“And lucky for you Ametta was there.” Her father finally gave her a smile. It wasn’t a big grin, but it was something.
“Damn lucky.” Lucky turned his head and winked at her.
Was he really going to still flirt with her? With her father in the room? Maybe he hit his head somewhere in the woods too.
Ametta folded her arms and looked to her dad. “He said they were a man and a woman. Clearly skilled hunters who knew the land. The slug Saskia pulled from him was a three-seventy-five. They knew what they were hunting.”
Kunik’s lips thinned. “Did you get a look at them?”
“Not really. Both had black hair, but wore full gear and kerchiefs over their faces. The man was built, and the woman was too skinny.” Lucky dipped his head in an apologetic nod. “But I’ve got their scent.”
Kunik let out a long sigh and tapped his fingers on his knuckles. He stood and gestured with his head to the back door. “Let’s eat before we talk about this anymore. You need to get some food in ya. Both of ya.”
Her father knew something. Ametta shook her head. “The meat won’t be cooked yet. What the hell is going on, Dad?”
“It’ll be cooked enough. Bring some plates and utensils when you come out. Beer too.” Her father shot her a look and strode out of the cabin to the backyard deck.
Ametta hissed through her teeth. She could argue with her dad again, but what was the point? Kunik was not a mysterious man. He was blunt. Annoyingly so at times.
Lucky pushed himself off the couch with a groan. “You want some help?”
“No, it’s all right.” Ametta sighed and stood. “If you’re okay to make it out back by yourself, I’ll grab everything else.”
He made it out on his own by using the wall for support. Ametta took everything they needed out of the cupboards and fridge. Kinley arrived in time to help her carry it out back to the deck where Saskia tended to the steaks on the barbecue. The cuts of meat looked to be at least twenty ounces each. Her father never did anything small.
They sat around the table, and her dad offered the biggest and bloodiest steak to Lucky. The Kodiak gratefully took it and immediately started to eat.
Saskia took a seat beside her father and asked, “Was the moose a male or female?”
“Male.” Kunik cut off a big hunk and forked it into his mouth.
Saskia removed a small hammer from her pocket and placed it by the plate. She quietly gave thanks to the moose for the gift of his life so they could eat.
“I already did the rituals.” Kunik grunted with a full mouth.
“I’m not taking any chances.” Saskia returned to her quiet ritual.
Lucky swallowed and cocked his head. When no one else commented, he nudged Ametta. “What’s she doing?”
“Saskia refuses to break taboo. Which is immensely embarrassing when you’re with her in public.” Ametta rolled her eyes and nibbled on a carrot. The only vegetable in the house.
“Like the old Inuit beliefs? What happens if you do break taboo?” Lucky stuffed another bite of moose into his mouth.
“Now this is the amusing part,” Ametta said with a little smile. “She thinks that—”
“Shut up. Don’t mention his name or even talk about it.” Saskia snapped and finally started to eat.
The whole situation was hilarious. Taboos were enforced by the old gods of the land, or at least, they once were. Everyone had to respect the spirits, and every living thing had a spirit. So if you killed an animal or cut down a tree, you had to perform the right rituals or else the spirits could come back for their revenge. And if the spirits didn’t, the gods would punish whomever responsible.
Very few folks carried these beliefs anymore. While her father loosely stuck to them, Saskia was zealous about it. Only because one of the old gods—the god of the polar bears, nonetheless—had his eyes on her since she trained as a Black Shaman.
Ametta had never seen him, but she believed this guy, more shifter than god, wanted to whisk Saskia away to his cabin to have his way with her. Yup, hilarious!
“So if we can’t talk about him,” Ametta said, letting that sit in the air for a moment. “How about you tell us what you know, Dad?”
“Eat your dinner and then we’ll talk.” Kunik motioned to her untouched steak before taking a long drink from his beer.
Ametta took a bite, chewed, and swallowed. “Done. Talk.”
“Eat the whole thing, Mett. You don’t eat enough.” Her father was being paternal now? No, no.
“This man was shot by some bastards hunting him. Shot. He was nearly killed. And you just want to chug your beer and eat steak?” Ametta slapped her hands on the wood table. “I know you know something. Tell us.”
“Ametta,” Kinley said her name softly and placed a hand on Ametta’s arm.
Lucky gave Ametta’s back a small rub. She almost expected him to tell her to calm down, but he didn’t. His gaze was on her dad.
Saskia chewed her food slowly, seemingly not at all concerned about the situation. But her overly relaxed body language gave her away.
Kunik sighed and set his fork down. His jaw worked from side to side, though he hadn’t taken a bite. He silently regarded his meat for several seconds before looking at each of them in turn, ending with Lucky. “You aren’t the first shifter who’s been hunted. Since spring, five have gone missing.”
Ametta sucked in a breath at the same time as her sisters. Shifters being hunted? Her father sat motionless as the others looked like fish out of water with their mouths opening and closing. She swiftly shut her own mouth and purposely bit the inside of her cheek.
“What the hell? How come I don’t know about this?” Saskia slammed a fist on the table and glared at her father.
Now that said something. Saskia was more in the know about what was going on in the shifter world than their father. A heavy and ominous weight pressed against Ametta’s chest.
“What do you mean others have gone missing? How do you know they were hunted?” Lucky leaned forward, his face dark. “Is this Black Shaman business?”
“It is.” Kunik took a sip of his beer and glanced at Saskia. “Sedge knows. And I called Azarius. He’s in the area. He’ll be arriving soon.”
Sedge was the boss of the Black Shamans. Ametta had never met him, but she remembered Azarius. Tall, dark, and sexy. She’d been sixteen the last time she saw him and fantasized about the guy for weeks afterward.
Saskia shook her head, grabbed her beer, and drained what remained in three gulps.
“We know they were hunted because the killers didn’t hide their trail in the woods. No bodies were found, but the shifters are dead,” her father stated.
“How do you know?” Ametta’s voice was strained.
“One was a wolf. Her mate felt her death.” Kunik hung his head as he shook it. “We assume the rest who went missing are dead as well.”
“Are any of the dead someone we know?” Kinley gripped the edge of the table. Her glasses fell a little bit down her nose, but she didn’t move to push them up.
“No.” Their father reached over and patted Kinley’s leg. He looked to Lucky. “We were certain the hunters were shifters. But you said they were human. Are you sure of what you smelled?”
Lucky bobbed his head. “Undoubtedly. I wondered if they were shifters too, with how they kept up with me, but when the guy shot me, he was close. There was no mistaking his sweatmeat scent.”
“This changes things.” Kunik scratched his beard. “They’ve never let their prey escape before.”
Ametta stiffened. “What are you saying? They’re going to keep hunting him?”
“They might.” He raised his dark brown eyes to gaze at her across the table. Was that an apologetic look? Why the hell did he have to feel sorry for her?
A caw rang over the yard. Everyone looked up. A large raven circled the property before dipping lower and casting an eerie shadow across the lawn. The full dark of night wouldn’t be upon them until past eleven.
>
In a twisting dive, the bird transformed into a man dressed all in black who landed gracefully on his feet. He stood and rolled his shoulders before walking toward the deck.
The only shifter Ametta knew who could turn into a raven was Azarius. He looked exactly as she remembered. Tall, slender, black hair and eyes, and a ghost of a smile. Hm, not really as hot as she recalled her teenage self believing. He was sort of bony. No delectable muscles like… She was so not going to look at Lucky.
Saskia hopped off the deck and greeted him first. They locked forearms and passed a few quiet and solemn hellos. Azarius swept forward and did the whole forearm thing again with her dad.
“Azarius, this is Lucky Osberg. Who is indeed lucky enough to survive the hunters.” Kunik motioned to the Kodiak and then to his daughters. “And you remember the girls, Kinley and Ametta.”
Girls. Hardly. Well, Kinley in her Firefly tee, and Ametta in a Batman sweatshirt. They might have looked like nerdy college kids. At least Ametta had her pumps, which she retrieved from the Meyers’ barn before she left.
“Hi.” Kinley gave Azarius a small wave.
Ametta would not have Azarius treating her as a child like her father did. She scooted around her sister and held out her hand. “It’s nice to see you again.”
Azarius cocked his head and subtly eyed her. Before he could say anything, Lucky stepped in front of her and shook hands with Azarius. Ametta glared at the bigger man.
“Thanks for coming. These bastards need to be caught.” And torn to bits was the part left unsaid, but everyone could hear it in Lucky’s tone.
“I will catch them, and they will pay for their crimes against our kind.” Azarius’ voice carried a light accent that Ametta didn’t recognize. Perhaps Native or something more exotic. “I would speak with you, Mr. Osberg, in private. I need to pick your mind for every detail you remember.”
“Just Lucky.” The Kodiak nodded, picked up his beer from the table, and downed the rest. He glanced at Kunik. “Is it all right if we go inside?”
“Yes, of course.” Kunik returned to his seat and his dinner as Azarius and Lucky disappeared into the cabin.
Ametta frowned at the door as it closed and sat back down. “Well, he’s all business, isn’t he?”
“It’s his job.” Saskia leaned against the railing of the deck and stared at the house. “And every second counts in catching those fuckers.”
“He could have sat down and talked with us before taking Lucky inside.” Ametta poked at her steak with her fork. Surely Azarius knew something about what was going on. He could at least share it with all of them.
Azarius had been a friend of the family for a long time and was tied to them on several levels. Shifters had longer lives than humans, but the Black Shamans lived even longer when true to their calling. Azarius looked no older than thirty, and he had been around when her father was young. She’d seen pictures. And of course they were fishing in them.
“Time is of the essence. He’ll want to find their trail while it’s fresh.” Kunik filled his mouth with moose. A little bit of bloody juice dribbled into his beard. Kinley handed him a paper towel, which he accepted with a little smile.
“Don’t get your panties in a bunch. He’ll probably want to talk to you too.” Saskia snorted and then smirked, rolling her shoulders as if she could break the thick layer of icy tension. “I remember—What was it, ten years ago?—when you followed Azarius around like a puppy. All big eyes, sighing, trying to act so cool.”
“Hey!” Absolutely horrifying. Ametta snagged a carrot and chucked it at her sister. “Shut up.”
Kunik swallowed a mouthful of steak and scowled. “I don’t remember that. What about you and the Kodiak?”
Ametta resisted the urge to bang her head on the table. “There is no me and Lucky. I just met the guy today. Besides, I’m—”
“What was that?” Saskia spun around and gripped the railing. Her head went from left to right as she scanned the woods.
The shots thundered from the west. Too loud, too fast. Everyone dove down. The wood of the deck scraped Ametta’s palms.
Kunik shouted for his daughters to get into the cabin and leapt off the deck, shifting as he did. His clothes tore to shreds and dropped off his massive body as he hit the ground, rolled, and rose in a four-legged run.
Formidable as his bear form could be, this was a father protecting his family. Fearsome didn’t cut it anymore. His bellows shook the trees.
As fast as he had transformed and ran, he was down with another series of gunshots. He tumbled, his momentum making him flip over like a pancake with his butt forward. Crimson spread across his chest.
Oh God, no. Not her dad. Ametta screamed. Kinley’s shriek echoed hers.
Saskia flew off the deck, sprinting toward their father and shifting as she drew near.
Her dad. Besides her sisters, he was the only family she had. And she loved him. No matter how much they could piss off each other, she loved him so much.
Ametta pushed to her feet and ran, kicking off her pumps. Kinley at her heels. Their dad needed them. She couldn’t lose him.
More shots rang out. Fire grazed her upper arm.
Without another thought, Ametta shifted. The sensation was like someone pulling a silken drape off her body. A slip of the skin in the real sense. She charged toward the trees.
Saskia roared, barreling between the trunks to disappear. Behind Ametta, Kinley, as a bear, snarled.
Racing into the woods, Ametta’s heart hammered. Where were they? The bastards had to be close. Find them. Kill them.
Pine needles scratched her and branches reached out like bony hands. One bush blurred into another. Shadows danced and drew her eyes everywhere.
She stuck her nose in the air, sniffing. Bears, trees, squirrels, birds. There, human. But not there.
No! How could they get away so quickly?
Ametta slowed, trying to find a trail, and a few footprints she did discover, but nothing else. Not where they came toward the house or which way they left. They’d vanished. This wasn’t possible. It was like trying to hunt a phantom. She growled and lashed out at the nearest tree.
Saskia combed through the brush too, nose to the ground, but her huffs told the same story. Kinley hurried back to their father, and when her nose no longer told her anything new, Ametta ran to join her.
Kunik wasn’t moving. He hadn’t even shifted back to human form.
He wasn’t dead. Please, he couldn’t be dead.
Kinley nudged their father with her nose and barked at him to wake up.
Blood. So much blood.
Ametta’s chest tightened, making it difficult to breathe. Her world threatened to cave in on itself. She pressed her head against her father’s fur and licked his muzzle. Wake up, old man. I love you too much to let you die.
Ametta’s world wobbled, and she dug her claws in the ground to hold on. Her stomach churned as she stared at her father. So much blood.
Saskia loped out of the woods and to their father’s side. She growled and prodded his wound with her nose. Kunik flinched.
He was alive!
Barely.
A grunt and growl turned their heads to the house. Lucky had shifted and attempted to help. He’d fallen off the deck and onto his face. He picked himself up and trotted over to them.
Stupid oaf. Lucky was still too hurt to shift. New blood trickled out from his wound.
He was twice the size of Ametta in bear form, but she was the smallest of her sisters at about four hundred pounds. Yet her father was bigger than Lucky, over a thousand pounds and nearly nine feet tall when he stood on his hind legs.
Lucky nuzzled and licked her front leg. She glanced down to see blood staining her fur. Also, she still had the remnants of the Batman shirt on. As if it wasn’t embarrassing to be wearing it before. She grabbed the fabric with her teeth and yanked it off.
A raven flapped its wings as it flew into the yard. Azarius emerged fully clothed from his s
hifter form and ran over to Kunik’s side. “I lost them. They vanished.” He shook his head as he inspected Kunik’s wound. “The slug is stuck between his ribs. This is why he has not shifted. It may have pierced a lung or is in danger of doing so.”
Ametta whimpered and pressed her nose into her father’s fur. He couldn’t die. No.
“I want you all to stay in your animal forms. Help hold Kunik down if he tries to fight me. I need to get that bullet out of him.” Azarius rolled up his sleeves and didn’t pause to see if they’d listen. He drove his fingers into the wound with determination in his dark eyes.
Kunik tried to roar, but coughed and spitted up blood. Ametta and Kinley grabbed their father’s left front leg just in time before he swatted Azarius. All their weight was needed to hold him down. Saskia pinned the other front leg, and Lucky leaned against Kunik’s head. Enough to hold him, but not close to his mouth so he’d get bitten.
Her father’s hind legs kicked at the air but could not reach anyone. Ametta thought he might have fought harder, but he was managing to hold back somewhat.
Several minutes passed before Azarius removed the slug. He threw it to the ground and straightened, breathing heavily. Kunik moaned and shifted into his human form. When everyone released him, he coughed, grabbed his chest, and passed out.
Ametta’s eyes widened. No, he still breathed. He could heal now.
She huffed out a long sigh and licked her dad’s cheek.
“Saskia, help your sisters take Kunik inside and then come with me. We need to do a more thorough search of the area. The rest of you stay inside, doors locked. Don’t leave.” Azarius wiped his hands on the grass and leapt into the air, shifting as he did so. It was seamless, as if a man had not stood there a second ago.
Dark Dawning (Totem Book 1) Page 3
