by Tasha Black
“What?” she asked him.
“I was just wondering if you were doing okay,” he said. “Your leg?”
“I’m fine,” she said, looking pleased. “I think it’s the gravity. I’m half-tempted to take up gymnastics again.”
“You were a gymnast?” he asked, fascinated.
“Not a real one,” she laughed. “But I took classes when I was younger. It was fun.”
“I can see you doing gymnastics,” he decided.
“Well, maybe I will, once we get Caldwell squared away,” she said.
He tried to picture what life would be like if she succeeded in taking out Jericho Caldwell, and suddenly the day didn’t seem as beautiful.
“Oh my gosh, what’s that?” Sarah asked breathlessly.
He glanced up to see what she had noticed.
Fucking Slade.
The young marshal had tacked up three beautiful stag-horses. He rode atop sleek black one with glistening antlers, and there was a long-maned, snowy one with bone-white antlers that must be for Sarah.
The third stag-horse was an enormous but scruffy looking gray-brown thing, with a sway back and a snarly tail.
“They’re beautiful,” Sarah called out to Slade, jogging ahead to get a better look at the animals.
“Show off,” Zane muttered into Bowen’s hair.
But Bowen didn’t answer. The baby was snuggled in a sling around Zane’s chest, where he had gone promptly to sleep as soon as they began walking.
Imberian babies slept a lot. In the beginning, Zane had thought something was wrong with the child.
While Bowen’s generous sleep schedule often meant Zane could get things done, right now, he almost wished the boy would wake up and distract him from Sarah’s ecstatic exclamations to Slade.
“Lachesis has many beautiful creatures,” Slade was telling her. “We’re bound to see some of the more terrifying ones today, too. But as long as you stay close, I’ll see that no harm comes to you.”
Zane imagined shifting into a dragon and roaring at Slade, just to watch him wet his pants.
Easy, boy, he reminded himself.
“Zane,” Slade said, as if he were surprised. “Do you really think this is a good place for a baby?”
“I won’t leave him with a stranger,” Sarah said firmly, before Zane could even reply.
“As long as he stays close to me, no harm will come to him,” Zane said flatly, with maybe just a tiny hint of sarcasm.
But Slade either didn’t recognize his own words coming back to him, or didn’t care.
“I brought this big fellow for you,” he said, shrugging and pointing to the big sway-backed beast. “The white one is yours, Miss Flynn.”
“Call me Sarah,” she said.
Slade tipped his hat to her in a very gratified way.
Zane was trying to decide whether to punch him in the nose when his stag-horse brayed at him. He turned to the beast and it gazed back at him, its chocolate brown eyes slightly widened.
“Smells the dragon on you,” Slade suggested. “He’ll gentle down soon enough.”
Zane certainly hoped so. He didn’t mind getting thrown himself, but he had the baby to think of.
“Easy, friend,” he said to the stag-horse in a low, calm voice.
It shifted its weight on its slender legs and blinked at him. He lifted his hand slowly, and scratched gently at the base of the antlers. The creature closed its eyes and leaned into his touch.
Sarah laughed, and he looked up to see that Slade had helped her onto her mount.
It was a young, restless thing, and it pranced under her as if it wanted to run.
Zane bit back words of judgement.
But he couldn’t help thinking them. Slade might not know about Sarah’s leg. But he also didn’t know if she could ride or not. He was clearly more worried about impressing her with a pretty steed than about keeping her safe.
To her credit, Sarah was sticking her seat nicely and murmuring to the mare. It seemed likely that she was an experienced rider, if not of stag-horses, then of something similar from her homeworld.
“This is amazing,” she called to Zane with a radiant smile.
He smiled back at her and waved.
“Let’s go, dragon,” Slade yelled to him, remounting his onyx stallion, which immediately pranced up beside Sarah’s mare.
“Let’s get this over with,” Zane whispered to Bowen.
14
Sarah
The morning stretched out for Sarah in a sort of endless joyride.
Her stag-mare was nimble and light-footed. Though she had been a little skittish at first, she had gentled right away under Sarah’s touch. Now, the pretty creature seemed to take pleasure in flying across the shadowy meadows, her mane and tail flowing out behind her in the low gravity, like a storybook pony.
They moved as one, the mare’s smooth gait making the long ride seem effortless, leaving Sarah to enjoy the fragrance of the trees and flowers, and the way the dappled light painted the approaching hillside.
The only thing troubling her was Zane. The big alien didn’t seem to be enjoying the trip or the scenery. He rode with a serious expression, eyes narrowed.
Slade, on the other hand, seemed to be reveling in their excursion.
“We’re making excellent time,” he called to Sarah as he brought his inky stallion up to join her. “But we should slow down now. We’re getting close.”
“How do you know?” Sarah asked, pulling up her mare to a trot to cool her down.
“I did a little research around town last night,” Slade said, tipping his wide-brimmed hat and looking rather pleased with himself. “It seems our bounty has been spending time with Dirty Al and Billaxx, two local petty criminals. They sometimes camp out on the other side of that rise.”
“So, what’s the plan?” Sarah asked.
“We go up to the bluff and see if we can catch sight of them below,” Slade said. “Without them catching sight of us, that is.”
She glanced back at Zane.
He nodded once, as if to bless the plan.
They all rode on in silence, the stag-horses picking their way up the hill as the sun began to set.
An hour later, they had all dismounted at the peak of the low bluff.
Sarah held Bowen and fed him a snack as Slade belly crawled out on the ledge to look down on the valley below. It wasn’t far down, but they had a pretty good vantage point.
“He’s hungry,” Zane said, gazing at the baby as he ate.
“He had a long day,” Sarah said, smiling at her little one.
He was eating his mush as fast as she could spoon it into his mouth.
“Was he awake for much of the ride?” she asked Zane.
“I thought he would sleep the whole time,” Zane said. “But he woke up as soon as we started really moving. He seemed to like watching the world fly past. He’ll sleep well tonight.”
Sarah nodded, hoping Bowen would sleep while they were in pursuit. She didn’t like the idea of him making a noise that would give them away.
And she really didn’t like the idea of him being in danger. As little as she wanted to leave him behind, she was suddenly having second thoughts about having him here.
“I will not allow one hair on his head to come to harm,” Zane said softly, as if he had read her mind.
She lifted her chin to look into his eyes.
This man, this dragon, wanted to be her mate - to be with her forever, to care for her and protect her with the same devotion he showed to Bowen.
The idea felt real to her now, anchoring her in this feather-light place, lighting the murky-darkness.
“Zane,” she murmured, lost in the intensity of his azure gaze.
“Okey-dokey,” Slade said, brushing leaves off his breeches as he approached. “They’re down there, all right, but Caldwell’s not with them, at least not yet. We should keep an eye on them.”
Sarah tried to focus on what he was saying. But it didn’t
seem to make sense.
“You mean just… wait?” Sarah asked.
“Not much else we can do,” Slade said.
“We can question them,” she said. “We can march right down there and question them.”
“If he comes back, then we’ll know where he is for sure,” Slade pointed out. “If we question them, they may not answer.”
“Then you’ll make them answer,” Sarah said. “Are you a trained marshal or not?”
“I am, but this isn’t the way it’s normally done,” Slade spluttered.
“Why not give it a little time?” Zane asked, surprising her by taking Slade’s side.
“Because it’s going to get dark, and they’re going to slip away,” she said. “If you’re not going down there, I am.”
“Okay,” Zane said, raising his hands up. “Let me put Bowen on your back so you can run if you have to. You’ll stay up here and keep watch, and we’ll go down there and check things out.”
“You can put him on my back. That’s a good idea,” Sarah said, carefully leaving out the part where he was crazy if he thought she was staying behind.
She waited while he loaded up the baby. When Bowen’s warm weight was snuggly wrapped on her back, and his chubby fists tangled in her hair, she turned back to the others.
“What are they doing down there?” she asked Slade.
“They’re getting a campfire going,” he said.
“So the light from the fire will make it easier to sneak up on them,” she replied.
“True,” Zane said, eyeing her thoughtfully.
“Do you have weapons?” she asked Slade.
He grinned and pulled a shiny, silver long-pistol from his coat. It gleamed in the fading light, showing off intricate engravings.
“She’s a beaut, isn’t she?” he asked Zane. “What are you packing?”
“No guns needed,” Zane said gruffly.
“Oh right,” Slade said. “You’ll be in dragon form?”
He sounded almost disappointed.
“No, man, it’s not a parlor trick,” Zane said. “I can fight just fine with my hands if I have to.”
“Suit yourself,” Slade said with a shrug.
“You’ll stay here with the stag-horses?” Zane asked Sarah.
“I won’t,” she said. “But they’re tied up, so I’m sure they’ll be fine.”
“You can’t come down there unarmed,” Zane said sharply.
“I’m not unarmed,” she told him, sliding her cane apart to reveal the slender, silver sword hidden within. She’d been afraid they wouldn’t let her bring it to Lachesis, but no one had even asked about it.
“Nice,” Slade said appreciatively.
“I don’t want you down there,” Zane said.
“Then it’s a good thing you’re not in charge of me,” she replied.
“I’m in charge of that whelp on your back,” he retorted.
“You’re in charge of protecting him,” she said. “I’m his mother. But if you’re worried about it, you can just shift and take care of this all by yourself.”
He opened his mouth and closed it again.
“That’s what I thought,” she said. “Let’s go.”
She knew she should wait for the others, but she was tired of waiting.
Sarah Flynn was ready for justice.
15
Sarah
Though Sarah marched off briskly, Slade and Zane overtook her swiftly.
As a matter of fact, they seemed to be in a walking race.
She watched them in wonder. Men were mysterious creatures.
Sarah had done her fair share of dating, even had a guy or two she was somewhat serious with, but it hadn’t worked out for one reason or another.
Her father was the only man she had ever felt she really understood. He was different from the blustery roosters like these two.
Reginald Bowen Flynn was calm and gentle. He never did anything without a reason.
Sarah remembered following him around, asking endless questions as a child, and each action he took had a careful explanation - from the biggest things right down to whether he put the peanut butter on her muffin first or the jam. He was a deliberate person.
The men in front of her right now, on the other hand… Sarah doubted they could tell her why they were behaving so strangely even if she asked. There seemed to be an unconscious competitive streak in men that caused them to do inexplicable things.
They reached the edge of the bluff and began slowly picking their way down.
When she caught up at the bottom of the bluff, she could see the villains silhouetted in the glow of the campfire just ahead.
By some miracle, Dirty Al and Billaxx had their backs to the bluff and were looking out over the plane.
She knew immediately which one was Dirty Al, his greasy yellow hair hung down his back under a gray hat that she strongly suspected used to be white. He stood by the fire, placing a pan on a rock at its center. A scraggly-looking mule of some sort grazed on the short grass behind them.
The one called Billaxx was a Maltaffian, with massive horns on his head. He was leaned back, watching Dirty Al dump a can of beans into a pan over the flames.
Ahead of her, Slade was crouched low, his pistol raised and gleaming in the firelight as he moved forward.
Zane had stopped and was waiting for her, a pleading look in his blue eyes.
He wanted her to wait.
She could feel his fear through the bond. It was fear for her, but for Bowen as well.
A pang of guilt went through her chest. If anything happened to the baby, she would never forgive herself.
Suddenly, she thought of her father and the way he reasoned everything he did. But this time, she thought of him in light of her own actions.
Was it better for her to follow Zane and Slade than to hang back with Bowen?
No.
She nodded to Zane, letting him know she would wait.
The relief in his eyes was palpable.
She almost felt guilty, but then she remembered that if he was so worried, he could have just taken his dragon form and handled this problem all by himself.
The Invicta might have rules, but the Invicta weren’t here. If Zane was committed to twenty years with Bowen, and forever with Sarah, he might have to think about his priorities. Things were different on the frontier.
But before she could continue down that train of thought, Slade reached the men at the fire.
In a flash, he had his gun pointed at Billaxx’s horned head.
“Okay, scumbags,” Slade shouted. “I’m only going to ask this once. Where’s Caldwell?”
“I don’t know who you mean,” the Maltaffian growled.
“Oh no?” Slade asked.
There was a loud click as he thumbed back the hammer on his gun.
Zane moved around the fire toward Dirty Al, neatly stepping around a pile of dinged-up china plates that must have been waiting for their dinner.
But before Zane could reach him, Dirty Al swung around and kicked a log from the fire in Zane’s direction.
The dragon warrior easily dodged the log, but a cloud of ash and sparks tumbled through the air, right into Zane’s face.
Slade coughed and spluttered.
In the seconds it bought them, Billaxx and Dirty Al ran in opposite directions.
“They’re getting away,” Sarah pleaded.
Zane wiped his eyes with an arm and took off in the direction of Billaxx.
Slade blinked and brushed the dust off his suit before following Dirty Al toward the meadow.
Sarah thought for a moment and headed out after Zane and Billaxx. Something told her the Maltaffian was the smarter and better informed of the two ruffians.
And something inside her pulled taut with every step that Zane took away from her.
The low gravity made running a pleasure, there was no pain, even with Bowen on her back. But she was nowhere near as fast as the two large men.
She focus
ed on keeping them in sight. If she could just keep her eyes on Zane, everything would be okay.
She was sure of it.
16
Zane
Zane ran as fast as he could, still blinking the grit out of his eyes.
It was lucky he had been the closer one to the fire. The sparks hadn’t burned his eyes the way they would have burned Slade’s. His dragon’s abilities were part of his skill set, whether he was using them consciously or not. And dragons didn’t burn.
He wondered what his commander would think of him, taking on a mission that had nothing to do with his homeland. He wasn’t shifting, but was that really enough to make this behavior acceptable?
There was no time to think about it. He had committed to a course of action, and now the only thing he could do was try to help Sarah without allowing any harm to come to her.
At least he was gaining on Billaxx, and that was a relief.
On and on they ran, through a field of purple dawn flowers and over the rocky terrain of what seemed to be a dry riverbed. With grit still in his eyes, it was hard for Zane to see exactly, but there was no time to stop and clean them out while he was close enough to hear the Maltaffian panting.
He had nearly caught up to his quarry, when Billaxx hung a sharp left around an outcropping of stones and Zane followed.
He reached out an arm as he rounded the corner, hoping to catch hold of Billaxx’s shoulder.
But the Maltaffian ducked at the last moment.
Zane didn’t see the tree branch at eye level until it was too late. He hit it hard enough to crack the branch in half and whip his own head backward, landing on his posterior on the rocky ground.
He could hear the Maltaffian cackling as he took off and fury rose in his throat.
He closed his eyes for a moment, allowing his shifter abilities to heal his eyes, his head, his neck, and his bruised butt.
Then he leaped up and tore after his opponent with fresh energy.
Billaxx had made a fatal error. He had assumed Zane would be down for more than a second. He was jogging now, trying to catch his breath.
