Shadows Fall (Totem Book 7)

by Christine Rains

  Saskia whistled as she came back into the living room. “Damn. Never seen Kin stand up to Dad.” She sipped her beer. “It’s like the world has flipped on its head.”

  “I’ll drink to that.” Ransom retrieved a beer from the kitchen and screwed off the lid, raising the bottle to them before drinking. “So does that mean we can’t go to the bathroom by ourselves? We could all go as a group of girls and giggle about boys, or if you’re feeling really rebellious, we can share a smoke.”

  Ametta glared at the lynx shifter. Lucky stifled a snort beside Ametta, and she elbowed him.

  Saskia flipped Ransom off, strode into the living room, and flopped into the chair. At least she didn’t hit the guy.

  Ransom took Kinley’s spot on the couch and leaned back. “So if we aren’t going to talk about boys and smoke, what are we going to do?”

  Ametta wiggled closer to Lucky. The pull from Ransom’s token to hers was strong so close. She could feel Saskia’s six feet away, but it didn’t make her skin tingle. There was only one person allowed to make her body quiver, and that was a sexy firefighter named Lucky.

  She stood and scooted around the coffee table. “If we’re stuck here, I’m working. Saskia, did you get the email I sent you about the table for Lucky’s breakfast nook? I can show you…”

  She didn’t finish the thought as something else pulled at her token. Not Ransom or Saskia, who both looked out the front window at the same time she did.

  Another totem.

  Saskia launched herself out of the chair toward the front door, and Ransom raced across the living room behind her.

  Ametta’s heart went into overdrive. “Wait! We’re supposed to stay inside.”

  “What’s going on?” Lucky rose to his feet and shielded Ametta from the front door. Or whatever he might have thought was coming through it.

  “There’s a totem out there, and we’re not letting it get away!” Saskia threw the door open and dashed outside with Ransom on her heels.

  “Goddammit!” Ametta ran to the foyer and stopped to stuff her feet into her boots. The other two had been wearing theirs. In her home.

  Lucky hurried to get into his boots too while grabbing their coats. “This is stupid. We need to wait for the others.”

  “I know.” Ametta grumbled and slipped outside while putting on her coat. She caught sight of Saskia and Ransom sprinting across the parking lot to the northeast. She didn’t have long legs like her sister, but she was going to do her damnest to catch up to her.

  But if they did catch this new totem, that would make four. She understood why the opportunity was too good to pass up on.

  Pumping her legs, Ametta wove between parked cars. Salt and ice crunched beneath her boots. The totem was moving and fast. Did it want a chase?

  Ahead of her, Saskia disappeared into a copse of trees. Ransom threw off his hoodie and boots and shifted. Jeans slid off his feline body as he continued on the hunt.

  “Wait up!” Lucky bellowed at them, but neither paused.

  “They’re not going to wait.” Ametta panted. She did cardio workouts, but running had never been her thing. Though neither of her sisters could walk in six-inch heels like she could.

  “We could shift.” Lucky kept pace alongside her, each step a loud stomp as he ran.

  When they reached the trees, Ametta slowed and then stopped. She placed her hands on her hips and sucked in the cold night air. “No. A Kodiak and a polar bear in town? We’d get ourselves shot. Go on. Catch up to them. I can still feel them heading toward Elderberry Park.”

  “I’m not leaving you. No one is allowed to be alone, remember? Saskia and Ransom can take care of each other.” Lucky huffed, causing great plumes of mist to surround his head with each exhale.

  Saskia take care of Ransom? Ametta laughed inwardly. At least he was wily and probably knew to run from trouble better than her eldest sister.

  And if they did find another totem, would someone who already had a token be able to get another? It didn’t seem likely. So that left Lucky. Definitely deserving in her mind. “You need to be there to accept the token. The rest of us have one already.”

  Lucky’s lips thinned as he puffed out another long breath. “No. I’m not leaving you.”

  A happy warmth surged through her. She’d kiss him, but duty called. She started to jog around the trees. “Let’s keep going then. Faster for us along the sidewalks.”

  The cold bit at her nose and cheeks as they hurried toward the park. In the distance, the sloshing of water and the crackling of ice teased her ears. No shouts or gunshots or roars. That was a good sign.

  No one else was around as they entered the park. Snow clung to tree branches and made each step they took annoyingly loud. It wasn’t a large park by any means, but there were more than a few places to hide.

  The tug in her abdomen pulled her forward to the darkness between the trees. Ametta’s stomach clenched. A hunt in the woods. She didn’t want to experience that again, especially not as the prey. The hunter still haunted her dreams sometimes. Eager and crazy, wanting to skin her alive.

  She pushed those thoughts from her mind. The bastard was dead. No way he could’ve survived losing that much brain matter. It was the golden eagle shifter they needed to worry about. She glanced upward. Did eagles hunt at night?

  Lucky put a hand on her shoulder, and she jumped. He gave it a squeeze. “Easy, babe. Are they close?”

  Ametta clenched her fists and told herself to calm down. Lucky was here with her, and Saskia and Ransom were close by. “They’re near, and they’ve slowed. Or maybe stopped moving. I can’t tell if it’s just them now or if the new totem is still there too.”

  The pair of them exerted a powerful pull on her. The totem pieces constantly demanded to be reunited. Sedge assured them he knew how to do it when the time came, but that didn’t ease her anxiety. What if each bearer became part of the totem pole? Stuck for all time with her family inside an ancient artifact. No thank you. It was enough having them in one house together.

  She led the way more cautiously into the trees. Lucky followed two feet behind, almost walking on her boots. She wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed. Not from the winter cold, but the chill that had managed to seep into her bones.

  Something rustled in the snow to her left. Holding her breath, she braced herself.

  “Just a squirrel,” Lucky whispered near her ear.

  It was only a squirrel. If she would’ve stopped to sniff, she would’ve known that too.

  The tug took her farther into the darkness. The moon hid behind the clouds, and the twinkling lights of Anchorage grew smaller as if they were miles away from civilization instead of in a city park.

  Her ears seemed to be set to overdrive. Every tiny sound, the dripping icicles to the crackling branches, boomed in her head. Lucky’s breathing was almost as loud as his snoring, and the pounding of her heart added an ominous rhythm to their search.

  The flapping of wings. Ametta threw her arms over her head.

  Lucky stepped forward and pulled her close against him. “Just a raven or maybe an owl. It’s gone.”

  A drip of perspiration trickled into her eye. It stung as she wiped it away. Was she that on edge she was sweating?

  Her feet didn’t want to move. No, her shaking legs.

  “Mett, it’s okay. I’m here.” Lucky cupped her chin and turned her head so only his face filled her vision. Handsome, calm, and hair all out of place. His mismatched eyes kept her from falling over.

  She could do this. This wasn’t like it was in August. They weren’t being hunted. They were the ones doing the search.

  Lifting one foot, she set it down to lift the other. Yes, she could do this.

  Ametta gripped Lucky’s hand and turned to find herself staring into a pair of reflective golden eyes. She shrieked and immediately cursed herself when she realized what she was looking at.

  The lynx chuffed an apology.

  “Ransom?” Lucky asked.

&nbs
p; Ransom dipped his head once, and then he jerked it in the other direction.

  Time to follow the cat.

  But wait. Did Saskia and Ransom split up? How stupid were they? And stubborn. It was so much safer if they stuck together.

  A painful vise clamped onto her right arm and jerked her away from Lucky. It dragged her fast through the trees.

  Ametta screamed, clawing at the hand that held her. A hand with no heat. No freckles or age spots. Oh God, a Shadowman.

  Ametta kicked and screamed, but the Shadowman’s grip on her didn’t loosen.

  Behind her, Lucky’s roar shook the trees. In his Kodiak form, he thundered through the woods.

  Ransom raced silently through the snow, drawing nearer even though she felt the trees were going by in a streaming haze.

  With a thought, her human form lifted from her like a sheet in a whirlwind. Her arm went from taut and slender to thick polar bear muscle. Ametta ripped free and rolled once before coming to her feet.

  She snarled at her kidnapper. The bastard couldn’t take her now.

  The Shadowman stood in one spot, unmoving. Until two of his buddies slunk out of the inky black.

  The three of them surrounded her in a swift blurred motion. She growled and swiped with her claws. One tried to grab her left rear leg, but she batted him off.

  Another jumped in for her front right limb and dug his too hard fingers into her.

  Shit. They knew what they were doing. They’d planned for this.

  The one to her left fell as Ransom tackled him to the ground.

  Two left. She could deal with two, right? Unless they had superpowers beyond being all shadowy, they couldn’t lift an adult polar bear.

  Not wasting any time as Lucky drew nearer, the Shadowmen both grabbed for her. She bit one and shred his arm with her teeth while kicking at the second. A hint of blood tainted her tastebuds, but turned more oily even when there seemed to be nothing dripping from his wound.

  The one she had chomped vanished, and Lucky plowed over the other. He slammed the Shadowman into the ground, growling and tearing into his neck. Ransom danced between the trees with his opponent before Saskia burst through and kicked the Shadowman dogging Ransom in the head.

  Ametta’s urge to cheer was squelched as she found herself roughly flipped onto her back. A Shadowman wrapped both hands around her ankles, but even as she freed her right leg, he dragged her fast from the battle. Terror clenched at her, so tight she couldn’t cry out.

  Her world went fuzzy and then became clear. Too frighteningly clear. He was going to take her.

  No! Flailing, she missed the first tree she tried to grab, but snatched the next one. She kicked and held on. A sob wracked her body. She didn’t want to die. God, the Shadowman was strong.

  Saskia shouted and hurtled over Ametta to knock the Shadowman off her. He disappeared as soon as they hit the ground. Ametta trembled, waiting for relief to replace the fear, but it wasn’t coming.

  Lucky and Ransom joined them, and the three surrounded Ametta, panting as they waited for the Shadowmen’s next move.

  Ametta righted herself and shook herself out. Every part of her screamed to run. They were in a forest layered with shadows. She wanted to go home and lock herself in a room filled with lights. Though, was it possible to ever be without a shadow?

  The tug of the mysterious totem was gone. Whatever they’d chased out here had fled or was taken by the Shadowmen.

  After a minute, Saskia lowered her hands. “Okay. We need to get back to your place, Mett. We move all together. Keep tight. Lucky, bring up the rear.”

  Ametta sucked in a deep breath. Once, twice, three times. The tension in her body eased a tiny bit.

  If anyone saw them, they’d see this tall blonde talking to animals as if she were Snow White. Except no princess ever had a lynx, a Kodiak, and a polar bear following her. And Saskia would never take on the role of a princess. That was more Ametta’s style.

  Every step felt like on the edge of a teetering tower. When they finally exited the woods, Ametta exhaled and then snorted when Lucky gave her an affectionate nudge from behind.

  Now they were out in the open. Targets still, but they couldn’t walk back to her place like this. She chuffed at Saskia to get her attention and shifted into her human form. Crouching with her legs closed, she wrapped her arms around her chest. “We can’t walk back to my place in our animal forms. We need clothes.”

  Saskia sighed and nodded. “I’ll run back and get some.”

  “You can’t go by yourself!” Ametta shivered and scooted back against Lucky’s warm massive body.

  “Well, how else—”

  Ransom shifted out of his lynx form and stood. He made no motion to cover his nudity. Both Ametta and Saskia turned their heads away.

  “You could conjure us some clothes. Use your Black Shaman hocus pocus.” He didn’t hide the amusement in his voice.

  “It doesn’t work that way.” Saskia folded her arms as she shook her head.

  “Come on, use your imagination. Imagine really big boots and a coat on you to give to Lucky. Then magic medium sized ones for me. And then small, tight ones for Mett.” Ransom actually made sense. But, of course, he had to keep talking. “We’re like Goldilocks and the three bears. Except I’m a cat, but we know papa bear likes his mama cat frisky.”

  Lucky groaned and rumbled with a laugh at the same time.

  “Maybe you could conjure ‘mama cat’ a dress then. Pink and frilly.” Ametta still refused to look his way, even to shoot him a dirty look.

  “Fine. But I don’t do pink.” Saskia went quiet.

  Ametta peered at her sister. It was as if she blinked, and Saskia suddenly had on a long black coat and boots. It was as if Ametta lost time that she shouldn’t have.

  Saskia shrugged off the coat and kicked off boots and held them out to Ametta. “Here.”

  “Thanks.” Ametta took the coat before she fully stood and fast wrapped herself up in it. Her feet tingled with heat as she stepped into the combat boots, which signaled they were cold. Too big, but she didn’t care.

  Even as she dressed, Saskia summoned a second coat and set of boots to hand over to Ransom. “Nice tats. Where did you get them done?”

  God, her sister was looking at her other sister’s naked boyfriend. And Lucky would have to shift in front of them too. She could at least stand in front of her boyfriend to make certain no one eyed his juicy male parts.

  “Thanks, man. I have a cousin who’s taking art at the university. She’s wicked good,” Ransom replied as his coat rustled, signaling he was putting it on.

  “Cool. I like her style. I’ve been wanting a new one, especially after this one”—Saskia tapped her chest—“is gone.”

  “I can give you her number later—”

  “Geez, enough already.” Ametta turned fully to them, and thankfully Ransom had his coat closed. “Let’s get Lucky dressed and get out of the cold.”

  Saskia summoned a really big coat and boots this time. Ametta took them and stood in front of Lucky with the coat opened to shield him from their line of sight, facing her boyfriend. He grinned and kissed her as he slipped on the coat.

  As much as that grin and kiss made her belly flutter, she didn’t get how any of them could be so casual after what happened. They didn’t know that the Shadowmen weren’t waiting to jump them a second time. She was almost dragged off to who-knows-where for who-knows-what, and no matter which way she looked at it, it wouldn’t have turned out good for her.

  “All right. Keep close. We’ll walk the sidewalks.” Saskia led the way after conjuring a coat and boots for herself.

  “We look like a badass gang.” Ransom stuffed his hands into his pockets and grinned.

  Maybe Ametta should have suggested he stay a lynx and scout around for them. It was the only time he was ever quiet.

  They made it back to her condo with only a few weird looks from passersby. Yet as they rounded the corner and approached the front, Saskia he
ld out her arm to halt them. “The door’s open. Stay here while I check inside.”

  “I’m coming with you.” Ransom eased in behind her. Saskia didn’t protest.

  Ametta reined in the urge to run into her house herself. Did she and Lucky close the door behind them when they ran out earlier? She definitely didn’t lock it, but she lived in a good neighborhood. She hadn’t heard of one break-in on her block. Though, she guessed thieves were the last thing she should be worrying about.

  Lucky wrapped an arm around her as Saskia crept up to the front door. Ametta’s heart pounded, and she gripped his sleeve.

  The door suddenly swung open wider. Sedge filled the space. His eyes widened and then narrowed. Kinley peered over his big shoulders, and their dad pushed past the larger man to glare at them from on the stoop.

  “I told you not to leave the house.” Sedge didn’t move out of their way.

  “Yeah, well, there was another totem nearby. Which took off when the Shadowmen attacked us.” Saskia pushed past Sedge as she marched into the condo.

  Sedge glared at her and followed her back through to the kitchen. Ransom hopped up through the door. “Plus, we had to go tag our gang’s territory. Westside Anchorage, yo.” He swung around Kunik and stopped when Kinley put a hand on his arm.

  “Your clothes?” Kinley raised her brows.

  “Saskia did some magic and made us our gang clothes.” He smiled, and Kinley bit her lower lip to keep herself from either laughing or gaping.

  Ametta wrapped her coat tighter around herself as she walked in. “We had to shift and didn’t want to walk back here in our animal forms. So, yes, Saskia did provide us with something to wear.”

  She glanced at her father who still remained silent. His heavy brows hung low over his eyes, and she gave him a quick one-armed hug. “Don’t worry. We’re okay. We stuck together.” Mostly. “Did you guys have any luck? You’re back quicker than we expected.”

  Lucky followed them as they went inside and shut the door, sliding the bolt and the chain.

  Her dad huffed out a long breath before kissing the top of Ametta’s head. “It’s not as simple as we thought.”