by Lizzy Ford
More questions percolated from the depths of her mind, but Aveline was near her limit. She reached down and gently gripped the dead boy’s arm in her mouth then dragged the child out reach of her mother. She tugged him out of the building altogether and into the street.
Lifting her head, she could not shake the image of the children sold for meat from her mind, or the second image of her mother feasting on the flesh of those children. As much as she wanted to believe her father had lied to keep her safe from Karl and the Hanover chief, Aveline began to suspect her father had lied to protect her just as much from her own mother, the woman who committed the Devil’s Massacre.
She glanced down at the boy, and new anger stirred. Her mother had murdered the boy with the intent of eating him. Was this Aveline’s true legacy? She had always hoped to become like her father, but what if she was destined to become more like her mother? Or like Black Wolf?
She stood, warring with herself, before shaking off the confusion and anger and dragging the boy away. Somewhere, a mother would awaken in the morning and wonder where her child was. Dared Aveline return the child to where he belonged?
She gazed up towards the sky, wishing her father could help her. Finally, she decided that, sometimes, it was better not to know the truth, especially when it was this terrible. If a skinwalker could not bear to lose her daughter, a human would bear the pain many more times.
Aveline went towards the populated part of the city once more and dragged the boy inside another building near the edge of a crowded ward. She laid him out to the best of her ability and sat beside him to pray. She hoped her father was watching through the clouds and smoke, so he could guide the tiny spirit into the spirit world where it belonged.
“Thank you.”
Aveline whirled and stared at the translucent phantom of the child behind her.
“He gave me a message for you,” the little boy said.
Aveline blinked rapidly, not believing her eyes.
“He said you must help seal the breach.”
Who? Aveline managed to focus long enough to send the word to the ghost.
“And he misses you.”
Sorrow unfurled within her. My father?
The boy nodded.
Aveline’s eyes grew tight, and tears blurred her eyes. Tell him I miss him, too.
“I will see him soon. But I must go now. She owns me until her death and then we will both be free.” As he said the words, the boy faded.
Wait! Aveline hurried towards him.
By the time she reached him, he had completely vanished.
She stared into the empty space, not understanding anything other than the spirit had spoken to her father. Aveline went to the dead boy and shook him gently, hoping to encourage his spirit to speak to her again.
It did not.
She left the building and returned to the place where her mother hid. She sniffed the air before entering, afraid to discover her mother had claimed another human life and eaten it in Aveline’s absence.
Her mother was seated inside where Aveline left her. Aveline met her gaze and paused in the doorway. She did not feel connected to the woman inside the destroyed room, and she did not fully grasp how her father had fallen in love with someone like this.
“What is it?” Walks With A Limp asked. “You are troubled.”
Rather than reveal the truth of her thoughts, Aveline slinked into the room and sat. I saw a spirit.
“Ah. That’s normal,” her mother said. “The spirits of every life you take are yours to keep until your death.”
Keep?
“They will accompany you forever. Sometimes you see them, and sometimes they speak to you. But you do not have to listen to them. They often talk just to talk.”
Aveline blew air hard through her nose. She looked around without seeing any spirits and thought about how many people she had killed thus far. A dozen perhaps, mainly Shield members.
Is this the curse of being a skinwalker? She asked.
“An inconvenience. They want to be free, but they belong to you. If you tell them to stay quiet and leave you be, they will.”
But are they not people? Shouldn’t I care about what they say?
“Why?”
Aveline did not send her mother a response. Instead, she turned way and made a show of rearranging her small nest. She walked in a few circles to flatten any objects that might poke her before settling down. Her mind, however, was as far from this room as possible.
She was nothing like her mother or the other skinwalker she had met. Was this because her father was human? Or how he raised her? To kill when hired or necessary and to act with honor even in those circumstances by killing quickly.
She could not help comparing herself to Tiana, whose father was a monster not unlike Walks With A Limp. She had always pitied Tiana, but comprehending exactly what the Hanover daughter had gone through daily left Aveline feeling closer to Tiana than her own mother.
“Someone will come for us soon,” her mother assured her.
Aveline was not certain she wanted to know who this person was. She rested her head on her paws and watched her mother get comfortable on the other side of the room. Privately, Aveline vowed not to let her mother hurt anyone else needlessly, even if that meant she remained with the unstable skinwalker she did not trust.
Chapter Forty
Black Wolf sat atop a mule, frowning as he looked out over the grasslands. If his spirit wolf were still alive, he would be able to teleport to the city and not waste two days traveling on horseback. If he were not obligated to wait for the normal humans, he could run to the city in half the time in one of his animal forms.
As it was, he was bored and trapped with the lesser people accompanying him.
The basket with the remaining pup was tied securely to his pommel. Dusk was fast approaching, and the smoke surrounding the city completely obscured it from view.
Diving Eagle drew abreast of him. How he knew not to allow normal horses near him, Black Wolf did not know. The chief’s son was smarter than he seemed at times, though nowhere as interesting as the chief himself.
“Do not dare tell me we are stopping for the night,” Black Wolf said, irritated.
“We are not,” Diving Eagle confirmed. “We are awaiting allies.”
Black Wolf rolled his eyes. “You don’t need them. You have me.”
“We have waited five hundred years for this. We will not be hasty.”
While there was probably wisdom in this approach, Black Wolf could appreciate none of it. He was anxious to meet his fate, to find the pups their homes, and meet the man every Native and non-Native for a thousand miles spoke about in whispers. The skinwalker was not accustomed to working with others or bending his wishes to another’s schedule and priorities.
“Catch up when you find them,” he said moodily and nudged his mule forward. “I’m not waiting.”
Diving Eagle issued a flurry of orders to those with him before following. To his credit, he did not order Black Wolf to stop or slow but fell into step beside him.
“Are you entering the city?” Black Wolf asked. “Or do I go alone?”
“We may have an agreement, but I do not trust you to go alone.”
Black Wolf said nothing, amused the Native thought to keep an eye on him when they both understood who would win in an altercation.
They rode into the night. Diving Eagle turned out to be a competent, quiet companion capable of hunting quickly and determined to reach the city with minimal breaks, which were more for the sakes of the mules than their own. The western Native sneaked to feed his pup at intervals. The Hanover girl had delivered the pup as Black Wolf assumed she would, and Diving Eagle did not refuse the animal when it came from her.
Did the two of them understand why? Black Wolf did not think either of them really did, and his glance fell often to the turquoise bracelet Diving Eagle wore. Nothing less than absolute destruction was going to deter, and hopefully stop, the Hanover chief.
How Black Wolf pushed her to that point, he did not yet know. Diving Eagle would either be a place to start or one of many reasons for her to act when she would otherwise not.
Before dawn, they left the road leading to the city and halted at a small pond. The sturdy mules lowered their heads to drink, and Black Wolf stared towards Lost Vegas. Halfway there, the smoke still obscured the city of legend. He could not help being disappointed not to be able to see it yet. However, the fog was also befitting the city shrouded in strange rumors and myth.
Can you hear me? He asked without turning to face his companion.
Diving Eagle stilled in his movement. There was a pause before he began moving once more without answering.
“Do your western tribes not believe in spirit guides?” Black Wolf asked.
“We do.”
“And that they come in animal forms?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone more reluctant to be claimed by a spirit guide.” Black Wolf faced the western Native.
Diving Eagle was holding his pup, which was trying to stand. “If I did not believe it was an honor, I would not have brought it.” He peered at the wolf with a conflicted expression.
“Him,” Black Wolf corrected him. “He made the effort to take this form. Respect that. He can feel your resentment, too.”
Diving Eagle lowered the pup and settled one of his piercing looks on Black Wolf. A lesser man would be intimidated, but Black Wolf feared nothing in this world.
“He says my name over and over and the word Star,” Diving Eagle asked. “I believe he wishes it to be his name.”
“He will learn to say more as he grows older,” Black Wolf said.
“I do not resent him,” the chief’s son added. “Since you entered our hunting village, promising great wealth, we have been cursed. You changed the course we were on.”
“Or I put you on the course you were meant to be on,” Black Wolf replied. “If you want to win this war, you can’t continue to nurse your hurt pride. You’re not the first man I tricked or lied to.”
Diving Eagle shook his head, carefully replaced the pup in a pouch at his waist, and stalked over to the mules.
“Do you have any sort of plan?” Diving Eagle asked.
“I don’t need plans.”
“If you fail, and the Hanover chief realizes his danger, you will ruin any chance of us succeeding.”
Black Wolf had never had a reason to consider how his actions impacted others and brooded silently, uncertain if even this situation warranted him caring what happened to anyone else if he somehow managed not to succeed.
They mounted their mules once more and returned to the road.
“Of all the rumors about the Hanover chief, which are true?” he asked finally. “Your brother spoke of spirit soldiers and entire armies disappearing before they could reach the city. I have heard too many different versions of events to believe any of them.”
“If he is like his daughter, there are no limits to his abilities.”
“But there is a price. No one can use power of this magnitude without paying a price,” Black Wolf replied. “That price could limit his willingness to use magic or to unleash everything he is capable of.”
“You speak of the Hanover madness,” Diving Eagle’s voice was quieter.
“In part. This level of unnatural ability must have another price as well.”
“Do you pay a price for slaughtering innocents?”
“I will. Someday,” Black Wolf replied. “But it does not stop me.”
“The Hanover’s cannot be of this world,” Diving Eagle said. “They cannot be meant for this world, either.”
Black Wolf smiled, not caring if the Native saw it. Diving Eagle was torn in what he felt for Tiana Hanover. But the truth was, there was no hope for the girl. If she survived a confrontation with her father, she would not survive much longer with her right mind.
Diving Eagle halted suddenly. Black Wolf twisted to see what his companion did before halting his horse as well. The western Native had turned his mule towards the forest. A column of smoke – black at its center swirled with yellow, red, and blue – rose from the forest.
“My father has crossed over,” Diving Eagle said. “I felt it last night but hoped …” He fell quiet and watched.
“He will witness the revenge of your people from the spirit world,” Black Wolf said. “You should be pleased. He could not see what you do otherwise.” Unconcerned, he nudged his mule forward and began walking once more. “They’re waiting for us.”
After a pause, Diving Eagle followed. “Who?”
Black Wolf did not answer. He had felt the presence of the skinwalker beckoning him towards the city for three days now, since sharing the vision with the Hanover girl. It was stronger this day. The compulsion to ride without stopping grew stronger the closer he came. He had not known how to categorize the unusually strong presence in his mind, but the closer they came to Lost Vegas, the more he believed it was a distress call. The skinwalker in the vision was in trouble. But it was not the half-breed he had saved, Aveline. This was a different person, someone older than he was.
“I do have a plan,” Black Wolf said after some consideration. “But you will not like it.”
“I do not expect to.”
He snorted, always amused by the Diné’s blunt honesty. “I learned the history of the bracelet you wear. Do you know who possesses the other one?” he asked.
Diving Eagle glanced down.
“The Hanover girl.”
Diving Eagle’s jaw clenched.
“Your fates are bound. Your father believes it to be so,” Black Wolf continued.
“What is your plan?” Diving Eagle snapped.
“Go with her when she faces her father.”
“I will not abandon my warriors or my people or my plan.”
“I’m not asking you to.” Black Wolf smiled. “You and she both wish to face her father. Why not do it together?”
“Because I have a duty to my people, and because –”
“That bracelet is where your duty lies. If your father thought otherwise, he would not have given it to you.”
Sullen silence followed his words. Black Wolf said no more. He did not have to. He had planted the seed and yanked the first bud free of the soil. The rest was up to Diving Eagle.
Chapter Forty-One
The tickle of grass against Tiana’s face tugged her out of deep sleep. She had been dreaming about being trapped back in her tiny room with Aveline. It was not a vision, but a normal dream, one that slipped away as her eyes opened. The pup’s warm body was cradled in her hand as it slumbered. She gazed at the lightening sky above her for a long moment then sat up quickly.
She had gone to sleep inside a tent, with Rocky a few feet away. She blinked and twisted to see around her. She was nowhere near a tent but on the ground in waist-high grass. Tiana rose up on her knees, and her breath caught.
Smoke from her father’s human sacrifices obscured the city from view. It rolled off the city into the sky above and added to the blanket of fog surrounding it. She was less than a few miles from Lost Vegas.
How many people had he hurt? How many more would die?
How was she the right person to stop him?
Her pup stirred and awoke. It whispered her name telepathically. Rarely did it say more, though it had screamed into her mind the moment Black Wolf tried to kill her. The disabled pup lifted its head in jerky, wobbling movements towards her and peered at her through eyes that did not quite yet understand how to focus.
Tiana smiled and held the pup closer to her body so the early morning chill did not reach it. She was about to puzzle over how she arrived here when she saw the basket of bottles at her back.
“I have a feeling you brought us here,” she said and reached for one to feed the pup. “I did not know you had this ability.”
Tiana. Was all her pup said. The tiny wolf ate hungrily and then settled against her to
sleep.
She tucked it into a deep pocket and picked up the bottles. Tiana stood and gazed around. The four roads – one in each cardinal direction – leading away from the city were nowhere in sight. With the familiar forest at her back, she guessed she was on the north side still, in the expanses of prairie land stretching between the roads.
Smoke rose from the forest as well, a multi-colored column far less ominous than the billowing clouds surrounding Lost Vegas. Tiana returned her attention to the city. Her insides were twisting, and she fought the urge to run away or curl up on the ground and cry. The panic inside her held her prisoner for some time, squeezing her chest and making her head spin.
She sat down again and struggled to regain her composure. She was where she was meant to be. If she ever hoped to make it to the Freelands, she had to first ensure her father never came after her or harmed anyone else. One confrontation, and she was free – permanently.
But the thought did not calm her the way it should have. If anything, a sense of doom settled into her gut, as if some part of her knew she would never be free.
She stood and began walking towards the city. Arthur and Aveline were inside. Hopefully, she would arrive in time to stop her father from hurting either of them.
Tiana walked towards the city. Not long after she began, she saw two figures on horseback, their presences marking the road leading from the north. She angled towards it and continued walking. Not soon after she spotted them, they saw her and stopped. Tiana slowed, not wanting to draw attention to herself before she entered the city. One of the riders raised an arm and waved. Curious, she focused on them and allowing their presences to register with her mind.
Black Wolf. Diving Eagle.
She missed a step as she debated whether or not she really wanted to face them. With a sigh, she pressed on. If she could not face her allies, how would she find the courage to face her father?
Tiana walked through the high grasses until she reached the road and paused. The mules grew restless at her presence without moving. Black Wolf did not appear surprised to see her, while Diving Eagle frowned.
