“Bix yanilech?” Jenny asked. How are you?
“Okay,” Kisa said, staring at Jenny and trembling.
Jenny held up a hand and managed half a smile. “No touch.”
“No shit,” Kisa replied.
“Manuel, I think we're done shopping for today.”
Manuel nodded, looking at the diseased corpses.
Jenny turned and stepped into the pottery tent, picking up the bag of newly purchased clothes she'd dropped along the way. She held the flap open and gestured for them to follow. Manuel entered the tent and passed Jenny, while Kisa approached her slowly.
“Jenny,” Kisa said. “You are a powerful bruja. A powerful ah itz.”
Jenny nodded. “I'm kind of stuck with it.”
“Thank you,” Kisa said.
“Mixba,” Jenny replied with a grin. But Kisa was too shocked, or too horrified, to return her smile.
***
An hour before dawn, Jenny was awoken by a soft knock on her door.
“Hello?” Jenny whispered. She sat up on her elbows. “Kisa?”
The door cracked open. “It's Alexander. I drove all night when I heard what happened. Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” Jenny had bandaged the knife wound on her. She expected it to heal as quickly as all her injuries did. She seemed to heal even faster than usual when Alexander was around.
“I'll let you sleep,” he whispered.
“No, it's okay,” Jenny said. “You can come in.”
She watched Alexander in the moonlight as he sat down on the corner of her bed, near her feet.
“I killed two people,” Jenny said.
“I hope you got some good shopping in first.”
“I'm serious.”
“They attacked you, didn't they?”
“And Kisa.”
“So it's good you did,” Alexander said. “God knows what they might have done to you girls.”
“I promised myself I'd never use the pox again.”
“But you had to. You shouldn't feel guilty about it, Jenny. Not for a second.”
“I do feel guilty,” Jenny said. “And not just because I did it, but because...I kind of liked it, Alexander. Like I was dealing out justice. Like I had a right to kill people if I wanted.”
“You do have the right to deal justice. Somebody has to, and you're capable of it.”
“Yeah, I'm definitely capable...”
“Look, Jenny, you just killed a couple of assholes. You made the world a better place.”
“It doesn't really feel like it.”
“It was just a small move, Jenny,” Alexander said. “But in the right direction. We have to accept what we are. We have to embrace it. It's the only choice.”
“But we could be different,” Jenny said. “There has to be some choice, somewhere.”
“Embrace it or fight it, that's the choice. It doesn't change who you are. It just makes your life more difficult and out of control if you fight it.”
“You said you're a builder, and Ashleigh's a vulture. Then what is Seth?”
“The healer?” Alexander frowned. “He's just a pawn of the love-charmer. Always has been.”
“But not lately,” Jenny said. “I think he's been pulling away from her, hasn't he?”
“He never could. If the healer got close to you, made you think he cared about you...just trust me, the charmer bitch is behind it.”
“Are you sure?”
“He might not even know it,” Alexander said. “It could be a multi-lifetime plot. You can forget your memories and your purpose when you're reborn in the flesh, but they will still be there, shaping your actions. The fear-giver is often her servant. My opposite, the dear little dead-speaker, is often her servant. The healer is always her servant, Jenny. You see why she's so dangerous? Her power can manipulate and control not only regular people, but our kind, too.”
“Except me,” Jenny said. “If she touches me, I'll kill her.”
“This makes you her most formidable enemy,” Alexander said. “The one she can never hope to control with her poisonous love. Unless...”
“Unless what?”
“Unless she takes your heart indirectly,” Alexander said. “By sending the healer to charm it from you. He can touch you, so he can get close to you. He can trick you into loving him, trusting him—especially when you're feeling so alone because you can touch no one...and then you meet one boy you can touch—”
“Okay, I get it,” Jenny said. “I don't need the whole psychoanalysis thing. So you don't think Seth really cares about me? Deep down, he's still serving Ashleigh?”
“I've seen him across a thousand lifetimes,” Alexander said. “He always serves her. He always will.”