Cloak of Snow (Totem Book 3) Read online

  She barreled into the woods and toward the sounds of the battle. One bastard jumped at her from the side and landed on her hip. It raked her with talon-sharp claws before she smashed it against a big pine.

  Hissing through the pain, Saskia kept moving forward, up and onto a pile of big rocks. The scene below knocked the breath from her and froze her to the spot. No. This wasn’t right.

  Barely a hint of white fur could be seen beneath a seething mountain of Jinxioc. By a pack, she’d thought Toklo meant six to eight members, but no. There were at least twenty, maybe twenty-five of them swarming Sedge. Like a tornado of death, they ripped into the massive polar bear. Fur and blood flung in all directions.

  Sedge.

  Saskia didn’t care she had no wings to fly. She leapt off the rocks and into the fray, squishing at least one with her landing.

  Raking her claws through the pack, she swept nine off Sedge, allowing him to break free of the deadly horde. His bellow shook the branches in the trees as they stood back to back to fight off the Jinxioc.

  Fear surged through her. Fighting gnomes was supposed to be a joke, especially for two polar bear shifters who were also skilled fighters. This nightmare swarm threatened to drown her.

  Beady black eyes. Sharp claws and teeth. The fuckers were tenacious.

  But as fast as they had come upon Saskia and the children in the village, they were gone.

  No sound as they disappeared through the trees. No growls or laughter. Just gurgling from one Jinxioc as it died at Saskia’s feet.

  Both Sedge and Saskia stood on their hind legs, panting, waiting for the demons to attack again. But when she heard the sound of a bird in a nearby tree give a hesitant chirp, she realized they were gone. For the time being.

  Behind her, a thump shook the ground. She twisted to find Sedge lying on his side. The mighty Bear beaten and bloody.

  None of his wounds were mortal, but the number of them was worrying. Most especially the one on his right arm. Her jaw clenched as she shifted back into her human form. “Sedge.”

  He groaned and turned toward her, transforming too. The pain clearly great as he didn’t bother with clothing. “Saskia. Don’t…”

  “Don’t what? Go after the little fuckers? I’m not going to.” She knelt by his side and unwound her scarf to use as a make-shift bandage. “You’ll need stitches. Several.”

  Most of his pale skin was smeared and splattered with blood. Some spots so thick, she couldn’t see his tattoos underneath. And the man had many tats on his glorious body, which shuddered as he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

  “Be still.” Saskia told him as she tied her scarf around his upper right arm. The skin and muscle had been shredded by the Jinxioc.

  “Don’t… tell… my people.”

  Right. Of course he didn’t want anyone to see him as weak. She shook her head. “I have to take you back to get you fixed up.”

  Sedge clasped her left wrist. “No. Stay here.”

  He was clearly delusional. Maybe he lost too much blood.

  “Are you crazy? Those things could be back at any moment.” Saskia stood, pulling away from him, and rolled her shoulders as she shook off her own injuries. She hooked her arms under his shoulders. “Listen to me for once.”

  “No.” He repeated more vehemently and tore out of her hold. “They cannot see me defeated. I cannot return looking like this.”

  She wasn’t going to leave him alone. And he knew it.

  Damn his stubborn ass.

  Saskia circled the immediate area of the woods. Big pines swayed with the wind, and rocks glistened with snow. There were no signs of the Jinxioc or the boy. Only blood and dead gnomes. It satisfied her to know they could die. They’d attacked and kidnapped children under her watch. She would rip the head off every single Jinxioc.

  Fat snowflakes fell lazily from the sky. The first snowfall of the season. In the morning, there’d be no evidence of the battle.

  She returned to Sedge’s side and helped him stand to move away from the devastated bodies. “Let’s sit you up on the rock over there.”

  “Snow. It’ll help me heal faster.” Sedge pointed to a small snow covered pile of dirt and nudged her in that direction as he laid his arm across her shoulders. He leaned against her. His heavy weight not a burden, but more a comfort she didn’t want to accept.

  Saskia resisted and muscled him toward the rock. “If you want snow, I’ll dump some on you. I need you propped up so I can stitch you together. Stop fighting me and sit your ass down.”

  He grunted, and she was certain he would argue with her, but he didn’t. Proof he was hurt worse than he let on.

  Sedge lowered himself onto the rock slowly. His arm slipped from her shoulders, but his hand rested on the small of her back. Even through the layers of her clothing, she could feel the heat radiating off him. Not a single goosebump pimpled his skin. The cold was his friend.

  “And what will you stitch me with?” He raised a brow.

  Saskia straightened and frowned. She opened her mouth to say she’d fetch a thread and needle from Kuci, but the tribe would want to know what happened. Nope, couldn’t go there. The other option was to use her skill as a Black Shaman, power that Sedge had given her. Power she swore she would not use again.

  Bastard. Time to go primitive. Saskia lifted her chin. “We’ll do this the old-fashioned way.”

  Marching over to one of the pine trees, she pried off a four inch long piece of bark. She peeled more bark off a section of the tree and scraped the sap onto the first hunk. Laying a hand on the tree, she whispered her thanks to it.

  “You still remember.” Sedge eyed her as she returned to him.

  “I honor all spirits.” And never break taboo. One little slip up, and he’d know. He’d be there so fast to deliver punishment. The old gods rarely took notice of small offenses anymore, but the one time she had forgotten to say thanks to an animal spirit for a meal, he had whisked her away to a cave in the far north.

  Her punishment had been… intense. What should have been grueling training under a harsh master turned quickly into ferocious lovemaking. No man had ever loved her as he did those three days and nights. She still ached, body and soul, to have that again.

  While Azarius gave her space, drew her away from her life, and made her strong enough to stand on her own, Sedge filled her and made her whole. She didn’t want to be anyone other than Saskia Dorn those three days. Until he declared she would be his mate. He loved her and would die without her.

  She couldn’t have anyone rely on her like that. Not after she saw what the loss of her mother did to her family, what it did to her.

  Her punishment turned out to be something much worse than she imagined. She left the Black Shamans’ ranks. Left him. And he wasn’t a man used to not getting what he wanted. But she wouldn’t, couldn’t be what he wanted her to be. He’d not see it any other way either.

  “One day you’ll forget again.” Sedge didn’t smile as he said it.

  “No, I won’t.” Saskia pressed her lips together. She refused to meet his gaze. Not that he could read minds, but with the emotional whirlwind sweeping through her, her eyes might give her away.

  That part of her life was over. She must focus on the here and now. On his wounds. The faster he healed, the faster they could hunt.

  Glancing at the sap on the bark and then at Sedge, she sighed. “First, clean up.”

  Saskia set down the bark and fetched a half-dozen armfuls of snow. He rubbed it over himself, avoiding his bandaged arm. His body heat melted the snow and washed most of the blood away. The ground below him glistened pink in the last bit of the light of day.

  She plucked a pinch of sap with her fingers. It stuck as a useless, nearly frozen blob. She blew on it and spit on it, mixing it with her saliva. Much better now.

  She knelt beside him and worked first on his left leg. Bites and cuts decorated his muscled thigh. She held the flesh together with one hand and applied the sap with the other. If h
e made any comment about her being on her knees like this, she’d bite him too!

  “There should not be so many Jinxioc together.” Sedge scratched at the scarf and stared into the dark woods.

  “Toklo said they hunt in packs.” Saskia fused together a deep cut along his calf. Her work couldn’t be anything other than sloppy, but he’d be unlikely to scar. Well, she glanced at his wrapped arm, at least on his legs.

  “Small packs, family packs. They’d kill their own kind just as quick as any other creature.” He hissed as she moved to his other leg and squeezed shut a gash on his thigh.

  “So they’ve learned how to cooperate. We find and kill them. That’s the end of it.” And she’d enjoy every second of ripping their heads off. Saskia spat again, mixing up the sap, and applied it to the wound.

  Sedge groaned and fisted his hands. “It won’t be that easy. These are Unnaturals. Not created by any of the old gods. Not only are they more numerous, but they’re stronger and faster than they should be.”

  Saskia paused and gaped at him. Sedge said something wouldn’t be easy? She must not have heard him correctly. Maybe one of the Jinxioc banged her in the head.

  “Oh, I will kill them. Every single one.” He growled. “But charging into the fray is not the way.”

  Ah, there was the Sedge she knew. She nodded. “I agree. We’ve seen them now. We know how they fight. Maybe we can find where they live and blow the fucking place up.” Not quite as satisfying as tearing off body parts, but any victory in which the Jinxioc were destroyed was a good one. “Anything else you can tell me about them?”

  His breath misted as he exhaled. “I’ve never been troubled by them before. They were few and so were the tribes this far north. They stole meat and sometimes children who wandered too far from their village.”

  Saskia finished with his legs and stood. She moved to his left arm. His cuts blended in with the tribal tattoos covering his entire arm. Already, they had started healing. Only one wound required her to seal it shut. “Toklo said this started about five weeks ago. The same time we discovered the totem pole missing.”

  Sedge’s brows furrowed. “Yes.”

  Her heartbeat sped up. The possibility of finding a token made her feel like a kid on a treasure hunt. The connection between the events was obvious. She was almost tempted to go out and start smelling fox shit again.

  “Azarius had a feeling one of the totems was in this area, the fox token. I need more sap.” Saskia walked to another tree, not wanting to take any more from the first one.

  He grunted and nodded. “We kill the Jinxioc and find the token.”

  Saskia gathered the sap and thanked the tree before returning to Sedge. He sat straighter with his head up. A horde of little cannibals couldn’t hold him down for long. She smiled and reined it in. “All right. Let me have a look at your right arm. Take off the scarf.”

  Yanking open the knot, he clenched his jaw and breathed out another long breath. He turned his head away as the fabric tumbled off his biceps. “It’s healing.”

  She didn’t need her keen sense of sight to see how ragged the wound was. Muscle damaged and blood still oozing from it. She threw the sappy bark over her shoulder. There wasn’t enough flesh to pull it together to seal. “Shit.”

  “It’s not that bad.” He grumbled.

  No, not bad at all. They just about tore his fucking arm off!

  “You need a whole lot more than a little sap.” She rubbed her palm against her forehead. As much as she wanted to tell him she could handle this, she needed his help. Dammit. “Okay. I’m getting my pickup. We’re going to Galbraith and getting some medical supplies. You don’t have to come into Kuci with me, but you’re coming with me in the truck. You’re not waiting out here alone.”

  “I don’t need—”

  “Look at your fucking arm!” Saskia wanted to strangle him. Why did guys have to be this way? “If you want to heal to take on the Jinxioc, you need medical help.” And in case he argued anymore, she said, “Or you can just sit this one out. I’ll go handle them myself.”

  “You will not!” Sedge rose, his voice like thunder.

  “Then let’s go get my truck.”

  He snarled at her, but in that same instant, he was clothed. Finally.

  Sedge stormed past her out of the woods. Saskia followed with a little smirk. If he ate and got the proper care, they might be able to search for the pack in the morning.

  Kill the Jinxioc and find the totem. Easy? Hell no, but it was damn satisfying to be on the hunt again. Not that she’d admit it, but she missed being a Black Shaman. Carpentry filled her in a different way, but the rush of the hunt and the thrill of dealing justice, there was nothing like it.

  Nor was there anything else like doing that alongside of Sedge.

  Standing beside Aujaq’s cabin back in the village, Saskia held back a scream. No one here was to blame for the slashed tires. Okay, it was partially Dave’s and Aujaq’s fault since they stole her truck. But now they were stuck in Kuci the same as she was.

  A fat snowflake landed on her cheek, and she swiped it away. Small prints circled her pickup. Considering they didn’t leave trails in the woods, the Jinxioc wanted her to know they’d been there.

  It was tempting to hook up a team of dogs and go, but not at night. Not with Sedge injured.

  Aujaq stood six feet away near the rear of her pickup. Gripping the bottom of his parka, he shifted from foot to foot. Even if he hadn’t been declared a thief, dealing with two angry bears was not something anyone wanted to do.

  “We’re going to spend the night in your cabin.” Saskia spoke each word carefully so her anger didn’t slip through. Aujaq was a trembling mess as it was, never mind adding her or Sedge yelling at him. “Go back to the long house, be with your family, and stay inside.”

  Aujaq’s eyes darted between Sedge and her. “You are welcome in our home, but I cannot… my wife… She’ll be angry if we do not act as proper hosts.”

  He hurried away toward the long house before Saskia could tell him not to worry about it. She hissed out a long breath. “I don’t want to kick them out of their own home. But they know they’re safer with their tribe.”

  “Yes, but it would be considered very rude for them not to attend to someone who is a guest in their house. Especially me.” Keeping his right arm immobile, Sedge leaned against the truck. “It’s a matter of honor.”

  Of course. Saskia sighed as they waited for Aujaq and his family. No one else had seen them return to the village, but now the whole tribe would know. If Sedge didn’t want them all to know of his injuries, he’d better make sure they had some privacy for at least a little while.

  Neither of them said a word. She stared at the forest in the distance. Would the Jinxioc return tonight? The possibility made her stomach tighten and stated she wouldn’t be getting much sleep.

  It didn’t take but two minutes for Aujaq to hurry back with his wife and children. His two remaining children. Saskia swallowed with difficulty. Their boy was lost on her watch. They should be running her out of the village rather than rushing to host them.

  “My wife, Yakone. My son, Silaluk, and my daughter, Aluki. My brother Dave is fetching wood for the fire.” Aujaq touched his wife and each of his children with a trembling hand as he introduced them. A gesture to reassure himself they were still there.

  “Please, come inside and be welcome.” With red-rimmed eyes, Yakone opened the door and dipped her head, waiting for them to go in first.

  Saskia glanced at the children. Silaluk stared at nothing, eyes hazy like a zombie. Aluki gave Saskia a shy little smile.

  Stepping inside the small cabin, Saskia scanned the near empty square main room. All that met her eyes were an unfinished wood floor, a dented wood burning oven, and a stump smoothed by years of use. They lived simply, but with this little? No, wait, most of their stuff was probably still in the back of her pickup. She walked the rest of the way in, and everyone else followed.

  “I�
��ll bring in some furs to sit on. Silaluk, help me.” Aujaq took the boy with him back outside.

  Saskia almost protested. The Jinxioc could be waiting, but Sedge didn’t say a word. She bit her tongue and let Yakone fuss as she stoked the embers of the fire in the stove.

  “We have only fish, I’m sorry. May I cook you a meal?” Yakone asked. Her arms hung beside her as if pulled to the ground with her grief. The strength it took for this woman to still function, Saskia could barely imagine.

  Sedge nodded. “Yes, thank you. It would be much appreciated.”

  Silaluk and Aujaq returned with armloads of furs and piled them on the floor. Dave arrived half a minute later with a great bundle of wood for the stove. The family was quiet as they fed the fire and prepared the fish to be cooked. The children helped as much as the adults. Every now and then, Yakone wiped shimmering tears from her eyes.

  Saskia stuffed her hands in her pockets so she wouldn’t fiddle. Idle wasn’t a word in her vocabulary, but she’d no doubt it would be bad manners to offer to help. Nor did she know what to say to comfort them.

  Sedge sat once the furs were laid, and Saskia could see no other option than to sit beside him and wait. Only a few inches from him, and she could feel his body radiating heat. An invisible rope tugged her to lean into him, but she resisted.

  Dismissed from her task of cleaning up the discarded remains of the fish, Aluki plopped down next to Saskia. She opened her fur coat and removed a roughly carved doll. “Do you want to play with my doll? My other ones are packed away, or you could play with the whole family.”

  “Thank you, but I’d rather watch you play with it.” Saskia unzipped her coat as the heat rose inside the small home.

  “Okay. I will have my doll cook up something for all our guests.” Aluki hummed as she maneuvered her toy about its chores.

  “All your guests? More than Nanuk and me? You must mean Nanuk’s tummy. He will eat enough for ten men.” Saskia glanced at Sedge who watched her with an amused twinkle in his dark eyes. He didn’t deny it.