Page 62 of Whiskey, Thieves, and Bastards
I should have stayed behind and plotted, but I wanted to see this place. It was charming and I could see myself living here.This place was unique just from what I heard about it. After the tour, I knew I wanted to stay here. It was perfect. It was a green haven and I could grow a vineyard somewhere.
Kat, Calamity, and Jezebel felt the same. Benji was freaking out, so Medusa stole him. It was just us. There wasn’t much we could do until we were summoned to Washington, so we were hanging out and plotting.
I looked over at Medusa’s new friends. I knew Jezebel wasn’t tortured because some of her power lay in her vocal cords. They couldn’t totally cut her off. She’d avoided being tortured, but Calamity hadn’t. I liked that kid. She was plucky, but both of them had that haunted look in their eyes.
I plopped in between them and pulled them into a bear hug.
“How’s my girl’s new best friends?”
“We’re surviving. Cas said he can get us a house here and I can help Aidan easier.”
“You’re going to take me up on it?” Cas asked.
“We talked about it, and yeah. This place is amazing. We can all see us settled here,” Kat said.
“What about you?” Pax said softly.
Yeah, me. I could see why they would worry. Older supernaturals were generally super wealthy. Add in that I was a god, and you probably had an Uber wealthy, pampered individual. I could see why they might think this might not be good enough for me.
“This village is perfect. I can’t think of anywhere else I’d like to live. I’ve got homes everywhere, but we can use them as vacation homes. I can run my businesses from anywhere. If anyone here needs jobs, I could set up a vineyard here.”
Cas and Pax let out a sigh of relief. I think they were thinking I didn’t want to stay and was either going to take Medusa with me or make them all leave this place.
“Medusa is going to be hungry. She’s been fucking all day. I thought I saw a Filipino place in the village?”
Seriously, the village had a lot of stuff. We wouldn’t have to drive to the town at the bottom on the mountain for much. And I fucking loved Filipino food.
“It’s run by a family of Diwata who came over in the forties. It’s authentic Filipino food,” Pax said.
“Oh, my fuck. Let’s do that for dinner,” I moaned.
“Dude, yes,” Kat hissed.
“Ma Isabelle loves new people. It’s not a standard restaurant where you order off a menu. She cooks for her family and makes extra for people who want Filipino takeout. She sells lumpia and baked goods online, so you can buy those, but the main dish is going to be whatever she and her family are eating or you can buy leftovers that are still good.”
“Was that supposed to put us off?” I asked. “Medusa and I visited the Philippines a long time ago. We ended up in a food coma every night and we loved it there. I bought a house there so we could vacation when we wanted.”
“That’s not a turn off, bro,” Kat said.
“Well, let’s go then. Her kitchen, her rules. Most of her income comes from the stuff she ships to people who want a taste of home or visited and fell in love with the food. Her show comes on at seven, so she closes early enough to clean everything up and relax while watching,” Pax said.
How much did I love this village? There was no worry or hustle here. This womancouldhave offered an extensive menu and stayed open late enough to miss her show. There were options now to watch it later. She knew she made the bulk of her income shipping, so she offered what she wanted and closed when she wanted and everyone was okay with that.
The village was pretty big because it occupied a vast valley. Cas’s dad started a settlement hundreds of years ago and therewas still land to build houses and shops if Cas took more people in. We could have walked. It would have been about a two-mile walk there and back and it was rather nice outside.
If I didn’t understand how the various afterlives worked and people’s complete lack of self-awareness, I’d say people who showed up right before closing and wanted to be served were getting a special kind of torture after they died.
Fuck, I was a god. I was going to start that rumor because fuck that. It was an hour before this woman was going to close her place to watch her shows and I still portalled us all there because it was too close for me. I’d been alive a long time and there was pretty much one thing that survived the several millennia I’d been alive.
Don’t piss off the people who made your food.
Cas introduced us and I bowed my head in reverence. The Diwata were Filipino nature spirits and protectors. Medusa befriended a group of them in the Philippines when we were there and they bonded over growing things and trying to save trees. The Diwata were highly revered, and I intended to show this woman proper respect for more than just the fact that I was just about to enjoy her cooking.
Ma Isabelle bowed her head back at me and gave me a little wink. Some supernaturals didn’t recognize what I was because they’d never met a god before and had to ask. I didn’t know if the gossip train had hit the village yet about Cas’s new mates. She might not know my name, but she knewwhatI was, and she’d realized I knew whatshewas and was showing proper respect.
“My mate is good friends with a group of Diwata in the Philippines. She’s a green witch. I have a house there and every time we visit, we eat and they make things very miserable for developers who want to destroy trees to build something ugly. She’dloveto meet you, but she’s regaining her strength afterbeing captured by the Coalition and she didn’t know we were coming here.”
“The Diwata and green witches are often copacetic. One of the farmers brought over goat meat, so I’ve made Kaldereta if you want something hot. I’ve got two lumpia recipes for the shop this week. There’s a pork and mushroom and then I took Halo Halo and turned it into dessert lumpia. I have no idea if it’s any good. It was an experiment. If you want dessert, I also sell Halo Halo in a glass. Benji hasn’t visited me in a while. He’s my best Halo Halo customer.”
