by Jenna Kernan
Nagi found the great bear loping through the Spirit World, catching salmon at a sacred river.
The bear could not speak, but Nagi understood his thoughts.
They greeted each other and Nagi posed his mundane questions. The bear sat heavily on the bank, quite taken back. In all the centuries, Nagi had never sought him out, but he did his best to answer, reminding Nagi that his expertise was the care of those who walked on four legs, not two.
“Well, my ghosts don’t really have legs anymore.” The conversation lagged. Nagi made his excuses, and then, as if in an afterthought, he turned back to Tob Tob.
“I ran into one of your Halflings on earth, an Inanoka named Sebastian. He’s a fine boy.”
Tob Tob looked confused. The bear was not the brightest in the Spirit World. Finally he brightened.
Yes, I recall a time when I walked the earth and was attracted to human females. Long ago now. My children still walk the earth?
“They do, as do their descendants. They follow the path of their sire and protect animals from the intervention of men.”
Tob Tob bellowed his approval. I taught them this. I am pleased. They still follow my teachings.
“How did you do it, exactly? Sire them.”
Took human form, of course, and courted them. They have to love you, as I recall—the humans, I mean. A race, you say? I shall have to look into that.
Nagi saw his blunder. He had gained the knowledge he sought, but now the oaf was curious.
“Well, they’ve gone on for centuries without you. And you like it best here. No hurry.” Nagi pointed a wispy appendage toward the stream. “There’s a big one!”
Tob Tob turned back to his fishing and did not note the shadow’s disappearance.
Nagi slipped down the Way of Souls and back to his dark circle.
Love, he had said. The female would have to love him to conceive. Or would she only have to love who she believed him to be? Nagi shimmered in anticipation, for he loved a loophole.
Chapter 17
Nick gripped Jessie, dragging her to him. What had he just done?
In his madness, he had revealed to Jessie and any of Nagi’s sentinels just what this woman meant to him. The truth was, she meant more to him than even he had realized.
“Jessie,” he whispered.
She startled awake and he read her thoughts. First, there was her fear of danger and then the realization that she lay safe in his arms. Her contentment at herself in this position tightened his abdomen and he felt the stirrings of desire again.
Great Spirit—his soul mate.
He had known she was special, even recognized that he had stupidly fallen in love with her. But now he understood that she was not a woman he could ever leave behind. She was his woman, his destiny.
He felt unworthy. All the other women had seen only his human form. Only his mother knew the truth and the knowledge made her hate him. How could Jessie love him when even his own mother had not?
The truth of it burned him to ashes. He was unworthy of this woman, any woman.
He released her, breaking the connection between them, and rolled to his feet, calling the energy to transfigure into clothing and boots.
Jessie frowned, sitting to retrieve her shirt and drag it over her head. Then she scrambled into her jeans.
Nick leaned down and retrieved the pink circle of lace, extending it to her on one finger.
She accepted it gingerly, careful not to touch him, and stuffed the panties roughly into her pocket.
“Why did she loathe you so?”
He frowned. “What?”
“Your mother. She despised you.”
Nick absorbed the blow that took away his words.
“How do you know that?”
“You were just thinking it. I heard you.” She stood before him, her breathing coming in fast, frantic pants. “Nick, what’s happening to us?”
“More than just a new challenge, he said,” murmured Nick.
“Who?”
“Tuff. He knew, the bastard. Why didn’t he warn me not to touch you?”
All his life women had tried to cage him and he had avoided their snares with the grace of his kind. Now he’d stepped in a trap far more dangerous and he’d never suspected a thing. How could he have guessed that with one simple touch everything would change? There was no hiding his feelings now. She knew them, felt them as surely as she felt her own.
Instinct took over.
He was already on the opposite stream bank when she called to him. He paused and watched her as she ran down the bank, her bare feet flashing against the green grass. She was lithe and graceful. She would have made a fine deer.
She splashed through the shallow water, threw her arms about his neck and wept. His emotional chaos ignited with her turmoil and they broke apart.
She wrung her hands before her as tears streaked her cheeks. “I knew you couldn’t be so cruel. I knew you weren’t like your father. Why wouldn’t you tell me?”
The tragedy of their love broke his heart. She drew away, carefully severing the contact between them.
“If they’re watching, they know,” she whispered.
He nodded. “I can’t leave you now. It’s not safe.”
He wanted to hold her but feared this bond forged at contact and so held himself back.
“I’ll protect you, Jessie. They won’t hurt you. I swear.” Her eyes streamed tears, and he flicked them away with a thumb, feeling the sizzle of contact. “You know what this means?”
She nodded. “Soul mates.”
“Yes.”
“This changes everything,” she whispered.
He couldn’t deny the truth. They had found each other and there would be no breaking their connection. Together or apart, it existed. Their bond would be hard on her, very hard. He felt guilty for what her love would cost her.
His friend’s wife had managed only because she did not know what she was until after she loved him. So alien were the ways of her people that she found it easy to reject them outright.
But Jessie was a member of her community, and until she met him, she was the perfect Spirit Child citizen.
Her association with him would shatter all that. That was assuming he could keep her alive long enough for them to find out.
Chapter 18
Jessie glanced at him repeatedly as they climbed the bank and headed back toward the barn. As they walked, her mind raced ahead. She understood everything now. At their first touch, her confusion had melted and fused into understanding at what Nick was trying to do, his cruel rejection just a ruse to protect her life and keep her from shame. It only made her love him more.
He was the last man on earth she would have chosen, yet fate had intervened. She would not reject the gift the Great Mystery had given her. She was not afraid to face his enemies as long as he was with her.
Apple Blossom, her black-and-white paint stood at the rail of the pasture fence, craning her neck and whinnying. Jessie smiled.
“I have to see to the horses.”
“I’ll help.”
They reached the barn and Nick loaded the bale of hay onto the utility vehicle as she measured the oats. They rode side by side to the hayrack. But despite her shaking the grain bucket, the mares stayed at the far side of the pasture.
“What’s gotten into them?” she asked.
“Maybe they smell wolf.”
Her jaw dropped in understanding. Of course they would. They knew what Nick was even if she had forgotten.
“Maybe if you leave the pasture.”
He swung out of his seat but hesitated.
“You’re shivering,” he said.
She hadn’t realized she was cold until he mentioned it. But her jeans were soaked from the knee down from her romp across the stream and her boots squished when she walked.
He dragged off his shirt and gave it a shake. “Take this.”
The shirt had been transformed into a hooded leather sweatshirt, just her size.
She accepted the offering, shrugging into the soft folds that still held his scent and his heat. Jessie smiled up at him. “Be right back.”
He zipped up the jacket and lifted the hood, covering her head, then gave the cords a sharp tug. “Call if you need me.”
She took the opportunity to watch him walk away. Her heart ached in her chest. He was such a beautiful man.
“Great Mystery, I’m the luckiest woman alive,” she whispered, shaking the grain bucket with more force than necessary.
Her mares watched her break apart the hay bail. Apple Blossom came first, as usual, leading the others. But she stopped well away from the hayrack.
Jessie glanced back at Nick and he lifted his hands up in a gesture of resignation.
Jessie poured the grain into their three buckets, knowing Apple Blossom would finish first and then bully the others, usurping any leftovers. She often put the boss mare in her paddock for dinner, but not tonight. The other two would just have to eat quickly or settle for hay.
Nick had a foot up on the bottom rail and his arms were folded on the top one. He cast her a smile that thrilled her.
She glanced toward her mares. The light was fading, but she could see the three standing still against the far side of the fence. Only their tails moved, beating back and forth in a steady rhythm to discourage the flies.
“Dinner,” she called, rattling the buckets again.
The herd remained where it was.
“For goodness’ sakes,” she muttered. Must be Nick, she decided. They could likely smell him from there. She set out with the grain, walked toward them beside the low roof of the extension that had once housed chickens.
Something hit her from behind with enough force to drive her to the ground. There was a deep throaty growl and something seized her head.
Across the pasture the horses began to scream.
The creature shook her, trying to break Jessie’s neck. She could feel its fangs and smell the fetid breath. The stink of rot and decay made her gag. And all the while her horses were screaming.
She felt a shuddering vibration the same instant she heard the thud of impact. The creature released her. Jessie dragged her legs beneath her, every muscle of her back and neck throbbing from the assault.
Run, shouted the voice inside her head. She succeeded in standing and then turned toward the sound of struggle to see what had thrown her so violently to the ground.
Nick strained to subdue a huge tawny cat.
A mountain lion!
No wonder the horses were screaming. Nick rained blows upon the lion’s sides, each punch accompanied by a sickening crunch.
Why didn’t he transform? As a wolf he’d have more speed and his fangs. The cat would feel more threatened by its natural enemy.
The lion succeeded in taking a wicked swipe at Nick. But he dodged it, just outside the length of the cat’s reach, the menacing claws narrowly missing his face.
Jessie gasped and then ran, but not toward safety. No, her instincts took her toward the lion, toward Nick, who had succeeded in wrapping his legs about the creature, pinning it to the ground as the feline writhed like a snake.
“Jessie!” he called. “Get back. Run.”
It was then that she saw the ghastly yellow eyes. They turned on her, fixing with unnatural calm. Then the cat clawed the earth in an effort to reach her. Nick held fast.
Possessed. Only a sick or starving animal would come so close to man.
Her horses raced along the fence, trying to escape the threat, and she stood frozen, too frightened of the ghost cat to move forward and to afraid for Nick to run away.
Nick tried to choke the cat. The lion was twisting and heaving in a mad effort to get claws or teeth into Nick.
Jessie glanced frantically about for a weapon and spotted her UTV and remembered the bailing hook. She ran, reaching the passenger seat. Gripping the wicked-looking hook of metal that terminated in a perpendicular wooden handle, she charged back across the pasture, holding the hook aloft.
Nick saw her coming. “Throw it.”
She did. It landed on the ground beside his head. The cat was now on top of him, struggling to disembowel him with its hind legs. Nick grappled for the weapon, lifted it high and swung it in an arc.
Jessie looked away. The lion screamed. She couldn’t keep herself from glancing back. Nick now kneeled over the cat, driving the hook deep into its tawny side. It shuddered as the blade pierced its heart.
Jessie pressed her hand across her mouth to keep from screaming. She’d never seen anything so horrible.
There was a sizzling sound, like bacon on a hot skillet, and then an eerie green glow radiated from the lion. The next instant it went limp.
Nick stood and retrieved the hook. It was then she noted he was still shirtless and his torso was streaked with blood.
Whose blood?
“Nick!” She rushed forward, throwing her arms about him. “Are you hurt? Did it… Are you all right?”
He dropped the weapon and dragged her to his side, glancing back at the horses.
“Come away, now. Quickly.”
“But it’s dead.”
He didn’t stop as he rushed her across the pasture and through the gate.
Only then did he turn and face her. He dragged the hood from her head and raked his fingers through her hair.
She felt his anxiety at the attack and the possibility that she might be injured.
“Just frightened,” she said.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.” She extended her arms out to show him. “This jacket protected me. It’s a miracle that the cat’s fangs didn’t puncture it.” A realization struck her. “This coat, it’s a part of you. Isn’t it?” He nodded.
She stared at him. “You couldn’t transform, because you gave me half your skin.”
“I told you I’d protect you.”
“At your expense! Don’t do that again, Nick.” She slid off the jacket and extended it to him. “I mean it.”
His eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“For the same reason you gave it to me. I want to protect you, too.”
He wrinkled his brow in disbelief. “Really?”
“Yes, really.” She glanced back. “I have to see if my horses are safe. I’ll bring them in tonight.”
“No.”
“But—”
“No, I said. The ghosts could use one or all of them next and I will have to kill them, just like the lion.”
His hand clasped hers and she understood everything. The ghosts could possess her precious horses, use them to attack her. She gave a cry of horror as he dragged her along.
“Ghosts do not leave their host unless it is dying or if forced out by a powerful healer. Do you understand?”
“You had to kill it.” Jessie began to tremble.
“Yes. They know of our bond. They know it is my duty to protect you.”
He gripped her hand and pulled her along. His thoughts crashed into her as they reached the road.
He felt responsible for his father’s death. He did not want to be the cause of hers, as well. They ran across the lawn and to the front steps.
“If they had injured you, I would bring you to the Healer, even at risk of his life. They would use you to force me.”
“We can’t let that happen.”
He set them in motion again, hurrying her through the front door. He rested his hand on her bare neck, guiding her farther into the house.
He slipped his hand away, breaking the connection that allowed her to feel his upheaval, and locked her door.
It wouldn’t keep the ghosts out but would keep out most possessed creatures.
The shock and violence of the attack began to sink in and Jessie began to shake, as if she were freezing to death.
He gathered her in his arms. She felt his resolve to keep her safe.
His open shirt revealed the blood that now dried on his skin. Jessie led him to the bathroom and wrung out a facecloth. Gently, she wa
shed away the evidence of the attack, finding no mar or puncture in his smooth, taut skin. His stomach twitched as she washed below his navel. Her little finger brushed his flesh.
She could sense his thoughts changing from lions to a memory from his dream of tangled bedsheets and the musky scent of their lovemaking.
Jessie pressed her hand flat to his stomach, savoring his memories and relaying her desire to have him once more.
Chapter 19
Jessie stripped out of her wet clothes and slipped into a silk robe, then led Nick to her bedroom, their palms pressed tight. She released him to flick on the bedside lamp, allowing her to see him, and realized that he did not need the light to see her.
He sat before her on the corner of her bed, his long legs stretched out before him and open for her to step between them.
“Life would be simpler for you if you had let me go,” he said.
“I couldn’t.”
“Why?”
She smiled. “I think I already knew.”
He rewarded her with his smile. It did things to her insides. The room suddenly felt a few degrees warmer. She wanted to go to him, but there was more to say.
“Nick, when I first saw you, I thought you were a monster. I don’t believe that anymore.”
His smile vanished so quickly, she wondered if it had been there at all. “You were right the first time.”
“Don’t say that.” She stepped closer but he lifted his hand to stop her.
“But it’s true, or at least, I have the capacity for it. It’s in my blood, as you said.”
“You aren’t like him.”
“You just witnessed what I’m capable of.”
She was unable to keep from quivering at the memory of the strength and brutality of his attack.
“We are shunned by your people and feared by man for good reason. My kind is solitary. I have been alone over decades. Yet you are so eager to offer me your heart.”
She dropped her gaze as his words hit. She was eager. He was the most appealing man she had ever met. Physically, he was unmatched. But it was the mind connection that drew her; the honesty of that joining was unlike anything she had ever known.
She reached for his hand and confirmed her suspicion as his thoughts flowed to her. “But you think my love won’t last. That I’ll hurt you or use you, like she did.”
