Beauty's Beast(20)

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 not 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.

There had been no other sightings in the United States, Canada or Mexico until word of the group outside Calgary.

When they left the road, Samantha roused from slumber. She asked few questions, but he provided what assurance he could. They would eat, sleep and continue tomorrow morning. The ride was another eighteen hours yet, and he had to rest.

They paused at the high wrought-iron gate as he entered the security code. The house came into sight as they crested the hill. Bathed in moonlight, the glass and steel construction glinted and winked. The structure most resembled some modern sculptured cubes sitting in a mowed meadow. The isolated house seemed as out of place in this clearing as he was. The fenced perimeter and security system assisted in his need for privacy, though they would not deter ghosts.

Only the lawn crew and his human housekeeper entered this sanctuary. His housekeeper kept the place in order and the kitchen stocked with the peculiar foodstuffs he requested. He and Aldara preferred rare meat, and the large freezer in the garage kept them fed.

He recalled finding two of the Delta twins in this area and felt sad all over again. The anger followed on its heels, and he realized he wanted a chance to settle with his sire for all the pain he caused.

If not for the Ruler of Ghosts, the Deltas would be alive, Samantha would be with her family and Alon would not have had to kill his own kin. If not for the ambitions of Nagi, Alon and all his siblings would never be here to infest this lovely world like some new and deadly plague.

Everything began and ended with Nagi.

Alon ushered Samantha in, saw her fed and showed her about the place. It wasn’t much, just two bedrooms upstairs with an adjoining bath. Downstairs had everything one would expect, except the touches that made a house a home. She stood at the sliding doors, looking out at the woods behind the house glowing blue in the moonlight.

“I’ve never seen a ghost here,” he said.

She slipped out to the deck and he followed, standing beside her as she gazed up at the night sky.

“Beautiful,” she sighed.

He made a sound of concurrence and stretched his neck to stare at the heavens.

“I tried to follow my mother to the Way of Souls once.” He lifted his hand and pointed at the Milky Way. “I watched her disappear through the veil, but I couldn’t find the way.”

“You’re not a raven. We only get to travel that road once.”

“Some of us not even once.”

Her attention shifted, meeting his troubled gaze.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m born of the Ruler of Ghosts. Where do you suppose I will go when I pass from this living world?”

She never considered it. “I don’t know.”

He expelled a long breath. “Neither do I.”

She did not try to reassure or change the subject to something more pleasant. He appreciated that.

“None of us know that, Alon. It’s why we must walk the Red Road while we live.”

That wasn’t what he meant. He was not speaking of living an upright life so he could one day reach the Spirit World. If it were only so simple.

He felt the urge to tell her what he believed. That it would make no difference what he did because his lineage would bar him from entrance to the Spirit World. But when he looked down into her sweet face and saw the earnestness of her expression, he could not do it. He forced a smile and she returned it.

Something shimmered between them. He glanced away, checking to be certain it was no ghost.

“What was that?”

“You saw it?” She smiled up at him. “It’s our auras. Sometimes they are bright enough for anyone to see.”

“I can’t see it now.”

“I can. Yours is silver. Mine is mostly violet with some deep blue, gold and brown. A Niyanoka’s aura is capped with gold, and all Skinwalkers have some brown. It’s how the Niyanoka can so easily spot us.”

“But you are also Niyanoka.”

“Yes, both and neither.”

It was the first time he thought to consider that she was a mix of two races. How much more difficult must that be for her?

Samantha turned away so that her back now rested on the rail. He gripped the wooden banister to squash the urge to reach for her and felt his fingers sink into the hard wood.

“Is that a hot tub?” she asked.