Cloak of Snow (Totem Book 3)

by Christine Rains

  Leaving the village and heading toward the hills, Saskia fell farther behind, the snow and her injury slowing her. “Wait up!”

  They didn’t slow, and she couldn’t lose them. She cursed her hip, and though it would bust the stitches, she cast off her human form and shifted into a bear. Her leg might still be hurt, but three good legs were much faster than one.

  She closed the distance between the fox and her. So maybe the totem wasn’t in the village, if that’s why the little people wanted her to follow. Why then? The boy. Her stomach flipped.

  The little people chose the family to live with. That in itself spoke volumes. They’d want a happy household. One in mourning was not happy. The boy could still be alive. Fuck, please, let the boy still be alive.

  Saskia ran faster, but the nimble fox disappeared. No!

  She darted after it and didn’t see the entrance of the cave until she was literally on top of it. Her right leg slipped and fell into the hole. She bit back a cry and righted herself. Sniffing, this was where the fox had hopped into.

  The entrance was too small for a bear, but shifting into her human form, she could easily crawl through it.

  A cave. It could be the totem. Or the boy… and the Jinxioc.

  Should she go back for Sedge?

  Shaking her head at herself, she shifted and hissed with pain as she lowered herself onto her hands and knees and crawled into the cave. She had to trust in the little people. They wouldn’t lead her to her death.

  No matter Saskia’s excellent vision, a dark cave was a dark cave. While she could get along with her sense of smell and touch, if there was something or someone ahead, she wanted to be able to see it.

  But she didn’t have a flashlight or even a lighter. And she couldn’t use the trick… Well, she was a Black Shaman again. Not by choice, but Sedge placed her back in the ranks. That meant there would be no penalties for using magic meant only for Black Shamans.

  She smirked, then scowled, and groaned. Using the magic was convenient, but it reminded her of her punishment. Good news in the moment, but not for the long run.

  Feeling around in the dark along the cold ground, she picked up a rock about the size of her fist and closed her eyes. When Azarius had taught her this trick, he explained the technicalities. Stuff her sister Kinley would be way more interested in than she. Azarius quickly learned his student didn’t want explanations and instead told her to imagine a firefly. The soft green glow which, if one knew how to find it, existed in everything.

  She peeked at the rock. Nothing.

  Dammit. If only Azarius were here. None of this shit with Sedge would’ve happened. They’d have found the Jinxioc and killed them by now. While Sedge was mighty, his strategies tended to be all brute force. Azarius was far more clever.

  That’s what Saskia had to be. She needed to use her brains rather than her brawn. Closing her eyes again, she imagined warm summer nights when the field behind her house looked blanketed in stars. She danced with her sisters from galaxy to galaxy, and always at the center, her mom, laughing and twirling along with them.

  She swallowed down her memories. There was no sense wallowing or wishing that Azarius were there. The little people came to her and brought her here.

  A firefly. Bright and eager.

  She opened her eyes and clenched her jaw. Not only was the rock glowing in her hand, but dozens of rocks shone with a soft green light along the tunnel. The smooth walls glistened with ice. The whole place seemed alien lit by the spell on the stone.

  At least it worked. She continued to crawl, following the tunnel on a slope down and around a few curves. The air grew warmer with each foot. Not only warmer, but more humid.

  Saskia drew in a deep breath. Ah yes. Rotten eggy as it smelled, she liked what it meant. And with another fifty feet, she came out into a cavern filled with several pools.

  Water dripped, but no other sounds. She stood, holding her free hand against her wounded hip, and shone her rock around. Stalagmites sat in rows like a monster’s fangs, and three big boulders dwarfed the pools to her right.

  A few arm lengths away, the fox yipped and glanced back at her as it balanced on a ledge. No way could she follow it there. She’d have to make her way around the hot springs.

  The little people beckoned to her.

  “Yes, I’m coming. Just… let me figure out how to get through here.”

  Saskia tread carefully between the pools. Everything was slick, and her balance wasn’t the greatest. Not even a quarter of the way into the cavern, she slipped and fell into a shallow bowl of hot water.

  “Motherfucker!” She yelled and struggled to get upright. Her clothes were soaked, and her wound sizzled with pain. Growling, she finally managed to steady herself on her knees and placed her glowing rock beside her on the edge of the pool.

  She glanced up at the fox and its passengers waiting for her on a ledge ten feet above. Were they smiling? Goddamn. She’d become the comic relief.

  “Give me a minute to get out of here.” Her boots slipped as she tried to stand. The wet clothes weren’t doing her any favors. Imagining being free of her clinging wet clothes, warm and dry, well, warm anyway, the weight of them vanished off her. She groaned as the water lapped against her wound. Bending forward, she rested her forehead against her arms. It might actually do her some good to soak, but this wasn’t the time.

  “Saskia!” Sedge’s voice thundered from down the tunnel.

  Great. That was the way he said her name when he was incredibly pissed.

  With her eyes adjusting to the dim light, Saskia peered at the little people again. Were they smiling and doing a little hooray? What the hell? If they had wanted Sedge to come too, they could have waited back at the cabin.

  “Saskia!” Sedge crawled into the cavern. His gaze swept the area until it landed on her. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

  “Clearly I’m having a bath.” She shook her head and snorted. “I didn’t just wander off. I followed the…” She gestured to the now empty ledge. Oh shit.

  She stood fast and slid, landing on her rear and jolting her hip. “Fuck.”

  Sedge hurried over and offered her a hand, which she batted away.

  “No. Dammit. Don’t worry about me. The little people on the fox…” Saskia scanned the area again, but they were gone. There was no way they could have run off that quickly. “Go find them. They have to be here somewhere. Two little people from Aujaq’s cabin. And they rode a fox.”

  Sedge straightened and looked around. “I don’t see or smell anything else. Little people don’t ride animals.”

  “And the Jinxioc don’t hunt in big packs or go into villages or make traps. It happened.” Saskia slapped the water and huffed. “They brought me here for a reason. And I’m thinking now it must be the fox totem.”

  “In a cave with hot springs?” Sedge crouched down and offered her his hand again.

  “No!” She smacked his hand. “Well, yes. Not a place to find foxes, I realize, but it doesn’t have to make sense with their nature. It’s the fucking token we’re looking for.”

  “I don’t sense it.” He shook his head.

  “Who says you have to be able to sense it? The totem pole isn’t whole. This is the fox totem. You’re a bear.”

  “I’ll look.” Sedge made his way without slipping farther into the cavern.

  Saskia gnashed her teeth. He didn’t sound as if he believed her. She had no patience for someone who was humoring her. The little people brought her here for a reason, and she was going to find out what that was.

  Once she managed to get out of the hot springs.

  As uncomfortable and embarrassing as it was, she wiggled out onto the side of the pool on her belly. Grunting, she turned over to sit and shivered at the chill after being submerged in the steaming water.

  “There’s nothing here.” Sedge returned, weaving between the pools. “The rear of the cavern has one big pool. No foxes, little people, or totems.”

&n
bsp; It didn’t make sense. The little people were leading her to something. Did they run off because Sedge showed up? No. They seemed happy he was there. So it had to be this place. But what about this place?

  “Maybe they wanted you to take a bath.” Sedge smirked.

  “If you don’t shut up, I’ll throw you into the water.” Saskia wrapped her arms around herself and sat forward with her forehead against her knees. Why? Why did they bring her here? She was missing something. Something immensely important.

  Sedge sat beside her. “I don’t suppose you’ll listen to me if I told you to go back to the cabin.”

  “Nope.”

  “I don’t want to fight with you,” he said with a huffed sigh.

  Saskia turned her head to look at him. “And I don’t want to fight with you. The little people brought me here for a reason. I’m just not seeing it. When you came, they were happy. They wanted you here too. They led me here, and I was the bait to lure you here.”

  He grunted and scrubbed at his scruff. “But why?”

  “I’ve been trying to figure that out.” She watched him scratch at his jaw. Years ago, she’d tug on those whiskers to tease him. And here she was again, alone with him in a cave. Her upper thighs and abdomen clenched. If only she could have a few minutes with him with everything else forgotten.

  What if that’s why the little people led her down there knowing Sedge would follow? What if… No. That was ridiculous.

  “They wanted us here together.” Sedge stated.

  Was he reading her mind? Saskia’s lips thinned. “What do you mean?”

  “If they wanted only you, I wouldn’t have seen you running through the snow. They’d have taken you on a route away from me.”

  She bobbed her head once. It made sense. Two bears. “What could the two of us together do here that one of us could not?”

  Saskia forced herself to her feet and put her hands on her hips as she surveyed the cavern again. Rocks, hot springs… She felt no magic in this place. In fact, they were likely the first people ever to set foot in it.

  A pleased purr tickled her ears. She gazed down to see Sedge’s hungry eyes raking up her body. “I can think of a few things we could do together.”

  Naked. Right. Part of her thrilled at the thought, but her more rational self conjured clothes. “Start thinking with your head. The one above your shoulders.”

  “Think about it.” Sedge stood and placed a hand on her good hip, drawing her closer to him. “Nothing sacred about this space. They just want us together. I have no doubt they know together you and I are good. Better than good. Powerfully good.” He brushed her wet hair back from her face. “Fucking amazing.”

  The sexy bass of his voice caused her to tremor in all her sensitive bits. Maybe they could forget the world for a little while and sink into one of the pools together. To feel him inside of her once more. Powerful didn’t even begin to describe what that was like.

  Formidable. Strong.

  “That’s it!” Saskia twisted out of his hold and raced toward the boulders. She slipped and nearly fell flat on her face, but Sedge snagged her around the waist and held her up. “Together we’re stronger.”

  “What are you doing?” He steadied her.

  She gestured to the boulders. “Together we’re stronger. We can move the rocks. It’s the only thing…” Wiggling out of his hold, she more carefully made her way over and breathed in. Yes! “There’s another cave through there. And I smell…” She sniffed again and clenched her fists. “Blood.”

  Saskia fell on her ass a dozen times as they pushed, but she and Sedge moved the boulders. The might of two bears was exactly what was needed. She couldn’t have moved them on her own, and she doubted Sedge could either. The little people knew precisely what they were doing.

  Holding her glowing rock, she stared into the dark tunnel as she breathed heavily. “If there’s anything through there, they know we’re here.”

  “Too bad for them then.” Sedge started to march into the tall corridor.

  She grabbed his arm. The bastard was just going to charge right in! She wanted to smack him across the head. “They might know something’s here, but they won’t know what and they don’t have to know we’re coming. Let’s be smart about this. Wear some dark clothes, blend in with the darkness. Let’s sneak—”

  “Did Azarius train you to be a ninja?” He snorted. “That’s fine for a raven, but we are bears.”

  Saskia rubbed her temples and took ten seconds to calm herself before replying. “It’s not about being a raven or a bear. It’s about being smart.”

  “So you’re saying I’m not smart?” He leaned in, narrowing his eyes.

  Fucking hell. “No. I’m not saying that. You can be damn clever when you want to be. But running right in to whatever is down there is dangerous. Let’s not get skewered again, okay?”

  Sedge let out a long hissing breath from between his teeth. His clothes turned from white to black. He wound a scarf around his head and neck. “Ninjas it is then.”

  Saskia rolled her eyes and wrapped her head with a scarf of her own and tucked her hair in. There was only one problem. They couldn’t see in the dark. She glanced at the rock in her hand.

  “Give it to me.” He held out his hand and nodded when she hesitated. “Better me a target than you.”

  She put the rock in his hand and held it there for a few seconds. “You better not get mauled again. I’m tired of sewing you back together.”

  Sedge smiled and squeezed her hand. Without another word, he turned and walked into the unknown. No hesitation.

  Her chest swelled as she watched him for half a minute and then followed. She wasn’t sure why. No, that was a lie. She knew why. The way she felt about him thrummed through her body and soul, but if she let her heart lead her, she’d lose everything else she loved, including herself.

  She wished for Azarius again. When she had left Sedge as a fucking mess, he helped her find a sort of peace, even if it wasn’t under his wing. She admired Azarius all the more that he didn’t try to be overprotective about it. He encouraged her to stay away from Sedge, to be her own woman, and not let anyone else control her life.

  Saskia wouldn’t be her mother. Oh, she loved her, but she could never be her. Not someone who was beholden to another, a person who gave up everything to be stuck at home raising kids. She wouldn’t let her death—when it came—be one that destroyed the lives of others.

  She wasn’t placing blame on her mom. She died from cancer. Saskia had a cancer scare in her mid-twenties. While it was caught early enough, there’s no guarantee it wouldn’t come back. Only Azarius knew. He understood her fears and never judged her for it.

  Unlike Sedge who wanted everything his way without caring how it affected her. Mr. Black-and-white.

  Saskia stumbled a few times in the dark tunnel, but she held onto the wall, keeping far enough back from Sedge that the light didn’t reach her. The farther they went the more narrow the corridor and the stronger the stench of not only blood but death.

  Her stomach churned, causing her throat to constrict. Nothing had ever made her sick, but this stink came close. Old blood, new blood, rotting meat, and shit.

  Ahead, Sedge paused, then dropped the rock, and ran forward. Saskia rushed toward him and came out of the tunnel into another big cavern. No hidden hot springs paradise here. This was a den. She prayed its residents weren’t in.

  She kicked the rock farther in. The light shone on Sedge who was easing a human body off a large flat rock. Her throat tightened, making it difficult to breathe. A naked, mangled man. Bitten, cut, and broken. There was no way—

  “He still has a heartbeat.” Sedge yanked off his coat to wrap around the poor soul and set him gently on the ground. “There are others.”

  Saskia’s heart hammered as she hurried to the nearest body. If one man was still alive, that might mean…

  The first body, and it wasn’t really much of a body anymore, was an adult and certainly no lon
ger alive. The second one wasn’t even human.

  “No one else is alive.” Sedge returned from a pile of rotting meat and bones.

  No. She had to find the boy. She’d tear this place…

  There. Soft, erratic breathing.

  Saskia ran to a pile of stones and winced as she crouched down to peer in the small space behind them. She could barely see the wide eyes staring back at her.

  “Hey now, don’t be afraid.” She unwound her scarf and let her hair fall. “See? I’m not one of the Jinxioc.”

  The child whimpered, pushing himself farther back.

  “I’ve come to save you and bring you back to your family.” Saskia said in a soft tone. “I talked with Aluki, and I made a small table and chairs for the little people who live in your walls. They were so grateful they brought us here to rescue you.”

  At the mention of his sister, the boy quieted. His chin quivered as he reached out a hand. It felt so tiny in Saskia’s as she took it. She helped ease him out of the hole, and before she could stand, he threw himself at her, clinging to her and weeping. She hugged and rocked him, stroking his head.

  His clothes had been taken, and he’d been poked and scratched, but the Jinxioc had done no great wounds to him other than to his psyche. She’d rip every single one of those little fuckers apart for this.

  “Saskia,” Sedge called to her. He had lifted the man over his shoulders. “We need to leave. The Jinxioc are not here, but they will return.”

  “Right.” She nodded and set the boy on his feet as she removed her coat and wrapped him in it. Keep his body heat in. Dammit, keep him alive. “This way you’ll stay really warm.”

  “I smell the entrance that way.” Sedge gestured with his head. He turned and walked in that direction.

  “We should go out the way we came in.” Saskia stood and lifted the boy into her arms. Sedge didn’t reply, already out of range of the light.

  Damn him. Why did he never listen to her? Her heart hammered louder. She didn’t want to split up and leave them both vulnerable. But to go out the way the Jinxioc were going to return was just asking for trouble.