Ghost Stalker (25 page)

He felt his heart clench, wishing he could believe her. Wishing his love brought her joy instead of sorrow. Wanting so much to come in from the cold and find a place where he was welcome, where he belonged.

Still he wondered if she was better off without him.

Jessie’s eyes narrowed and then one eyebrow cocked, as if she had just had some realization.

“Don’t you even think about sacrificing our love to please them.”

“The price is so high.”

Her smile was sultry as she approached him. “I’ll pay it, because I have gained everything, more than I deserve, in you.”

Nick’s breath caught at the honesty in her gaze.

“I’ll fight them all to keep you,” she said. “And I’ll fight you, too, if I have to. No one is taking you from me. Not in this life or the next.”

In his time upon the earth, many women had tried to possess him. But he had never loved, never trusted another soul with something as fragile as his heart. Now he realized that her words were true. He was holding back, not only to protect her, but to protect that part of himself that he had never given to anyone.

He raked his fingers through his hair. “I’ve been
alone so long. It’s hard to believe you want me or that I can make you happy.”

“Not so hard.” She extended her arm. “Just take my hand.”

He stared at her open palm and slowly threaded his fingers with hers. Jessie drew their clasped hands over her heart and closed her eyes.

At her touch, his fears and uncertainties drained away like sand through a sieve. This was his place, the one true belonging he thought he’d never find in this lifetime.

He was blessed by this holy bond. She loved him. He could feel it now. She did not blame or regret. She was happy and ready to stand beside him through any challenge. Her love was fierce and that she would fight any challengers and surmount any obstacle that kept her from him. And even so, her love was a gentle breeze that would caress him and accept him regardless of his faults.

He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to hers. “Can it be true?”

She wrapped her free hand about his middle. “It is true, wolf. You have finally met your match.”

“And I thank the Great Mystery for it.”

He lowered his head to kiss her and she lifted her mouth to meet him, giving him a sweet blending of yielding flesh and urgency.

Her tongue darted into his mouth, firing a desire so bright that he knew it would burn for centuries.

S
un streamed down through the leafy canopy above them as the gathering stood in a sacred circle around the small glowing fire.

Jessie stood beside Nick and beside him stood the parents of the twins, Sebastian and Michaela. Sebastian wore his bearskin cloak over traditional buckskin attire and Michaela was radiant in a heavily beaded white deerskin dress. About her neck hung a small medicine wheel. Michaela held her daughter and Sebastian cradled his son. Both infants were naked except for the swaddling of bearskin.

Finishing their circle was Tuff. He stood in a medicine shirt, dyed green and heavily adorned with long strands of buffalo hair tied across the chest.

In one hand he held a bundle of smoldering dried sage. He waved the other hand rhythmically through
the cleansing sacred smoke, passing it over the babies pink bodies, blessing them.

“We welcome these souls to the physical world and thank them for the courage it takes to walk the Red Road that is this earthly life.”

Jessie grew nervous about her part in the ceremony. She and Nick had spent several days with the babies, in an effort to choose names that would serve them best. Jessie had even visited their dreams and had found this time together most revealing.

The infants had asked her for two names. One rooted in the traditions of their people to remind them of where they came from and one common name to allow them to walk more easily in the white world. Their first name would be known only by their family and the other would be offered to outsiders.

Jessie hoped she and Nick had chosen wisely and wondered if the parents would be pleased. She glanced nervously at Nick. He met her gaze and his eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, as if he was trying to gauge her thoughts. Then he gave up and captured her hand. Immediately, she felt his calm reassurance flow to her. He had concealed none of the turmoil billowing inside her and felt completely at ease both in the forest and with their decision.

As she fretted, he dreamed. His thoughts flowed to her like a strong current in the ocean. He marveled at these two infants, the firstborn of their two races. But primarily he wondered if together he and Jessie might add to their numbers.

Her eyes widened and she stared at him. His smile was devilish and his eyes glittered with promise.

He leaned close to her and whispered into her ear. “I hope the next ceremony will welcome our child to this world.”

Jessie could not keep from glowing with hope at his wish.

Beside her, Tuff seemed in his element as he chanted in Lakota. Jessie knew this language and was happy she could understand his words, for she thought she had never heard a more lovely prayer.

Mitakuye Oyasin.
*

Tuff’s voice was low and sweet and resonant. Jessie stood close to Nick, who draped his arm about her.

Jessie found herself smiling at the prayer as she stared down at the infants. These children would carry a grave responsibility for they must protect both those who walk
on two legs and those who walk on four. She hoped their path would be smooth.

Nick leaned in. “They have not come for an easy journey. These two have come because they are needed.”

She was not startled that he knew her thoughts. She had become accustomed to this bond. It was a comfort and a wonder to her.

Michaela offered her baby girl to Jessie with the bright smile of a proud mother. Jessie cradled the infant to her breast and waited as Nicholas accepted the boy child from Sebastian. Jessie was not surprised to see the tears shimmering in the great bear’s eyes. Though even in human form he was huge and mighty, here he was still vulnerable as any new father, hopeful that his children would be happy on this earth.

She knew he wondered if they would be Skinwalkers like him or Seers like his wife. They had spoken at length and at last decided that only time would reveal what would come.

Sebastian spoke to his son first. “I welcome you to our family and give you this necklace as a reminder that you are of the Bear Clan and will always be a part of me.” He slipped the necklace over his son’s head. It looked enormous on the baby, who tried unsuccessfully to grasp the new trinket. Sebastian turned to his daughter and offered her a similar gift. “I offer you this gift from the earth, so you will know always where you come from and that you are loved.”

Jessie shifted her charge to allow Sebastian to slip the long bear-claw pendant over the baby’s head.

Tuff shook a rattle and Jessie and Nick faced him.

“What name do you give to this child, Gray Hunter?” asked Tuff.

Jessie stared in surprise, having never heard Nick’s given name.

“He is to be Dances with Moonlight.”

Tuff smiled and used his thumb to smudge red earth onto the boy’s forehead. “Welcome, Dances with Moonlight.”

He turned next to Jessie. “How will this one be called?”

“She is to be Night Sky Woman in honor of her birth beneath the stars.”

Tuff repeated the smudge on the girl. “Welcome, Night Sky Woman.”

He turned to Michaela. “How will they be called by those outside the family?”

“My son is Blake,” said Michaela. “And my daughter is Samantha.”

Tuff shook his rattle to the sky.

“Sun, moon and stars, make welcome these new souls who walk the earth and follow the Red Road.”

DREAM WALKER
*
:
A NIYANOKA with the ability to visit another person’s dreams and work mental and/or physical healing during the visitation. The human visited has no memory of the visit.

CIRCLE OF GHOSTS:
The final home of all ghosts who once led evil lives and are punished when HIHANKARA pushes them from the SPIRIT ROAD into the circle, where they drift for eternity in endless circles. This ghostly prison is presided over by NAGI. Some ghosts are eventually released from this prison by the prayers of those who live a pure life.

GHOST:
The remains of humans after they have left their earthly vessels.

HALFLING:
Any creature with one SPIRIT and one HUMAN parent.

HANWI:
The moon is a reflective female SPIRIT who warms MAKA when the WI is absent.

HEYOKA:
A SPIRIT of chaos who is a double-faced

HIHANKARA:
The crone who guards the SPIRIT ROAD. If the soul has walked the RED ROAD and has led a righteous life it bears the proper tattoos and is allowed to pass. If it has led a wicked life, she pushes them from the road and allows it to fall into the Circle of Ghosts.

HUMANS:
Mortal creatures without firsthand knowledge of the SPIRIT WORLD or SPIRITS.

INANOKA
*
:
Mortal beings born of a human female and the SPIRIT TOB TOB. They are SKINWALKERS who shape-shift into the animal of their mother’s tribe at will and maintain all attributes of that animal while in human form. They are called HALFLINGS and live an average of four hundred years. They are despised by NIYANOKA for being beasts and possibly because they live longer. They protect animals from capricious SUPERNATURALS. Each animal is gifted with a different power.

BEAR:
Has the ability to heal all injuries and wounds.

WOLF:
Can track anyone on earth by their scent trail.

RAVEN:
Is the only creature who can travel the Spirit Road and speak to the souls in the Spirit World.

BUFFALO:
Is a creature of sacrifice that can absorb injuries, illness or grief into its body and then heal at a rapid rate. They are not healers and must feel all the pain they take from the one they relieve. It is said they can raise the dead, but only at the expense of their own life.

KANKA:
Old woman sorceress. She travels in dreams and helps people purify themselves. She can see the past, present and future and is a SUPERNATURAL.

MAKA:
Mother Earth, holds the female power of birth and is a sacred SPIRIT.

MITAKUYE OYASIN:
A closing for a blessing. It literally means “All my relations included” or “We are all related” and reminds us that humans are connected to everything of the earth.

NAGI:
This shadow creature is the ghostly guardian of the CIRCLE OF GHOSTS and is a SPIRIT.

NIYAN:
SPIRIT BEING that teaches man to understand the cycle of life and death and the return of the body to MAKA (the earth) as the spirit returns to the SPIRIT WORLD. NIYAN is a SPIRIT.

NIYANOKA
*
:
Mortal beings born of a union between NIYAN and a human. They are called SPIRIT CHILD and are charged with protecting humans from the interference of SUPERNATURALS and SKINWALKERS. In addition, they consider them
selves shepherds of mankind, working for their benefit, helping them walk the RED ROAD and preparing them for the SPIRIT WORLD. They have a life span of 300 to 400 years.

PEACEMAKER
*
:
A NIYANOKA with the power to influence the moods and emotions of those nearby. They are highly persuasive and sought after for their ability to assist in all forms of negotiation. Since their suggestions are difficult to defy and their proposals hold such influence, their ethics must be above reproach.

RED ROAD:
The RED ROAD is a metaphor for the correct way to live. One who walks the RED ROAD exists in balance with all things of the earth, behaving in a manner that is both proper and blessed.

SEER OF SOULS
*
:
A NIYANOKA member of the Ghost Clan, thought to be extinct. Such a HALFLING has the ability to see not only SPIRITS but earthbound souls in the form of disembodied GHOSTS. They have the power to speak to GHOSTS and to send them to the SPIRIT ROAD for judgment. See: Hihankara

SKINWALKERS:
Another word for INANOKA, the Halfling children of TOB TOB, the SPIRIT bear. Legend says these are animals who remove their skin to masquerade as humans, but their ineptitude often reveals them.

SPIRITS:
All these creatures are immortal.

SPIRIT CHILD
*
:
Another name for NIYANOKA, a HALFLING child of NIYAN and a human parent.

SPIRIT ROAD (SKY-ROAD, SPIRIT TRAIL, WAY OF SOULS):
The Milky Way that is the path leading to the SPIRIT WORLD. Those without the proper tattoos are pushed off the trail and wander endlessly in the CIRCLE OF GHOSTS. Souls without the proper markings have led an evil life on earth and do not merit entrance to the SPIRIT WORLD.

SPIRIT WORLD:
The home of all ghosts that have successfully crossed the SPIRIT ROAD.