“My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandaddy became the unofficial leader of the magique, and eventually the Berends took over leadership of the town. The humans and magique have trusted us for generations to do what’s right for them. And we take the responsibility pretty seriously, even if it seems like we don’t take anything seriously. I think we’ve done a fair job of it so far. Over the next hundred plus years, the humans adjusted to having us around, especially when the fairy folk helped the crops grow and the healers kept the yellow fever at bay. Soon enough, we all started to intermarry, except for the Boones, but that’s a whole different story, narrated by assholes. The separation between the locals’ culture and magique culture blurred and Mystic Bayou just became ‘our culture.’ Everybody tries to cooperate, but we’re people just like anyone else. We try to get past our differences faster than other towns, because it’s more important here.”

“I noticed your accent is a little different than I expected. Less Swamp People and more Davy Crockett.”

Zed jerked his broad shoulders. “Well, we’re not a true Cajun community. There’s so many languages and accents floating around that they kind of fought each other until we have a sort of ‘general Southern’ sound. We kept some of the French sayings, and most of us have accents, to varyin’ degrees. We have some of the same food customs, but we’ve also mixed in our own traditions, our own flavors and our own languages from the places where we come from. It’s a big mess sometimes, but it works for us.”

“Do people ever leave?”

“Well, we’re not forbidden from leaving. We’re not like Children of the Corn or anything,” he said. “We just don’t leave very often. I mean, I’ve been to New Orleans and Shreveport when it was called for, but I never wanted to wander much farther. I don’t know if you know this, but bears are pretty territorial.”

“But what about going away to school or getting a job somewhere else?”

“Sure. We had Will Carmody, who left a few years ago to go to medical school. Nice guy, a selkie, but I doubt we’ll see him again, once he starts making big city doctor money. So why are you out here, giving this random tree CPR?”

She crossed her arms. “Well, I need to work up to dealing with the rift. I’m not ready for it yet. I have to get used to the local atmosphere. It can be dangerous to mess around with energy at those levels, especially if you’re not properly prepared.”

“What do you mean?”