"So what did you name her?" Ren asked.
"Well, Abby and I had a long and, at times, not so friendly discussion. She wanted to name her Hannah after her sister, but I didn't like that so much. Naming a daughter after a Daimon, even one who's family, just don't sit right with me. Besides, never been all that fond of that name. Andy suggested we name her Andrewa after him. So I tossed his ass out the door so we could have a serious discussion. I wanted to call her Rena after you, but Abby said they'd call her Renal Gland at school and she'd have to kill me over it. So after some debate where certain areas of my body were seriously threatened and my manhood questioned repeatedly by the love of my life, we decided to name her Mikayla Laura for you and Abby's mama."
Kateri pressed her lips together to keep from laughing out loud at Sundown's hilarious explanation. Though she barely knew him in this life, she really, really liked him. And while she now saw the subtle differences between the cowboy Jess Brady and the Keetoowah warrior Buffalo, she also saw the core of his soul that carried through all of his lifetimes.
No wonder Ren had been willing to sell his soul to help his friend beat Coyote's curse. Sundown was definitely a treasure. She also noticed that Ren never stammered even the least bit while talking to him. He was completely relaxed and at ease-as if he knew Sundown would never judge him harshly. That more than anything made her love the cowboy.
Ren moved to walk by her side while Sundown quickened his pace to tell Cabeza something.
"I have a weird question."
"Yes," Ren answered before she asked it. "His wife Abigail is Butterfly."
She was glad that Butterfly had finally claimed her Buffalo. "Are you okay with them naming the baby Mikayla?" Given his earlier reaction to the name Makah'Alay, she wasn't so sure he'd be keen on it.
"I am deeply honored." But there was a sadness in his eyes. Not jealousy. It was something else. Something she didn't understand.
"What's wrong?"
Ren started not to answer. Sharing his feelings had never been easy for him. But for some reason, he found it natural to confide in Kateri. Like it was something he was born to do. "I've done so much harm to Butterfly that I wish Sundown wasn't here. The risk is too great. I wouldn't be able to live if I caused Buffalo to leave her again. I keep thinking that maybe this is Coyote's curse on steroids. That now that they're together and happy, the curse will steal him from her."
She took his hand into hers and gave a light squeeze. "Life is never a sure bet. If I know nothing else, it's that one thing. But ... I have faith that we're all going to get out of here and Sundown is going to live a long, happy life with Abigail while Mikayla and her sisters make him wish he'd neutered himself when they bring home dates and spouses."
He stopped dead in his tracks. Not just because she'd taken his hand and held it as if she was proud to be seen with him, but because of what she said and the tone of her voice when she spoke. It was the tone of a medicine woman speaking prophecy. "Can you see the future?"
Kateri hesitated. She'd never once told anyone the truth. It was something she hated and had tried many times to get rid of. Yet it always came back. "Yes. But what I see doesn't always happen. Sometimes, my visions get derailed by other things that I don't see. Things that cause it to change."
Ren laughed. "So what you're saying is if he doesn't die horribly, he'll have a good life."
If not for the teasing note in his voice, she'd be offended. "Exactly," she teased back.
Ren glanced down at their joined hands. "Thank you."
She frowned at the catch in his voice. "For what?"
"Treating me like I'm human."
Those sincere words wrung her heart. "You are human, Ren. Me, on the other hand, I'm a complete freak of nature."
Smiling, he lifted her hand and kissed the back of her knuckles. The moment his lips touched her flesh, she gasped as images flooded through her. They came so fast and furious that they left her dizzy.
She heard people screaming, crying out for help. Everywhere she looked, she saw chaos and smoke.
Her grandmother stood on an isolated hill, her eyes filled with tears. The setting sun silhouetted her frail body as she turned to face Kateri.
"Beware the wolf, Waleli. He will never be tamed. All he knows is death and killing. His heart is black and filled with a bitter hatred that can't be undone. Do not be led astray by your heart that is pure. A heart that sees only the good in others. There are some who lie and deceive. Shadow walkers who live off the humanity of others. They can never be trusted. They live only to betray, to twist our words into ugly lies to be used against us. And he will betray you, my child. Don't let your kind heart blind you."
Her grandmother's words circled around her head until she thought of something she hadn't considered before. Ren's name is Ren Waya....
Renegade Wolf.
Terror consumed her as she pulled her trembling hand from his grasp. He was the wolf her grandmother spoke of. The one her father had warned her about.
Evil owned him once.
It was going to own him again.
Ren scowled at her. "What's wrong?"
Panicking, she glanced about at their small group. She saw Cabeza lying beheaded on the ground. Sundown had his throat cut. Sasha was torn into pieces. And Urian ...
He lay on a sacrificial altar where someone had removed his heart.
Ren was nowhere to be seen.
Someone was chanting in her vision. She scanned the room until she saw a priest in golden robes who wore a huge feathered mask, obscuring his identity. Red demonic eyes glowed from behind it as he went through his ritual sacrifice. But she knew who it was. She had no doubt.
The priest was Ren and he was summoning Grizzly back to the world.