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familiar
abuela
form, as she usually was. That was how most people in town recognized her. Most still didn’t know who she really was—including many people in the glaring. They thought she was just another old lady, and the glaring higher-ups had all agreed that perpetuating that ignorance was the best policy at the moment. Rooting out subversive troublemakers would be easier if none of them knew Mason had their goddess in his back pocket. He needed them to show their cards and not disappear before he’d had a chance to deal with them.
    “I’m gonna go drive this stuff down to the staff,” Glenda said and pointed to Hannah. “Don’t go anywhere until I get back.”
    “I’ll watch the pot.”
    “I’m not worried about the pot. Need to talk to you.”
    Oh God. Why?
Hannah gave her braid another yank and took the seat across from Lola and then watched Glenda pull up the cooler’s handle and roll the big box to the back door.
    When the screen door slammed shut behind Glenda, Lola turned her dark, critical gaze to Hannah. “How are your dreams lately, Avenger?”
    Slumping lower in her seat, Hannah rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms.
    The dreams.
    They were awful things. Hannah had been plagued by terrifying dreams since around the time she had that encounter with the bears. As a child, the dreams had played on how helpless she’d felt and how there’d been no one there to look after her. Left to fester, they’d turned into angrier things that didn’t make sense. Nothing in them was familiar, and they were always so violent. On most days she woke up agitated and unsuitable for human company, but she had to go to work, anyway. Had to be around people and pretend to be functional. Lately, the dreams had changed yet again. They were still dark and angry, but now she could discern one thing—that they were about the Cougars. Those were what she’d told Lola about. The goddess hadn’t seemed surprised. She knew all about them.
    “Make them stop,” Hannah whispered.
    “It is not me. Women with your job have always had the dreams.”
    “I’m a nurse, not anyone’s champion.”
Don’t get too stuck on yourself,
her father might have said.
    “You are the avenger, though, because you’re Sean’s mate.”
    “For the moment.”
    “You will still be the glaring’s avenger, regardless of who is in your bed. You’re a part of the glaring. Do you wish to separate from it?”
    Hannah flinched and let her hands fall to her lap. Having someone in her bed wasn’t a problem she worried much about, but being so near Lola was like being called to the principal’s office to be made accountable for some transgression Hannah hadn’t committed or even knew anything about. And try as the goddess might to keep her power tidily pulled in close to her body, being so near her made Hannah’s head hurt as if she’d been out in sun for too long without water or a hat.
    “No. I don’t want to leave the glaring.” She had nowhere else to go, and certainly wasn’t going to ask to have another glaring accept her. She’d prefer to stay with the devils she knew. And besides, her friends were on the ranch, and they loved her … in spite of how she was, even if they didn’t know why she was that way.
    It was less embarrassing for her to have them think she was difficult and inflexible simply because she was a Virgo.
    “You know, I chose you for Sean because of what you are capable of.”
    “How can you possibly know that?”
    “I don’t know your future, but I know your past.” Lola pushed her reading glasses up her nose and entwined her bony fingers atop the notepad in front of her. Hannah recognized the lined, pink paper. It was the same pad Lola used at every glaring meeting.
    It must be Saturday.
Hannah had been having such a hard time keeping up with the days of the week. Her days blurred for lack of things to do. There was only so much time she could spend tracking the Sheehans without having new