Descending Moon (Totem Book 8)

by Christine Rains

  She grabbed a duffel bag from her closet and opened it on the bed. The blankets were neat and untouched. A little pang clenched her heart. She missed just being here with Ransom, laughing and binge watching Netflix, loving each other into the wee hours of the morning. All that with little worry or grief.

  She wanted that back so bad. No one had any idea how the hunt for the totems would turn out. All of them would give their lives to see it through. But what if the token bearers had to do just that? She’d lose Ransom and her sisters. She’d be left alone in the world.

  Swallowing those thoughts, she started transferring clothes from her drawers into the bag. If she kept busy, she wouldn’t worry so much.

  Just keep busy.

  Kinley stopped and blinked away her tears. She gazed out her huge picture window overlooking the forest and a small lake. The snow had slowed, and the clouds peeled back to let the moon shine through.

  The light in the dark. Maybe it was a good omen to see it right then. It even seemed to brighten for her.

  She smiled and closed her eyes. Everything would work out. It had to.

  He’s here.

  Kinley’s eyes snapped open.

  She choked on a scream as a hand with too-long white fingers reached for her. A man, his face too bright for her to see more than the dark outline of his eyes, descended upon her through the window.

  Silent. No breaking glass or shout or even a whoosh of air.

  Who was he? Where did he come from?

  Kinley threw up her arms as he raised his other hand and brought it down. There wasn’t a sound, but something smacked against her, long and flexible. A whip? But he hadn’t been carrying a weapon.

  Crying out, she backed away from him and stumbled over the discarded clothes on the floor. She fell as he hit her again and again with his fists. No, energy from them.

  She covered her face, but her arms, neck, and back were lit on fire as she was whipped.

  Ransom shouted and the pounding of his footsteps racing up the stairs along with Sedge’s echoed in the cabin.

  As soon as the guys neared the top of the stairs, it suddenly stopped. Kinley didn’t dare uncover her head and had no clue how much she was shaking until Ransom gathered her against him.

  Kinley could barely breathe as she writhed from the pain. She could barely manage a coherent thought, never mind telling everyone what happened. The only desperate question shrieking inside of her was who the hell had that been?

  Kinley hugged her knees to her chest in her big old fashioned tub. The scent of vinegar in the warm water pinched at her nose, and she gritted her teeth as the welts on her back stung with the acid. She pressed her cheek against her knee while Ransom pressed a cold cloth against the swelling on her left shoulder.

  “I have Epsom salts at my place. You can try those when we get there.” Ametta perched on the closed toilet with her hands clasped tight on her lap.

  “They have to smell better than this, right?” Kinley attempted a little joke, but only got pity smiles. No one was in the mood for kidding around, and neither was she, but she hated for them all to be fussing over her.

  “They most certainly d—” Ametta stood as Saskia opened the door. “Well? Anything?”

  Kinley lifted her head, her heart pattering a little faster. Saskia, Sedge, and Lucky had checked the house and around outside. Her sister even crawled up onto the sloped roof.

  “Nothing. It must be a spirit of some sort.” Saskia flexed her fingers and curled them into her palms. “So the question now is a spirit of what? The damn thing is angry. Did you do something, Kin? Maybe heard a whisper you weren’t supposed to hear?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think so.” She swallowed her pain. How was Kinley to know she heard something she wasn’t supposed to hear? Never before had listening to the whispers led to this. But with the totems and their recent loss, things were different. It could have opened the door to something.

  “She didn’t do anything.” Ransom shook his head. “She hasn’t ever done anything to piss anyone off that much.”

  Of course she had. She’d taken the designing job for the alchemist without discussing it with Ametta first. But the client had asked specifically for Kinley. And then there was… the giant. The giant was angry. But only because she was a bear. Not like she could help that.

  She reined in her whirling emotions as best she could. Level-headed was what she needed to be right now. Nothing would get solved if she couldn’t think past her fear and burning wounds.

  Why would someone want to hurt her? Magically hurt her at that. The welts weren’t going away with her heightened ability to heal. Azarius might do so to rattle the others, but it seemed like a waste of resources to attack someone who didn’t have a totem token.

  “Describe what you saw again. Exact details,” Sedge said from behind Saskia.

  Kinley hunkered down farther into the tub. Not that nudity was a big thing for many shifters, but he was her sister’s boyfriend! She’d already put him in the big brother category in her head.

  She wet her lips and cleared her throat. “I was in my bedroom packing, and a whisper told me he’s here. I opened my eyes—”

  “You had your eyes closed while you were packing?” Ametta gave her a you’re-weird sideways glance.

  “Well, I had paused, taking in the feeling of a serene night, and looked up through the window at the moon. When I opened my eyes, he was reaching for me. Pale, dressed in black, hollow or black eyes. Long fingers, like too long. His limbs were like that too.”

  “Like Slenderman?” Ransom didn’t crack a smile as he said it.

  “Who’s Slenderman?” Saskia folded her arms.

  Before Ransom could explain, Ametta waved it off. “Just some stupid internet myth. Totally not real.”

  “But the physical resemblance, it is like Slenderman. But he had a glow. I never really saw his face, or anything else when he started to hit me.” Kinley stumbled over the last words. All the whys zipped through her head over and over. Useless questions that would never get her answers. She’d never know who—

  “It sounds like the Moon Man.” Sedge stated, and Saskia muttered a few curse words.

  Oh.

  “Who’s the Moon Man?” Lucky’s question came by the door.

  Kinley sunk deeper in the water. Did both her sisters and their boyfriends have to be in the bathroom while she was naked?

  Ransom scooted over on the edge of the tub, blocking her view and thus their view of her from the door. He winked. Not a playful sort, but the I’ve-got-your-back kind. Her chest swelled with gratitude and love. The man knew her better than anyone else.

  “He’s a sick fuck.” Saskia always simplified things in the most eloquent way.

  “All stories are open to interpretation.” Sedge’s voice carried an even and low tone. “If he’s shown an interest in Kinley—”

  “Open to interpretation?” Saskia snorted. She paced farther into the bathroom where Kinley could see her taut face. “Okay, let me hear your interpretation of the man who raped his sister and chased her into the heavens and forever chases her across the sky.” She paused and looked down at Kinley. “His sister is the sun.”

  And that man had shown an interest in her? Kinley swallowed hard.

  Sedge let out a long, slow breath. “The legend of the sun and the moon is that. As a strong hunter, the brother was gone often. Once, after a long journey, he returned with a bounty, and the village celebrated. He drank and ate, and filling those needs, he sought to sate another. He saw his sister had grown to be the most beautiful woman in the village. When a great gust of wind blew out the torches, the sister felt someone grab her and take her on the table. When the fires were lit again, she did not know who it was.

  “The next night, she sought to trick the man who had forced himself upon her. She covered her hands in soot. A wind blew out the torches again, and the man took her. She wiped her hands on his face. When the fires were lit, she looked for the culprit
and found him to be her brother.”

  “I don’t see an alternate interpretation of this,” Ametta said flatly.

  Sedge continued, “The sister cut off her breasts and threw them at her brother yelling, ‘If you like these so much, eat them!’ Then she grabbed a torch and ran out into the dark night. The brother took a torch of his own and chased after her, wanting to save her. He ran faster, but he fell and doused his fire in the snow. His torch still burned with embers. She ran up and into the sky, and he followed. She became the sun and he the moon.”

  “See?” Saskia spread her hands. “A sick fuck.”

  “So what does this mean then that the Moon Man came to Kin?” Ransom asked the most important question. Kinley leaned back just enough to see Sedge’s face.

  “Chasing his sister is not all the Moon Man does. There are several legends surrounding him.” Sedge met Kinley’s gaze. “He greets the dead when they go to the sky.”

  Kinley’s eyes widened. Maybe it had to do with the whispers. Or the fact she’d been to the land between the living and the dead. Or brought back Ransom from death’s door. Crap, maybe the Moon Man was pissed at her for that.

  She reached and gripped the bottom of Ransom’s shirt. She didn’t regret it. She would fight to keep him.

  “He also returns reincarnated souls to Earth. He controls the tides.” A very important thing to the native people. “And he created vaginas and anuses.”

  Kinley’s cheeks heated, and Ametta made a strange choked noise.

  Saskia walked in front of Sedge, blocking him from view. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. What the hell?”

  “Clearly your instruction on the old tales is not that thorough.” Sedge had to know it wasn’t a good idea to antagonize her big sister. Thankfully he didn’t push it. “Long ago, before these orifices were created, the disemboweling goddess cut babies out of wombs and released the waste in intestines. Seeing how inefficient this was, the Moon Man created vaginas and anuses and was rewarded by being put in charge of reincarnated souls. This is why a woman’s cycle is tied to the moon.”

  “I can’t believe we’re all in a fucking bathroom talking about vaginas.” Saskia pushed past Sedge and walked into the bedroom.

  “And I can’t believe she just said vagina.” Ametta whispered toward Kinley.

  Ransom didn’t crack a joke or even a smile. If Kinley could hold him and tell him it was all okay, she would. He gestured with his hand to Sedge to carry on. “Again, how does this relate to Kin?”

  Please, no more talk about vaginas.

  Sedge nodded. “There is one tale of a strong warrior. This warrior must take on a god, but does not have the strength to do so. So the Moon Man descends upon him and beats him.”

  “But why? How was that supposed to help?” Ransom stood, clutching the wet cloth in his hand. Water trickled onto the floor.

  “The beating gave the warrior the strength to defeat the god.”

  Kinley sat straight as a totem pole the entire ride to Anchorage. No matter how much cushioning they put on the seat, the welts ached and burned. Would they give her strength to fight a god? She couldn’t even move without them hurting her.

  Ransom did his best to take her mind off things by playing her favorite songs, singing, and making jokes, but even he gave over to silent contemplation. No doubt he was trying to think of a way to spare her from what was to come.

  She couldn’t battle a god. Not even in her bear form. Why didn’t the Moon Man choose Saskia? Or Sedge, who was the latest incarnation of a god? It would make more sense.

  She hoped it didn’t mean Azarius was a god. If he was, they were all in a mess of trouble. It would explain his ability to shift into a raven and a bear. But which god then? And why didn’t he just take the tokens if he wanted them?

  They arrived at Ametta’s condo near midnight, and Kinley found herself escorted in for another bath. While the salts smelled better than the vinegar, they didn’t help soothe the pain. She took a dose of ibuprofen and gently pulled on her Serenity nightshirt before trying to find a comfortable way to lie on the bed in the spare room.

  Ransom had planned on going to see his boss, Berton Ellsworth, but as he refused to leave Kinley, everyone agreed it would be all right if Bert came to the condo.

  Visitors were the last thing Kinley wanted at the moment, but at least she could hide away upstairs. Hide and try to find a way to sleep comfortably on her stomach. How did people ever do that anyway? She wasn’t as well-endowed as either of her sisters in the chest region, but even she found it uncomfortable to squash herself.

  Attempting to create a pile to sleep on her front but not squish anything, Kinley rearranged the pillows. It was all about the right design. It didn’t have to be pretty, just functional. Should be easier than her normal job.

  “You’re in pain.”

  The soft voice startled her. She jumped up on the bed with a pillow in front of her. The door was open. When had someone come in?

  Her chest heaved and every welt screamed as if tied to a stake on a burning pyre. She focused on the well-dressed man just right of the door. “Mr. Ellsworth?”

  Footsteps thundered up the stairs.

  “Yes, my dear. I had to see how you were doing for myself.” Bert didn’t smile, but the expression on his face wasn’t upset or cross. He stood with his hands clasped before him, not approaching the bed or crowding her space.

  Not like the sudden rush of people who poured into the bedroom did.

  “Sorry, Kin. We told him that you were sleeping.” Saskia stood at the end of the bed and folded her arms over her chest.

  “I apologize if my desire to see Miss Dorn caused such a fuss.” Bert dipped his head, looking not at all apologetic, though sometimes it was difficult to read his expression now having nearly fully healed after he had been severely injured by the giant. Crushed, almost flattened. She had no idea how he survived such trauma.

  Ransom joined Kinley on the bed and kissed the top of her head. She smiled at him and then at everyone else. “I’m okay, really. I couldn’t sleep, and everyone here has ears sharp enough to hear me moving about. It’s nice to see Mr. Ellsworth before we go away for the holidays.” She paused and glanced at her bag in the corner. “We have a gift for you, but it might be downstairs.”

  “I’ll go find it.” Ametta tugged Lucky out of the room with her and back down the stairs.

  “That’s very generous of you.” Bert said nothing more, but stood with his unblinking gaze sliding from Saskia to Sedge and then back to the couple on the bed.

  Saskia stood where she was, and Kinley wanted to groan. Didn’t her sister get that Bert wanted to speak to her alone? Well, she was certain he wouldn’t mind Ransom there, but whatever he had to say wasn’t going to be said with Saskia and Sedge there.

  Not that she believed Bert played favorites among her and her sisters. Actually, she believed Ametta and he got along the best. Though Bert seemed to have taken a fatherly role with Kinley, or at least a kind old uncle one, once she started dating Ransom.

  Thankfully Sedge was more perceptive. He gestured to Saskia with a roll of his hand. “Come on. Let them have a short visit.”

  Saskia threw Sedge a look and shrugged her shoulders once. “Yeah, okay.”

  She didn’t shut the door behind them as they left.

  “Will you tell me what happened? You’ve been hurt, and you smell like…” Bert lifted his nose into the air, and his brows furrowed. “Old magic.”

  So not only could Bert smell magic, but he could sense the age of it? Kinley often wondered how old he was. When he had pulled out his sword to battle the giant—which very nearly killed him permanently—she could imagine him as an ancient samurai or Mongolian warrior. Yet his strength was immensely understated by his small stature.

  She nipped her bottom lip, unsure of how much to tell him. It wasn’t as if anyone told her the quest for the totems was a secret, but a thing of such importance was not what you’d go blabbering on about it to everyone. A
nd who would believe…

  “The Moon Man beat her.” Ransom replied in a quiet voice. “And her wounds aren’t healing.”

  Kinley took his hand and gave it a squeeze. Ransom had never been one for secrets. His relationship with Bert went back to when he was a child, and his family’s before he was even born. His trust in Bert was complete.

  “Ah.” Bert held out a hand to her. “May I see?”

  No disbelief or further apologies. Just an odd request she couldn’t see a reason to say no to other than her own modesty.

  “Okay.” Kinley turned on the bed so that her back was to him, and Ransom moved to raise her shirt away from her back. Though he kept it away from her skin, just the little shifting of air caused the pain to flare up again.

  “He beat you with great vigor.” As if that wasn’t the weirdest observation in the history of the world, Bert continued on to offer something else. “Would you like me to make you some tea?”

  She knew precisely what he meant by it, even though he didn’t say so directly. When the giant had injured her, Bert gave her tea with his blood in it. She’d healed swiftly and gained a little extra supernatural strength until the blood was out of her system.

  “Yes.” Ransom was up before she could even say anything. “I’ll go get a hot pot and cup from downstairs.”

  And he was out of the room before she could protest. Not that she was going to, but she could never be certain of the effects of vampire blood. Nor what her sisters would think about it.

  “He loves you a great deal.” Bert remained standing by the side of the bed.

  Kinley’s cheeks warmed. “Yes, I know.”

  “You are good for him.” He motioned if he might sit on the edge of the bed and did so when she nodded. “And him for you. Though I worry that your forays with death and beings beyond you might seek to separate you.”

  Death? Kinley slid under the blanket and curled her legs to the side. Again, she was unsure of what to say as it seemed he might know everything.