Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, #1)

by Jeaniene Frost

“A friend gave you the cave? How do you give someone a cave?” “His people found it hundreds of years ago, so that makes it theirs as much as anyone can claim anything they don’t walk around in. Used to be a winter residence of the Mingoes. They were a small tribe of the Iroquois nation, and they were one of the last Iroquois still in the state when the Indian Removal Act of 1831 was put into effect. Tanacharisson was a mate of mine, and he chose not to go to the reservation. He hid at the cave after the last of his tribe was forcibly removed. Time went by, he saw his people and culture being irrevocably destroyed, and he decided he’d had enough. He painted his body for battle and went off on a suicide mission against Fort Meigs. Before he did, though, he asked me to look out for his home. Make sure no one disturbed it. There are bones of some of his ancestors back in the far part of it. He didn’t want the whites desecrating them.” “How terrible,” I said softly, thinking of that lonely Indian making his last stand after seeing everything he loved disappear. He studied my face. “It was his choice. He had no control over anything except how he died, and the Mingoes were very proud. To him, it was a good death. One befitting the legacy of his people.” “Maybe. But when death is all you have left, it’s sad no matter how you cut it. It’s late, Bones. I’m leaving.”