True Shifter

by Rains, Christine

  A vehement string of curse words threatened to stream off her tongue. “No.” Saskia managed to force out before stalking out of the room.

  Behind her, Ametta took charge. “Don’t follow her right now. She’ll rip your head off. I don’t know what you did, but I know when a woman is pissed off at her man. Maybe you should ask Lucky and R— Ask Lucky what to do. And Kinley and Ransom can fill you in on what’s been happening too.”

  Saskia marched through the sitting room, through the foyer, and into the man room or game room or whatever Ametta had dubbed it. She plopped into one of the big recliners. It was newer than her dad’s, but the way it cradled the body was familiar. What would her father have thought about what happened? Surely he wouldn’t have forgiven Sedge for attacking Kinley and turning his back on Saskia.

  Ametta whisked into the room and curled up on the chair next to Saskia’s. Her sister twisted to face her. “So?”

  “What?” Saskia didn’t look at Ametta, but she could feel her gaze boring into her. Why couldn’t everyone just let her be?

  Ametta groaned. “Sedge came to the back door while you and Kin were projecting. He was hesitant but polite. When I told him what you were doing, he ran like an angry bull into the sitting room. Then you fell at his feet.” She sighed and tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair. “Clearly he still loves you. So what’s going on?”

  “Nothing.” Saskia wasn’t going to have a girl talk with Ametta. No one would know how she felt. Neither Lucky nor Ransom had ever turned their backs on her sisters.

  “All right. Here’s what I think.” Ametta plowed on ahead anyway. “You came back here alone. You seemed to believe he wasn’t coming back. Likely you two had a fight. Maybe he did something idiotic. Maybe you were being stubborn. I don’t care. Work it out. We need our focus to be on getting the tokens from Azarius and putting the totem pole back together.”

  Azarius betrayed her. Sedge turned his back to her. And they might never be able to figure out how to reconstruct the pole. Her fingers dug into the leather of the chair.

  Ametta continued, “I think you might have been more cooperative until he apologized to Kin. The big, fancy, take-my-life-it’s-yours kind of apology. What made you angry about that?”

  Saskia bared her teeth and growled. She twisted in the chair, making it wobble. “Nothing. He needed to apologize to Kin after what he did. Stop talking.”

  “So it was the way he did it?”

  “No.” A little, but not really.

  “What did he do then?” Ametta rested her chin on her curled fingers.

  “Nothing. Let it go.” Was the punching bag still hanging in that one spare room? Saskia needed to hit something. She debated the fastest way out of there to the second floor.

  “Did he order you to do something you don’t like?”

  “What? No.” Saskia stood, kicking the foot of the recliner in hard.

  Ametta rose and crossed her arms. “Did he say something stupid when you expressed your honest feelings to him?”

  Saskia gaped at her sister. “No. God, Mett. It’s not like we’re a normal little hipster couple like all the ones you know. We’re Black Shamans. He’s a fucking god. You can’t understand everything that comes along with that.” And neither could she. Because all that shit shouldn’t matter if they loved one another. She hit the side of the recliner behind her. “He turned his back on me when I asked him to come back here with me and left me to come back alone. He—”

  “But he’s here now.” Ametta hedged.

  “He turned his back to me.” Saskia’s voice lowered to a savage whisper. “He turned his back on all of us. He can’t just walk back in and expect everything to be all right. And to top it off, he doesn’t know how to put the totem pole back together. He’s been lying this whole time. He expected to get the bear token and have it all come back to him.” Spittle flew with her words. “I’m not going to run off. We’ll find a way to fix the pole. But fuck him. I don’t want him near me.”

  Ametta stepped back as Saskia shot up from the chair, stormed to the stairs, and took them two at a time. The punching bag still hung where she remembered. It nearly flew off its chain with her first punch.

  The worst part of it all was that she still loved Sedge.

  No one bothered Saskia the rest of the day. She beat on the punching bag for an hour or so before she realized she wasn’t any stronger or faster than before her gift from Grandfather. He said he gave her power. Or was it a power?

  It was still there. She could feel it just at the back of her throat. It was as if it were wiggling farther inside her body.

  She’d been an idiot not to ask the domovoi what the gift was. Out of need for something, anything, to help against Azarius, she’d accepted it with all the caution of a toddler. Yup, stupid.

  Last month, Kinley had been granted temporary power from the Moon Man. Was this gift something like that? If it was only temporary, she needed to find out what it was sooner rather than later.

  Saskia opened the door to the room to go speak with the others, but downstairs, their calm voices irked her. Even Sedge’s baritone was cool and collected.

  Screw that. Let them brainstorm some plans. She’d figure out what she could do with her new power.

  And at the end of the day, she had no answer.

  Not extra strength or speed. Not flight or levitation or ghosting through walls. No telekinesis or teleportation. No fire breath or lightning from her fingertips. No other magic she could tell.

  When Kinley asked Saskia to join them for dinner, a scream wanted to shatter all the windows. Saskia swallowed it. She wasn’t going to stay in the room like a sulky teenager. That’s what Sedge did those weeks in the den.

  Lucky had made roastbeef and a chicken, and every damn side imaginable. She gave him her gratitude and thanked the hen and cow for their lives. Why she still cared about taboo seemed to surprise the others. Sedge couldn’t punish her any more than he already had if she broke it. But it was an old habit, and there was a little comfort in it.

  “So what’s the plan for getting the other tokens?” Saskia sat on the opposite side of the table than Sedge. She didn’t even look his way. It put her between Ametta and Ransom with Lucky at the head of the table.

  Kinley took the seat beside Sedge and scooted in her chair. Always the last one to sit. “We’re going to set a trap for Azarius.”

  “We figure that since two of the tokens he has are still just necklaces, we can take those.” Ransom loaded scoops of everything onto his plate into a pile.

  “But what if he doesn’t have them?” If Saskia were in that position, she’d have the owl and fox totems hidden well. Wasn’t that what Azarius had been doing anyway?

  “We’ll make him tell us.” Sedge’s dark gaze bored into her. Of course he’d say something like that. Azarius wouldn’t succumb to torture and couldn’t be blackmailed. If he didn’t have the necklaces, they were basically screwed.

  “We think he’ll have them once he believes he can get all the tokens. He’ll want to reconstruct the totem pole as soon as possible. Once the protection on the house is gone, he will think nothing can stop him.” Kinley placed a small chunk of roast on her plate. Ransom reached across and added a bigger one to it with a wink.

  “There’s plenty to go around, babe.”

  Did these people even know whom they were dealing with? “Az is too smart to fall for a trap. He’s not going to be taking the totems with him everywhere, not even if he thinks he can win.”

  “He will.” Sedge finally drew her glare.

  “No, he won’t.” Saskia shot back and cut off the next bit where she said he didn’t know Az the way she did. She once would have been vehement that she knew Az better than anyone, but not anymore.

  “He will with the right bait.” Holding her gaze, Sedge plucked a dinner roll from a basket and pulled it open. Steam wafted up in front of his hard face.

  “And what will that be?” Saskia leaned back and folded her a
rms.

  “Me.” Kinley gave her a small, tight-lipped smile. “We’re going to make it look like Sedge has caught me and wants to take the bear totem from me. It’s the scenario we think he’ll most likely believe. I’ll struggle, but be losing, and Azarius will swoop in to save me. Then he’ll tell me all his plans and—”

  “No.” It was the worst fucking idea in the world! Did they all think Az was the coyote and they were the roadrunners?

  “We really thought this through.” Kinley perched on the edge of her chair. “Azarius doesn’t want Sedge to have any of the tokens, especially not the bear. We’ll set a magical snare—”

  “No.” Saskia slapped a hand on the table, and all the silverware and dishes jingled. “He’s not going to fall for it. It’s too contrived. He’ll figure it out and find a way to take you, Kin. Then you will be dead. It’s not going to happen.”

  “It’s a risk I’m willing—”

  “No!” Saskia shouted and stood, gripping the edge of the dining room table. “Goddammit. This isn’t some fucking game.”

  Everyone else had risen from their chairs except Sedge. His expression didn’t change. “And what do you think we should do? You’re not going to fight him.”

  “I will. I have that power from Grandfather.” Saskia lifted her chin.

  “And what is it?” Sedge asked.

  That was the million dollar question. “I don’t know yet.”

  Now Sedge stood, towering over them all at six and a half feet tall. It wasn’t just his physical size either. It was his whole damn presence. “Grandfather gave you the gift as thanks to me. Come here and let me see what it is.”

  Bastard. After turning his back on her, he wanted her to come to him? Hell no.

  The others all stepped away from the table except for Ametta. “Don’t you dare break anything, Saskia.”

  Saskia ignored her sister and didn’t budge. “I don’t need you—”

  “I know more about—”

  “You know nothing more!” Saskia pointed a finger at him. “Through your own fucking admittance.” She swung her head to look at her sisters and their boyfriends. “Did he tell you? He doesn’t know what he’s doing. None of this is worthwhile if we can’t put the totem pole back together once we have the tokens. But I bet my left arm that Az knows. He’s had years to prepare. And if he thinks I’m retreating under his wing, back to his side, he’ll tell me.”

  Sedge worked his hands, furling his fingers and straightening them. His chest heaved, and his cheek twitched.

  So what if he was angry? It was nothing compared to how he hurt her.

  But why then did it make the ache worse to know she wounded his pride? Love sucked.

  “Your idea might be the better one.” Ransom hedged, glancing at Saskia.

  Holy hell. The cat agreed with her! She’d have to get him some beer later to thank him. Though Ransom likely just wanted to take Kinley out of the line of fire. And Saskia was fine with that.

  “We could still set that magical snare, just in case.” Ametta mused.

  “No.” Sedge rounded the table with his sights on Saskia. “He’ll rip you to shreds.”

  “He will not—”

  “He will because he knows it will hurt me.” Sedge stepped into Saskia’s personal space, daring her.

  Her feet stayed rooted on the spot. The heat of his body called to her and stoked her anger all the more. “It’s not all about you. If it was, he would have killed you a long time ago.”

  “He cannot kill me. I am the only one who can put together the pole.” His brows rose slightly in challenge.

  “No, you aren’t.” She bared her teeth. “Bear wasn’t the only one who made the pole. Az may have found a way to do it himself. The raven totem could have given him the knowledge. Or maybe, he knows Raven.”

  “He does not.” Sedge grumbled. “Raven is far away, hidden from the world. And she is just a child. She knows nothing of who she is yet.”

  At least that wiped away the possibility of Az finding Raven. A quick wave of relief coupled with intrigue washed through her. Saskia gathered her focus back. “It doesn’t matter. He’s here, trying to get the other tokens. He wouldn’t be making such a push if he didn’t know what to do with them.”

  “Or, knowing we’d make our move when we came back, he was attempting to get their tokens while we weren’t here.” Sedge’s even, I’m-always-right tone grated the wrong way.

  “No one knew we were ever coming back. Not even you.” Saskia poked him in the chest. “We’re only here because I walked out of the den. If I didn’t, you would’ve hidden for the rest of the winter. Maybe the rest of your damn life.”

  “I wasn’t hiding.” His breath hissed through clenched teeth.

  “Really?” Saskia rolled her eyes and threw up her hands. “Then try to come up with a better plan. You’ll see mine is the best one.” Like ripping a scab, she turned away from him and picked up her plate. “I’ll take my dinner upstairs. I can’t be in the same room as you.”

  Sedge didn’t follow as she left the room and went upstairs, but an invisible elastic tried to pull her to go back to him. Eventually it would snap and break.

  Hopefully before she did.

  Saskia lay back on the bed. Kinley had taken her to the astral plane once, so it shouldn’t be too hard to do it herself. Perhaps she was oversimplifying it, but she needed to see the domovoi. She could ask her sister to take her, but the others were still talking downstairs, and she didn’t want to bother anyone else.

  No. She didn’t want to bother Sedge. She could do this herself.

  The wriggling of the power was faint and nearing the area of the hollow her of throat. It sat in a tight ball, warm and waiting. For what, she didn’t know.

  On a full stomach, it was easy to lie back and close her eyes. How many times did she have dinner with her dad and the two of them just kicked back after the meal in a food stupor? More often than not, her father would fall asleep.

  Damn, she missed him.

  She’d avenge his death. There was nothing for her to fight when cancer took her mother, but Azarius, yeah, she would kill him. She’d kill him a thousand times if she could.

  Revenge fantasies likely weren’t helpful in meditating and projecting. Saskia scraped them from her mind and focused on the domovoi. The dim house lacking décor, the dream-like feeling, and the dying house spirit in the master bedroom.

  Opening one eye, she peered around the room. Nope, no change.

  She closed her eyes and whispered to Grandfather as if he might be able to help pull her over to the astral. His help was needed. Just a few words.

  The softness of the pillow cradled her head, and whatever potpourri Ametta had stashed in the room smelled sweet and earthy. The call of the other totems downstairs constantly tugged at her, and while most of the time she could ignore it, she was paying too much attention to that pull to meditate and project.

  It wasn’t to her sisters and Ransom she wanted to go. Domovoi. Other plane. Focus.

  Breathe in. Breathe out.

  She needed answers. She needed to know how her new power worked to defeat Azarius.

  Breathe in. Breathe out.

  She didn’t feel any different. Could she do this without Kinley? She disliked asking for help, but no matter how stubborn she was, there were just some things she couldn’t do.

  Saskia needed to just give in and ask. She could even text Kinley and have her come upstairs without saying anything to the others. Yeah, that could work.

  She opened her eyes as she sat up. No lamp lit her room. No cell phone sat on her bedside table.

  Hell yeah! Grinning, she stood. Whether the domovoi helped or not, she had made it to the astral plane.

  A slithering tendril of fear licked at her as she opened the door to her room and hurried down the hall. Knocking lightly on the ajar door of the master bedroom, she poked her head inside. “Hello?”

  No answer.

  Saskia stepped inside. There w
as no one in the bed. Nothing lurked in the corners. Peeking into the bathroom, she found it empty too.

  Did Grandfather get better? No. She shook her head at herself. He was dead. He knew he had little time left when he gave her the gift. Shit.

  That meant the house was unprotected. Did the others know? She had to tell them in case they didn’t. She ran into the hall and skidded to a stop.

  What was she doing? They weren’t downstairs here. She had to go back to her realm.

  And dammit. She hadn’t thought about that part.

  Scrabbling noises from above had every muscle tense. Was Grandfather in the attic? Or maybe the kikimora? If the wife was still around, she might be able to provide a few answers. If she was coherent. Saskia didn’t want to fight a crazed widow house spirit.

  It didn’t matter. Being cautious in case of any insane kikimoras, she opened the door to the attic and ascended the stairs.

  The circular window at the far end of the attic sat open and a half dozen birds perched on the ledge. Her heart thumped harder in her chest. Not just any birds: ravens.

  One to her right hopped on the lid of a wooden chest, and another to her left preened while sitting on an old coat rack. Their brethren cawed from outside in a nearby tree.

  Fuck. If the ravens were here, it likely meant Azarius wasn’t far behind. She needed to warn—

  “Hello, Saskia.”

  She spun around and aimed a kick at the source of that all too familiar voice. Her shriek was echoed by squawks and flutters of wings. Her attack missed, and she threw a wild punch. She’d rip him to pieces. Bury him in different places. No one would find his parts.

  Azarius ducked and weaved. He didn’t even raise his hands to block. Easily, he was out of her reach on the other side of the attic with the round window.