“Thank you,” Donata said as the others laughed. “And you know, it wasn’t so much the questions that were annoying as the people I was asking them of. But since you brought it up, I have been thinking about what we’ve learned, and what we haven’t. That’s one of the reasons I asked Magnus to invite you all here. I think it’s time to take a collective look at the issue and see if we can come up with some answers.”
“I thought that was what you were supposed to be here for,” Gunnar muttered under his breath, but a pointed look from Magnus shut him up.
Donata just ignored him. She didn’t expect all, or even most, of the Ulf candidates to accept her. Or trust her. But they accepted and trusted Magnus and they were all desperate enough to succeed at the trials that she thought they’d be willing to go along with her as long as what she came up with was even remotely helpful.
“So, I’ve talked with the five of you who have had some kind of spectral encounter,” she said, glancing around the room. “Lora still doesn’t remember if her fall was caused by a ghost or not—retrograde amnesia is pretty common with head injuries, unfortunately. But there doesn’t seem to have been any other reason for her to lose her balance on the limb she was on, so for now I think we can assume that she makes number six. That means that only Magnus, Knud, and Arvid haven’t run into a ghost, so you three had better be extra alert.”
They all nodded, looking grim.
“Of the five we’re sure have experienced visitations,” Donata went on, “Jonah and Olaf were the only ones who reported more than one incident. And as far as I can tell, all the sightings have been either in communal space, like the practice hall, or out in the woods where you are training, am I right?”
“What difference does that make?” Lita, the other woman in the group, asked. She leaned against the wall by the window, sharpening an ebony-handled knife with a whetstone. Her long fair hair was pulled back into a braid like Donata’s, but she was as lean and tough looking as any of the men.
“Maybe none,” Donata answered. “But if the ghosts are only showing up in areas that are open to anyone rather than, say, your homes, it may indicate someone from the outside is sneaking into places that are more easily accessible to draw those symbols. Assuming that the rune signs I found have something to do with the ghosts appearing, which is still a big assumption.”
“Well, of course it is someone from outside,” Freddy said, scowling. “Surely you’re not suggesting that someone from Gimle is involved in this.” He let out a low growl but backed down when Magnus glared at him.
Donata pulled her hands loose and shook them to disperse the energy, patting Lora lightly on the shoulder before turning around to face the rest of the group.
“Other than Jonah’s encounters with his father in the practice hall where you train, all of the ghosts have appeared at various locations where the Ulf testing takes place, right?”
Freddy nodded reluctant agreement, which was echoed around the room.
“Are those locations common knowledge?” she asked.
Magnus’s face took on a grim cast as the implication of her words sank in. “No, they are not. The only ones who would know enough to set traps in those places are Ulf trainees past or present. To anyone else, they would simply be cliffs and trees among many others. You’re saying that the magic worker is one of us.”
“No!”
“Impossible!” Protests rang out through the room.
“Not necessarily the one summoning the ghosts, but that person has to be getting information from somebody who has this very specialized knowledge. Perhaps someone who lost a family member to the Ulf trials and wants to bring them to a halt? Or someone with a grudge against one of this year’s candidates but is willing to take you all down to avoid obvious suspicion?”
“So you’re saying we may be dealing with two people?” Lora said, her face even paler than before. “One who has the knowledge of where the Ulf trainees and only us are likely to be, and another one who is actually summoning the ghosts somehow? One local and one not? I hadn’t even thought of that possibility.” Her expression said she didn’t like it much either. One mysterious adversary was enough.
Magnus was giving Donata a curious look, his head tilted to the side so that he reminded her of a baby bird.
“What?” she said.
“I’ve just never seen you being a cop before,” he said. “I’m impressed. Besides, it is very sexy.”
Lita rolled her eyes. “I don’t find it sexy, but she does make a couple of good points. I hate to think that one of our own people might be involved in this, but I’m not sure how else someone from outside the town would know where we are put to the test. We don’t even know until the Ulf leading that day’s exercise takes us to wherever it is, although they use the same general places year after year. So Donata’s right—it almost has to be someone who has been through the training.”
“Maybe whoever it is was tricked into giving up the information somehow,” Knud suggested. “He or she doesn’t have to be willingly helping our enemy.”
“Then why hasn’t this person come forward now that it is common knowledge that the Ulf candidates are under attack?” Freddy countered.
Donata thought about it. “I suppose it is possible that the informant gave up the information and then was killed by the magic user to keep him quiet. Has anyone gone missing lately?”
“I don’t think so,” Magnus said. “But I’ll look into it. Any other suggestions?”
“Maybe ones that don’t include accusing one of our people of being a traitor?” Freddy said through clenched teeth.
Donata tried not to sigh. It couldn’t be pleasant to have an outsider come in and make you face unhappy realities. If they were antagonistic toward her before, she couldn’t exactly expect them to be overjoyed with her now.
“It would be helpful if someone could go back to the area where Lora fell out of the tree and see if you can find another set of symbols like the ones we found in the hall and on the cliff top where Freddy saw his brother,” Donata said.
“And you should probably try to prepare yourselves for more appearances. So far the ghosts have created havoc because they showed up when you didn’t expect them, and they startled you. If you are braced for them to show up . . .”
Magnus nodded. “Right. We prepare for all sorts of unanticipated contingencies, anything from poisonous snakes to ground that shifts when you thought it was solid. This has thrown us because as a society, we aren’t used to dealing with our beloved dead showing up out of nowhere. But we’re going to have to make that mental adjustment and make it fast, so the next time it happens, we aren’t caught so off guard.”
“How the hell are we supposed to practice for that?” Arvid asked, a slightly plaintive note in his voice.
“I might be able to create illusions to help you train,” Donata said slowly. “Magnus and I will put our heads together. Maybe I can help you be better prepared, since it seems likely that this will keep happening until we can figure out who is behind it and stop them.”
Gunnar got a gleam in his eyes that Donata didn’t trust.
“I’ve got an idea,” he said. “If Magnus thinks Donata is our best defense against whatever Witch is summoning these ghosts, maybe she should come along with us, so she can watch our backs.”
Great. Try to do the impossible alongside a bunch of giant Shapeshifters who have been working toward these tests their whole lives? She was in damned good shape, but she didn’t have any delusions about being able to keep up. And who’s going to watch my back?
“No,” Magnus said in a flat tone. “Absolutely not.”
Donata was kind of inclined to agree with him, but she also had to admit that it wasn’t a totally off-the-wall idea. “What exactly does the Ulf training involve?” she asked. “Is there any way for me to be there without having to actually do whatever it is
you’re doing?” There was no way she was going to attempt to scale nearly vertical cliffs.
“I’m surprised you haven’t told her all about it,” Lita said, and flipped her knife across the room so it sank into a target that hung where most people would have put a painting of a sunset. “Since she’s joining the family, so to speak.”
Magnus bared his teeth in something resembling a smile. “Donata and I are used to having to keep parts of our lives private. We have enough trust between us that it isn’t a problem. The Ulf rituals aren’t common knowledge, so I haven’t talked about them and she hasn’t asked—until now, when it is necessary for her to know.” He glanced around the room. “Anyone have a problem with me sharing?”
Silence.
“The Ulfhednar are known as Shapechangers,” he said to her, “but that’s something of a misnomer. We don’t actually turn into beasts. At least, not most of us.” He looked pointedly at Freddy, and everyone else laughed. “But we do have an animal spirit we are strongly connected to, as part of our people’s gift from Odin when he created our race. You already know about the different clans and their totems. Everyone in this room is tied to the bear spirit.”
“Right,” Donata said. “Plus I know from”—she had been about to say, “back when we were together,” but changed it—“what you told me early on in our relationship that a select few of the Ulfhednar are born with the potential to become Ulf, a kind of berserker warrior whose animal self is stronger. What I don’t understand is how the process you’re all going through right now makes that happen.”
“It’s less a matter of making it happen than it is finding out if an individual truly is an Ulf and proving it to the satisfaction of the clan elders,” Gunnar said. “Each year, the possible candidates are put through rigorous training and testing by a few Ulf who are chosen to be that year’s teachers. The training serves two purposes. One, it prepares us for the actual tests, which are given toward the end of the year, the time we’re entering now. And two, it teaches us to channel that berserker you mentioned, and learn to control it instead of having it control us.”
He gave Donata a narrow-eyed smile with no warmth in it. “You might want to brace yourself for the first time you see Magnus in berserker mode. I’m told it can be a pretty frightening sight, watching someone you love become an enraged and powerful animal, both more and less than a person. I suspect you might end up changing your mind about marrying an Ulfhednar then.”
To his surprise, Donata just laughed. “Oh, I’ve seen it,” she said, remembering in vivid detail the awe-inspiring moment in which Magnus had run into a burning warehouse to save Peter’s mother from the Cabal.
For an instant, he had seemed much larger than even his normal massive self, and she swore she saw the shadow of a bear where there should have been one of a man. It might have been a trick of the flames and the smoke, but she didn’t think so. “It was damned impressive. But not frightening at all, except to our enemies. I mostly just felt lucky to have him on my side.”
Magnus winked at her across the room. They both knew it wasn’t nearly that simple, but it was worth it to see Gunnar’s mouth drop open and then snap shut.
“Good for you,” Lora said quietly. “Magnus is a fine man.” Then she added in a louder tone, “Not everyone makes it through the training. Some of those who attempt it turn out not to have the gene that allows them to turn Ulf in the first place. It’s always a disappointment, but there is no dishonor attached to it. If they can’t manifest their animal nature, they’re out. Nothing to be done. Then there are those who get injured during the training or the testing, like me. We’re free to try again the next year, if we want to.”
“And will you?” Donata asked, almost hoping the other woman would say no.
“Hell yes,” Lora said, determination written in every line of her face. “Next year, and the year after, and the year after that, if that’s what it takes. The more Ulf a clan has, the stronger they are and the more honor they have. It also brings honor to the family of those who make it through. I’m the first one in my family to have the gene in three generations. I’m not going to let them down.”
“So part of what you do is training and part is the actual tests?” Donata said, wanting to make sure she was getting it right. “When Freddy got hurt climbing the cliff, which was that?”
“Test,” Freddy said glumly, shifting his injured leg as if trying to make it more comfortable. “We were all at different points on that same damned hill area, aiming to make it to the top with nothing but our bodies and our wits. Most Humans couldn’t climb that outcropping without tools like crampons and ropes, but we channel our Ulf nature and it enables us to do physical feats that might be impossible otherwise.” He sighed. “You know, unless a ghost surprises you at the top and you fail the freaking test.”
Donata didn’t even bother to ask him if he would try again next year. She was pretty sure he’d try the next test this year, broken bones and all, if they’d let him.
“And whatever you were all doing up in the treetops?” she asked.
“Another test,” Magnus said. “We’d spent months training for it; both in the practice hall building working on strength and agility, and then out in the woods themselves. The goal was to get from the starting point to the end without ever setting foot on the ground. It’s a great guerrilla tactic for those Ulf who work as mercenaries or in the military.”
“Plus it’s fun, if you don’t fall out of the damned tree,” Lora said dejectedly. “I was better at it than anyone else, even Magnus and Freddy, who are both more like monkeys than bears sometimes.”
Both men nodded. “You’ll get it next year,” Freddy said, patting her on the foot, which was the only part of her near where he was sitting. “We both will.”
“Damn straight,” Lora muttered, but Donata could hear the exhaustion starting to creep into the blond woman’s voice, and decided it was time to wrap things up.
“If I do come along with you,” she said, then held up a hand when Magnus started to protest. “If we decide that’s our best chance of me being able to talk to one of these ghosts, that means that some of the time I’d be watching you practice, either in the hall or out in the woods somewhere, and keeping up the best I could, right?”
“Right,” Magnus said, sounding grim. “But eventually we’d get called out on a test, and you’d be there with us. We don’t always know if the day’s exercise is training or test until we’re about to start. It wouldn’t be fair to expect you to stick with us then. You could get hurt, or worse.”
“So she turns around and comes back home on those days,” Lita said. “Since there is no way she could manage.”
“Sure,” Gunnar said. “And with our luck, that will be just when the ghost will show up, while we’re slogging our way through a test and Miss Witch is sitting on the couch eating bonbons.”
Donata found herself wanting to take part in one of those damned tests, if for no other reason than so she could shove it in Gunnar’s scarred face. “Why don’t we play it by ear?” she said. “At least my shadowing you whenever it is possible is a place to start, which is more than we have now.”
Magnus scowled at Gunnar. “Fine. But just for suggesting this crazy idea, you get to be the one to go climb all the trees near where Lora fell, and look for funky symbols carved into the bark.”
Gunnar rolled his eyes but shoved himself to his feet. The rest of the Ulfhednar followed suit, their sharp eyes obviously noticing Lora’s fading energy as Donata had.
“At least tomorrow is Sunday, so we have a day to rest up before we dive back into it,” Arvid said. “I’m looking forward to eating my mother’s pot roast and sleeping in.” He grinned at Donata. “Enjoy your day off while you can, little Witch. We meet up at five a.m. on Monday morning.”
Oh, goody.
Chapter Fourteen
Later that evening after dinner,
Donata sat by the fire with a book and tried not to think about what she was letting herself in for. Instead, she distracted her growing nerves by watching Magnus play Jenga with the hellions. Unfortunately, that had its own hazards.
There was something so appealing about the way Magnus interacted with the kids, carefully curbing his strength and yet enthusiastically whooping and hollering at the ups and downs of the game. It was clear that they adored him, and he them, and it was hard not to let her mind wonder what might have been if their relationship had gone in a different direction.
The light from the fire glinted off the ring on her finger, sending out sparkles that caused water to well up in her eyes. That must have been it, right? The ring was still as beautiful as it had been the day he’d put it on her finger, but its falseness seemed to make it weigh more that night. Part of her wanted to hand it back right that minute and end the charade. Another tiny part wished it were real.
But they’d never been that serious. Back in the days when they were dating, they had both been well aware that it wasn’t likely that a disgraced Ulfhednar and a Witch-cop had any kind of future together. The affection and the attraction were strong, but not strong enough to surmount the obstacles they’d faced as a couple. So they’d just enjoyed what they had while they had it, with no talk about things like kids or commitment. They’d parted amicably enough and stayed friends, and until recently, that had seemed like enough.
Now, watching him tickle his tiny niece, it was hard not to imagine just for a moment a slightly different scene, with dark-haired children who had her eyes and his strong chin. She couldn’t hang on to the picture, though. Instead, the image in her head was replaced by one where another woman sat in her place—Lora, maybe, or Lita, who Donata had caught sneaking wistful glances in Magnus’s direction—beaming happily at small blond toddlers who looked like miniature Torvalds.
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