Wild About You

Ula nodded, smiling. “You grow up very pretty.” Her smile faded as she plucked a cobweb from Elsa’s hair. “But very dirty.”

“I’ll jump in the shower.” Elsa unlocked her motel room door and ushered the two women inside.

Ten minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom squeaky clean, dressed in new jeans and a T-shirt. While she towel-dried her hair, the aunts sat on her bed, speaking in Swedish.

“We must tell her everything,” Ula insisted. “What does she know so far?”

“I told her about the murders,” Greta whispered. “And the berserkers.”

Ula nodded. “Does she know she’s a—”

“A what?” Elsa asked in English. She hadn’t understood the last word Ula had said.

“It translates best as guardian,” Greta explained in English. “As you know, Aunt Ula can talk to seals, whales, dolphins, fish—all the creatures of the sea.”

Ula nodded. “Turtles, too.”

Elsa sighed. “Yes, I’ve heard that.” But she’d never believed it.

“I am Guardian of Sea,” Ula announced.

And I’m the queen of England. Elsa tossed her damp towel under the vanity.

“That’s why she has the fish birthmark,” Greta explained.

“Ja. Fish.” Ula tapped her shoulder.

“And I have the bird birthmark,” Greta continued, “so I’m Guardian of the Sky.”

“She talks to birds,” Ula added.

“What?” Elsa gave her aunt an incredulous look. “You never mentioned that before.”

Greta dragged a hand through her short blond hair. As pale as her hair was, the few strands of silver were barely noticeable. “I became your mother, and I was afraid you wouldn’t mind me if you thought I was crazy. But remember in junior high when you insisted on walking home from the bus stop on your own?”

Elsa swallowed hard. A hawk had always followed her home.

“And when you went off to college, there was an owl who lived in the rafters outside your room,” Greta continued.

“You kept an eye on me with birds?” Elsa asked.

Greta nodded. “You wouldn’t believe how handy they are. I’ve never gotten a speeding ticket ’cause they always tell me where the cops are.”

“Huh?” Elsa ran a hand through her damp hair.

“That’s why I wasn’t concerned about driving around with the rifles in the trunk.” Greta quickly translated what she’d said to Swedish, and Ula grinned.

“Ja. We need guns to keep Elsa safe,” Ula said, still smiling.

Elsa groaned. “You can’t just walk around shooting everyone who looks at me funny.”

Greta waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t worry. We’ll only shoot the berserker if he comes after you.”

Elsa winced. They wanted to shoot Howard?

“Has anything else happened to you recently?” Greta asked. “Other than your birthmark burning?”

“Well . . .” Elsa thought about it. She’d been teleported. She’d been thoroughly kissed by an alleged berserker who seemed much more interested in making love to her than murdering her. Not your usual run-of-the-mill stuff. “Oh, a bunch of animals keep following me around.”

“Ah.” Ula exchanged a knowing look with Greta.

“I thought that might happen,” Greta said. “That was the reason I always kept you away from the country. Of course, even in the suburbs, there were field mice and squirrels that sought you out, but my hawks and owls took care of them. And Peder’s hunting dogs took care of the rabbits.”

Elsa sat on the bed. “Are you saying I have always attracted animals?”

“Not all animals.” Greta waved a hand. “Just the woodland creatures.”

“You are Guardian of Forest,” Ula announced.

Elsa’s mouth dropped open.

Greta patted her on the arm. “I’m sure it comes as a bit of a shock.”

You think? Elsa jumped to her feet. “What . . . this is crazy! We’re not some sort of magical beings that talk to animals.”

Greta looked offended. “I have nothing to do with animals. I only talk to birds.”

Elsa groaned. “That’s not normal.”

“We’re special,” Ula said proudly.

Special? It reminded Elsa of how Tino had described himself. “What—what sort of weird things do we do?”

“Mainly, we communicate with different creatures. We’re no longer sure how that came to pass.” Greta gazed across the room, her eyes unfocused. “Many of the secrets have been lost over the centuries, but I suspect the original guardians were shamans of some kind. We do know that over a thousand years ago, there were three magical sisters: the Guardians of the Sea, Sky, and Forest, and they used their powers to protect a village.”

“Ja,” Ula agreed. “Always three guardians in our family. Always women.”

“If an enemy attacked by sea, the Guardian of the Sea called upon the sea creatures to overturn the boats,” Greta continued. “And the Guardian of the Sky asked the birds of prey to attack an enemy who came over the mountains.”

“But Guardian of Forest—” Aunt Ula shook her head and tsked.

“What?” Elsa crossed her arms. She felt like she’d been caught doing something wrong.

“It wasn’t really her fault,” Greta insisted. “A group of marauders kept attacking the village. They had too many ships for the sea creatures to stop them all. The villagers begged the Guardian of the Forest to protect them. So she took the twelve best warriors into the woods to live with the wolves and bears, and that’s when it happened.”

A shiver trickled down Elsa’s spine. “What happened?”

“The men became berserkers,” Greta said.

Ula shook her head again, making more tsking noises. “Bad. Very bad.”

“At first the berserkers were good at defeating the enemy and keeping the village safe,” Greta continued. “But then some of them lost control and started killing the villagers.”

“Very bad,” Ula repeated.

“And then the ultimate betrayal. They turned on their own creator, the Guardian of the Forest.” Greta regarded Elsa with a sad look. “One of the berserkers killed her.”

Elsa shuddered. “So you think a berserker will . . .” Her heart raced. Howard would fall into an animal-like frenzy and attack her? “I don’t believe it! H-he wouldn’t do that.”

Greta sighed. “I know it’s a lot to take in. But don’t worry. Ula and I will protect you. And you must do your best to never see the berserker again.”

Elsa sat on the bed. “If you could just meet him, you would know that he’s harmless.”

“No!” Greta stiffened. “We can never trust a berserker.”

“But he’s not going to behave like an animal!” Elsa cried.

Ula muttered something in Swedish.

Elsa gasped. “What did she say?”

Greta shuddered. “We have no proof, for no one in our family has seen it. Or if they did see it, they didn’t live to talk about it. But the family legend claims the berserkers don’t just act like animals.”

Elsa swallowed hard as Aunt Greta’s voice softened to a whisper.

“They become animals.”

Chapter Fourteen

A beautiful man came to her in the night. Large and powerful, he covered her body with his. His big hands roamed over her skin, setting her on fire. She wanted