Moon Runner 01 Under the Shadow

by Jane Toombs

  Through Phil Jenkins, he found a tiny, uninhabited island for sale in Lake Erie and bought it with some of his riverboat winnings.

  "I like to fish alone," Phil told him, shaking his head, "but buying an island to make sure no one bothers you really takes the cake."

  Latching on to the excuse Phil unwittingly provided, Nick let it be known in Nogadata that he was an avid fisherman and intended to go off by himself from time to

  time to indulge his passion.

  A month later, Liisi still hadn't returned. Nick successfully delivered Toivi Lindenblatt's son, discovering from the new mother that she had no idea when or if Liisi meant to come back.

  "I haven't heard from her," Toivi complained. "I can't think what got into her, rushing off like she did. She promised to be here when the baby came. At least she could let me know where she is."

  When he left for his five days on the island, Nick tried to convince Mima to come into Monroe and stay with the Jenkins family but she refused.

  "Me, I take care of this house while you be gone," she insisted stubbornly. "I be here waiting."

  After leaving Rawhide at the Jenkins' farm, Nick paddled to his island in the canoe he'd bought, the afternoon sun so warm on his shoulders that half way across he stopped paddling and removed his shirt. A breeze ruffled Lake Erie's blue waters, waves nudging against the boat as though to drive it back to the the mainland.

  The rocky isle was over a mile from shore with no hospitable landing site--one of the reasons he'd chosen it. He reached the high bluff on the shore side, circled half way around to the one small break in the cliffs, too narrow to bring even his small canoe through. Nick bundled his shirt into his canvas pack and strapped it onto his back. He slipped over the side into the water--waist deep due to rocks beneath the surface. Holding the mooring rope, he eased through the fissure and climbed to the top of the bluff.

  From there he hauled the canoe up hand over hand.

  Now he was safe and could explore at his leisure. There was a wide cleft in the middle of the island where a small grove of tall pines flourished. Maple, birch and poplar grew around the edges of the grove. Though he saw squirrels and birds, he knew without searching there'd be no big game on the island--it wasn't large enough to sustain a deer herd. He'd brought bread, ham and cheese and planned to fish in the lake for the rest of his meals. Nick smiled wryly-- wasn't fishing his reason for being here?

  He supposed the beast wouldn't be pleased to find

  itself marooned on an island too small for good hunting. Since he could swim, he supposed it could. The mainland was a long way off, though, farther than he'd attempt.

  Nick shifted his shoulders uneasily, uncomfortable as always when he thought about that other part of himself. If only he had some control over the beast after it emerged. Unfortunately, he couldn't even recall what the damn thing did when it was free.

  He knew the beast wasn't an it but he preferred not to call it a he. Bad enough to know it tore animals apart and ate them raw--he couldn't bring himself to speculate what it might mate with.

  After a light meal of ham and bread washed down by lake water, Nick walked the perimeter of the island, judging it to be almost a mile around. From the top of a bluff he watched the sun slowly disappear, setting the clouds and the sky afire and painting a Toledo-bound schooner's sails red.

  Black smoke drifted across the tinted sky from a paddle wheeler churning east.

  The sky gradually darkened. Larger islands to the southeast became smudges on the deep blue of the water as the long evening settled in. The moon, near full and already above the horizon, glowed as yellow as a wolf's eye. In the woods behind him, an owl hooted four times.

  Hearing the owl made Nick understand what kept the squirrels from taking over the island. In its way an owl was as voracious a predator as the beast. But an owl killed and ate to live. The beast didn't have that excuse.

  Turning away from the lake, Nick strode toward the pine grove, where he'd left his supplies. If and when the change came, he didn't want to be on the bluff.

  "There ain't no accounting for women," the grizzled owner of the rowboat complained to Liisi as he pulled away from shore.

  "That may or may not be true," she said tartly. "But as long as you're being paid to row me, it makes little difference."

  He shrugged. "Where we're going, they ain't no decent place to land. Specially when it gets dark."

  "You've told me that. And it's not yet dark."

  He scowled but said no more, bending to his rowing. Liisi tried to put her disquiet from her mind but failed. She wasn't at all certain she should be in this boat, heading into danger she didn't fully understand. The alternative, though, was unacceptable. For this entire month she'd been angry with herself because she feared to let her dear friend Toivi know where she was. How could she continue to live like that?

  Her father had taught her to study one's opponent and discover his weaknesses before confronting him. In the brief time she'd had, she'd tried to find a weakness--and failed. But at least she was no longer cowering in some hidey-hole waiting to be discovered--she was choosing the time and place for the inevitable confrontation.

  She was a noita, not some timid girl who ran away and hid from peril. Her fingers tightened around the amulet resting between her breasts. Would it work?

  She clenched her jaw. What she brought with her had to work. If not--the word for what would happen in her own tongue was kamala. Terrible, hideous beyond description.

  Why was she cursed with this binding? Why must she be bound to a monster? She'd done nothing to deserve such a fate.

  Ah, but she was forgetting how little control humans

  had over their fate. Even noitas. Or, perhaps, especially noitas, who dabbled in the forbidden.

  How quiet it was on the lake in the evening. No gulls flew overhead squawking, there was only the lap of the waves against the wooden hull of the boat and the rhythmic plash of the oars. The lights of Monroe were behind her, the darkness of the island loomed ahead; she was leaving the familiar for the unknown.

  The yellow September moon was two days from full. She hadn't dared wait until the night of the full moon when his power would be the strongest.

  "Going to get your pretty dress soaked, that you are." The boatman's voice, though not loud, startled her. "No way onto the island without you get in the water."

  "You explained that before," she said. "If you don't mind, I'd rather we didn't talk anymore. At all."

  For whatever use it would be. She'd shielded herself but, sensing the boatman, he'd know someone approached.

  "Suit yourself," the boatman grumbled and fell silent as he maneuvered the boat close to the rocks.

  Liisi watched the moon rise and hugged herself, shivering.

  Free! The beast loped from the shelter of the trees into a clearing where the caressing moonlight fell directly on him. He raised his muzzle and sniffed the night air. Small animals and birds. No deer. Somehow he'd known there wouldn't be. Squirrels and such held no interest for him so he trotted up the incline to the top of a bluff.

  Water below, water as far as he could see. He could swim if he had to but he wasn't fond of water.

  Leaving the bluff, he reentered the woods, ran through the trees until they thinned and gave way to another bluff. At its top he gazed down again at water and lights twinkling on the dark bulk of land some distance across the water. Something splashed between him and the lights. A man in a boat, going away from him--no danger there.

  Island. He blinked as the word came to him. He remembered what it meant. Land surrounded by water. Like a cage without bars. Unless he swam. He preferred to avoid the water.

  A faint scent came to him and he raised his muzzle to identify what it was and the location.

  Human! On the island. His hackles rose. Was he being hunted?

  He'd do the hunting!

  Fixing on the scent, he trotted into the woods once

  more where pine scent mingled wi
th the human, circling to approach from behind. Between one step and the next, he identified who he hunted. He halted abruptly.

  Her! His mate!

  Lust rose in him, driving him forward, all thought of stalking forgotten as he raced to find her. She was here, she could no more escape from the island than he could.

  This time nothing would stop their mating.

  Chapter 16

  Moonlight bathed the island, leaching all color, turning everything to silver. There were no night sounds except the waves breaking on the rock face.

  The island animals knew, Liisi thought. They hid and remained silent through fear. But it wasn't the animals he hunted, he hunted her. Though she was shielded she felt him stalking her and the hair on her nape rose. She increased her pace. Resisting the impulse to run, she hurried to the closest large tree and, her back to it, stared into the moonlight, waiting.

  Her right hand clutched the amulet she wore on a leather thong around her neck as she did her best to quiet the frantic pounding of her heart.

  Between one rapid heartbeat and the next, he suddenly appeared in front of her, leaping, it seemed, from nowhere. Monster! Beast! She'd never seen anything so horrible. Not man, not animal, he stood on his hind legs, looming over her, his yellow eyes gleaming with lust, his furred muzzle concealing the sharp fangs of a killer.

  Liisi swallowed her scream. The awful sight

  momentarily robbed her of her wits, making her forget the words she must say but her left hand rose into the air between them, automatically tracing the runes to ward him off for a few precious moments.

  She slipped the thong over her head and kissed the amulet. Holding the figure in both her hands, she raised her arms as though offering it to him. Moonlight glinted on the steel.

  He stared at her hungrily, paying no attention to the amulet.

  Her mind steadied and she started to chant in her own tongue. "Luonotar, oi Ilman Neiti," she began. Her voice quivered at first, gradually strengthening with her belief in herself:.

  "Luonotar, Lady of Creation

  You, who formed the iron in the earth

  Plucked forth by Ilmarinen

  Mighty smith who forged the steel

  And fashioned the sword

  Vainomoinen, great hero

  You, who blooded the blade

  Dark Louhi whose magic

  Shattered the sword

  And fashioned the charm

  Grant me use of the power

  That lies in the charm.

  Luonotar, Lady of Creation,

  Make me strong as the steel

  Of Ilmarinen's crafting

  Brave as mighty Vainomoinen

  Wise as dark Louhi.

  Lady, grant me power."

  The monster hadn't moved. With bated breath, Liisi stepped forward, holding out the amulet. She raised on her tiptoes, touched the steel briefly to the beast's head between his ears and then flung the thong around his neck before backing away.

  An arrow of light blazed into his brain, blinding him, transfixing him. He couldn't make a sound, couldn't move. Pain wrenched his gut.

  Nick stood in the moonlight, staring in disbelief at

  a vision in white. He must be dreaming. God knows he'd dreamed of Liisi often enough this past month. She couldn't actually be here, that was impossible. As he gaped at her, he was dimly aware of something unfamiliar around his neck and his hand rose to his chest. He started when he felt metal under his fingers.

  "No!" Liisi cried. "Don't take the amulet off. Not yet."

  He took a step toward her and stopped, suddenly remembering he'd shifted, letting the beast free. He glanced at the moon, riding high. How had he changed back to himself? Impossible!

  "I'm dreaming," he said hoarsely.

  "You're awake." Her voice was flat and positive.

  He took two more steps and gripped her shoulders to test her reality. He smelled her enticing lavender scent as he touched her, then he felt their energy mingle and everything else faded. He pulled her to him and lowered his mouth to hers.

  If she protested, her words were lost in his kiss.

  Their kiss. She was warm and soft and eager in his arms.

  Her response and the electric intermingling of energies under the moon's caress aroused him beyond reason.

  He tore off her clothes, needing her as naked as he was, needing flesh against flesh. The moonlight turned her to silver in his embrace and, as he possessed her, for an instant he remembered the deadliness of silver. But when a man rode high as the moon itself, it was far too late for second thoughts.

  When he could think again, he reached between them to touch what she'd called the amulet, still on its leather thong around his neck. With a shock, he realized she must have put it over the beast's head. Raising on one elbow, he looked down at her, meaning to ask her what the amulet was. She lay curled next to him, her moonlight-fair hair spread around her, so beautiful it took his breath away.

  As he bent to kiss her, a dreadful thought slithered into his mind.

  "God grant you're not with child," he blurted.

  Liisi smiled a secret smile. " A noita has children only if she wills it. I do not wish for a child, so I will have none. Believe me, for I speak the truth."

  "What's a noita?"

  "A Finnish wizard. I'm one, as my father was. We have certain powers."

  That explained the blue energy.

  She reached for him and drew him down to her. "Whatever binds us one to the other is more powerful than I," she murmured in his ear. "Or than you."

  Bound. To her. To a Finnish witch. He'd resent such a binding if his desire for her would let him. But all he could think of was possessing her again. And again and again.

  Much later she explained how she'd slipped the thong over the beast's head.

  "It was to save my life. Otherwise he would have killed me trying to mate." She shuddered in his arms. "The beast is bound to me just as you are--I had to find a way to shift you back to human and to prevent any more changing or I was doomed. Thank God and the Lady what I did succeeded."

  "What is this amulet?"

  "It's crafted from steel taken from a magic sword. It is said Ilmarinen himself forged the blade. He was the first smith and the greatest. Iron makes the most powerful of charms and steel is, of course, basically iron."

  Nick squinted at the charm. "I can't see well enough to understand what this represents."

  "A man's body, a wolf's head. Half-man, half-beast.

  It was my father's. In Finland he wore it to protect him against strange creatures of the forest."

  A thrill ran through Nick. "Do you mean there are others like me?"

  "I don't know. Perhaps. My father spoke of shapeshifters but I never expected to come face to face with one." Again she shivered. "You are really very terrible when you shift, very frightening. A killer."

  Nick thought about what she'd said. Others like him! Would he ever meet one? Despite hating his shapeshifting, it excited him to imagine meeting one of his own kind.

  He said nothing of this to her. Holding her hand in his, he kissed her palm. "Did you know I read your fate in your palm the day we met? I feared you'd be my next victim and I knew I'd rather die than harm you. Even if you are a witch, you're a brave woman, coming to this island when you knew what waited here. You understand what I am--how do you have the courage to lie here with me without fearing I'll change once more into the beast?"

  "You won't change again," she said, stroking his cheek. He stared at her. "How can you be sure?"

  "To be safe you must wear the amulet when the moon is full. But I will teach you a spell to keep the monster inside where he belongs and once you master the spell it will work even without the amulet."

  Nick raised his eyebrows. "You seem so positive."

  She shrugged. "After all, I am a noita."

  "The last witch I met tried to kill me. She damn near succeeded."

  Liisi stiffened in his arms. "Are you saying you don'
t trust me?"

  His grip tightened. "Bound to you as I am, I have little choice. We must be together, you and I, so I choose to trust you. Besides, the other witch was old and ugly while you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

  She relaxed slightly. "You realize we must marry."

  Her words jarred him but he immediately grasped their truth. He needed to have her near him, living in his house, sleeping in his bed. Marriage was the only possible answer if he intended to go on living in Nogadata.

  "Must I offer for your hand?" he asked.

  "I would like a formal declaration, yes." Liisi eased away from him. "You must understand I always believed I would love the man I married."

  He looked into her eyes, silver as the moonlight, witch eyes he could lose himself in. Love. What was it? Had he loved Esperanza or had that been merely the desire of a man for a woman? He couldn't be sure. The only person he was certain he truly loved was Dr. Kellogg. And, perhaps, Mima. "I won't lie to you and claim love, Liisi. What's between us is too powerful to deny but I can't call it love. Will you marry me anyway, knowing we don't love one another?" She sighed. "As you say, I have little choice." She ran her fingertip lightly over his lips. "The village folk will think it very romantic--how you searched for me, found me and convinced me we must marry. For that's the story I plan to tell. My reason for leaving Nogadata so abruptly will be that I feared my feelings for you were not reciprocated."

  Her touch aroused him, making him aware how much he was going to resent any separation from her. "The wedding must be as soon as possible."

  Liisi smiled her maddening, secret smile. "Every woman in town will hate me because I'm the one you chose."

  With the help of the Jenkins, two days later Nick and Liisi became man and wife. Nick, uncertain about the amulet's protective powers at first, discovered the steel figurine not only prevented his shifting but also removed the desire to shift. By the time they returned to Nogadata, he was as happy as he could ever remember being.