Autumn's War (The Spirit Shifters Book 4) Read Free Page B

started. I already knew what they were by the way they were able to see things a distance from them, or the way they played with imaginary friends who just happened to take the form of wolves. Still, nothing prepared me for that first scream of pain from Blake when he was only four years old. Hearing his bones breaking was the most horrific thing I’ve ever heard, even to this day. He didn’t complete a full shift that first time, of course. It was just a couple of bones, which changed and then re-healed. But each time he shifted, the change became more and more complete. Blake’s mother was like you …”
    Autumn frowned, not understanding.
    “She was white, and came to live on the reservation. She didn’t believe at first, didn’t want to believe, but after a while, she had no choice. You can’t deny what’s right in front of your face.”
    “What happened to her?”
    “She died, when Blake was young.”
    “I know, Blake told me. But how did she die?”
    “Cancer. The diagnosis came too late, and within two months, she was dead. Blake and Tala were never the same.”
    She couldn’t help herself. Without thinking, she reached out and gave the old man a hug. “I’m sorry you’ve lost so many people you’ve loved.”
    “You’ve lost people you loved too, no?”
    She nodded, thinking of her own mother and of Blake. “Yes, I have.”
    “There is no life without pain.”
    “No, I guess there isn’t.” She gave a sad smile and then wrenched herself out of the melancholy settling upon her shoulders. “Let’s get everyone moving. We have a lot of work to do before we reach Chicago.”

Chapter Three
     
     
    CHOGAN HATED BEING separated from Autumn again.
    The last time they’d made the decision to divide into groups, people died. But what other choice did he have? He had to go back and bring Blake’s body, if not home, than back to Lakota. As for Tala, he didn’t think for one minute that she’d still be where he’d left her, but at least he would have shown his uncle that he wasn’t a coward and he still cared.
    The motorbike roared beneath him, his hair streaming back from his face. Peter rode by his side. They were sticking to the roads for the time being, but as soon as they got closer to the location—though this wouldn’t be for hours yet—they would go off road and head deeper into the forest, some of them using the bikes as transport, others using their animal spirit guides.
    Chogan’s wolf ran alongside the bike, the huge animal running at a gallop, with long, lolloping bounds. Its russet fur rippled in the wind, its tongue hanging from its mouth. Chogan wouldn’t have been surprised if the expression on its shaggy face was a grin. His wolf was always at its happiest when on the chase.
    The speed of the car following them frustrated Chogan. He wished they’d all been able to travel by their spirit guides, or even by motorbike, but using his spirit guide had been the reason he’d needed to leave Tala behind, and failed Blake. He didn’t hold much hope for finding Tala. The soldiers wouldn’t have left her alone, so she would either have been taken back to the same place Autumn had been kept, or else they’d have killed her. His heart clenched with pain. There hadn’t been much love lost between him and Tala since she’d hurt Autumn, but he’d grown up with his cousin. He’d treated her more like a sister after Blake left, and it broke his heart to think she was either dead or being treated like some freak experiment. He also worried that if they ever did meet again, she would probably hate him. She would look at him with blame in her eyes because he had chosen Blake over her. His choice was even worse now Blake hadn’t survived. He was to blame for abandoning them both to save his own skin.
    So far, the freeway had been quiet. No one, apart from them, was crazy enough to head toward Chicago while all the fighting was going on. Even those in the surrounding towns were staying at