The sarcastic tone, which Gracie rarely, used jolted Muriel back to her senses. She dropped her hands and backed off. “What bit you, Gracie?”
Her daughter hesitated, before reluctantly admitting. “A wolf.”
Muriel’s heart dropped into her belly and iced over. Was this a spiritual event, or had O’Neill smelled a wolf on Gracie because a wild one had bitten her? “We need to get you to the hospital.”
She tried to think through the fear and shock. Her daughter was hurt. She’d already lost one child. She was not going to lose her daughter too.
“A hospital won’t help.” O’Neill’s quiet voice broke through Muriel’s panic. “The bite was not from the waking world. It was from theTabenetha...a spiritHo'cee.Is this not so, Gracie?”
Gracie nodded, her gaze shifting from O’Neill’s calm face to Muriel’s terrified one.
“That’s not possible.” Muriel’s denial was strangled. “It can’t be. TheHo'ceeis a Shadow Warrior spirit, a warrior gift. Never, in the history of theHee'woo'nee,has a warrior clan been gifted to a female. This claiming must be a mistake.”
O’Neill shook his head, his gaze returning to their daughter. “I do not claim to understand the elder gods’ choices, but they do not make mistakes. There must be purpose behind Gracie’sHo'ceeclaiming.”
Chapter fourteen
Day 26
The Neighborhood, Alaska
O’Neill’s gaze didn’t budge from Gracie’s pale face. Discovering he had a daughter, one gifted with a warrior spirit, was the last outcome he’d expected when he arrived for this conversation with Muriel.
Gracie’s throat quivered and her eyes dropped. “Mom’s right. AHo'ceeis not a gift from the Great Mother. It is a warrior’s gift, which I am not. This claiming must be a mistake.”
“No.” O’Neill found certainty in his voice. There were many things about theTabenethahe found frustrating...even irritating...like Aiden’s second gifting. But he never doubted thatthere was purpose behind the elder gods’ choices. “Our great mother does not make mistakes.” He paused before adding quietly. “She will reveal the purpose behind your claiming when she chooses. Until then, we will honor her choice.”
Too bad there was no workingTaounaha or Taouahannaamong theHee'woo'neetoseek answers and counsel wisdom. Never had he felt the lack of a mouthpiece more.
“Each claiming comes with a spiritual gift, does it not?” Muriel asked. The shock had left face, leaving her eyes dark and her skin pale. She returned to her chair and sank down—heavily, as if her legs had lost their strength. “When does this gift manifest? Perhaps her spirit talent will indicate the purpose behind this warrior claiming.
A good point. She had always been quick and clever.
“I haven’t noticed any...special abilities.” Gracie voice shrank and echoed with disappointment. “It’s been three days. Wouldn’t I have noticed something different in me by now?”
“Not necessarily.” O’Neill said. “I am only familiar with my own spirit talent.” Understandable, since theHee'woo'neehad shunned him for as long as he could remember. “But Benioko once said the gifts manifest differently for each chosen. For some the talent manifests hours before the claiming—” as his had “—for others it arrives after the woodland spirit’s arrival...sometimes far after.”
He frowned and eyed Gracie’s slender, still figure. She was still standing beside him. He sensed she found security in his closeness. Why didn’t she look to Muriel for safety? She had known her mother for her entire life; why look to a stranger for shelter? His gaze shifted between mother and daughter. He could feel the tension between them...saw the way they avoided each other’s eyes and touch. All was not well in what remained of this family.
Had Daniel’s death caused this splintering?
“When were you claimed?” he asked after a too long a silence.
“The day after Daniel’shaemitnes.We returned to The Neighborhood to attend to myAnisbecco.Mom and Olivia flew up to base. I went for a walk in the woods behind the house. The snow was deep, difficult to walk through, but the forest felt so...peaceful...” Her eyes softened and her face folded into an almost reverent luminosity. The expression only lasted a few seconds before her chin lifted, and her shoulders straightened. The awe vanished. “TheHo'ceeappeared out of nowhere. Huge and silver. Majestic. With glowing green eyes.”
She took a trembling breath, her eyes vague, as though she were lost in memory. “I knew what it was the instant it appeared. Even though it wasn’t possible. I’m long past claiming age—a year older than even you—and theHo'ceeis not a female spirit animal. Yet, I knew it had come for me. Then it leaped and knocked me down.” Her hand absently rose to her bandaged shoulder. “That’s when it bit me. There was blood. And agony. And then it was gone.”
Her hand fell from her sweater and her eyes snapped back into focus. “I don’t understand.” Her voice thinned. “How can there be blood and pain from a shadow bite? Is not the spirit gift supposed to be effortless? Daniel’s spirit animal didn’t hurt him. What if theHo'cee’sclaiming was a punishment, not a gift?”
“Daniel was chosen by a woodland bird,” O’Neill reminded her, fighting for a soothing tone, even though soothing was not in his repertoire. “The bird clans rake with their talons. Those claimings can still be painful, but not like a cat or a canine. Predators always claim through blood and agony,” O’Neill assured her. “You saw the scars of my own gifting. Your spirit animal is not punishing you.”
She didn’t look convinced. But then words, especially his, would not give her peace. She needed theTaounaha’svoice...the mouthpiece’s wisdom.
Too fucking bad they no longer had one.
“What totem did yourHo'ceeleave with you?” He asked, hoping to distract her. Among theHee'woo'nee,mostcarried their claiming totems in a pouch which dangled from their necks. But there was no tell-tale lump beneath her sweater.
She hesitated, then slowly sank her hand into the pocket of her sweatpants, and pulled out two tokens. Both curved. One white. One black.
