Deep Current (Totem Book 6)

by Christine Rains

  “I saved you with the heat of my temper. How could you be so stubborn and not tell me you couldn’t keep yourself warm under water?” She poked him in the chest. “I’m pissed at you, at the damn sea hag for making us jump through her slimy hoops, and at the fact we’ll never find the Salmon People. Stupid, impossible—”

  “I know how to find them.” His free hand slid along her thigh and over her hip. He drank in a long breath of her.

  “Oh.” Saskia should’ve guessed he’d know. Funny how she’d not considered— Whoa. The mammoth evidence of his arousal pressed against her leg. Clearly he was feeling better. A responding desire pulsated between her legs.

  Pulling her head back with her hair, Sedge licked up along the length of her neck and nipped at her earlobe. Saskia gripped his forearm with her nails digging in.

  “We need to go.” She attempted to roll from him, and he used her momentum to slide on top of her. He nestled perfectly between her legs. She shuddered as more of their bodies pressed together, at his hardness at the side of her groin.

  “Stay.” His whisper was gruff and so was the kiss he followed it with.

  Hell, she wanted him. She wasn’t even going to deny it. But as their mouths mashed together, she shook her head. “No. We have to go find the Salmon People, get Petuwaq, and then the totem.”

  “I feel you under me, trembling.” He placed a hand on her chest and cupped one of her breasts. “I feel your heart racing. Why are you afraid of me, of us?”

  “I’m not. This just isn’t the fucking time.” Saskia looked away and pushed him up so she could wriggle out from under him and sit through the hole in the top of the den.

  Sedge held her legs. “You’re running again.”

  “I’m not.” She pushed him, but he gripped tighter. “Don’t make me force you to let go. I can still turn into a bear and you can’t.” His face hardened, and he released her. She inwardly cursed herself. “We’ll get Petuwaq, and you’ll be back to normal.”

  “If we bring her Petuwaq, she’ll kill him, and then she’ll kill me. And if you try to stop her, she’ll kill you too.” He rested a hand possessively on her knee.

  “She can’t kill a guy who’s already dead.” But Estuuya would probably try to screw them over by not taking her spell off Sedge. Saskia had already planned on taking Petuwaq back to the sea hag herself. Not that she told Sedge this yet. He’d have to realize he wouldn’t survive another swim in the freezing ocean.

  “She can do all sorts of horrific things to his soul.” Sedge’s jaw clenched. He dipped his head and drew in a deep breath. “Mm.”

  “Stop that.” Saskia scooted farther back and summoned clothes onto herself. She ignored the frown it drew from him. “We’ll deal with that later. So tell me how we find the Salmon People. As far as I understand it, they’re in a different realm at the bottom of the sea. And they’re the spirits of dead fish. Why is this dead guy… swimming with the fishes. Heh.”

  Her joke didn’t even earn a smile from him. The man had no sense of humor.

  “The Salmon People sometimes see spirits that have a lot more to learn. They take them to their village. And they’re not fish. Their spirits are like ours, so we’d see them as human. These people stay and gain wisdom from them before they’re reborn again.” Sedge rose partially, slipping half out of the sleeping bag and made the hole in the top of the den bigger. He clothed himself, vanishing the black hat on his head.

  “Back in the old times,” he continued, sitting on his knees. “Salmon gave their lives so that the people could eat. People respected this and paid tribute to them.”

  “Taboos.” Saskia nodded.

  “Yes, but there is a specific way to treat a salmon you have eaten. You must eat it whole and not break one bone. Then you must return it to the water and let the currents take it out to sea where it will return to the Salmon People and be reborn. If you break taboo…”

  She waved her hand. “Yeah, yeah. They’ll come for you or one of yours or make sure you never eat salmon again.”

  “To find the Salmon People, we must eat a fish and not break one bone and send it into the sea. We follow it to where the currents take it, and there we will find them.”

  Saskia sighed. “How are we supposed to follow a skeleton in the dark waters of the sea?”

  “We just do.” He stood and surveyed the area around them before holding out a hand to her.

  She ignored his hand and rose to stand beside him. “We’ll have to get a boat. You can’t swim. And we need something to eat. Other than the fish.”

  “I know a diner in Kotzebue where we can get both.”

  Saskia turned to look south. “Tell me where to go, and I’ll fetch a boat.”

  “I’m coming with you.”

  She twisted around and pointed at him. “No way are you riding on my back.”

  “I was thinking more like you could push me on a piece of ice.” He smirked.

  This is what she got for saving the man’s life: ferrying him around on hunks of ice. Like he was the king and she his servant.

  “No fucking way.” Saskia stepped out of the den and marched to the shore.

  “Saskia.” He called, a chastising edge in his tone.

  “No.” She shifted into a bear and shook herself out. Let him try to order her around now. She knew how to find the Salmon People now. It was too dangerous for him to do this without being able to turn into his beast. She’d send someone to fetch him after she was on her way. He’d be safe.

  And she’d be violating the vow she made in Kuci to always go where he goes until he released her from it.

  She whacked the water with her front paw. Damn stinking honor.

  The Black Shamans were older than recorded history, and here was The Bear using a tracking device on a fish skeleton to find the Salmon People. Saskia stood on the deck of the small fishing boat next to him and watched the little green dot blink on the six by six inch screen. What was even more outrageous was that it was working.

  “I feel kinda cheated.” Saskia huffed and leaned against the side of the bow with her arms crossed. She turned her face away from the biting wind coming off the ocean.

  “Out of what?” Sedge slowly directed the boat to the right with a flick of the steering wheel.

  “A hunt.”

  “You wanted to swim along the bottom of the sea chasing after a skeleton?” Raising a brow, he peered at her.

  “No, yes. Better than just standing here looking at a screen. This kind of boring technical stuff is Kinley’s idea of fun. Not mine.” Her sister would likely be extremely fascinated they were tracking the skeleton like this. A total geek thing. And how did Sedge come up with it? When she had asked him if he’d done something like this before, he only shrugged and smiled.

  “It’s because you have no patience.”

  Saskia snorted. “Says you.”

  Sedge shook his head. He didn’t say anything more. Because he was right. Saskia would rather be doing something, anything, than just standing around.

  Two hours on the ocean with the boat gliding too near the ice, the green dot vanished from the screen. She stared at the device. Five seconds, fifteen, thirty. Nothing.

  “We’re here.” Sedge cut the engine and hit the button to lower the anchor.

  Saskia clapped her hands together in front of her. “Okay. So they’re just down there? No special ritual required to enter their realm?”

  “No. Their realm is there and not there. Since we know it is, we’ll find them.”

  So many times Saskia had given Azarius shit for talking mysteries, as she liked to call them. The realm was there and not there. It sounded ridiculous, but in essence, it was the same as magic. It was a matter of intent.

  “All right. Will they be scared seeing a polar bear swimming down to them? I don’t want to chase them into hiding.” They were spirits of fish, after all. There was nothing a bear loved more than eating fish. And not that she’d admit it out loud at the moment, but salmon was
her favorite dish.

  Sedge shook his head. “No. They’ll see you for who you are and feel our intentions aren’t to harm them.”

  Wait a minute. Saskia put her hands on her hips. “You’re not coming. You can’t.”

  He narrowed his dark eyes. “I will not wait here on the boat—”

  “You will, or else you’ll die. Then the Salmon People can take your spirit and attempt to teach you some common sense.” She threw her hands up and then linked them behind her head. “You’re not a shifter right now. Sorry. It sucks. You got us here. Let me fetch Petuwaq, and we can get the hag’s spell taken off you.”

  Sedge growled and twisted to hit the railing on the side of the boat. “I will rip her to pieces!”

  “Only after she removes her spell and gives us the totem. Then you can be an idiot and take on a witch who can drown you with the flick of her hand.”

  “I’m not that easy to kill.” He seethed and fisted his hands by his sides. Dressed all in white and puffing with anger, he seemed a bear without even shifting.

  No, he wasn’t, but the sea hag had the advantage in her domain. The majority of his anger probably came from knowing that too. Maybe empathy wasn’t her strongest point, but she totally understood that.

  “I’ll be back.” Saskia walked and hopped to stand on the edge of the stern.

  Sedge caught her wrist and locked his intense gaze with hers. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

  Good. That meant he wouldn’t follow. Relief made it a little easier to breathe.

  His fingers slipped to squeeze her hand. “I’ll always be waiting for you.”

  Saskia’s stomach fluttered. No way. She wasn’t going to feel like a silly schoolgirl. And what did he mean by that? Did he not expect her to come back?

  There was nothing she could say to that. Not without seeming mean or dismissive. How did the moment suddenly get so immensely awkward?

  So she did what any person who was avoiding their emotions would do. She jumped, shifted, and did a cannonball.

  Saskia dove down fast, refusing to let herself look back. She didn’t need to be feeling all this about Sedge right now. Wasn’t it enough they had to save every shifter in the world by finding the tokens? That was pressure enough on its own. There was no time for dealing with relationships. Of course, her sisters both had new boyfriends, but they weren’t out actively looking for the totems.

  She summoned the magical gills and breathed out with a snarl.

  All the weight was on her. She had to do this and get the salmon token.

  Light dimmed behind her as she kept swimming downward. No fish darted by. There weren’t any signs of life. Did they have the right spot, or did the tracking device fall into a fissure?

  Only one way to find out. Down she went.

  Her eyes adjusted, but she couldn’t see far in front of her. The pressure squeezed her body until it hurt to breathe. She couldn’t go much farther or she’d—

  POP!

  A sound like a giant bubble breaking made her flinch.

  Saskia stumbled, catching her balance on her feet. Two feet. She was in her human form standing in a grassy field under a watery blue sky.

  A cool wind rustled the grass and her coat. She took in a deep breath. The smells of the outdoors in late summer filled her nose. She turned to the sound of a gently flowing river and spotted a village nestled in the hills beside it.

  It appeared to be like any other Inupiat settlement. Cook fires burning, hides drying on racks, and people going about their chores. So normal.

  She waited a minute to see if the ocean would crash down on her head. When it didn’t, she headed toward the village. Time to find Petuwaq.

  Nobody paid Saskia any mind as she approached the village. Not one person even looked up from their work. Shouldn’t kids be running up to greet her or warriors lining up to ward her off? There were a few children around, but they kept to task too.

  Creepy wasn’t the word she’d use, but it was too ordinary for a place that was far from it. Life as one of the Salmon People had to be hard and monotonous. While Saskia didn’t mind the hard part, monotony drove her bonkers.

  The nearest person was an old woman with wispy white hair. She hunched over a chopping block and split wood with a small hatchet. When Saskia walked up to her, she stopped and smiled. “Hello, child.”

  Recognizing the same dialect of Inupiat the sea hag had used, Saskia offered a smile in return. “Good to meet you. Have I found the village of the Salmon People?”

  “You know you have.” The woman dipped her head. Her smile widened and deepened the wrinkles on her nut brown face.

  The old lady immediately put Saskia at ease. There was a softness and comfort in her. A feeling of being a child and wanting hugs from Grandma surged through her. “I’m looking for Petuwaq. If you could tell me where to find him, I’d greatly appreciate it.”

  Rubbing her back and wincing, the woman set down her ax. “Would you mind helping me for a moment, dear? My body is more brittle than it once was.”

  Time was precious. Saskia had to fetch Petuwaq and get back as soon as she could. But dammit, she couldn’t just brush off the lady. She could chop wood quickly. “All right. Enough wood for the night.”

  “Thank you, child.” The woman stepped away from the block. “I’ll check on my stew and ask where Petuwaq is for you. I’ll be back when you’ve chopped enough for the night.”

  Maybe Petuwaq would come to Saskia when he heard someone was looking for him. All the better. She’d cut bundles enough for two full stoves. Since the nights were getting longer, maybe make it three.

  Ten minutes later, the old woman hadn’t returned. Saskia scanned the village for her, but didn’t see her anywhere. She chopped another two bundles before burying the hatchet in the side of the block. Where the hell was she?

  Saskia marched down to the cabin and walked to the front to find the old woman sitting on the stoop drinking tea. She clenched her jaw and reined in her temper.

  “Oh!” The woman’s surprise was genuine. “I thought you’d be working a while longer.”

  “There’s plenty of wood cut for the night.” Her smile was tight, but it was all she could manage. “Did you find Petuwaq?”

  “No, dear.”

  Did her head just explode? Saskia certainly felt like it did. She’d always been good at respecting her elders, but this lady was testing her limits.

  The white haired woman sipped her tea and continued. “I saw Yura and sent her to find him.”

  Thank fucking God. The urge to hit something eased.

  “Perhaps while you’re waiting, you could carry the wood to my home and set it by the stove. I’d greatly appreciate it.” How did this old woman sound so sincere while giving Saskia more work to do? They didn’t even know each other’s names, and she was setting her to task.

  Muting her groan, Saskia nodded. It was better than just standing around waiting. “Okay.”

  She brought down the wood she chopped and the cut wood she didn’t. On her last trip, she saw a man sitting with the old woman on the stoop. Finally Petuwaq was there.

  Saskia smiled and set the wood by the door. “Glad you’re finally here. I’ve been looking for you.”

  “Oh no, child.” The woman chuckled. “This isn’t Petuwaq. This is Anik. He told Yura that Petuwaq was hunting, and they sent out Inuksuk to find him.”

  Anik stood, smiling a nearly toothless smile. His wrinkles made her think of a Dogue de Bordeaux. “You’re a tall girl. Taller than anyone here. Now that you’re done helping Qaiyann, do you think you could help me patch a hole in my roof? I about drowned last time it leaked.”

  This was not the Salmon People’s village. It was Hell.

  “Well, as long as someone’s gone to fetch Petuwaq, let’s go patch a hole.”

  Saskia patched the hole, fetched water, and helped lift a fallen tree out of a garden. She’d just finished cutting wood for Anik when she heard footsteps behind her. If someone else aske
d her to do one more chore, she was going to bite their head off.

  Turning, she faced a young man with a tangle of windblown hair and soft brown eyes. He carried a spear, which was not bloodied, and had a hare tied to his pack. “I’ve heard you’ve been looking for me.”

  Just to make certain, Saskia asked, “Petuwaq?”

  “Yes, that is me.”

  She stuck the ax in the chopping block and breathed out a long breath. Time to get out of this place. “My name is Saskia Dorn, and I’ve come a long way to find you. The fate of all shifters hangs in the balance. I need you to come with me to see Estuuya.”

  His smile turned down, and his eyes grew watery. His voice quivered as he said, “I’m sorry. I cannot.”

  Was it acceptable to turn into a caveman, or woman, and knock the guy out to carry him away? Saskia pushed down a roar of frustration and explained herself again. “I don’t know if you understand the urgency of this. People could die. And it would cost you little other than time.”

  “I understand the importance of it,” Petuwaq said in a sympathetic tone. “But I cannot go.”

  “Are you bound to this place?”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  “Will you disappear or turn into a fish if you leave here?”

  “No.”

  Her internal scream rattled her bones. “So why can’t you come with me?”

  Petuwaq gripped his spear with both hands and wiggled the butt of it into the ground. His hair fell in front of his eyes, and he flipped it back. “I cannot go see Estuuya. I died for her, but I did not live for her.”

  Saskia wanted to throttle him. He refused to come with her because of hurt feelings? She wondered if he could die again. If she snatched his spear and skewered him, maybe she’d have a body to take to the sea hag.

  “Walk with me, and I will tell you our story.” Petuwaq motioned for her to follow and slowly headed in the direction of the river.

  Great. Story time. Saskia matched his pace and hoped she didn’t look as pissed off as she felt.

  “Estuuya and I loved one another since we were children. We stole our first kiss by the ocean and made promises to be together always.” He sighed and lowered his chin. “Her father was chief of our tribe. He had five daughters and one son. A very proud man, but not so wise. I was never a big or strong man, definitely not a warrior. I liked to make art from walrus tusks. The chief deemed me unworthy to be his daughter’s husband.”