True Shifter

by Rains, Christine

  “King Cobra?” Was that what Azarius had been? Couldn’t those things take down elephants? “Oh shit. I don’t know. Nothing. The people of the north don’t have to deal with those things.”

  Saskia and Lucky lifted Bear into the back. She climbed in with him. Lucky didn’t even take a second to close it before running to the front and hopping into the driver’s seat. It didn’t matter. Bear was burning up. The cold would be refreshing to him.

  She held him against her as Lucky sped to the fire hall. A trip that was only a minute, but it seemed like an eternity. She’d been afraid for him with the sea hag, but this, it was too real. Too out of her control. What could she do against snake venom?

  Lucky parked and rushed around to her. “Wake Mett and I’ll get him inside. We’re probably going to have to bleed him. I don’t know if anything else will work at this point… or if we were fast enough.”

  Lifting a man bigger than him with practiced ease, Lucky hauled Bear in a fireman’s carry into the building. An old church, by the looks of it.

  Saskia skidded as she rounded the Hummer and threw open the back door. She tugged Ametta to her, wiped off the fragrant paste, and worked the Inupiat words on her tongue. “Erkrarpok pissimayok.”

  Ametta’s head dipped back as her eyes fluttered. She let out a small moan and raised a hand to rub her face. “What? Where are we? Did it work?”

  “Yes, come on.” Saskia pulled on her sister’s arm and yanked her to her feet. “We’ve got the tokens. But there was a fight. Sedge… Bear is hurt.”

  Saskia didn’t explain any further as she sprinted into the fire hall. She squinted at the bright lights inside and nearly toppled over the bench Bear had been placed on. The fact he hadn’t summoned any clothes onto himself said how bad off he was.

  Ametta ran in behind her as Lucky stomped down the stairs carrying a first aid kit and a knife. Bear groaned, writhing and nearly pushing himself off. Saskia steadied him. Her hands shook as they touched his bare skin. Hot. Way too hot.

  “I hear… them…” Whispered words barely slipped free from Bear’s lips.

  “Don’t talk.” Lucky barked. “This is what I need everybody to do. Saskia, you’re going to hold him steady. He’s already in pain, but this is going to hurt more. I don’t want him socking any of us. Just don’t press on his chest. The toxins are already affecting his lungs. Babe,” he said, gesturing to Ametta. “Get some towels and a bucket to catch the blood.”

  “The what?” Ametta darted to the nearby cupboards and rummaged through them until she found what they needed.

  “We’re bleeding him. He was bit by Azarius who had turned into a cobra.” Lucky opened the white box and removed a piece of rubber. He tied it around Bear’s upper arm. “I’ll hold his arm and cut. You hear that, Sedge? Don’t fight us. It’s going to hurt like a bastard, but we need to get that venom out of you.”

  The only response was a soft grunt.

  Saskia wrapped Bear’s uninjured arm around her and held down his shoulders. There was no tension in his muscles. When had she ever known his body to be this relaxed? Not even sleeping had he been this loose. She swallowed a sob in her throat.

  Tears blurred her vision. Thankfully his eyes were closed.

  Bear was dying, and she didn’t know what to do. Shifters healed quickly. When Azarius was training her, she had no interest in herbs or nursing. She hadn’t thought there was a point. She’d been a complete idiot.

  They’d all have been screwed if it hadn’t been for Lucky. Hell, he was the only one calm and producing a plan at the moment. He wasn’t just in fireman mode, he was a fucking superhero.

  “Okay. Here we go.” Lucky flattened Bear’s arm against his side, pinning it with one of his own. With his free hand, he held the knife and slit from Bear’s palm up along his forearm to his elbow. Blood flowed out with an initial great gush, dark and steaming.

  Ametta held a towel underneath to catch the blood, her face so pale as she watched.

  Bear hadn’t even cried out. Not one grunt or groan. A twitch here and there, but his mouth sat slack.

  There was no fight, and Saskia eased her hold on him. How fast had the venom traveled through his veins? He might have been in his animal form, but polar bears weren’t as massive as elephants. How fast could a King Cobra take an elephant down? Was it hours or minutes?

  Why hadn’t she turned into a poisonous snake and bit Azarius? Take him down at his own game. But when the battle started, she didn’t even think of being anything other than a bear. She had never needed anything other than her bear. In the heat of the moment, that’s what she was.

  Screw Azarius. He had decades of practice being different animals. He could shift swiftly in the middle of a fight. She had stopped to think. If it had just been the two of them, he could have easily killed her. Az fighting her in his human form, that was him just playing with her. He could have simply poisoned her instead.

  She’d been angry. Paired with her cockiness, she was blind to the truth. She’d been naïve to so many things. She couldn’t beat Azarius. She needed training with her gift. And that would take time they didn’t have.

  Time was something that Bear maybe didn’t have either.

  “How much are we going to let him bleed?” Ametta asked quietly, dumping the soaked towel in the bucket and picking up a second.

  “I don’t know.” Lucky sighed. “Depending on how much the venom has affected him, he’ll start to heal and the bleeding will stop on its own. I’ll put an IV into him and give him some nourishment. I might have to see if the clinic has any blood.”

  “He can have mine. We’re the same blood type.” Saskia laid a hand on Bear’s chest. His heart still beat. Slowly but surely. “You can do a direct transfer, right? Saw it in a show once.”

  “I might.” Lucky nodded. “You want to see what else is in the kit, babe? I might have to get the bigger one off the truck.”

  Ametta draped the towel around Bear’s arm and bent to riffle through the box of medical supplies. “Bandages, wraps, shots of… stuff. No tubes or anything.”

  Lucky jerked his head at Saskia. “Come hold his arm while I go get the kit from the truck.”

  Saskia came around the bench, took Bear’s arm, and held it like one might cradle a baby. The blood flow had slowed, and the puffiness around the bite had lessened, but Bear’s breathing remained shallow. He hadn’t moved an inch.

  Ametta stood with the third towel in her hands and wiped them as Lucky paused to kiss her. The two of them broke apart as if pushed backward, mouths hanging open.

  “You have a token!” Ametta reached out and pulled the front of Lucky’s shirt down. “The fox.”

  He smiled and waggled his brows at her. “That’s me, the foxy one.”

  Laughing, they hugged each other. Lucky lifted Ametta’s feet off the floor and kissed her again. “Now I know what Ransom means when he talks about this feeling.”

  “Stop the foreplay and get moving.” Saskia rolled her eyes. Every kiss they shared only made her heart heavier. Yeah, a part of her was happy for her sister, but the man she loved was perhaps gone forever. And it didn’t just mean if the body died. If the domovoi’s gift was permanent, Sedge would no longer be. It would be Bear.

  Lucky jogged out through the door, and Ametta watched him go with eyes big as a lovesick doe. She then turned and gave Saskia a tight sad smile. “Let’s wrap his arm with this towel. Hopefully he’s healed enough and done bleeding.”

  Saskia nodded, removed the bloodied towel, and dropped it into the bucket. There was still a red line that trickled blood, but the cut had mostly sealed.

  “I don’t remember anything after being in my bathroom.” Ametta wrapped the new towel around Bear’s arm as Saskia held it. “What happened?”

  Saskia pressed her lips together. She didn’t want to relive it already. Her stupid mistake. She forced the words to come out. “We made it no problem. The ritual worked. Bear found the safe and was working on opening it when Azariu
s showed up. He and I fought. Then Az turned into a snake and bit Bear. The two of them fought. I tried to help, but it was Lucky who saved us. He shot Az, got us all out of there and back here. None of us expected him…” To be a threat. How wrong all of them were. Lucky was the guy everyone liked, the guy who could blend in with tough guys drinking beer and the sophisticated upper class drinking the finest wine. He was a fireman, but even Saskia could admit all she thought of him was Ametta’s boyfriend. “He’s a hero.”

  “Yes, he is.” Ametta lifted her chin and gave Saskia one of those looks that said she should have already known that.

  Lucky stomped off his boots as he returned with a bigger first aid kit under one arm. “My ears are tingling. What are you ladies talking about?”

  Ametta gave him a sly smile, and before they could start flirting again, Saskia placed Bear’s arm on his chest. “Come on. Let’s get this done. He’s lost way too much blood.”

  Together they pulled over three more benches and made two beds from them. Saskia removed her coat and lay down a foot away from Bear. Lucky was as smooth with the needles as he was in the kitchen. He said he would only let her give a few pints, and if Bear needed more, he was a universal donor.

  Saskia would give all her blood to save Sedge. Or the possibility of Sedge coming back. The domovoi’s gift of shifting into any creature should have transferred to Sedge along with the one of remembrance. With everything he knew, he’d be able to use it better. He could beat Azarius.

  She couldn’t think of anything useful to shift into in a moment when Bear needed her. All she had to give now was her blood, her life.

  Why her token hadn’t found a more suitable bearer was beyond her. She wasn’t wise. She was a failure.

  Saskia hadn’t even been aware she’d dozed off until someone placed a hand on her shoulder. She jerked awake, whole body aching from having slept on a pair of benches. She peered up at Ametta and then twisted her head to see Bear lying on his back, staring at the ceiling.

  Her heart skipped a beat. He wasn’t… Was he?

  Bear blinked.

  Saskia let out a long breath and rose onto her elbows. “How long have I been out?”

  “About six hours.” Ametta held out a large travel mug. “Drink this juice. Lucky made a stew too. You need to eat. Both of you.”

  Six hours? Fuck. They needed to take advantage of the fact Azarius was wounded. Depending on where Lucky shot him, he could be holed up nursing his injuries for days.

  “We need to get going, not sit down for dinner.” Saskia sat up and took the mug. After a big gulp, she turned on the bench. “What about Kin and Ransom? Have you heard from them?”

  Ametta shook her head. “I don’t think they have any reception out at the cave. And they’re likely waiting there for us. Lucky popped by the house, and no one has been there.”

  “He shouldn’t have gone alone. He should have waited—”

  “For you to go? You needed to rest. You both did.” Ametta walked toward a staircase along the far side of the building. “Come and eat. Let’s not make Kin and Ransom wait any longer.”

  When her sister disappeared up the stairs, Saskia stood and gazed at Bear who had been covered with a blanket. There was more color in his skin and not the dangerous red kind either. While he was breathing and alive, no urge to cheer came to her.

  She wet her lips and lightly cleared her throat. “How do you feel?”

  “I’m fine.” Yup, total tough guy answer. Total lie too.

  “Seriously.” Saskia prompted.

  Bear turned his head to look at her and repeated more firmly, “I’m fine.”

  She shook her head. “You’re not fine. You got bit by a King Cobra. You almost died. Azarius’ brown bear nearly tore you apart because you could barely stand.”

  “Cave bear.”

  “What?”

  “He was a cave bear.”

  Saskia ran her hands through her hair and resisted the urge to yank it out as that seemed to make more sense than what he was saying. “He shifted into an extinct beast? Fucking hell. Can he even do that? Well, I guess he did. And how do you even know that he was a cave bear?”

  “I remember what you would call the last Ice Age.” Bear raised his brows slightly.

  “Of course you do.” Saskia closed her eyes for a second. Why were they even having this conversation? “I assume you remember everything back to creation, or whatever creation was for the old gods. Must be spectacular. So hopefully all that knowledge will tell you that you need to eat. So get up and let’s go.”

  “It’s not,” Bear slowly sat with a groan. “Spectacular.” He moved to sit leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “It’s not… I don’t think this mortal body can contain what I know. It’s not going to last much longer.”

  Saskia’s body felt slammed against a concrete wall. She hadn’t felt that way when she had the power in her, but perhaps it hadn’t been activated yet. Maybe it had been contained, compressed in a package that only Sedge could unwrap. Did she dare try to make sense out of a gift from a domovoi?

  Yet she hadn’t realized she’d been carrying around the small hope that his gift was only temporary and Sedge would return to her. As much as they needed that knowledge, the immensity of it was going to kill him.

  Sedge was stronger than that. He was the toughest damn shifter she ever knew. He could… What? How did someone fight something like this? And she didn’t expect Bear was the type to exaggerate. She suspected he might be understating it.

  No, no, no. This could not be happening.

  “We need to reunite the totems and put the pole back where it belongs before I’m of no use anymore.” Bear massaged the front of his head.

  Saskia swallowed hard. She couldn’t do this. This whole damn totem quest was taking everything from her.

  “Saskia!” Ametta shouted from the top of the stairs. “Don’t let the food get cold.”

  Fuck the food. It didn’t matter.

  Saskia could run out the front door, turn into a bird, and fly far away from all this. She could leave it all behind. But she promised not to run anymore.

  Her sisters were relying on her. Every shifter in the world would lose their power if Azarius got a hold of the pole. And then every human would suffer under the rule of shape-changing animals.

  “All right.” She would stay and fight. She had enough anger to fuel her for countless centuries. “I’ll go upstairs, and we’ll take our food to go. We’ll drive out and get Kin and Ransom. Then, somewhere out there, Az is hurt and nursing his wounds. We’ll find him, get the raven, and you put the pole back together.”

  Bear nodded and closed his eyes as he continued to rub his brows.

  It was a thing Sedge did. Just like that. After long days of traveling, hunting, fighting. Saskia would knead his shoulders and neck and rub his head. He nearly purred whenever she did that. She would take his mind off his worries, even if just for a little while. And he had made her feel loved as no other woman had ever been.

  Sedge was counting on her. For him, she’d find a way to get this done.

  Eating stew in a moving vehicle was not an easy thing, but Saskia gulped it all down and wiped her mouth on her sleeve. With the owl necklace around his neck, Bear was even less civilized shoving face into the bowl the entire time.

  They drove to Lucky’s house and then picked up the snowmobiles. Bear didn’t argue when Saskia told him to ride with her. She’d never driven a sled as fast as she did in that moment. Lucky with Ametta couldn’t keep up, and that was okay. They could follow the tracks to the cave.

  Flipping up the top, Saskia nearly tripped as she dismounted. “Kin! Ransom!” She kicked up snow as she ran inside. No longer the little den she and Sedge had curled together in. It was round and wide as it was tall. Lit by a single lantern, she could see nothing but her sister lying on the ground. The coppery scent of blood twitched in her nostrils.

  “Kin!” Saskia went down to her knees at Kinley’s side. Ey
es closed, shallow breaths. It was as if Kinley had been poisoned too. She shook her sister’s shoulders and scanned her for wounds. Nothing, nothing, hands? She hadn’t seen at first with Kinley’s dark mittens. The wool had been soaked with blood. “Kin, wake up. Now’s not the time for a nap.”

  Kinley didn’t open her eyes. Didn’t respond in any way.

  “Kin!” Saskia lifted Kinley into a sitting position and patted her cheeks.

  “No, leave her be. She’s in the astral.” Bear lumbered into the cave. His deep breath puffed out a misty exhale.

  Hell no. Saskia set her sister down gently and stood. “She can’t go to the astral! She’s hurt. I thought you sent her here to listen to the whispers or whatever. Even if Az was shot, he can still go into the astral. What if he has her? Or…”

  She wasn’t going there. Nothing would happen to her sisters.

  “I don’t know why she went into the astral.” Bear shook his head, walked slowly around the perimeter of the cave, and ran his fingers over the rough walls.

  “And where’s Ransom? He was supposed to stay with her.” Saskia would murder that damn cat if he left Kinley and her sister died.

  “I assume the lynx is doing what I asked him to do.” Bear made a complete circuit and dragged his feet to the center of the cave.

  “Which is?” Saskia rolled her hand. Had Bear lied when he said Ransom could do what he needed from the cave? She didn’t have time for this shit. None of them did. She had to get Kin back safe.

  Bear lowered himself to the ground near Kinley. “I sent him to fetch a soul for me.”

  “You what?” Saskia couldn’t stop herself from screaming. “Why would you do that? We need him here.”

  Lucky and Ametta rushed into the cave and heaved from the run. Ametta, seeing Kinley lying on the ground, hurried over to crouch next to her. “What’s wrong with her?”