Revelations: The Shifter Series: Volume Three Read online

  Revelations

  The Shifter Series:

  Volume Three

  CARI SCHAEFFER

  Revelations

  The Shifter Series:

  Volume Three

  Cari Schaeffer

  Published by Cari Schaeffer

  Copyright 2018 Cari Schaeffer

  All rights reserved worldwide.

  Read more at www.carischaeffer.com

  Book Cover Design and Full Original Artwork: Luke Biver

  Paperback Wrap and Font: LG Sedgwick

  Electronic Edition

  ISBN-13: 978-1725726000

  ISBN-10: 1725726009

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously from real experiences and by permission. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  This publication is protected under the US Copyright Act of 1976 and all other applicable international, federal, state and local laws, and all rights are reserved, including resale rights: you are not allowed to give or sell this publication to anyone else. If you received this publication from anyone other than Cari Schaeffer or her authorized retail sites, you've received a pirated copy. Please respect the hard work of this author. We don’t want to make you walk the plank!

  This book is available in print and as an e-book. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For more information, contact the author.

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  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Prologue

  America, Mid-20th Century

  Dimitri walked around the living room and bounced the fussy toddler in his arms. He felt the child’s forehead. “Daria? Has Grigori been running a fever?”

  Daria peered around the corner from the kitchen. Dimitri noted with dismay the dark circles under his wife’s eyes and her pinched expression. “I don’t think so. Does he feel hot now?” She waddled over and pressed her lips to his forehead. The child’s face puckered, and he squirmed. She shook her head. “I think he’s just worked up from fussing all day. Maybe he’s teething again.”

  Dimitri shifted the toddler to one arm and placed his free hand on her swollen midsection. Daria was heavily pregnant with their sixth child. “How are you doing?”

  “Let me take that sweet youngin’, Mr. Dimitri.” Their housekeeper, Opal, pushed through and scooped the toddler into her arms. “You just got home and ain’t even had a chance to take off yer coat, sir. Come on, baby. Miss Opal goin’ take care of you, little man.”

  Daria sighed and pressed her hands into the small of her back with a groan. “Thank you, Opal.” She turned to Dimitri. “I feel like a whale. I look like a whale.”

  Dimitri loosened his tie and pressed a kiss to her lips. “You’re beautiful, but you do look tired.”

  Daria waddled to the sofa and sat down with a huff. She set her feet on the coffee table. “Well, I am tired.”

  Dimitri walked over to the bar and poured himself two fingers of bourbon over ice.

  Two children raced through the living room.

  “Pow pow pow! I got you this time. You’re supposed to be dead! Be dead already!” Nikola shouted as he chased his little sister.

  Natalya’s eyes shone, and she giggled. “No, you didn’t! You missed again! You can’t shoot straight!” She collapsed onto the sofa next to her mother and grabbed hold of her. “Momma’s base!”

  Nikola scowled at his sister. “No fair! You can’t have base. You’re an Indian and I’m the cowboy! You’re supposed to be dead!”

  Dimitri sat next to Daria. “Kids, that’s enough. Let your mother rest. Go outside and play.”

  “Tell them to let me be a cowboy, Daddy!” Nina strutted into the room carrying her doll. “They never let me play cowboys and Indians.” She stuck her lower lip out in her signature pout.

  Bogdan, who went by Danny because it sounded more American, peeked around the corner from the kitchen. His lips were peppered with cookie crumbs. “That’s cuz you’re a stupid girl.” He stuck out his tongue.

  Nina burst into tears. Dimitri put his drink down on the coffee table and gathered her onto his lap.

  “Danny, don’t tease your sister like that.”

  Natalya became indignant for her sister and for girls everywhere. She popped up from the sofa. “You’re a poopy head! We don’t play with her because she’s too slow.”

  “I am not slow!” Nina wailed from Dimitri’s chest.

  Daria rubbed her stomach. “Opal! Help!”

  Opal appeared in the kitchen doorway. Grigori sucked on a teething biscuit and regarded his siblings with aloofness from his perch atop Opal’s skinny hip. “What are you youngins doin’ up in here? I got yer cookies in the kitchen and I ordered up plenty o’ sunshine outside. Go on! Git! Leave Momma and Daddy alone, ya hear? Come on!” she bellowed. Her dark eyes glittered, and she waved her ebony arm at the children. She turned to Dimitri and Daria. “Don’t you worry about them. Dinner’ll be ready soon.”

  The kids filed out with a feeble swat to their behinds as each passed by Opal. She adored the children and they adored her. The whole Wolff family adored her.

  When Dimitri looked for a full-time housekeeper, she was the fourth candidate, but he hired her within minutes of meeting her. She knew him. Rather, she knew all about him – that he was a shifter. The interview went something like this:

  Dimitri gestured to the chair. “Please, have a seat. I am looking for a full-time housekeeper. My wife and I have two children currently, and...”

  Opal sat ramrod straight on the edge of the chair and looked him in the eye while she clutched her black vinyl purse. “I know that, Mr. Dimitri. I know all about you and your family.”

  Dimitri paused, a little unnerved. He hadn’t told her his first name. “You do?”

  “Yessir! I know you’re special. Your whole family is. Your wife ain’t cuz she ain’t one of you, but your wh
ole family is touched.”

  Dimitri sat back in his chair. He must tread carefully. For all he knew, this woman could be crazy. “What do you mean?”

  Opal snorted and gave him a look. She leaned forward. “I mean y’all got some, shall we say, extra abilities. You shift who you are, don’t you?”

  Dimitri was speechless.

  Opal cackled at his expression and slapped her knee. “Yeah, that’s right. I know all about y’all!” Her face became fierce. “I also know you need help and protection, y’hear? You let old Opal watch out fer yer youngins and you take care of yer own bidness. Right?”

  Dimitri cleared his throat. “Uh...I don’t know what to say.”

  “You say I’m hired, cuz that’s what yer goin’ do, Mr. Dimitri. I am here to help.”

  “How...how do you...?”

  Opal sat back in her chair and regarded Dimitri. “I’m goin’ tell you a story, Mr. Dimitri. My family, that is my ancestors, came from Africa. You probably already figured that.” She fingered the unusual kerchief tied around her neck. “This here neckerchief has the markings of the tribe I came from. It marks us as seers. Anyway, legend has it that countless generations ago there was a time when a star fell from the sky near our village. It shone bright as the sun and about burned up everything around. But it didn’t. Instead, it made a whole lot a’ kids sick. They got what the elders called the star sickness. Killed a lot of them, but the ones that it didn’t kill, it changed. Or rather, it changed their kids. All the girls that come from them star sick kids became seers. We see things that others don’t. We see yer past, yer present, and even glimpses into yer future.” Opal paused, and her gaze became distant.

  Dimitri was enthralled. “Go on. Please.”

  Opal blinked, took a deep breath, and settled further into the chair. “Well, it’s always the girls, y’see. Only the girls. We were respected in our village. People come from far and wide to know what we know. But, somehow, we didn’t see the slave ships coming for us. No sir, we did not. One story is that a warring tribe sold my family out over some animals. I don’t know what happened, but my family got brought here many generations ago.” She took a deep breath. “We had a rough go of it. Of course, we did, right? Anyway, over here we had to be careful because they labeled us witches. Which we ain’t. We got the fear of the Lawd right in our hearts, thank you, Jesus!” She waved a hand in the air. “I ain’t no witch, sir. But I can’t help what I see.” Her inky eyes fixed on Dimitri. “And I see you. You need me, Mr. Dimitri. Ain’t no doubt about that. I’ll keep yer house.”

  Dimitri gripped the arms of his chair. “What do you see in my future?” His voice was barely a whisper.

  A dark shadow flashed over Opal’s face before she beamed at him. “I see a whole mess a’ kids needin’ a nanny. Yes, I do!” Opal had learned what to share and what to keep to herself. She stood up and stuck her hand out, breaking social convention in the process. “When do I start, Mr. Dimitri?”

  Dimitri chuckled, shook his head, and stood up. He accepted her outstretched hand. “Shouldn’t you already know that?”

  Opal had been with them ever since, and Dimitri and Daria’s family swelled every couple of years as they were blessed with more children.

  Dimitri retrieved his bourbon from the table and smiled at the memory.

  Daria rubbed her swollen belly. “What are you grinning about?”

  Dimitri took a sip of the amber liquid. “I was remembering when I hired Opal.”

  “It was the best thing you ever did.”

  Dimitri placed his warm hand over hers on her abdomen. “No. Marrying you was the best thing I ever did.”

  Daria leaned her head back. “True.” She glanced at her belly. “I hope it’s another girl this time. I want to name her after my mother.” She swallowed a lump in her throat.

  “It’s been a hard year since she passed. She was a lovely lady.”

  Daria swiped at a tear on her cheek. “Yes. And Svetlana is such a beautiful name.”

  Dimitri brushed a kiss across her lips. “If it’s not a girl, we’ll keep trying until we have a sweet little Svetlana named for your mother.”

  Daria looked at her husband. “I wish we could have brought her over here. She didn’t need to die in the Soviet Union the way she did.” She couldn’t keep the bitterness from her voice.

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  There was a tap on the front screen door. “Anyone home?”

  Daria sat up straight and wiped her eyes.

  Dimitri recognized the sound of his brother’s voice. “Come on in, Anatoly!” His parents, along with his brothers, Milos and Anatoly, bought a house on the same street as Dimitri, and the family gathered often. The entire Wolff family emigrated to New York City in late 1917, following the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, as did their enemies, the Barotkoffs. They kept their original last name of Volkov – volk is Russian for wolf – until they moved to Georgia a few years ago following the end of the second World War. They Americanized their name to avoid suspicions of being Communist sympathizers because of their Russian heritage. The current political environment saw Communists everywhere – from the highest levels of government to the “foreign” family on the corner.

  Anatoly walked in and poked his torso around the corner. He wore a goofy grin on his handsome face. His dark hair flopped onto his forehead, as it had his entire life. He cleared his throat. “Ah, I have someone I want you all to meet.” He turned his face and nodded encouragement to the yet unseen visitor. “It’s all right. They won’t bite, sweetheart.”

  Dimitri and Daria looked at each other, then Dimitri helped his wife to her feet. They waited.

  “Come on, honey. It’s okay,” Anatoly soothed. He moved into full view and gave a gentle tug to the hand he held.

  A young woman, barely a woman, came into full view. The top of her head didn’t quite reach Anatoly’s shoulders, which was typical of most women. The Wolff men were all over six feet in height. The woman’s cheeks were beet red and her shoulders were tight. Her hair was worn in a smart pixie cut, and she had pearls in her ears and around her throat.

  Anatoly grinned. “This is my sweetheart, Lila Mae Hamilton.”

  “Hello.” She tugged at her tailored tweed dress and swallowed hard. “I mean...it’s...it’s nice to meet you. I have heard so much about you.”

  Daria smiled and moved toward the young woman while Dimitri followed behind. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, too. Please, come in and sit down.” The women shook hands and Daria gestured to the sofa. “Can we offer you anything to drink?”

  Anatoly led Lila Mae to the sofa and sat down next to her, their fingers laced together.

  “I’m all right, thank you for asking.” The young woman glanced at Anatoly.

  “I’ll have a bourbon, Dimitri, if you don’t mind. We just came from Mother and Father’s house.” Anatoly gazed at Lila Mae and they both giggled. “We’re making the rounds.”

  “Aren’t they lovely people?” Daria remarked and settled herself in the lounge chair across from the sofa.

  Lila Mae nodded with enthusiasm. “Yes. They are lovely people. Although, I was surprised at how young your father looks, Anatoly. I guess the Russians have found the fountain of youth!”

  The assembled group laughed nervously. Dimitri caught his brother’s eye and lifted a brow. Anatoly’s smile grew, and he nodded once. This girl was important. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have brought her home.

  Dimitri handed Anatoly the crystal tumbler. “How long have you two been dating?”

  Before they could answer, Opal announced that dinner was ready.

  Lila Mae looked at Anatoly, horrified. “I’m...I’m so sorry. We didn’t mean to interrupt your dinner. Anatoly, we should go.” She rose with a start.

  “I already got the table set for everyone.” Opal nodded toward the pair. “Come on then. Git it while it’s hot. I got the babies washing up.”

  Dimitri chuckled to himself as the foursome moved towar
d the dining room. Of course, Opal had seen Lila Mae coming. I wonder what else she had seen about this Lila Mae. Was she destined to join the family? He would be sure to ask Opal the first chance he had.

  Chapter One

  Present Day

  “Kat? Kat? Open your eyes.”

  Kat moaned and turned toward the sound of Christopher’s voice. Her head pounded and there was a sharp pain in her left shoulder. She winced. “Ouch!”

  “Where are you hurt?”

  “Shoulder,” she croaked. She peeked through her lashes. It was dark. She could barely make out Christopher’s silhouette hovering over her.

  Warm hands pressed around her shoulder and she winced. “Ouch!”

  “I don’t think it’s broken, but I don’t know. Can you sit up?”

  Kat gasped and allowed herself to be hoisted to a seated position. She clutched her injured shoulder and groaned. “What happened?”

  Christopher brushed his lips against her forehead, then gently pressed her back to lean against the wall. “The house blew up.”

  Kat’s eyes widened, and she squinted in the darkness. “The house? The whole house?”

  “Yes. Everyone is accounted for and okay, though.”

  “Is Kat awake?” Uncle Dimitri’s distant voice broke through their conversation.

  Christopher called out in the direction of Dimitri’s voice. “Yes! She’s conscious now and sitting up. Her shoulder is hurt, but otherwise she’s okay.”

  “Good. Let’s gather what we can and see if we can’t get the electricity on out here.”

  Kat glanced around. “Out here? Where are we?” Thanks to the moonlight, her eyes were adjusting, and she made out a large hole to her left. “The garage.” Everything came flooding back to her. Dinner, Stanley McBarker being drugged, running from the house, then the flash of light.

  Christopher chuckled. “I’m glad you don’t have amnesia.”

  Kat smiled in the darkness. “Me, too. Are you okay?” She adjusted herself against the wall and took a deep breath while she mentally assessed the rest of her body. Aside from her head and shoulder, there didn’t seem to be anything else wrong.