Silent Whispers (Totem Book 2)

by Christine Rains

  “Are you all right?” Ransom’s quiet voice caused her to snap her eyes open.

  Her heart pounded harder. “Yeah. Just trying to catch any different scents and listening to the woods, in case there’s anyone else around.”

  Ransom stared at her for a moment and then nodded once. “I don’t smell anyone else. It’s strange.”

  Leave.

  One word. Kinley frowned and looked to the ground. Was that leave or leaf?

  Whispers upon whispers, none comprehensible. Too quiet. And no matter her focus, she was too aware of Ransom beside her. His alluring heat, his intoxicating scent, and damn, just everything about him.

  She walked away from the lighted area along this side of the mountain. It wore a small crown of clouds on top. Funny. It seemed proud of itself. Not like it was a volcano. She made certain of the site before choosing it for Bert. Alaska had many volcanoes, dead and alive, but Mount Ellsworth, as he liked to call it, was just a gigantic hill of rock.

  “I think I might scout around. Would you hold my clothes for me?”

  Kinley’s head jerked back to Ransom. Did he just ask her to hold his stuff? That meant… whoa. “Uh, are you sure it’s okay? We can ask Mr. Ellsworth, and you can change in your truck.”

  His beautiful lips hooked up in a smile. “I’m certain he won’t mind, but perhaps I’ll escort you back to him. Bert is a bit old-fashioned when it comes to the treatment of the fairer sex. He assigned me to be your bodyguard, after all.”

  Of course. What she really wanted was a few minutes with no distractions. “You don’t have to worry about—”

  Kinley stumbled forward after stepping into a hole. Ransom caught her arm before she could fall to her knees. Yup, she was a graceful creature. It was probably downright funny to a cat. She didn’t dare look at his expression.

  “Are you okay?” He helped her straighten and kept a hand on her arm.

  “Yes, sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to this…” She swiveled her head slowly from side to side. Hole? No. Maybe a now empty pool made by the rain the other day. Yet it had a more distinct shape. An impossible shape. “Footprint.”

  “A giant footprint?” Saskia snorted and nabbed the freshest plate of pancakes off the kitchen counter.

  Kinley poured another cup of batter into the frying pan. It was her second big batch of pancake mix that morning. Feeding her family and friends was like feeding a small army, and she was the only cook. And the one that would end up doing the cleanup too. Plus folding the clothes that piled up in the small laundry room.

  “It was likely just a mark left by some equipment.” Ametta didn’t look up from her cell as she spoke. The wounds from two weeks ago were gone. In fact, she looked like a woman who had never set a foot outdoors.

  Her sisters. Always the supportive ones.

  “The rock could’ve made the marks itself. Boulders can roll quite a ways on their own.” Kunik stuffed his mouth, leaving a drop of syrup in his beard.

  And her father. At least they appreciated her cooking.

  “No. It wasn’t any of the other equipment or the boulder itself. We checked thoroughly.” Kinley flipped the pancake. Her stomach rumbled, not having gotten a chance to eat herself yet. “The mark was in the shape of a huge bare foot. There were other possible prints, but none as clear as that one. Is it possible—”

  “This is no fantasy world. There’re no such things as giants.” Ametta rolled her eyes.

  So said the woman who could turn into a polar bear from a family where they all could shift into bears. Kinley was as reasonable as the rest of them, but there were other things in the world they didn’t know about. Last year she designed a house for a pixie couple. Pixies who were five feet tall rather than an inch, but they did have beautiful dragonfly-like wings. So why not giants?

  “There aren’t any giants anymore. Bear and Raven destroyed the last of the evil beasts. Obliterated them into tiny ashes.” Kunik finished his last bite and washed it down with half a cup of coffee.

  “Telling tales about me again, Kunik?” Sedge walked into the kitchen from the way of the bathroom. A pair of jeans hung low on his hips, and his muscled chest was bare.

  Kinley directed her gaze to the pan. It wasn’t often she could manage to speak around Sedge. Not just because he was absolutely gorgeous, though that didn’t help matters, but he was The Bear. Or rather, the latest reincarnation. She wasn’t certain how that worked, and she didn’t ask. She would google it when alone, though.

  “You know me, the gossiping hen.” Her dad chuckled and stood, offering his stool to Sedge. “Sit, eat. I need to clean up before we head to Stebbins.”

  Using her spatula, Kinley moved the cooked pancake onto a new plate. “Why are you flying all the way out there, Dad?”

  “Bears acting weird, slaughtering seals and not eating them.” Kunik shook his head and went to his bedroom.

  “Could be a lead on the bear totem.” Sedge took the plate with the fresh pancake on it and lathered butter over the top. “Saskia, I need—”

  “Sorry.” Saskia dropped her fork, leaving the last few bites of her breakfast uneaten, and pushed away from the counter. “Azarius is already waiting for me. We’re searching fox territory up north. Kin, keep me updated on the weather. The first big snow will hit soon.”

  Kinley’s hand froze in midair, holding a cup of batter, and even Ametta paused, looking up.

  Saskia didn’t look Sedge’s way as she strode over to the front door and crammed her feet into her boots. The Bear’s eyes were on her the whole time. It suddenly became hard to breathe. Well, at least for Kinley. Whispers tickled her ears. Ones she’d heard before about Saskia and Sedge, but oh, they were so wrong about those two. Saskia was more likely to rip off his head than kiss him.

  “When were you going to tell me you were going?” Sedge turned and slowly rose.

  “I figured Az would have said something.” Saskia shrugged and plucked her coat from the rack. “Is it necessary we tell you every little thing we’re doing?”

  “Yes.” The one word rumbled in Sedge’s chest. “I am in charge—”

  “Not of me.” Saskia opened the door. “I’m not one of your Shamans. I’m not your anything.”

  Saskia stormed out the door, and Sedge was fast to chase after her. He followed her out in his bare feet and slammed the door behind him.

  Ametta glanced at Kinley. “I kinda want to watch.”

  Kinley resumed making breakfast. “Let her be. She hates taking orders from people. And he does try to boss her around a lot.”

  “Yeah, like commanding her to the bedroom.” Ametta snickered and sipped her coffee.

  Kinley’s cheeks heated. Sedge wanted Saskia for more than just one of the Black Shamans. Her sister was too stubborn to ever give in, though. Just like Ametta with Lucky. That poor man was fighting a losing battle trying to woo Ametta.

  God. Kinley did not want to be thinking about her sisters’ love lives. Flip the pancake and think about something else. “So, work. Caught up on things?”

  Ametta nodded. “Yes, just finished with the Meyers yesterday. I swear, if someone dares put an orange with a purple again, I’ll just die.” She groaned and then scrolled along her phone’s screen before grinning. “I did get an email from Mr. Ellsworth. He’s already thinking about the interior. This winter, I get to take him shopping for pieces. In Russia.”

  “Wow. He’s getting an early start on things.” Kinley pursed her lips to one side and then the other. “You know, he has a new assistant. He had to let Genieva go.”

  “What? No. I liked her. She knew the right colors to wear as a redhead.” Ametta sighed. “I supposed her mind got a little too…” She made a swirling motion with a finger beside her head.

  “Yes, prolonged exposure to vampires does that to humans.” Kinley put the last pancake onto a plate. No one else around and her sister had eaten. Finally she could have her meal.

  “So who’s his new assistant? I bet it’s a redhead. He
has a thing for them.”

  Kinley wasn’t even certain if it was a romantic thing or a flavor Bert liked to feed from. Maybe a detached fascination thing.

  “Well, I guess he is.” Kinley’s stomach flipped thinking about Ransom. His saucy smile and impish eyes. He had changed last night, but in his truck. There was a wee part of her that was disappointed in that. In lynx form, he was just as gorgeous. Oh to cuddle with that great big cat.

  “He?” Ametta gasped and laughed, leaning forward. “I didn’t think Ellsworth swung that way.”

  “No, no, no. He doesn’t. It’s not like that.” Kinley sputtered, reddening even more.

  “Did they make out in front of you or something? ’Cause you’re as red as a beet. And only…” Ametta paused and her eyes widened. Her grin grew even farther. “You think the new guy is cute. Ha! Does he have horn rimmed glasses and wear argyle sweaters?”

  Yes, how her family imagined her. The nerd. Kinley wanted to bang her head on the cupboard doors.

  “No, he carries his own lightsaber!” Ametta laughed, leaning back on her stool.

  Yup, bang her head really hard against the cupboards.

  The front door opened, and Sedge stepped in. “Kinley, there’s someone here for you. And your sister is no bear. She’s a damn impossible dragon.”

  Sedge stomped through the cabin and into the spare bedroom, shutting himself inside.

  Everyone knew not to mess with dragons. Geez.

  And who…

  Ransom stepped inside, sweeping the door closed behind him. “Good morning, ladies.”

  Tussled hair, brown trench, and a faded blue Captain America t-shirt. Kinley wanted to faint. She didn’t. She couldn’t even move. But she needed to faint to stop gawking at the incredibly hot guy gracing the entrance of the house.

  “Hope you don’t mind if I come in. Sedge said I was welcome even though the woman—your sister?—had a few choice words for him.” Ransom sauntered over and sniffed. “Smells good.”

  Kinley pushed her plate toward him.

  “Thanks.” He winked and picked up the fork.

  Ametta cleared her throat and gave Kinley a holy-hot-bod-introduce-me look.

  Kinley wet her lips and was glad her voice didn’t squeak. “Ransom, this is my sister, Ametta. She does the interior design. Saskia, my other sister outside, is the carpenter.” She glanced at her sister. “This is Ransom Averill, Mr. Ellsworth’s new assistant.”

  Ametta choked on a laugh before holding out a hand. “Good to meet you. Kin told me Mr. Ellsworth had a new assistant, but I had no idea—”

  “That I was so good-looking?” Ransom smirked as he shook her hand and chuckled. He raised a brow. “I’m glad to meet you too.”

  Kinley cringed just a little. Oh great, now he was flirting with Ametta. No, wait. He let go of her hand pretty quick. And he’s staring at… what? Kinley peered behind her. Nothing of interest there. Was he staring at her?

  “Um, so, what are you doing here?” Kinley flipped off the stove and busied herself by loading dishes into the sink. If she kept her hands occupied, no one would see them trembling.

  “Thought we could go back to the site, see everything by the light of day.” Ransom took a bite and chewed with delight. “Mmm.” He peered at Ametta. “Kinley tell you about the giant throwing rocks over there?”

  “She never said a thing.” Ametta shot a look at Kinley.

  “But I did!” The frying pan was in her hand. To use it on herself or her sister? She’d scream, if she was a screamer, but she’d never been. Violence and insensible wailing never solved anything. She was the quiet level-headed one. She dropped the pan into the sink. “Dad said giants no longer exist, but I would like to know what’s going on. There must be an answer for it. So I’m going to get my equipment and load it into my car.”

  “Ride with me in my truck. No sense in taking two vehicles, right?” Ransom smiled as he continued to devour her breakfast.

  “Right.” Kinley couldn’t argue with that. She grabbed a banana from the bowl of fruit and ignored Ametta’s smirk as she went to fetch her equipment. Alone in a car with Ransom. She could do it. She’d talk about the mystery of the rock and work. It was all about focus.

  Just don’t focus on how the t-shirt stretched across his chest or the fact she had put on her Captain America underwear this morning after her shower. Nope. Just a weird coincidence no one needed to know about.

  A new backhoe had been delivered, and workmen were digging the last of the ground where the cellar would be. Hopefully they could get everything marked out and pour the foundation before the first big snow. Letting the foundation settle before building next spring would be optimal.

  Kinley watched them work. Fast and efficient and most of them shifters. This type of work was perfect for bears because the season was short and nothing could be done in the winter so they could hibernate. Well, they didn’t exactly sleep for months, but they definitely slowed down.

  Ransom sat in his truck, talking on his cell while she waited. The rumble of equipment drowned out the voices that tickled her ears. Somewhere an owl called. It must be annoyed with the noise keeping it awake during the day.

  She waved away a mosquito and imagined what the manor would look like when it was finished. It was one of her finest designs. Bert had let her get fancy and mingle different styles. And if Ametta was going to shop with him in Russia, the décor would be just as ornate. She closed her eyes. Lush Old World with a hint of the rustic and modern.

  The truck door opened and closed. Ransom walked around to join her. “I like what you’re thinking.”

  Kinley opened her eyes and peeked at him. “How do you know what I’m thinking?”

  “You’re smiling. So it must be me.” Oh, that gorgeous, smooth grin.

  Would her face ever not feel flushed around him? She shook her head. “Just thinking about what the house will look like when it’s done.”

  “You mean the castle, right? This place is not going to be a little house.”

  Kinley laughed and covered her mouth. “I think of it that way too, but Mr. Ellsworth doesn’t like it to be called that.”

  “Pfft. It’s Bert’s castle whether he admits it or not. And you did an amazing job designing it. The observatory room, the secret passages, the dungeon. It’s perfect.” Ransom nudged her with a gleam in his eyes.

  “There’s no dungeon.” Oh, wait. Was he teasing her? Guys didn’t often behave this way with her. At least online, she could read what they were feeling from their emojis. And Bert let Ransom see the secret plans. That said something about him. Carefree as Ransom seemed, Bert trusted him. It intrigued her all the more. “Uh, thank you.”

  Ransom chuckled and crooked a finger at her. “Come on. Let’s go talk to the foreman and then take a look around.”

  Glad the attention was taken off her, Kinley followed him to where Ian Kirk stood by the trailer. The guys shook hands, and Ian gave Kinley a fatherly hug. He was a black bear shifter and friends with her father. It was rare to find a shifter who wasn’t in Alaska.

  “That massive print, damn, it’s something.” Ian shook his head. “Might be some kids made it. You know, like the guys who made those crop circles.”

  “Oh right, I remember hearing about that.” Ransom hooked his thumbs in his pockets. “I didn’t catch the scent of anyone out here that wasn’t supposed to be here. No other human sized footprints. We did smell that carcass, though. You guys took it away? I can’t smell it anymore.”

  “Carcass? Nope. But I know that smell. Once in a while, we’ll come in bright and early, and it’ll be in the air. I just figured it was something from a landfill or something.” Ian scratched his bearded chin.

  “There’s no landfill nearby.” Kinley pursed her lips. “Has anything else been vandalized? Or even stolen?”

  Ian furrowed his brows. “Well, not like with that big rock over there. Which we’re going to have to smash up to move. A jackhammer went missing, some shovels, and a dum
p truck that parked here overnight dropped its load. The driver swears he didn’t do it. But things happen at sites. Kids getting into trouble. Think they’re so big if they steal something. We just report it all back to the insurance company. They take care of it all. Just part of the business.”

  Maybe a few little things gone missing or even teens taking a truck on a joyride was normal, but these were repetitive incidents. What would that mean when they started on the build? No, this couldn’t keep happening. “We should get more security here at night. Get a guard dog to keep the night security guys company. Maybe even think of putting up a fence.”

  “You’d have to get more guys in to do that. Lots of area to surround and too close to the first snow. We’ve got to concentrate on getting the foundation down.” Ian motioned toward where the backhoe plunged its shovel into the rocky soil.

  “Yes, you do. I’ll take care of things.” Kinley gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

  “I know a few guys who could lay a fence,” Ransom offered.

  She thanked Ransom and let Ian get back to work. Once the foreman had walked away, Ransom leaned over to her and whispered, “What about some of the guys on site? Could they have done anything like this?”

  While Kinley didn’t know the rest of them as well as Ian, she shook her head. “No. They’ve worked with both me and Ian before. Never any trouble like this.”

  “Yeah, but they’re building for a vampire. Not all shifters would be good with that.”

  True. “But they knew before they took the job. They could have said no.”

  “Okay.” Ransom gestured to the squashed backhoe. “No bunch of teens did that. So that leaves us to wonder what else might be in these mountains. Fe, fi, fo, fum.”

  Funny and hot. Kinley’s heart beat more swiftly as she led the way to where the massive footprint lay. “I was assured that there are no more giants. But maybe…” She positioned herself at the toes of the print. “Maybe we’re looking at it wrong. We see a foot, but it might be something else if we can get past our preconceived notions.”