by Haley Weir
“Why?”
“They’ll sense your presence long before you come anywhere near their hideaway,” she explained. “These witches have been hunting shifters since before you were born.”
“I’m only one year younger than Boone, sweetheart. That makes me nearly ninety years old. There ain’t much left in this world that’s older than me.” Wesley sat up as Charlotte crawled out of bed. He joined her as she dressed and prepared for the day. Her strange clothing had been mended by magic—two things he would struggle getting used to.
When all was said and done, the group met near the stables. Charlotte’s hand twitched against his palm, but he held her steady. She waited patiently as Beth handed over the bag filled with the ingredients they had found in the old hovel and crypt the witches had used. “This...should work. I’ll try to return soon. If I’m not back in three days, then I’m probably dead.”
Wesley did not like the acceptance he heard in her voice. He wanted her to be afraid, to need him the way he needed her. The mark upon his chest made him feel helpless to his love for her. Wesley wanted Charlotte safe and happy, not lying in the cold somewhere until her body thawed in the spring. He pulled her in for one last kiss and then watched as she galloped away.
Itsá and his brother Gabriel eyed the group.
“This is the pack of pups you expect to save everyone?” Gabriel asked, looking rather unconvinced. “I’ve seen actual dogs with fiercer bites.”
Sam immediately took offense. The red-eyed shifter often went looking for a fight, but it would seem that one had found him. He shifted and snapped his jaws at the other man. Gabriel leaped into the air and dashed over to the barn at lightning speed, changing into a rabbit halfway. Sam’s head tilted curiously, and Jesse burst into laughter. “Your brother is a rabbit shifter?”
The corner of Itsá’s mouth curled into a smirk. “Half-brother.”
Jesse laughed until he was forced to wipe away the tears. “I thought for a second Sam would be munching on his bushy little tail. No offense to your family, Itsá, but that’s just embarrassing. I’m sure the rabbit has some significance in your culture, but...that’s just adorable.”
Gabriel emerged with twigs in his hair and a scowl on his face. “I heard that!”
His rumpled appearance did not help Jesse’s laughter one bit. Even Abigail let out a few giggles at the man’s expense, but she helped him tidy himself. When the laughter died down, Boone addressed the group. “Charlotte is workin’ on trackin’ down the witches. We need to be ready for when she returns whether the news is good or bad.”
“What do you suggest?” Wesley asked.
“Mary Ann and...Sam will keep an eye on the town. Abigail will continue working in her office. I’ll run the ranch while you and Jesse patrol the border. Itsá and his brother can gather weapons strong enough for Charlotte to bless them with the symbol on the back of the mirror.”
With everything set in place, Wesley and Jesse rode towards the border of Silver Fox Ranch. Side by side, they circled the land over and over again to ensure that nothing had gotten past the barriers Itsá had put up. “I’m worried about Charlotte. Not the way I was before. I trust her, you know, but I don’t trust those witches. This could be a trap for all we know.”
“They know she’s coming, Wesley. They heard everything that was just said.”
“So why did we say anything at all?” he questioned. “Why not write it down?”
“If you hadn’t been so occupied with your wife last night, you would know. The plan was for Charlotte to get the witches’ ingredients off the land so that we could come up with something solid. You did not think we would actually send her out there on her own like that, did you?” Jesse shook his head in disbelief. “They’ll meet up to talk to her. Itsá’s brother has concealment charms or whatever that we’ll use to get close. This little trip around the ranch is just in case there are eyes watching from a distance.”
“The outlaws running with Tate?”
“Right.”
“When do we leave?” Wesley asked.
“You, me, Beth, Boone, Boone, and Abigail will head out while Mary Ann looks after the ranch. She’s a good shot. Nothing will get anywhere near our home without tasting lead.”
~*~
Charlotte pulled Wind Bearer to a stop and hid the gentle beast in a place where the wendigo had not been spotted. She used her power to probe along the forest, searching for any signs of life. Her boots lightly crunched upon the dead leaves that had been buried beneath the slowly melting snow since autumn. The smell of rancid flesh filled her nose, and Charlotte nearly stumbled. Her eyes darted around in search of whatever had caused the odor.
A strange figure moved out from under a pile of debris. Charlotte saw the figure more clearly as the sunlight broke through the trees. It was a woman, but one unlike anything she had ever seen. Magic...powerful magic floated through the air, mingling with the sickening stench of death. The woman’s eyes were sightless. A flat, narrow nose filled the center of her face, giving the woman a skeletal appearance. Her mouth was small and scarred as if it had been sewn shut. Waxy ripples of disfigured flesh stretched over her gaunt face. Long black hair flowed from beneath a headdress of ram horns and beads fashioned from bone. A tattered robe covered her shoulders as she moved slowly through the forest.
Charlotte stayed out of sight until the hag moved on. She then moved swiftly towards the waterfall nearby and pulled out one of the skulls from the bag. It warmed in her hand, and a pale light surrounded the gruesome object. When Charlotte stepped away from the waterfall, the skull grew colder. But as she made her way behind the constant flow of water, it heated to the point of pain. The skull dropped and shattered as she came upon a wall of crystals similar to the ones that covered the walls of her prison at the crypt.
She pulled her knife from the sheath at her hip and sliced open her palm. Charlotte streaked her blood upon the crystal and retreated from the waterfall. Her steps never faltered as she ran as fast as she could towards a frozen meadow. Kaia, Sani, Denahi, and Ila appeared before her. Charlotte stopped abruptly. Her chest heaved and steam floated from between her lips as she stared down the witches that had tortured her.
“You have returned.”
“And you know why,” she retorted. Charlotte held the bag out and watched anger flash in their eyes. She summoned the power within her and set the bag on fire. It burned in her hands before Charlotte dropped it to the snow. The bag disintegrated into a pile of ash. “I nearly lost everything I ever wanted because of you. Now it’s time for me to take my control back.”
“You cannot kill us!”
Charlotte did not respond. Instead, She rolled across the ground, coming to a crouch, and fired an arrow right between Kaia’s eyes. The witch howled and ripped the arrow from her skull. Charlotte lurched to her feet and dashed across the frozen ground. Her pulse sped up as she dodged lethal spells that the witches attempted to use against her. She pulled back on her bowstring. Her fingers brushed her cheek as she let the arrow soar. It whistled through the air and hit a second witch.
A hand grabbed her arm, but Charlotte dropped down and threw her attacker off balance. One of the witches took advantage of the slight distraction and slammed their arm into her chest. Charlotte could hardly breathe as she dodged another spell. She flipped onto her feet and rushed Kaia with all of her strength. They hit the ground hard. “How do I kill the Wendigo Spirit?”
She smiled evilly. “You cannot kill what is already dead.”
Charlotte bashed Kaia’s head against the ground. “What about the blind woman in the forest? Who is she?” The snow dampened her clothing, and the temperature continued to drop as the wind picked up.
“There is no blind woman.” The others grabbed Charlotte and threw her to the ground.
“She has scars and ram horns on her head. I saw her.”
Shock registered on Kaia’s face. “She was not supposed to rise until…”
“Who is she?”<
br />
Denahi glanced around suspiciously. “Skadegamutc.”
Though Charlotte did not know what the word meant, a chill ran down her spine. The hand on her shoulder slipped, and she was able to reach behind her. Charlotte grabbed onto her knife, but loud gunfire caused the witch to drop her. Snow kicked up from the ground as someone came close. It was Wesley. Charlotte saw his handsome face through the chaos of the fight. He yanked Charlotte off of her feet and pulled her in for a kiss. When Wesley released her, he spun them around and blocked her with his body. A spell struck him hard. Charlotte countered with a bolt of energy that manifested into a bear spirit.
Wesley's eyes widened for a moment, but he dropped down to all fours. His body shook and vibrated as a beautiful pelt replaced his skin. Wesley's wolf had swirling eyes that stared deep into her soul. He howled, and the others shifted as well. Sam's wolf blended in with the snow. She jumped back with a fright when two glowing red eyes stared back at her. Itsá's eagle cawed and dropped something to the snow beside her. Charlotte dove for it and smiled when she saw it was a cluster of arrows. The tips had been made out of the broken mirror shards.
Charlotte scoured the field for her bow as the others fought desperately against the witches.
“Wendigos!” Beth called as a dozen or more of the fleshy creatures appeared from the treeline. They ran right towards the fray. Abigail’s deadly aim kept them back, but the regular bullets did not keep the wendigos down for long. Beth stabbed the ones that were closest to her. Gabriel stared at the petite woman and whispered something that made Beth’s eyes snap open. Charlotte found it odd but turned her attention back to the fight.
Chapter Nineteen
Colorado Territory
Wesley wrestled down the witch named Kaia and clamped his jaw around her neck. An arrow soared through the sky and hit a second witch in the center of her chest; she screamed and flailed around on the ground wildly. Kaia bucked him off and summoned a cloud of black smoke that engulfed her and the other two witches. She grabbed the body of her fallen sister and sneered, “You think you’ve won, but this is just the beginning.”
The cloud of smoke engulfed the field as the witches disappeared. The wendigo continued to attack. Boone called for a retreat, and the group raced back to their horses. Charlotte climbed upon her pale stallion. Black, inky blood from the wendigos covered half of her face, but she was still beautiful in his eyes. Wesley tried to keep up with her horse as everyone raced back to the safety of the ranch.
Boone all but kicked the door open when they arrived. “In the study. Now,” he ordered. Wesley watched as the large man threw himself into the chair behind his desk. Abigail stood behind his seat and tried to comfort her husband.
Itsá, Gabriel, Charlotte, and Beth walked into the study later than everyone else. If the wendigos and the outlaws were close, that meant really bad news for the ranch. No one knew how long the wards around the ranch would last. Wesley suspected the Wendigo Spirit might have men in town as well, but he never thought they would be close enough to be a threat. Wesley leaned against the bookshelf and cleared his throat. “We know how to kill the witches, which means we’re closer than we were a few days ago. Itsá’s working on the weapons, and we know how to kill outlaws. It ain’t as bad as it seems.”
"Beth can hardly walk, the servants don’t know what we’re up against, Kaia is still out there, the wendigos are growing in numbers, and we still have no idea what the hell is comin’ next. How could it not be as bad as it seems?” Boone asked dryly. "The wendigos are getting restless, and that isn't a good sign."
“They’ll likely hunt soon,” Abigail added.
Sam shuffled over to his brother and picked up the map Wesley and Beth had been using to track the wendigos, outlaws, and witches. "I was out huntin’ with Mary Ann a few weeks ago, and we found a place here in the canyons where we think the wendigo might be hidin’. But there could be hundreds down there, so unless you want to light the whole thing up with explosives, then there ain’t much we can do about it right now. I’ll keep an eye on it.”
Boone nodded slowly. Everyone in the room noticed that Sam had been sober for several days despite his cantankerous attitude. Wesley looked over at Charlotte. “You were talking to Kaia before we got there. What did she say about the Wendigo Spirit?”
She shook her head. “Not much, but now I know where they’ve been hiding. We mostly talked about something called a Skadegamutc. I saw it—or her, rather—in the forest on my way to the waterfall. They seemed afraid.”
Itsá and Gabriel began to argue in a language that no one else understood. Charlotte stood between the brothers to keep them from tearing each other’s throats out and Wesley watched closely in case she got hurt. But Charlotte could handle herself. When the fight was over, Itsá stood at the center of the study. “I thought we would have more time before the second spirit appeared. Skadegamutc can enter the body of a dead shaman risen from the darkness. She will be weak but will grow stronger as she feeds.”
“If the Wendigo Spirit feeds off of greed and hunger, what does she feed off of? And what are we going to do about her now that she’s here?” Abigail asked.
The answer came from Gabriel. “She will watch us closely at first, but her presence will draw more witches as the Wendigo Spirit has drawn skinshifters. Not all will be your foe. Skadegamutc has terrorized the Wabanaki tribes since the dawn of man. Her curses are irreversible, and death follows her everywhere. No one is safe.”
“So, the Wendigo Spirit has brought hunger, and the Skadegamutc will bring death. What about the third spirit?” Charlotte asked. She walked over to Wesley and tucked herself beneath his arm. He held her close and waited for Itsá’s answer.
“The spirits that have risen so far are ancient,” the native man replied. “We believe that the third spirit will be one born of this world and that one of you shall play its host.”
An eruption of outrage and disbelief filled the study.
Gabriel shoved past his brother and lit a fire while everyone argued. It was such a normal thing to do in the middle of a disagreement that heads turned to watch in confusion. When Gabriel noticed, he shrugged it off. “This is going to take hours, and I would rather not freeze to death. If you haven’t noticed, we are soaking wet from the snow. But, please, carry on. I find this quite amusing. I can see why Itsá lingers here longer than he should.”
Wesley shook his head and led Charlotte out of the study. They could talk for as long as they liked, but it did not change the fact that a plan needed to be put into action. She opened the door to the bedchamber, and he asked, “Did you get rid of the ingredients?”
“Yes, I burned them. What’s this about, Wesley?”
“It’s about you and me getting things done.”
“How so?”
“Beth and I have been hunting down the outlaws, but she’s injured, and I need someone skilled enough to watch my back without taking one of the others and making the ranch vulnerable,” he explained. “We found an outpost. I think it’s where the outlaws are hiding out, but it ain’t in Wolf Valley. We’ll have to hunker down at an inn somewhere but stay out of sight.”
~*~
Wesley stood up and grabbed his gun belt the following morning.
“Let’s get to work, sweetheart,” he whispered as Charlotte popped her head up out of the covers. She dressed quickly and gathered her weapons. Part of her was excited to finally fight beside her husband instead of against him. They spent hours on the road before stopping to set camp. It was different being out with Wesley and not Itsá and Gabriel. It was quieter. Charlotte was just as wild and untamed as the lands that surrounded them, but Wesley was set in his ways.
“I know you think I might mess all of this up,” she said suddenly. “But I need you to trust me. Our lives are at risk no matter where we go now, and I don’t want us to start fighting and get hurt. I can be who you need me to be, Wesley. I promise.”
“You’re a good woman, Charlotte. I haven’
t doubted that for a second. There are things in this life that I might need time to wrap my head around, and you being a witch was one of them.” Wesley stared into the flickering fire and scratched at his stubbled jaw. He had never been more handsome to her than in that moment of vulnerability. “What made you come back to the ranch? Did you come back just to tell us about what was going on or...was I part of the reason?”
Charlotte chuckled. “Wesley, there was a while there when you were my only reason for a lot of things. But I had to focus on myself, and the way you treated me just set my teeth on edge. I’m better now than I’ve ever been...I know who I am. And all I need is a husband that is supportive of me doing this. I love you, but there are times when I don’t like you, Wesley.”
“I know a lot of suffering has come from all of this, but I don’t regret knowing you. Waking up to you every day is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I want everything with you, Charlotte. I want a family and a future. That’s what I’m fighting for. It ain’t just about the ranch; it’s about you and me starting over when this is said and done.”
When daylight peeked through the trees, they were back on the road and headed for Boulder, Colorado. Wesley and Charlotte sensed the tension in the air as soon as they arrived in town. They rented a room at the inn and paid the owner for a secluded place in their corral for their horses. He handed over the money and followed Charlotte towards the sheriff’s office. “What are we going in there for?” he asked.
“If anybody knows where outlaws are hiding out, it would be the lawmen, wouldn’t it?”
He nodded, unable to refute her logic, and tipped his hat to the sheriff. The portly man with a scraggly beard that sat behind the desk glanced up at them. “Afternoon, Sheriff. My wife and I are just passing through town and we were wondering if any of the trails headed towards the mines were safe. We heard about some bandit activity in the region. Just wanting to be safe.”