Beauty's Beast

by Jenna Kernan

  When she opened her eyes it was to find Alon casting worried glances at her. Her vision worked well in near darkness and she could see his features clearly, even with only the dashboard as illumination. His ghostly gray aura provided even more light as it stretched toward her. She pressed her back against the door.

  When he spoke, the strain in his voice caught her in the chest. “I didn’t want you to see me like that.”

  She knew what he meant. “It’s what you are. As much a part of you as my human form is to me.”

  His fingers clenched the wheel, constricting with the relentlessness of a boa constrictor.

  “My mother calls it my fighting form.”

  “The shape in which you were born,” she whispered, her words an accusation.

  He stared out the windshield. “Yes.”

  Alon’s aura glowed bright and unnatural in the cab, flaring to the roof the color of pewter. No, that wasn’t quite right, more silver, capped with inky black. Black, she knew, was the color of death, and being born of Nagi that did make sense. But what about the silver?

  “Why didn’t you want me to see?”

  His eyebrows tented and he gave her a long look. “Because I’m hideous.”

  She gasped. Did he think so, too? How terrible. Her unease shifted to empathy. Alon hated his original form, and yet it was a part of him.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I don’t want your pity. I want...” His words dropped away.

  She folded her hands in her lap, resisting the urge to reach out to him.

  His aura flared and arched toward her again, but this time her rust-and-gold-capped aura also stretched toward his. She drew a quick intake of breath.

  Electricity charged the air.

  Samantha recoiled and banged against the door. He shot her a look.

  She’d witnessed something similar before between her parents. Her neck prickled. No, that wasn’t it. It couldn’t be. Simply impossible.

  “Am I that repugnant?” he growled.

  “Did you see it?”

  He swung his gaze about, hunching over the wheel as he scanned their surroundings. “Ghosts?”

  She shook her head. “That aura.”

  He exhaled his relief and straightened behind the wheel. “I can’t see auras.”

  He lifted a brow as if waiting for her to elaborate. Damned if she would. Letting him know she could see them was a mistake. Only Niyanoka saw auras. He must suspect now that she had another gift. Would he still protect her if he knew she was the one Nagi sought?

  In the darkness, his eyes glowed bright as any predator, only not the normal green of an animal caught in the high beams, but orange like hot embers.

  “How is it that a Skinwalker can see them?” he asked.

  She dropped her gaze, knowing she was a terrible liar. When she looked back it was to find him still staring, his gaze flicking from the road to her and back.

  “You saved me today,” he said.

  She had, too, or at least gave him the time he needed to save himself. Samantha glanced away, staring at the yellow lines that divided the narrow highway.

  “And you healed Aldara. You buried our dead.”

  “Well, don’t make it out to be more than it is. I need you to get to Bess.”

  “No.” He kept his eyes on the road. “It was more.”

  “Why did they kill them?”

  “Join or die. Only they were too young to even understand the question.” Alon’s grip tightened dangerously on the steering wheel and she saw it bend. He extended his fingers then gingerly returned his hands to the wheel.

  Would he ever face that choice?

  Someone had to stop Nagi. Could that someone be Alon?

  She swallowed back her uncertainty and cleared her throat. “Alon, if he finds you. Would you join?”

  His look was incredulous, as if he did not understand how she could even ask. His conviction shone in his crystal eyes. “I fight against Nagi. I fight for the Balance.”

  “You would fight against your father?”

  “My father is a Soul Whisperer.”

  “Nagi sired you. You are a part of him.” She said this aloud for herself. She needed to remember what he truly was.

  “A curse I face every damned day.” He glared through the windshield, not looking at her as he spoke. “Nagi threatens the Balance. I will never side with him.”

  She exhaled her relief and realized she believed him.

  “But neither will I fight with those who hunt my kind.”

  Samantha’s brow knit. “You mean the Ghostlings who have joined Nagi?”

  He cast her an incredulous glance, and in that instant she understood that he meant the Skinwalkers, the ones his sister had spoken of. The realization made it impossible to hold his gaze. Silence stretched. “You didn’t know?”

  She shook her head, already feeling stupid. Her stomach knotted as she prepared to admit she had been spying on him. “I didn’t. Not until I overheard Aldara tell you in the woods. Vigilantes.”

  He scanned her face as if assessing her answer. “That’s right. They are hunting newborns. Only they do not give them a choice. They find them. They kill them.”

  Samantha shivered and then covered her face with her hands. “Why didn’t you kill me when you found me in the forest?”

  “I almost did, but the Skinwalkers come in packs. You were alone.”

  She kept her hands pressed to her eyes, as if this could block out the horror of his words. Here she thought she had reason to hate him. He also had reason to hate her. Enemies with only their parents’ friendship to keep them from tearing each other to shreds.

  “I am so sorry and so ashamed.” Her words seemed hollow in the closed cab. She’d never felt more alone.

  “Do you not think we deserve to die?” Something in his tone brought her to attention. His words were not delivered with sarcasm but something else, something more caustic. Was it self-loathing?

  “Of course not. I’ll admit to being terrified of you at first. But you are quite obviously not the nightmare I was led to believe.”

  “In what way?”

  “You can think, for one, and feel, for another. You are loyal to your sister and your family. You protect the children.”

  “I failed to protect them.”

  She continued as if he had not interrupted. “You saved me from attack and you rescued the soul of an innocent creature.”

  “I also killed one of my own kind.”

  “Self-defense. He attacked you.”

  The silence returned, filling up the cab until Samantha could not breathe in the gloom that surrounded him. Even his aura was growing darker by the minute.

  “Alon, he is hunting your kind. He is killing mine. We can’t let that happen.”

  He snorted.

  “We have to bring your Ghost Children into the fight.”

  He gave a quick dismissing shake of his head. “We? There’s no we.”

  “There could be.”

  “You’re a runner, little rabbit. Running all your life, you said. Now you wish to turn and fight?”

  And suddenly she understood why the Thunderbirds had dropped her here with him. It wasn’t Bess she needed to find. It wasn’t to learn all she could about their enemy. It was to find Alon. Alon, the Naginoka who refused to join Nagi.

  She sat back as the realization jelled in her mind. This Ghostling fought for the Balance and for Mankind. Maybe others would, as well.

  He glanced at her sitting frozen against the seat.

  “What’s the matter with you?”

  “I—I’m not sure.” She felt nauseous as the shock and fear collided with the certainty of her realization.

  He glanced out the windshield, his aura now glowing a pure silver. “Do you sense some danger?”

  She shook her head.

  “I won’t leave you unguarded. Not until I know you are safe.”

  She knew he wouldn’t. He was a magnificent protector. The Thunderbirds
could not have done better.

  But his allegiance to her was transient. Would he leave her with his mother, or could she convince him to extend his protection to the impending battle?

  “My family is trying to bring the Skinwalkers and Spirit Children into an alliance to stop Nagi.” She held her breath, waiting for his reply.

  His laugh held no mirth. “They hate each other.”

  “They hate Nagi more.”

  That wiped away his sarcastic grin. “Perhaps. ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’”

  Sun Tzu, she realized, The Art of War. How perfect that he knew the strategies of so great a military commander.

  She glanced at Alon as he drove in silence, the bunching of his jaw muscles the only indication of unrest.

  “Even if you defeated his Ghostling army,” he said, “you can’t defeat his ghosts. Once they take possession of a human, even I can’t get them out. Not without killing the host, that is.”

  She could. But if she told him then he would know she was a Seer. She wanted to trust Alon with her secret, but she had kept it so long, run so far. It was hard to release it to him.

  “And Nagi is immortal. You can’t kill him.”

  “I know it.”

  “Then he’ll kill you, too. He kills anyone who tries to stop him.”

  She held fast to a bravado she did not feel, lifting her chin in defiance, disregarding the worry that gnawed at her belly. “Then he’ll have to kill us all.”

  “Yes. I’m sure he’s looking forward to that.”

  Samantha stared at Alon, trying to decide what to do. If she told him that she was a Seer, he might abandon her or turn her over to his sire. But there was a third possibility flickering in her heart like a tiny, fragile flame. If she told him she could rescue possessed humans, heal all wounds and cast evil ghosts to the Way of Souls, could she convince him to join their cause?

  Chapter 10

  The ring of the incoming call made both Alon and Samantha jump. Alon glanced at the display, saw his mother’s name and number and pressed the button on the steering wheel to connect.

  “Mom?”

  “Alon?” It was his father’s voice. “Thank goodness. I tried the house and your cell.”

  “I forgot it.”

  “It only just occurred to us to try Aldara’s number in the truck. She said she left her phone in the glove box.”

  Samantha flipped open the door and held up the phone.

  “Has she arrived?” Alon asked.

  “Yes. Safe and sound with the Beta and Gamma packs.” There was a long pause. When he spoke again his voice was a whisper. “She told us about the Deltas.”

  “I’m sorry, Dad. I couldn’t stop them in time.”

  “I know, son.” There was a pause and then his father cleared his throat. When he spoke again his voice held strain. “How’s Samantha?”

  “Here with me. You’re on speaker.”

  “Hello, Samantha. I’m looking forward to your arrival. Alon, we’re outside of Calgary at the Kootenay National Park.”

  “Got it.”

  “Samantha? I’ve had word from both your brother and your mother. They say that your father is alive. He’s safe.”

  Samantha covered her mouth, stifling the little cry of relief. Tears sprang to her eyes.

  “Samantha?” his father asked.

  “She hears you, Dad.”

  Samantha released the safety belt and tilted sideways, resting her head on Alon’s shoulder as she cried. He wrapped one arm about her and tucked her tight to his side.

  “Oh, good,” said his father. “Nicholas located him. The Thunderbirds took him pretty far north. They’re on their way back. He was injured, but he’s all right now. I’ll let him tell you the rest. The Skinwalkers are meeting in Montana at the site of the Greasy Grass Fight,” said his father, using the old name for the Battle of Little Bighorn. “Samantha? Your brother has become a member of the Niyanoka community. He will ask to be appointed War Chief at the next council meeting. I think his chances are good. I’ll admit that I never expected them to accept him so readily. Bess says his gifts make him invaluable enough to overlook the Skinwalker half.”

  What gifts did he have? wondered Alon. Was he a healer like Samantha, or was there something more?

  Samantha dashed at the tears. “Thank you, Mr. Garza. Thank you so much.”

  “Alon? Stay off the main roads. Keep out of the cities or anywhere a ghost might see Samantha. There is less risk driving than flying, I think. Get here as soon as you can. We’re safer together.” His father gave him directions for their meeting place and said goodbye.

  Samantha moved back to her side of the cab, huddling now against the door. He waited for her to speak, but when she did not he asked the question.

  “I thought Nagi hunted your mother. Why did my father caution me to keep you clear of ghosts?”

  She drew a long breath and let it go. Then she faced him. Everything about her radiated the importance of what she would say. He gripped the wheel as anxiety snaked through him.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Do you remember when you said that Nagi would defeat us because of his ghosts, that once they take possession of a human even you can’t get them out?”

  He nodded as understanding dawned. “But you can because...”

  “I’m a Seer.” She wrapped her arms about herself as if huddling in a snowstorm. “I meant to tell you. But you are one of them. One of the ones hunting my family, and I was afraid.”

  And the pieces fell into place. Why her parents had sent the Seers in different directions. Why the Niyanoka would accept a leader who was half Skinwalker. Why she could see auras. Why his father had warned him to keep Samantha clear of ghosts. And why the Thunderbirds had brought her to him.

  He could protect her. At least he was a better choice than his mom. He could see ghosts. He could kill ghosts.

  The realization rocked him. He couldn’t leave Samantha with his parents. He couldn’t ever let her go. Not until Nagi was defeated or they were all dead.

  Now he understood why she’d spent her entire life on the run. His sire had sent every ghost and every Ghostling he could recruit to find the Seers and kill them because once they were dead, there would be no one to stop his possessed army.

  Alon gripped the wheel. No wonder she hated him. He was one of the creatures who stalked her family.

  “I didn’t know,” he whispered, reaching for her.

  She leaned away and he drew back his hand.

  “What are you going to do?” she asked.

  He wasn’t certain. The responsibility was daunting. But the Thunderbirds thought him capable or perhaps the best of many bad choices. “I’m going to try to keep you alive.”

  “And leave me with your mother?”

  He couldn’t. Even if he wanted to do so. She needed a Ghostling to keep her safe. He should tell her, but he could not bear to see the disappointment when she realized she was stuck with him. So he said, “That was your father’s wish.”

  She expelled a breath and then covered her face in her hands. “I thought you might...”

  “What?”

  “I was afraid you might turn me over to Nagi.”

  He glowered at her. “Then you don’t know me at all.”

  Still it was a reasonable worry. What reward would the Ruler of Ghosts give for the deliverance of one of the three Niyanoka who could defeat his ghosts? Samantha and her brother and her mother were the only living things that could remove a ghost who possessed a human.

  No wonder the Niyanoka wanted her brother as their War Chief. They’d be fools not to take him.

  “You can defeat his ghosts,” he said.

  “I can.”

  “But to do that, you’ll have to stay alive.” Alon pressed the gas pedal to the floor.

  Suddenly he felt a spark of hope. With three Seers, an army might be able to defeat Nagi’s forces. His brothers and sisters could take Nagi’s Ghostlings if they were n
ot outnumbered. They’d have the Skinwalkers’ help, and the Seers could take the possessed fighters.

  But who could stop Nagi?

  His thoughts turned dark again. There was no way to kill a Superior Spirit. He gripped the wheel and glanced at Samantha, wishing to discuss his thoughts.

  But her chin was making a slow descent to her chest and her eyes drifted shut. Samantha began to doze. Her head lolled and she jolted awake. He watched this repeat several times until he could stand it no more. Finally he reached for her and dragged her beside him on the wide single seat. Her head lifted for a moment and he pushed it against his shoulder. She gripped his arm and cuddled close to him. He growled deep in the back of his throat, and the sensation of well-being returned to him again. For someone who was trying to avoid his company, she certainly spent a lot of time pressed up against him.

  Because she needed his protection. Nothing more.

  Remember that and you might get out of this alive.

  Samantha scooted closer, hugging his biceps as if it were her teddy bear. His heart began to squeeze in his chest and his ribs ached. Just her nearness did this to him. He had never experienced anything like his physical reaction to Samantha.

  She slipped downward until she rested her head on his thigh like a pillow. None who knew what he was ever got so close to him, not even the others of his kind. Only Bess, Cesar and Aldara ever willingly touched him. He glanced at her dark head, her closed eyes, the peaceful expression. In sleep she trusted him. He released the wheel and stretched his fingers, his breath catching at what he wished to do. Gradually he lowered his hand until his palm rested on her glossy hair. Then he petted her in long, even strokes. She allowed it. Samantha’s mouth turned up in a smile and she sighed.

  A wave of peace and a feeling of contentment resounded through him like a shout in an empty cave. Why did touching her make his chest ache?

  * * *

  Alon drove to the closest place of safety he could think of. He and his sister had purchased a series of isolated homes throughout the mountains of California because this was the area where they had located many of Nagi’s offspring. Aldara was a whiz at getting twins to come with them.