Ghost Stalker

by Jenna Kernan

  “Not if the telling puts them in danger.”

  Bess made a noise in her throat. “I never meant to do that. Is it listening right now, do you think?”

  “Yes.”

  She glanced about her. “I hate ghosts.”

  The two stood under the canopy of the forest in silence for several moments.

  “What if I could get a message to Michaela by way of a road that no ghost of Nagi would dare follow?”

  Nick knew instantly what she proposed and a wide grin spread across his face. “Would it work?”

  “Michaela’s father and mother come to her often in dreams. Let them follow and face the judgment.” Bess’s smile was ruthless.

  “But you don’t fly at night.”

  “Oh, no. That is the best time to take this path. It is clearer in starlight.”

  “Let me know what happens.”

  “Where will you go now?” asked Bess.

  “Back to her.” He turned, but Bess placed a hand on his upper arm and he paused.

  “Be careful, Nick. The hatred runs in them with their blood,” she said.

  He pressed his lips together. “I know. But she is different.”

  Her eyes reflected a pity that made Nick’s stomach roll with acid.

  “I hope, for your sake, you are right.”

  He placed his hand over hers and nodded. “Walk in beauty,” he said, giving her the traditional parting words of their people.

  “And you.” She hesitated. “And be watchful. Nagi is a vengeful foe. He has no beating heart and is careless with the lives of the living.”

  “I will remember your words.”

  She broke away. Nick watched Bess transform into the glossy raven that called a farewell as she shot through the trees like a living shadow.

  He needed to get back to Jessie but could not call the Thunderbirds. It would have been disrespectful. They weren’t a travel service. By calling them only in true emergencies, his people had continued to gain their indulgence. The minute that changed, his kind would be grounded like the arrogant Niyanoka.

  Transforming into the gray timber wolf, he loped south by starlight, knowing there were few places where he would not find signs of man if he just kept to a straight course. By sunrise he had located a timber road and then an unmarked gravel road. He continued into the morning, searching for pavement and a way back to Jessie.

  He believed her parents would protect her, so why did his instincts urge him to hurry.

  Michaela dreamed of her babies, new and pink. She slept lightly, listening for their cry, her breasts filling with milk.

  But the call she heard was not the thready wail of her hungry offspring, but the soft resonant voice of her mother. “Congratulations, daughter.”

  Her mother’s ghost had not visited her since before the birth, when she came to reassure her that the twins within her were strong and ready to be born. Michaela had awakened already in labor.

  “Oh, they are so beautiful. Can you see them?” she asked.

  In her dreams, her mother seemed alive, except for the silver glow about her. It was how Michaela knew she was speaking to a ghost who had crossed to the Spirit World.

  “Only their spirits. They are strong and will need to be strong.”

  Michaela frowned. She did not like to think of her children having a difficult future. Her mother spoke again.

  “I come with a message from Bess.”

  Michaela’s breath caught as she considered what this might mean. “Is she dead?”

  Her mother laughed. “No, daughter. She simply came for a visit, as a raven may do. She was on her way to find you but discovered she is being followed.”

  “Who could follow a raven?”

  “Only another raven or a ghost,” said her mother.

  Michaela gasped as cold air seemed to lift the small hairs all over her body.

  Her mother’s face gave no reassurance. “Nagi is searching for you and the children. He has not given up and he will use your friends to get to you.”

  “I’m not ready yet.” Michaela’s gift had been shielded even from herself until very recently. So now her father, who had died to protect her, came to her in her dreams, and he taught her to use her powers.

  “I know, daughter, but you must learn your art quickly now so you can keep your darlings safe from the ruler of ghosts.”

  “Is Nick all right?”

  “No, daughter. All of Sebastian’s friends are in grave danger. They fight to protect you.”

  Nagi changed his tactics with the females. This time he seduced a woman without use of a host. This female, just sixteen, was suggestible but physically strong.

  His initial contact with her had been successful. She was from the Hawk Clan, though he did not know if that would matter. He did not think his children would shift like the Skinwalkers or have connections to the soul like the Spirit Children. He was not certain what powers would come to his children. He knew only that they would be mighty. It was a great experiment and he was anxious to begin.

  She came to him in the cave that he had chosen for this purpose. In the darkness, she could not see him and that was best. For his appearance was frightening by design.

  But here in the inky blackness she would not tremble at his yellow eyes or vaporous body.

  The crept forward, her hand raised to protect her face. He swept forward, guiding her with his voice, ushering her farther into the earth. Water seeped down the limestone walls, making the air dank and acrid. Icy water pooled on the floor. It had been difficult to find a dry place for her comfort.

  She thought him a god and so he was, but not the god she prayed to, not the burning bush, but one just as ancient and vengeful.

  He had learned that using a host body was equivalent to using a condom. The other males prevented him from impregnating his women. This time he would try a different tack.

  “Lie on the floor and prepare to receive me.”

  She did as he bid her, lifting her skirt and folding her hands to pray.

  He surrounded her and she gasped, taking in some of his essence in her mouth. He could not really hold her, for his vaporous body was not as tangible as hers, but he could still enter her. Deep inside her womb, he found the tiny waiting egg and merged his essence with hers. Then he detached that piece of himself and withdrew.

  Once away from her, he was discouraged to see she was not breathing. This irritated him, thinking he would have to begin again. It had taken days to convince her of his divinity and to gain her willing participation in this joining, and then he’d had to wait for her time of fertility.

  He hovered over her still body, wondering what might revive her. Nothing occurred to him, and he was about to abandon her when she gasped, choked and then vomited on the ground.

  Nagi shimmered in victory.

  “Lord, I see you.” The awe in her voice flattered his ego.

  “You now carry my child. Guard it well or feel my wrath.”

  She scrambled to her feet. “Yes, Lord. Thank you, Lord.”

  He ushered her from the cave, controlling her direction with his mind.

  All he must do now was wait to see if his garden bore fruit.

  He glowered as he noted one of his ghosts waiting for him outside the cave. His incubator walked right through him, pausing only to rub the chill from her skin before descending the path that would lead her back to her farmhouse and her parents.

  Nagi’s mood darkened at the sight of his servant.

  “Master, I bring news. The wolf was visited by a raven. This one said she would warn the Healer. So I followed her far to the north. But last night the wolf warned her of my presence and she changed course, following the Way of Souls.”

  Nagi billowed in fury.

  “I will kill him!”

  “He went south, Lord. But I followed the raven as far as I could.”

  His anger turned to rage. Both the wolf and raven had slipped away. It could be months, years before he was lucky enough to
stumble on them again.

  He needed some way to flush him from cover. There was only one creature whose whereabouts he knew. The wolf had saved her once. Would he do so again?

  He had to force the Dream Walker to call the wolf and then injure her badly enough so that no creature but a Healer could save her.

  “Capture the Dream Walker alive.”

  “Yes, Master.”

  The ghost followed the raven high into the night sky, but when he saw the portal gaping wide, he hesitated. He knew where she was heading now and that he could not follow. He had seen this gateway before, just after his death. It had opened for him and he had stood on the brink of the Ghost Road. But he understood his chances. He would never reach the Spirit World without many prayers from his descendants and they did not follow the old ways. His life’s deeds were black. How long would he have to circle in the void before his sins were washed clean?

  He trembled. If he followed the raven, the old crone would throw him from the path and he would fall into the Circle of Ghosts.

  He retreated, back to the earth. Better to be a shade of himself forever than to spend eternity spinning in the Wheel of Sorrow. Should he tell his master what had occurred or flee? He thought of Nagi’s vengeance if he were caught.

  The ghost changed direction and swept through the night toward Nagi, who still remained on this earthly plain.

  Chapter 22

  It was a little past six in the morning when Nick called his executive assistant at her home in New York City to arrange for a car.

  “Got it,” Alison said, her voice crisp and professional despite the unconventional timing of his call. “Will an airport pickup work for you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Estimated arrival?”

  Nick glanced at the tow truck driver who picked him up on Highway 12. “How far to Billings?”

  The man readjusted the chaw in his cheek. “Seventy miles or so.”

  “Feel like a detour?”

  The man’s gaze swept over him, assessing his expensive clothing, and then he spit. “All right. I’ll bite. What’ll you pay?”

  Nick held his hand over the receiver. “Name it.”

  “Three hundred bucks.”

  Nick smiled. “Done.” Then to Alison, he said, “Make it an hour.”

  Nick hung up the phone. “Hope you’re a fast driver.”

  The human’s eyes flashed at the challenge. He drew an old toothpick from behind his ear and clamped it in his teeth. “Let’s go.”

  Nick climbed back into the cab of the red tow truck. He meant to stay awake, but he had been twenty-four hours without any sleep and had been running most of that time.

  He was dozing in the cab when she came to him.

  “Help me!”

  It was all he heard, but he knew it was Jessie. He knew that she was in danger and that she was calling him. The urgency of her plea was so jarring that it jolted him awake.

  “Where are we?” Nick asked, raking a hand through his hair.

  “Nearly there. See? There’s the sign.”

  Nick glanced up at the road sign and then fell back into the seat. He could do nothing on the highway. Even if he did call the winds, he did not know her whereabouts. To find her, he must track her.

  He’d drive to Jessie’s place and start from there.

  The next twenty minutes were pure torture. But he did not doubt his instincts. She had called him, needed him. He prayed that her parents had not been injured defending her. They were Children of Spirit, not warriors. It was why his people had easily defeated them. They lacked the instinct of predators, like his kind. Why had he left her?

  What had happened to her parents? Nick mused as he reached the airport and got into the waiting red Mustang.

  The road was blessedly clear of traffic at midmorning. He pushed the Mustang, recognizing that it moved faster than he could.

  He reached her home to find all three mares with their necks craning over the fence, as if they were looking for their next meal. He pulled into the drive behind the unfamiliar silver Cadillac.

  He jammed the car into Park and breathed in the air. Jessie’s scent was everywhere, but not fresh. He left the car and walked up the driveway, past the sedan. He paused to scent two passengers, who were unfamiliar; their scent trail was fresher than Jessie’s. They had arrived here last night, hours after she had and they had not left.

  He continued to her mud-crusted Ford pickup, pausing at the droplets of blood on the gravel. He knelt and inhaled—not hers. He lowered his head to concentrate and followed her. His heart hammered when he stood and saw the shattered glass of the driver’s-side window. He leaned into the battered old Ford. She had not been here since early yesterday evening. He scented three unfamiliar humans and the lingering stench of death. He stiffened.

  “God damn,” he muttered, knowing the ghosts had her. He turned back the way he had come, following them. There were the twin marks in the gravel, but not to this Cadillac. They dragged her. He headed for his Mustang.

  “Wait!”

  Nick turned toward the house, seeing a man standing in her doorway. Nick lowered his body, preparing to attack.

  “I’m Jessie’s father.”

  Nick paused. “Are you or your wife injured?”

  He held his breath as he awaited the answer.

  “Injured? No, of course not.”

  Nick frowned. “I sent her to you. Why did she return here alone?”

  The man flushed, then climbed down the steps to the stone path. Nick met him halfway.

  “Where is she?” Nick asked.

  “We hoped you’d know. You’re the Skinwalker, aren’t you?”

  Nick inclined his head. “Why was she back here?”

  “Because she has broken our laws.”

  Nick felt a sickness spread like cancer through his stomach. How could he have assumed that these two would protect their own blood, when his mother had not? “You abandoned her.”

  “We had no choice. She violated our laws.”

  Nick turned to go. He had no more time to waste with this man.

  Her father followed. “My wife is a Dream Walker, as well. She’s been in contact.” Nick paused.

  “Jessie is still unconscious. How did you know about the attack?”

  “She called me in my sleep.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. Dream Walkers don’t enter the dreams of a…”

  “Beast?”

  The man glared. “This is your fault.”

  He didn’t deny it as he met the accusation in her father’s eyes. “Where is she?”

  “We can’t get her location until she awakens.”

  “I can.”

  Nick turned back toward the scent band that was her essence coursing in a river in her wake. He faced the strong, wide track, invisible to all but Skinwalkers of the wolf clan. “I can find her without you, but it would be helpful to contact her.”

  Jessie’s father looked uncertain. “That would require my wife’s consent.”

  “They’re going to kill her.”

  The older man pressed his lips together and for a moment Nick thought he would do nothing to save her.

  “Wait here.”

  A moment later the door swung open and Nick faced a smaller, darker and only slightly older version of Jessie. The woman’s looking figure was trim, and she would have been attractive if not for the descending eyebrows and mouth drawn in a thin bitter line.

  “Go away,” she ordered.

  He turned to go.

  “Wait,” said Jessie’s father.

  “George, don’t speak to him.”

  “He’s trying to find her, Marta.”

  Nick paused in the drive. “I can find her without your help.”

  “Good, because you aren’t getting it,” snapped Marta.

  “Marta, please,” said her husband.

  Her bottom lip quivered as she glared daggers at Nick. “If they do anything to my girl, I’ll hunt you down like the animal yo
u are.”

  Nick accepted her threat without comment.

  “He can track her, Marta,” said George.

  His wife stared at Nick. “If you can help, you are welcome.”

  The three regarded each other warily as the uneasy truce formed between them.

  Nick returned to his convertible. He waited as George ushered Marta down the drive.

  “We haven’t met officially.” Nick extended his hand, expecting to be shunned. But he wasn’t. The hesitation was obvious but the man did shake his hand.

  “George Healy.”

  “Nick Chien.” They broke contact.

  “This is my wife, Marta.”

  She glared at him.

  Nick opened the door to his Mustang. “Are you coming?”

  “I won’t sit in a car with him,” said Marta to her husband. “He might kill us both.”

  George’s expression looked pained. “We’ll follow you.”

  Nick waited no longer but slipped behind the wheel and followed the familiar scent that would bring him back to Jessie.

  Nagi followed his ghost over the meadow, their passing so silent they did not even disturb the mist that hovered over the wet grass.

  His ghosts had taken the little Niyanoka far enough that she would not be recognized, but not far enough to make it difficult for the wolf to find her. This time he had more than a dozen ghosts guarding his prize. More than enough for one wolf.

  Nagi was anxious to deliver an injury so grave that neither a human nor a Spirit Child could heal it. A wound that would force the Healer’s gift.

  His soldiers shimmered in salute as he passed with his guide. He reached the cabin on the ranch where she was held and drifted through the wall of the room in which the Spirit Child was bound. On seeing him, his three sentries vibrated to attention.

  “Are you certain she is his soul mate?” asked Nagi.

  The ghost closest to the woman contracted, glowing a faint greenish brown. “Yes, lord. I heard the wolf say so.”

  Nagi looked at the still form upon the bed. “What have you done to her?”

  The same ghost was quick to reply. “Peko slapped her across the face. She has been still ever since.”

  Nagi flapped with rage.