Riley spent the long drive home alternately thinking about how much she'd enjoyed her time at Greenwood, and worrying about being chased with knives. Camp seemed to her like a cocoon of warmth, kindness, and the closeness she’d been seeking her entire life… surrounded by dangerous animalistic men that probably wanted to kill her.

It was a disturbing contrast.

Driving faster than she normally did or was comfortable with, Riley did manage to beat Jack back to the house. “Okay. I met everyone,” she announced as she walked through the front door.

Xander and Reed were seated on the couch. “Yes, word travels fast,” Xander said, waving his phone. “Tell me what you thought of the young warriors. Did they make as good an impression on you as you did on them?”

“Mostly,” Riley said with a shrug, sitting down next to Reed. “I liked Alley best.”

Xander blinked. “A woman who likes Alley. There are not many of those.”

“She’s great. I talked to her for most of the evening. The other girls seemed okay too, except Violet.”

He frowned and shook his head. “Don’t take anything she does personally. Violet is bitter, and she has some good reasons to be.”

Riley chuckled. “Are you saying my opinions of Alley and Violet are misplaced?”

“I’m saying you either have more discernment than most people, or less, and I’m not sure which. Although,” Riley saw a hint of a smile around Xander’s eyes for the first time, “the fact that you like Gabe speaks volumes.”

Reed grinned widely at him, and then at her. “Who’s Gabe?”

Riley ignored her brother. “I liked him better than any other guy I met tonight. I will say that much.”

Xander nodded. “Good.”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

The big man crossed his arms. “Well, let me put it this way: if Gabe asks you out, you should say yes. More importantly, if any of the rest of us ask you out, you should say no.”

Riley and Reed both laughed at that. Reed shook his head. “Dude, you’re wasting your time. Riley won’t date any man who isn’t gay.”

Xander raised his eyebrows.

Riley shot Reed a killing look. “Not true,” she grumbled.

“Did you or did you not turn down every straight guy in our entire senior class so that you and your gay best friend could pretend to be dating?”

“They didn’t all ask me out.” Most of them asked her out. “And as for not really dating, I had my reasons.”

“Well, now’s your chance to try the real thing! You’re sure this is a decent guy?” he asked Xander.

“One of the best guys you’ll ever meet.”

“Perfect.”

“Anyway!” Riley reddened for the umpteenth time that day. “Xander, people were talking tonight about the Poxinosa clan, and how they need to be stopped. How come? I mean, why does anybody care what they’re up to? Why not just ignore them and go on your merry way?”

His frown deepened and he leaned forward. “According to legend, ages ago, Our Grandmother gave the one Shawnee tribe that she created twelve Mishawmi, or sacred bundles.”

“Wait, wait,” Reed interrupted him. “Our Grandmother?”

“God, for the purposes of this discussion. She supposedly gave Her People twelve bundles, and they're believed to have contained sacred objects. Later on, the tribe split into multiple tribes, and they divided the bundles between them. Then sometime around 1970, the Poxinosa found what they claim is one of the original twelve Mishawmi.”

“These are real things, then? The bundles?”

“Yes. Bundles actually exist. Whatever the Poxinosa saw when they opened their bundle convinced them to hunt for all the other Mishawmi as well. They put out the word to the rest of the Miyala — and to the Shawnee — that they were in the market for the original twelve bundles. And they offered a very generous reward. That seemed stupid to us. We knew none of the Shawnee would part with their Mishawmi, and any other original items that still survived were probably in a museum or a private collection. But,” he shrugged, “money talks. Teams from several clans went out hunting for bundles, trying to collect the reward. No more were found, and eventually all the fuss died down.

“Several years later, some warriors in Oklahoma were killed. The Veiled police said it was an accident, but it was clear to all the clans that the Poxinosa were involved, and that it had something to do with their search for bundles. And that made no sense. Why kill their own allies over collector’s items?

“We decided we needed more information about what they were up to. Fifteen years ago, four of our men tried to find out about the Poxinosa’s plans. Only one of them returned alive.” Xander shuddered. “He told us the Poxinosa and their allies — the fire clans, we call them — believe that each of the original bundles contains a puzzle piece of sorts. And bringing all twelve pieces together and reassembling them will please Our Grandmother enough that she’ll return to Earth, reward them for reunifying, and wipe out their enemies. Their definition of ‘enemies’ is anyone, Veiled or Unveiled, who is not a part of their alliance.”

“So you’re saying that these ‘bad guys,’” Riley recalled Gabe’s words, “are trying to bring about the apocalypse.”

“Yes. That's their official quest, at any rate.”

She waited for the punch line. When it wasn’t forthcoming, she asked, “Do you really believe that?”

“What I believe is that there’s something extremely valuable inside each of those bundles and that the Poxinosa will do anything to get them. They’ll kill anyone who gets in their way. They’ve done it.” Xander’s expression gave Riley chills. “These men are more dangerous than you could imagine. Especially to Veiled people, whom they refer to as ‘the Condemned.’ And that should tell you everything you need to know about the way they think.”

Reed frowned. “Damn.”

“This is why it matters so much that you two find and develop your powers, and that Reed stays a secret as long as possible. Everyone the Poxinosa identify as an enemy is at risk.”

Reed looked nervously at Xander and nodded toward Riley. “So she's in danger now because she’s a Greenwood?”

“Yes, although Riley is in less danger than most of us because she’s a turtle. She’s always hidden unless she chooses to show herself. It will be next to impossible for anyone to find her.” Xander checked the time on his phone and then stood, his head brushing against the ceiling fan. “It’s eleven. I should go before your brother gets back.”

As he drove out of the subdivision, Riley turned to Reed. “How much of what he said tonight do you believe?”

“All of it.” He looked down at her. “Is it safe for you to go back and forth to Greenwood?”

“I think so.”

“Do it. You don’t have to stay in their clan if you decide you don’t like it, but we've got to know enough about ourselves and them to make informed decisions from now on. Agreed?”

Riley nodded, swallowing hard. “Agreed.”