The Keeper Saga: Wynter's War, Charmed, and The One (The Boxed Set Book 2)

by K. R. Thompson

  A quick flash of a young warrior with bright golden eyes, who looked very much like Adam, flashed in front of my eyes for a split second, giving me a good glimpse of who Swift Foot was remembering. I whined again and gently bumped my nose against his shoulder to let him know that I understood.

  “And then there is you, white one.” He patted the fur between my ears. “You remind me of someone I held dear. Lately I have wondered if she and you share the same soul.”

  Another blinding white light blazed in front of my eyes and everything in front of me disappeared and I became locked into a memory from long ago.

  THE WOLF WATCHED from the shadows of the nearby forest. He hadn’t been sure what the reason was for his need to keep an eye on his tiny white-haired creature on this day. Normally, he kept her company at night as they kept their vigil on the evening sky, he watching the Moon, and her a certain star. But during the day, he always left her to the ones who had taken to calling themselves the Keepers. The six warriors always protected his white-haired creature and he never doubted that they would guard her with their lives if the situation called for it, so he had never worried over her whereabouts while the sun was above them.

  This day was different, and for some reason he found himself following them when she and three of the Keepers left the village. He knew that she went to the town once every moon to visit her brother and to trade furs, so he assumed this was the place where they would be going. He had followed them once before to the town, but it had been out of curiosity. Once he had taken the bustle of activity and the sheer number of people, he had never trailed them there again. The reminder of his lost humanity was too much to bear in a place such as that, but for some reason the pull to follow them now had been something that he couldn’t shake off.

  They had never known that he watched them as they trekked through the forest. He had stayed a safe distance away, blending into the shadows easily as if he was nothing more than a ghost, so it caught him off-guard when his white-haired creature turned just before she entered the tall building, and looked directly back toward the forest to the place where he was, as if she knew he was there. The Wolf studied the expression on her face and knew that she was seeing something that no one else could see. Three warriors had accompanied her on this day, including the leader with the striking golden eyes, and they surrounded her, forming a tight circle around her once they saw the horrified look on her face.

  A sudden breeze picked up and brought something unexpected to the Wolf’s nose. A familiar scent, mixed with a strong undercurrent of a bear filled his nostrils and caused the fur to stand in a firm ridge along the length of his back.

  His attention left his tiny white-haired creature and her group of protectors as he stood and turned, facing the breeze full-on, hoping that his instincts were wrong because everything in him said that an old enemy was nearby. It was then that he noticed the throng of people toward the end of the road, near the edge of town. The breeze had come from that direction.

  He ran along the edge of the forest, taking care not to be seen. Once he reached the other end of the town, his heart began hammering in his chest, faster than it ever had, even in his human years.

  On a podium, tied between two others, stood Crow Woman with a noose around her neck. She looked ancient. She was stooped, as if she had been carrying the weight of the world upon her thin shoulders for a very long time. Long gray hair hid her face to the point that the Wolf would never have thought it was her, had he not recognized the scent of darkness that he had tracked for so long. He’d given up searching for her, thinking her long dead after their last fight.

  The Wolf sat at the edge of the trees, now in plain sight, oblivious to everyone and everything about him as he stared at the wooden podium.

  As if Crow Woman sensed him, she lifted her head and looked directly at him. Deep wrinkles furrowed her face and a single dark eye stared at him, the other lost in that familiar, jagged scar. She smiled at him then, though it held no warmth, and the Wolf vaguely registered a voice attempting to speak over the din of the crowd that surrounded the podium.

  “…guilty of the crime of witchcraft…” he heard the voice say, though the words before and after became lost in the bustle of other voices shouting and the muffled thunks of various objects being thrown at the three prisoners on trial by the irritated spectators that surrounded the podium.

  The Wolf, now realizing that he was sitting in plain view, scrambled back into the shadows, thankful that he had not caught the attention of any other than Crow Woman. Her attention had never wavered from him, regardless of the throng of people who seemed intent on destroying her. The Wolf expected her to transform into a bear to fight or a crow to escape, but she stayed still, seemingly oblivious to everyone but him. It was then that he noticed the impossibly thick rope around Crow Woman’s throat. Before, she would have certainly used her magic to escape or seek vengeance, but now she seemed helpless.

  The blue amulet around his own neck glowed blue, a shimmering cerulean orb that seemed to realize that its previous owner was near. It pulsed, sending steady vibrations against his chest. Other than giving him the ability to speak on a couple of occasions, it had never done anything more than hang about his neck. Uneasy, he growled and retreated a few more steps. Instinct told him that Crow Woman still had enough power to summon her amulet—and if she managed to get it, all of her magic would be returned. That would prove disastrous at best.

  He looked at Crow Woman one last time before he turned to head back into the safety of the forest. The cold look that lined her face chilled him to the bone. There was nothing there that spoke of forgiveness—either asked for, or given. There was only hatred.

  The amulet was pulsating so hard that it bounced against his chest as he walked away. He heard her speak—so loudly that her voice echoed over every soul between them.

  “I will always follow you. In this world—and the next. My soul will never rest.”

  And with that final promise, the Wolf heard a sudden thump and knew that Crow Woman had met her end on that podium. Then, he felt the amulet still.

  THE MEMORY ENDED and I stared into Swift Foot’s eyes. From the look on his face, he was still reliving his memory past the point I had seen, but it ended a few seconds later. The blue stone that hung around his neck shimmered in the afternoon sun, looking like a harmless, pretty talisman.

  “So that is where her power came from?” I asked.

  Swift Foot nodded. “Yes, but it seems that she no longer wishes this one as she has stolen another amulet to give her power.”

  “Thieving is not the only thing she’s been doing.” Adam appeared, looking troubled. “I found someone just beyond those trees. He’s dead.”

  Chapter 8

  IT DIDN’T HIT me that we had just contaminated a crime scene until the three of us stood staring at the body. A middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair was lying in a congealing pool of blood.

  “This probably wasn’t the best idea in the world. Our prints are going to be all over the place. Your dad is going to kill us,” I told Adam, once I was able to tear my eyes away from the giant hole in the man’s chest. At least there wouldn’t be any mystery as to the cause of his rather gruesome death. “Any idea of who he was?”

  “Yeah. There’s a truck just over that hill that belonged to him. As far as my dad goes, I think he’ll understand,” Adam said, nodding to the small knoll that was barely visible from where we stood. “The truck has a logo on the side panel. This is the guy that was working on the new cell phone tower that’s going up a mile or so down the road.”

  “This is Crow Woman’s doing,” Swift Foot muttered, squatting down to take a better look at the dead man’s chest. “The new amulet she has stolen would take the blood of one who holds magic—otherwise, it would hold very little power.” He absently fingered the blue stone around his neck as he stared at the lifeless body in front of us. “Do you know if this man had magic?”

  Adam squatted down
on the man’s other side and took a deep breath. “I don’t think so. He’s not from our town, so I don’t know. I’m not picking up any type of scent that leads me to believe he was anything but human. We’re going to have to go back and get my dad and tell him what we’ve found. He needs to know about all of this.”

  “What about Crow Woman? Maybe we should split up and hunt for her while someone goes back and tells your dad.”

  “Crow Woman isn’t anywhere near us.” Swift Foot held up his amulet. “If she were, this would let us know. I will search while you two return. If anyone can find her, it would be me.” And without waiting for our answer, he took off, faster than I thought possible for someone who wasn’t supposed to have any more magic.

  “He is still moving like a wolf, whether he is one or not,” Adam said, as we watched him go. Then, he stood and took my hand. “Let’s go and tell my dad, and then we’ll catch up with Swift Foot. Hopefully, he’ll find some sign of where she has gone.”

  HE’S TAKING THE news of a dead body surprisingly well, I thought, looking at the solemn, impassible face of Evan Black Water, Adam’s dad. I didn’t know how many dead people that he had had to deal with during his time as sheriff, but whatever feelings he had inside, he was masking them remarkably well.

  “How many of you were at the scene?” he asked Adam, as he headed toward his police cruiser.

  “Nikki, Swift Foot, and myself,” Adam answered.

  Evan grimaced, showing the first hint of emotion. “All three of you? Did you touch anything?”

  “No, but you’ll probably find our prints everywhere, especially mine. I tried to track her from the place she murdered him,” said Adam.

  “Her? You know who the killer is?”

  “Yeah, I’m certain it is the same person responsible for the theft in the gift shop, which we believe is Crow Woman. We tracked her scent nearly to the body before it faded. The scent of that man’s blood overpowered everything else, so I don’t know where she went afterward.”

  Evan nodded, as if this made perfect sense. “Where is Swift Foot? You didn’t leave him with the body, did you?”

  “No, he took off to hunt for Crow Woman. He seems to think if anyone can find her, it would be him,” I cut in, adding what I knew to the conversation.

  “I wish he had come back with you. What I don’t need is a man unaccustomed to how we do things. I don’t want him to get involved,” Evan said as he got into his cruiser and shut the door. “You kids either stay close to the Res or head to Nikki’s house. Something feels very wrong about all of this and I want to keep you all safe. Make sure you tell the rest of your pack that the forest is off-limits until I say it is safe—and if you see Swift Foot, tell him to stay here as well,” Evan instructed his son, before he started up the car and pulled away.

  Adam stood and watched him leave, a look of sheer astonishment on his face.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  He shook his head in disbelief. “In all the times that strange things have happened in this town, never has he told us not to go to the forest. Now that an outsider shows up and gets killed, the woods are suddenly off-limits.”

  “Maybe he is thinking about the last threat that came through. You know, he may be thinking she is a Spriteblood and he’s trying to protect you,” I said, deliberately not adding in the extra bit where the last time there had been a threat in the forest, Adam had lost his life. I couldn’t blame his dad for wanting to keep him safe—especially after the dream I’d had.

  “The guys won’t like it,” Adam said, a worried wrinkle crinkling between his brows. “Our wolves need to run—they need this forest. If we keep them cooped up for long, we’ll be an irritable bunch. Soon, we’ll start lashing out at everyone. There’s nothing worse than an animal caged inside of you, wanting out.”

  “I know of something worse. Try being a human caged inside of a wolf for more years than you can imagine. It isn’t a pleasant experience.”

  I jumped at the sound of the voice and a white mist had enveloped me immediately. Realizing the voice belonged to Swift Foot, my wolf faded back into her shadows as quickly as she had surfaced. “How do you do that? We never see you or hear you. You just pop up out of nowhere.”

  Swift Foot shrugged. “I suppose that I still hold some of the Wolf’s traits. I never had a problem being invisible to everything around me when I was trapped in his body.” He turned to Adam. “You would do well to obey your father’s request until we form a plan. He wishes to keep you and the others from harm.”

  “We aren’t the only ones he wants to keep safe,” Adam informed him. “You’re on that list too, my friend. He told me that he wants you to stay at the Res as well.”

  “I know this forest as no one else does. I’ve spent more years than I know to count hidden in her shadows. I feel safer there than I do here,” Swift Foot said in a quiet voice. “I appreciate your father’s concern and I promise to take care.”

  “Did you find anything that told you where Crow Woman went?” Adam asked, ready to get back to finding the murderer.

  Swift Foot held up his amulet for us to see it. It looked the same as it had moments earlier. “This led me in the direction she had gone. It began pulsing. It did this once before when she was near, so I don’t believe she is very far away. I followed her as far as one of the dead places that keeps spreading, and then I had to come back. The trees blocked my path.”

  “So now what do we do?” I directed my question to Adam, but Swift Foot was the one who answered.

  “It will take more than just me to defeat her, you will need the Six,” he paused, as if wondering if even the Keepers would suffice to bring down his oldest enemy.

  “We will meet as soon as school lets out,” Adam nodded, “Hopefully by then, my dad will have found whatever he needs and be willing to let us go.”

  “And if he doesn’t?” I asked.

  “Then we won’t tell him until we’ve killed her and it’s over.”

  I wasn’t sure what to say to that, so I didn’t say anything and stood watching as Adam talked to Swift Foot.

  “Since I doubt you’re going to stay at the Res, I have a favor to ask of you.”

  Swift Foot nodded slightly, as if he knew precisely what favor Adam wished. “You have my word that I shall keep her in sight any time that you are not near. I promise to keep her safe.”

  I shifted the book bag that seemed to be permanently stuck on my back like a huge red bull’s eye. Somehow the conversation had turned completely on me, and I was certain that it was because of the target that I was carrying around with me twenty-four/seven.

  “Thank you…both of you…I think.”

  As if the two of them realized that I still stood there, they both turned their attention to me.

  “When the Moon rises, I will begin my guard,” Swift Foot said abruptly. “I will see you then.” And with that, he strode back into the forest.

  “Somehow I don’t think he’s very concerned about keeping your dad happy.”

  Adam shrugged. “He has a point. He’s been in that forest longer than anyone alive. If anyone knows how to be careful in it, it would be him. Besides, between the two of us, I think he’s immortal, unless you changed that when you made him human.”

  “For his sake, I hope I didn’t.” A wild urge surged through me to get the book back out and revert Swift Foot back to his wolfy self to keep him safe, but I didn’t do it. I knew he wouldn’t be happy with me if I trapped him again. For now, I was just going to have to trust that he would be okay.

  The breeze picked up and sent a chill down my arms. I rubbed my hands over them in an effort to warm myself and suddenly felt the urge to brush ghost-like snowflakes from my coat.

  “We won’t be having school tomorrow,” I announced.

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because I’ve got the feeling that it’s going to snow in a few hours. At least I won’t have to be sick again to keep me and this darn book out of school.”
<
br />   AND SNOW IT did. It began an hour after Adam dropped me off at my house. Huge flakes blanketed the ground and began mounting up faster than anything I had ever seen before. By the time dusk had fallen and the sky began to darken, it was a winter wonderland outside. I peered out the living room window. There was no doubt that school was most definitely going to be cancelled.

  I sighed in relief, happy that I wouldn’t have to worry about hiding the book.

  “You know, we should let him come in. I bet it’s awful cold out there.” My kid sister Emily appeared at the top of the staircase, her brown eyes wide and excited. My mom had left for work around the same time that Adam had gone. It was only the two of us—and her words chased away every happy thought that I’d had a moment earlier.

  Him…we weren’t alone. I fought to keep the panic out of my voice as my thoughts ran to every magical creature who would brave a blizzard to get to me and the book. “Who are you talking about, Emily?”

  “The man who has been standing at the corner of the yard since Adam left. He kinda looks like Adam.”

  Relief surged through me, but it was chased away an instant later with her next words.

  “I think he used to turn into a wolf…the way you and Adam do. For some reason he doesn’t do that anymore.”

  My voice came out choked and hoarse. “Em, how do you know all of this?”

  She shrugged. Her brown hair bounced like tiny corkscrews as she cocked her head to one side. “Sometimes I can’t sleep, so I sit at my window and look out. I saw you go out one night and turn into a wolf. Then, I started paying attention to everyone else.” She grinned. “It’s really cool that you can turn into a wolf, Nikki. I wish I could do that.”

  No, you don’t, I thought, forcing a smile onto my face.

  “So are you going to let him in? He’s gotta be getting cold out there,” Emily veered back at the task at hand. I had completely forgotten about Swift Foot in my shock that my secret wasn’t nearly as secret as I had thought it to be. “I won’t tell Mom, if you don’t want me to,” she added quickly.