Page 19

Silas stiffened and shot a look at me. “They can touch you?!”

“Nice going, Tome. You’ve riled both of them up with one fucking sentence.” Despite his chastising words, Ryker was more than a little amused. He was outright hysterical.

Fucking fantastic.

A sigh escaped my mouth as footsteps echoed down the staircase. “What’s going on?”

“Now you’re awake,” I complained, rubbing my temple. “Okay, everyone sit down and shut up. This is easier if I don’t have you all barking at me.”

I hadn’t expected them to listen, but all three men took seats. Ryker and Tometi stood next to me, one on each side. I wanted to test a theory, so I was glad they had.

After waiting for everyone to stop glaring or mumbling, mostly Silas and Salvator, I told Lev everything that had happened up to that point.

His pretty green eyes searched for the figures unseen, but he listened quietly.

Which was more than I could say for the other two.

They both made little noises of discontent all throughout the retelling.

After nearly ten minutes of explaining what I’d woken up to, Lev was finally caught up.

Ryker snickered and leaned in. “You have your hands full, don’t you, pretty girl?”

“No thanks to you,” I grumbled, throwing the smiley wolf a glare.

Salvator sneered Ryker’s direction. “You said you could touch them. What do you mean?”

Without waiting for me, Ryker threw an arm around my shoulders and his body solidified.

The three in front of me all reacted in a different way.

Lev was surprised. Silas was ready to tear Ryker to pieces, possibly with his bare hands.

But Salvator was the show stopper. I didn’t think someone like him could gape in shock like he’d seen a ghost.

Then again, he had.

“Well, this is fun,” Ryker said, laughing. “Guess they can see us when we touch you.”

“Oi, take your arm off her, mutt, or I’ll take it off for you,” Silas warned, standing and unsheathing his weapon. “With my sword.”

“I liked him better when he couldn’t see or hear me,” Ryker whispered, his wolfish laugh tickling my ear. “He’s a bit much, isn’t he?”

Couldn’t argue with him there.

Tometi hummed and pressed a kind hand to my shoulder, appearing in front of the already stunned three. His giant form towered over everyone, taking him nearly to the ceiling, close to nine or so feet above us.

Okay, so I might’ve underestimated his height a bit. It’d been harder to discern when I was barely awake and in shock. Seeing him next to Silas, who was one of the largest brutes I knew, made it plenty clear that the word giant was the only way to describe the bear.

Silas blinked, his eyes darting over, then up, up, up . Next to Tometi, we were all tragically small. The mountain of a man was heads above everyone else, his muscles bulging, the mere size of him casting a large shadow.

“Let Nika explain,” he commanded in a voice so low and firm it could’ve been summoned from the deepest parts of the After. “You’ve talked over her this entire time. It’s unbecoming of men claiming to care about her.”

I’d forgotten how little Tometi minced words when he’d had enough. It was nice to have someone notice, though. Normally I handled it, but I was still trying to wrap my own head around everything.

Silas stared at the giant, his sword still out. “Who is this massive troll, little rebel, and why is it touching you?!”

“I’m a bear,” Tometi said for the second time, a feat all on its own. “Trolls were eradicated—”

“Yeah, yeah, Tometi. We all know. I think what my big friend here means to say is that we’re all shocked and confused, so let’s all take a breath, okay? Let her finish, and then we can all argue about it.” Ryker beamed a smile, happy with himself.

Lev laughed and patted Silas’s arm. “He’s right. Maybe once we have all the details, it’ll make more sense.”

“Or not,” Silas grumbled, but reclaimed his seat. “My threat still stands, mutt. You’ve made your point, yeah?”

“Aye, aye, Sparkles,” came Ryker’s saucy quip.

Sighing and already over the bickering, I removed Ryker’s arm and touched the men instead.

After confirming they were visible to everyone, I continued, “We aren’t sure how it happened.

It just did. The real question is why these forms and what does it all mean.

We still don’t know how Bear Claw ended up alive again, either.

I’ll see if there’s anything I can find in Grandmother’s journal.

Until then, we’ll just have to deal with another mystery unsolved and move on.

We can’t be distracted. I am curious, though…

” My eyes flitted over to Salvator, whose glare stayed on Ryker for some reason. “Can you no longer shift?”

As if it hadn’t occurred to him, Salvator was on his feet. He stalked over to the door and took off the several-sizes-too-small cotton shorts he wore. I got an eyeful of naked ass before he was gone.

Silas was on his feet with an angry grunt. “That absolute twat just had to give us a show before running off.”

He didn’t make it to the door. A huge bear peeked its head through the opening, and recognizable eyes fixed to me.

Tometi’s bear. It huffed an agitated breath before its massive face shifted and became something different.

Then a familiar wolf snarled at us from a crouched position.

Ryker’s wolf. A half-second later that, too, shifted.

Salvator was naked again, standing in the doorway with his terrifying physique on display, deep in thought.

Silas clicked his tongue and tossed the discarded pair of shorts at the naked shifter. “Get dressed, you bloody numpty. No one wants to stare at your meat sword.”

“I see no sword of meat,” Tometi mused, giving everyone a reason to gawk.

But it was Lev who threw his head back and laughed. “The infamous Tometi charm, right, Niks?”

“The one and only,” I confirmed with a little grin, immensely glad for the friend who always came through when I needed him to.

Silas grumbled and eyed the towering giant with caution. “Bit of a headcase, this bloke?”

Scowling at Silas, I gave the giant an affectionate pat on the arm. “That’s extremely insensitive, Silas. Tometi just…thinks a bit differently than most. It’s part of his charm.”

Tometi, who’d been a steely-eyed piece of stone from the moment he was visible, peered down at me with a soft smile that even I couldn’t help but be enchanted by. “It’s you who’s charming, Nika. I’ve always thought so.”

“Damn. Who would’ve thought Tome would be this smooth out of her head?” Ryker complained, pushing into my touch. “Is tall, dark, and handsome your type, pretty girl? Be honest with me.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Silas cursed, in front of me. “Love, a bloke can only take so much. Your handsome rogue needs a bit of reassurance to carry on, yeah?”

His adorable pout claimed several beats of my heart, and I finally caved into the oversized idiot.

Wrapping my arms around him, Silas lifted me under the thighs and held me close.

His face pressed into my neck, and he dropped a few kisses along the curve of my throat and shoulder.

Reluctantly, he set me back down and dropped a final kiss on my lips before smirking in victory.

Lev was on his feet, more excited than he should be, but Lev always did love a mystery. He enjoyed the thrill of unraveling secrets, and this wouldn’t be any different. “Do you think this has something to do with Bear Claw coming back?”

Shaking my head, I watched as Salvator took his seat again, jaw clenched and searing stare on me. “I’m not sure, but at least he didn’t lose his ability to shift.”

“There has to be some reason this happened,” my friend argued astutely.

It felt like another piece of fate had slid into place when I woke up, so maybe Lev was right. This all happened for a reason, although I couldn’t be sure what that reason was.

I stared at Ryker and Tometi and wondered if they were meant to play a part in what I’d need to do to send Rilas back.