Phantom Warriors: Riot (7 page)

Nina looked around the familiar room. A faded
white dresser sat against the far wall, matching a small bedside
table that had been covered with a blue crocheted throw. A dusty
lamp stood on top of the small throw, next to a pile of paperbacks.
She was in her bed, safe and sound. No talking bears in sight.

Had she imagined everything? Had it all been
a bizarre dream brought on by stress? That made the most sense, but
didn’t explain her bruises. Nina threw back the covers and climbed
out of bed. She knew she’d feel better once she’d had a shower.
She’d grab a quick bite, then head to the hospital to visit her
grandfather. He’d know what to do and just what to say. He was also
the only person on the planet who wouldn’t think she was crazy.

The hospital was obscenely quiet when she
arrived. Only the sounds of machines beeping broke the foreboding
silence. A few people waited in the Emergency Room, but they too
sensed the odd quiet and kept their voices down. Nina made her way
to the elevators and rode it to the third floor. Harold was sitting
up, reading a newspaper, when she walked in. He put the paper aside
and took a long assessing look at her.

“What happened, Little Deer?” His old eyes
far too sharp for her peace of mind.

Nina ran a hand over her hair. “Nothing.” She
shook her head.

His bushy white brows arched, but he didn’t
contradict her. “Take a seat. The nurse said she would get me some
coffee.”

“You’re not supposed to have caffeine. It’s
not good for you,” she said.

“At my age, and in my condition, it doesn’t
matter.” He patted her hand, staring at the fresh scratches.
“You’ve been in the woods.”

Nina thought about lying, but she’d never
been able to get away with fibbing. Not when it came to her
grandfather. He always knew when she’d told a lie. So she went with
a partial truth. She didn’t want Harold to worry, so she left out
the part about being shot at by the poachers. “I was in the
woods.”

“Alone?” he asked.

“No, Kim was with me.” At least for a while,
until we had to run for our lives. “Grandpa, tell me what you know
about the Great Bear. I mean, I know the story about the brothers
chasing him into the sky, but is there anything else?”

He rubbed his chin. “Hmm…like what?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Does he talk?”
The room suddenly felt too warm. Nina tugged at her collar.

Harold sat up straighter. “What happened in
the woods, Little Deer?”

Nina looked around the room, noting that the
door was open. She rose from her seat to shut it. She sat back down
and looked down at her lap, unable to meet her grandfather’s
questioning gaze. Nina twisted her fingers and searched for words
that wouldn’t make her sound crazy.

“The truth will free your worries, Little
Deer.” Harold touched her hands, stopping her frantic wringing.

She glanced up at his kind face and felt her
shoulders relax. “I think I met the Great Bear in the woods last
night.” Nina waited, holding her breath in anticipation of her
grandfather’s response.

He simply stared at her for what felt like an
eternity, then slowly, with the utmost patience, Harold opened his
mouth to speak. “Why would you think that?”

Nina looked at him. “I know this is going to
sound crazy. If I was hearing it, I’d think I was crazy, but last
night in the woods, I ran into a giant talking bear.”

Harold’s eyes lit up and he grinned. “What
did he say?”

“Oh, you know, the usual kind of things,” she
joked.

“Come now, Little Deer. It’s not every day
that someone gets to speak with the Great Bear,” he said.

Nina squirmed in her seat. “He apologized for
scaring me, then asked if I was okay. I’d fallen down.”

Harold’s brow furrowed in concern and he gave
her another once over. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “I’m fine, Grandpa.”

“Did the bear say anything else?” He looked
like a five-year-old engrossed in his first good story.

Nina shook her head. “He asked me my name. He
told me he thought I should see a doctor, then asked about the
Great Bear story. He seemed fascinated by it. Like he’d never heard
it before, but how is that possible? He’s the Great Bear.” She
hadn’t forgotten how he’d also asked her if she’d follow him into
the sky. For some reason, the innocuous question seemed too
intimate to share just yet.

“You told him the story,” Harold said. It
wasn’t a question.

“I saw no reason not to. It was so bizarre.
The whole night was bizarre.” Nina sighed. “Anyway, I got a little
turned around in the dark, so he gave me a ride back into
town.”

Harold’s eyebrows arched so high that they
disappeared under his graying hairline. “How may I ask, did he give
you a ride?”

“He told me to climb on his back. I rode him
like a horse all the way to town.” Nina looked at her grandfather’s
mischievous expression. “What?” she asked.

“It sounds like the Great Bear has chosen
you.” Harold looked beyond pleased.

“Chosen me for what? He’s a bear, Grandpa. I
can’t exactly go live with a bear.” She shoved her hands under her
thighs, so she’d stop fidgeting.

Harold’s expression grew serious. “The Great
Bear is not just a bear. He holds powerful magic.” He waited.

Nina nodded to let him know that she
understood.

“If the Great Bear has chosen to reveal
himself to you, then that means at some point he will want to take
you into the sky,” Harold said. “It would be a great honor to be
asked. And an even greater honor to accept.”

“You told me the other day to stay out of the
woods that there was dangerous magic gunning for me,” she said. Had
he forgotten?

Harold nodded. “That I did, but I knew you
wouldn’t listen to me.”

“So what’s changed?”

He looked at her. “I wasn’t sure where the
magic was coming from. Magic is tricky. It can be good or bad. I
was worried that if it was bad that you’d be in danger, but the
appearance of the Great Bear is a good omen.”

Nina wasn’t convinced, but it was clear that
her grandfather was. “Don’t get your hopes up, Grandpa. I’ll
probably never see him again. It was a fluke that I ran into him in
the first place.”

“Chance doesn’t exist, Little Deer. Not when
we’re talking about powerful magic,” he said.

She sighed. “It doesn’t matter what kind of
magic it is. I’m not about to leave you to run off to visit the
stars.”

Harold shook his head. “Not visit. Live. The
Great Bear would want you to
live
among the stars with him.
It was a ‘him, wasn’t it?”

Nina blushed. “Yes, it was definitely a him.
How many Great Bears are there?”

The sparkle in Harold’s eyes returned. “There
is only one.”

“That doesn’t change my answer,” she said.
“I’m not leaving you, so you can stop trying to get rid of me.”

“I’d never do so.” His smile softened.
“Fortunately, you won’t have to make that choice.”

Nina frowned. What was he talking about? Of
course, she’d have to make that choice. And she’d
always
choose her grandfather. No matter what. What was she saying? There
was no such thing as a talking bear. She’d imagined it due to the
stress of being shot at. She glanced at her watch. “I have an
appointment this afternoon. I’ll be back early in the evening. Can
I get you anything?”

Harold shook his head. He was still smiling,
but there was something in his eyes that worried her. “I’ll see you
tonight,” he said.

“Get some rest Grandpa.” Nina kissed his
forehead and walked to the door.

He waved goodbye.

***

Nina drove to the Sheriff’s Station after
dropping by her office to check on her furry patients. They were
all doing well, so at least one thing was going right in her life.
Too bad people weren’t as accommodating as animals. Her mind
flashed to the Great Bear. If only they made men like that. If they
did, she’d be set. She hadn’t wanted to report the incident from
last night, but the fact that she and Kim had been shot at changed
the situation.

She parked her truck and walked inside. Her
plan was to leave Kim’s name out of it. Her fiancé, Danny Alberty
would be upset enough when he found out his future wife’s best
friend was out causing trouble again. He already didn’t like how
close the two women were. Some days, Nina couldn’t exactly blame
him. As soon as she walked inside, Nina spotted Rick Hensen, her
unwanted suitor. Unfortunately, he saw her too. He waved and walked
over.

“Hi Rick,” Nina said.

“You going to be at the wedding reception
tomorrow?” he asked.

She kind of had to be, since she was the
maid-of-honor. “I’ll be there.”

“Great. I’ll be there, too.” He smiled. His
light brown face creased, showing off his beautiful white
teeth.

Rick was a handsome man, but no matter how
hard she tried, Nina just couldn’t bring herself to be interested
in him that way.

He continued to smile at her.

Nina’s discomfort grew. What did he want her
to say? He was a nice guy but she didn’t want to lead him on. Over
Rick’s broad shoulders, she saw Danny’s frowning face. He looked as
if he’d been heading out on patrol, but changed directions when he
saw her. His black cropped hair gave way to a square,
uncompromising jawline. Like The People from old, his skin held a
reddish tint beneath the brown. At five foot eight, he wasn’t tall,
but that didn’t mean he wasn’t intimidating.

“Excuse me,” Nina said to Rick. “I have to
speak to Danny for a minute.”

Rick looked over his shoulder and frowned.
“Okay. I’ll see you later?” He made it a question.

To avoid any awkwardness, Nina nodded her
assent. “Sure.”

Rick wandered away.

Danny walked across the room and halted right
in front of her. Nina could feel the waves of anger emanating from
him. She opened her mouth to explain.

“Don’t!” he snapped. “Do not say a word.”
Danny grabbed her elbow and ushered her into one of the few offices
in the small station.

Nina waited until he shut the door behind
them. “I came here—”

“Unless it was to apologize and promise never
to do anything so stupid again, I don’t want to here it.” He
growled.

The sound reminded Nina of the Great Bear and
a shiver raced down her spine. So much for leaving Kim out of the
story. It was obvious that Danny already knew what had happened.
“I’m not here to apologize because I didn’t do anything wrong. I am
here to report poaching within the Qualla Boundary.”

“If it wasn’t for my respect for your
grandfather, I’d arrest you right now.”

Nina crossed her arms over her chest. “On
what charges?”

He hesitated, then said, “Disturbing my…peace
of mind.”

She pulled a face. “Those charges wouldn’t
stick and you know it.”

“I’d make sure they did. At least until the
wedding tomorrow,” he said.

Danny had never had much of a sense of humor,
so she knew he wasn’t kidding.

“Do you have any idea how long it took me to
calm Kim down last night? Do you? Hours!” he answered before she
could. “She was ready to call out the army until you phoned. I’ve
never seen her so terrified. What in the hell were you
thinking?”

“I—” He cut her off again with a sharp glance
in her direction.

“You’re a bad influence.” Danny’s lips
pressed into a thin line. “The sooner we leave this place. The
better Kim’s life will be. The better
our
life will be.”
Without you,
was left unsaid.

Nina didn’t think she was a bad
influence…Okay, so there was that one time in Raleigh, when she and
Kim had been detained by the police for protesting factories for
lax pollution controls because they were damaging the Smokies…and
that other time when poachers had reported them for disabling their
property.

The property in question had been illegal
traps, but by the time deputies arrived on scene, the only broken
equipment was the legal kind. They hadn’t touched it, but the
change made it difficult to convince the Sheriff’s Department that
they were telling the truth. Kim had gotten off scot-free—thanks to
Danny’s connections, but Nina had paid a steep fine.

It had been worth it though, since they’d
managed to stop three sets of poachers from taking bears, and
whatever else was unlucky enough to stumble across their snares.
Not that it mattered now, as Danny had so tactfully reminded her.
Tomorrow her best friend would leave Qualla—and her—behind.

He continued to glare at her. “You nearly got
Kim killed last night.” Danny’s hands moved to his hips and his jaw
clenched. “You may not have any concern for your own welfare, but
you’d think that you’d care if something happened to your best
friend days before her wedding. Christ Nina, we’re getting married
tomorrow!”

Nina deflated a little. It had been a close
call last night. Closer than they’d ever experienced. As the
poachers grew bolder, so did the dangers. “You know I would never
knowingly place Kim into harm’s way.”

Danny shook his head. “But you did. You do.
Every time you come up with one of these crazy schemes, you call
Kim because she’ll never say no to you.”

“That’s not true,” Nina said. Her throat grew
tight as she tried to swallow the lump that had suddenly
formed.

He scowled at her. “I love her, Nina. I
couldn’t bear it if anything happened to her.” Danny wasn’t one to
express himself, so the fact that he’d made such a declaration was
huge, and Nina knew it. His dark brown eyes shimmered with emotion.
He was laying his heart out there for her to see. He wanted her to
understand just how much Kim meant to him.

Nina’s eyes burned. “I’m sorry.”

“I know you don’t have anyone waiting at home
for you, since Harold went into the hospital,” he said.