Page 26 of Heart of a Dire Wolf
Nic surged up and forward, one hand already sprouting claws. Skyla touched Nic’s arm. “It’s all right.” He hesitated, then sat back down on the cooler. She slid her chair closer to put a hand on his muscular thigh and let him know she appreciated his care.
Elsa had already pulled Gunnar back down. She nodded to Skyla. “Forgive us, Magister. We meant no disrespect. We who were not here that day all felt the breach of the borders and the fall of the glade, but we could not get back.”
Tad and Verna nodded. One of the Mackenzies said all their parents had flown over the area regularly for years, and taught their children to do the same, with no luck, until today.
Elsa’s lips thinned. “We hired great workers of every kind of magic who took our money but could not find our home. Fort LeBlanc was gone. Until three days ago. We all felt it.” She slipped her hand into Gunnar’s. “Some of us didn’t believe it at first, but we had to come.” Her eyes darted to the old mattresses that had been pushed aside. “And then here you were, dressed like a lost summer tourist, talking to ghosts.”
Nic gave her a sidelong questioning glance.
Skyla patted his thigh. “First, I’m not a magister, I’m just a magic studies grad student. Second, Nic and I were trying to get to the sanctuary in Wyoming. Something went wrong with the portal, and I ended up here, face first in a snowdrift. That was three days ago.”
Nic covered her hand with his. “That was only this morning for me, Mauk, and the lady in green.”
It was her turn to give Nic a startled look. He gave her a private smile. “We’re fine.”
He turned back to the group. “The Kotoyeesinay town council’s best guess was that the Fort LeBlanc defenders opened a portal to call for aid, but it was warped or unfinished. They think it’s lain dormant for all this time, until the right kind and size of portal opened again, and the right person went through it.”
The theory sounded plausible, but what did she know? She’d dropped her only class in portal magic since she had no talent for it.
Verna frowned. “What’s Gunnar blathering about, talking to ghosts?”
Skyla’s temples hurt just thinking about going through this with every family that showed up. It had been hard enough witnessing for the dead. She didn’t want to hurt the living, too. “Not everyone who died that day is gone. My gifts mean I can see and hear the spirits of those still here. They told me their stories. I wrote—”
“Bullshit!” Gunnar stood up, pushing Elsa’s hand away. “She makes this up because she wants money, just like the others. Our children are not ghosts who waited, they are dead. End of the story.”
He turned and stomped out of the building, slamming the door behind him.
Elsa stood, an anguished look on her face. “He blames himself for not being here.” She hurried out after him.
Moss stood and held out his hand. A sphere-shaped spirit came to land in his palm. “Thank you for singing for Oak, my lover who was lost to the fire and darkness, until you came. I will nurture a bower for him.”
Moss placed the spirit sphere on his shoulder, much as one would a kitten, and left.
“Let’s go see the rest of the town,” said one of the Mackenzies. “You know the fam is gonna ask.” They swarmed out the door amid good-natured jostling.
“We’re curious, too,” said Verna. “We were still citizens of Fort LeBlanc, but we moved away thirty years before it disappeared.”
Tad stood and offered his hand to his mate. “We should see if Gunnar has calmed down yet.”
Nic stood. “If you don’t mind my asking, how is it you all keep your clothes when you shift?”
Tad grinned. “Nifty, huh?” He pulled down the neck of his turtleneck to reveal a faint, green and gold tattoo of two ornate keys, one along each collarbone. “After a shifter child nearly froze to death because he had no clothes, the town elders worked with a charm specialist to create this for all those granted sanctuary and their offspring. Ties us to the town and each other, too. That’s how we knew Fort LeBlanc was back.” He smoothed the neck back into place. “Sure is handy when you have to shift in deep winter.”
Skyla made a mental note to examine one later. If she could duplicate it, she could offer it to Nic as a mating gift, after she had her wicked way with him in their tent that night. Their mate bond was already growing with each additional minute they spent together. Since he’d gone to all the trouble to set up a love nest, she definitely wanted to take advantage of it. She just needed a few minutes to rest.
A faraway, unintelligible voice buzzed in her head. She was too tired to face another spirit.The store is closed,she told it.Visiting hours are over. No room at the inn.She repurposed a tiny bit of magic from the stove to create virtual earplugs that blocked pushy ghosts.
Blessed silence. A deep lethargy settled over her as she watched Nic bend over to rummage in the cooler. He had spectacular thighs. She was without a doubt the luckiest dire wolf on the planet to have such a fine man for a mate. Of course, she was now the only dire wolf on the planet, that she knew of. Would their children be tigers or wolves? Maybe she should ask for both carpet-covered towers and rawhide chew toys for the baby shower.
Her eyelids drooped.Look at me, napping again,she wanted to tell Nic. Cats liked naps.
