratefully at Daniel. Tension eased out of his neck and shoulders. He looked likely to hug Daniel, actually. This information was exactly what he needed.

“You really think that is a big deal?” Andy asked, watching Chen also.

Daniel nodded hard. “Those wolves were upset, but those demons were terrified. I could feel it in my hand.”

They shared looks.

“But what about the dragon thing,” James hissed to Daniel.

Closing his eyes with a groan, Daniel said, “I just have to remind myself that his dragon is a good dragon and he is not going to eat me.”

James patted him on the back. So did Eddie and Semour.

Andy, however, looked to Chen and said, “I’d like to see this dragon.”

“Not in here,” Rick whispered, glancing around. “It’s pretty big.”

“But what if I do freeze up?” Chen asked, anxiety returning.

“Not to worry.” Rick smiled. “Any one of us except Tom is born in the year of the dragon. All we have to do is hug you.”

Chen lifted his eyebrow then nodded to himself. That would do it.

“That’s all it takes?” Eddie asked, picking up the steamed buns he had not eaten from his plate and stuffing them into his bag like Tom had.

“In an emergency,” Rick said, eying him, then Tom. “Yes.”

With that conversation over, they left the table and went back to their rooms.

They soon left the hotel, got into the newly hired van and rode out toward the tiger village.

This time they had problems.

First they had a flat tire.

Then they needed gas.

Then a flock of birds suddenly pooped on the windshield, covering most of it. They had to brake fast for that one. And once they reached the outskirts of the city their vehicle had a major tire blow out. As the driver cursed that they were bad luck, they turned to hike the rest of the way.

Rick paid the driver for the damage to the car before they went on.

The tiger village wasn’t that far from Nanjing. It was just hidden up in the mountains. Rick had never been there, but he had gotten a message on his WeChat with a map from A MonkK. Rick was impressed at how tech savvy the monk was. Connected to the supernatural and handy with a computer—this was a guy to meet. The funny thing was, the staircase they took which let into the forested area had a stone sign that said Hu Pao. Hu was Chinese for tiger.

They climbed the staircase.

“What is with the Chinese and stairs? Can’t they just have normal hiking paths?” James muttered as they went up and down hills.

Rick shrugged, hiking not far ahead. He was guiding them, having already led them from the main hiking staircase to a minor, crumbling set.

“I totally feel like that Kung Fu Panda right now…” Eddie muttered, practically breathless. “…My old enemy…stairs.”

Semour chuckled. So did most of the others. All of them were breathing heavily, though some more than others.

“Wow,” Daniel murmured, breathing hard. “It has been ages since I’ve hiked this much.”

“You should go hiking with me more often,” James said with a lot more ease. “It would do you good to get away from the library and back out into the open air.”

“So says the forest ranger,” Semour muttered, feeling his heart pound. “I am glad to be living where I have a soft bed and warm central heating.”

“Not in China,” Chen interjected as he walked up. He was somehow chipper, in a better mood than he had been in days.

“At least outside the hotels,” Rick put in, leading the hike.

Tom hopped up the mountain, allowing his weight to remain as light as he wanted as he ascended up the mountain, while most of the others’ legs burned.

“Howie,” Andy shot up to Rick, winded, “How can a guy studying business be in such great shape?—you stinker.”

Amused, Rick looked back down the hill, snorting. “For real? Seriously, Abey, I get hunted every month. I need to be in top shape or I am a dead wolf.”

“That’s a good point,” Eddie muttered, keeping up well. Then again he worked daily with horses and also was in pretty good shape.

“Maybe you ought to join James in some outdoor hiking and get away from the formaldehyde and scalpels for a bit,” Rick said. “Or perhaps take a trip to the big city.”

Andy started laughing, heavily nodding with sweat. “Perhaps a trip to New York to see my girlfriend you mean?”

Rick colored as that message had simply become second nature, but he grinned. Andy had gotten the message. 

 

Rick smelled the tigers before he could see them. But the others had felt them a long way off, anticipating their arrival with the increasing burning in their palms. Finally, Andy jogged up the steps and grabbed Rick’s shoulder, holding him back. “Wait.”

Halting, Rick felt the hairs on his neck stand up. He could hear some of the tigers breathing—and they were as tigers, not men.

“How did you find this village?” a voice from the shadows asked in distinct English.

Rick stiffened. For the first time he thought it was unwise for him to be the spokesperson for the group.

“A monk sent for