by Tina Leonard
“Those babies made you even more beautiful than ever, to me,” Xav whispered. “You’re an awesome mother. And I can’t wait to make you my wife.” She felt so good underneath him he wanted the magic to last forever.
“I love you like Jace loves old movies,” she said, and when he chuckled low in his throat, she said, “I’ve loved you for years.” She ran her hands up his back. “This feels like old times in the canyons, doesn’t it?”
“No.” He captured a nipple in his mouth, loving hearing her gasp and then moan, went back to kissing her sweet lips. “It’s better. Because after tomorrow, we’ll be married. The funny thing is, the night I put in my secret bid for you at Fiona’s Christmas ball, I really won a family. Can’t beat that, huh?”
She moaned again as he touched the places he knew made her soft and gentle and eager in his arms.
“You could have asked me out anytime, you big chicken.”
“You were hard to tie down.”
“You tried very hard to put distance between us.”
“You have scary brothers.”
She giggled. “You’re not scared of them.”
“No. Losing you scares me.”
“You’re not going to lose me. We’re together forever. Even if we never got married, we have four children that bind us.”
“Don’t say that,” Xav said. “Don’t even speak the idea that we might not get married. I’ve learned around Rancho Diablo that word is deed. It’s something in the water or something, but a man’s word turns into action. Like that crazy magic wedding dress. One day it’s a fairy-tale gown, the next day it’s dust. Sometimes I thought there was a conspiracy against us.”
“No conspiracy,” Ash said. “Now make love to me and quit worrying. You’re borrowing trouble.”
He hoped he was. He probably was. Xav tried to forget all about the strange sensation he had that something just wasn’t right, and lost himself in loving Ash.
* * *
ASH AWAKENED IN THE NIGHT, the same dream haunting her. She peered at Xav, who slept soundly, his handsome profile just visible in the moonlight streaming through the window. One leg draped over the side of the bed, as if he were ready to spring into action if the babies called.
She went to the foot of the bed to look at them in their baskets. They slept soundly, everything right in their world. Just the sight of them reassured her. She adjusted their blankets, amazed that somehow today was her wedding day, and the day before Christmas.
She was a mother, and she would be a wife. Here in this room was her family, who meant more to her than anything. All in the space of a year, she’d been blessed with more than she’d ever dreamed of. So far from the days when she’d been a girl going into the military, struggling to make sense of herself and who she was to be in the world. Now she had all the pieces of herself she could ever need. With Xav and her babies, she was whole.
It was a miracle, one she deeply appreciated.
Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was only four in the morning, not quite time for Xav to be up for chores. She decided to go downstairs and put the coffee on, get a jump on Fiona’s breakfast preparations. She pulled on jeans, put on her rubber-soled black boots, grabbed a black T-shirt and sheepskin jacket, smiling at the thought that these were hardly the clothes of a bride.
But she had a pretty blue dress for later, and while it wasn’t the magic wedding dress, she would still become Mrs. Xav Phillips.
It was a most magical and exhilarating thought.
She turned on the coffeepot, set out some small dishes for muffins and breakfast cake. Put on the teakettle for herself. Grandfather always preferred tea, she thought with a smile. He wasn’t one for coffee. Running Bear loved sitting in this kitchen with Fiona, chatting and drinking tea. Plotting.
Those two had certainly worked hard for everything that was Rancho Diablo. Ash looked around the kitchen, hardly able to wait until sunlight came pouring in the many windows to herald Christmas Eve.
Her babies’ first Christmas.
Joy sparkled inside her—disappearing when a shadow crossed one of the windows. Something about the shadow caught her attention, alarming her. A ranch hand wouldn’t walk so stealthily, and Running Bear would just walk in the back door that led to the kitchen. None of her brothers would be at the house yet. Fiona and Burke wouldn’t come down until closer to five o’clock.
Her blood running a bit colder than it had a moment before, she opened the door, peering out.
There was nothing there, no prints in the fresh, bright snow visible in the porch light.
Ash breathed a sigh of relief, closed the door. Poured herself tea, grabbed a zucchini muffin. Tried to shake off the chilly sensation that had come over her.
She hadn’t been wrong about Wolf. She knew he was planning to blow something, but whether Rancho Diablo or Loco Diablo she couldn’t be certain. That had not yet been revealed to her. But with one of the barns being set on fire before, it made sense that Rancho Diablo was under siege.
Under siege. Of course it was. They just hadn’t realized the war had begun and was right at their doorstep.
She ran to head up the stairs to get Xav, tell him that they needed to get the babies to safety, when something grabbed her out of nowhere, fingers biting hard into her shoulders as something cold landed across her mouth.
Velvety blackness descended upon her.
* * *
XAV SAT UP IN BED, his heart hammering. He’d heard something, felt something eerie, a warning thrusting him into instant wakefulness. He jumped out of bed, checked the babies. Ash was probably showering—but no. She wasn’t there, and her boots were gone.
He texted her, pulling on his clothes while he waited for a response. His gaze lit on her phone suddenly, on the nightstand, turned off. He wanted to hurry downstairs to check the kitchen, but leaving the babies alone wasn’t an option. The babies slept soundly, completely secure in their cozy worlds. Only Skye stirred, opening her eyes once to look at nothing in particular, then went back to sleep.
He texted Burke and Fiona.
Can you come sit with the babies for a minute?
It wasn’t sixty seconds before Fiona flew down the long hall, Burke at her back.
“Mercy!” Fiona exclaimed. She wore a pink robe and tiny curlers in her silvery-white hair. “Is everything all right?”
“Everything’s fine. I need to find Ash. I’ll be right back.”
“Isn’t she in the kitchen?” Fiona asked. “I should be there now, making breakfast.”
“For now, stay up here. Let me make certain I just woke up with a case of the heebie-jeebies and nothing more serious is going on.” Xav checked his gun, slid it into his holster. “Once I find my bride, I’ll know I had an epic panic attack.”
“Panic is good,” Fiona said. “Sometimes the subconscious knows more than we think. Go. Burke and I can handle our adorable angels.” She went over to peer into the bassinets, and Xav hurried downstairs.
She wasn’t in the kitchen, as Xav had somehow known she wouldn’t be. But maybe she’d gone to the barns.
Maybe all the Callahan hocus-pocus was getting to him, but he’d swear he was picking up some kind of fear communication from his wife. His scalp tingled and it felt as if ants were crawling all over his skin.
His gaze lit on a muffin, with one bite taken, and a mug of tea barely sipped and still hot.
She wouldn’t have left the kitchen this way.
His heart shifted into extreme fear, and he pushed it away. Texted her brothers. Can’t find Ash.
Instantly, six texts hit his phone.
On it, from Jace.
Locked and loaded, from Dante.
From Tighe’s phone: Time to kick some ass.
Galen’s text read simply, Hang tight.
&n
bsp; Stay calm, from Sloan.
On my way, Falcon’s text said.
Xav felt a little better with the instant backup. He checked the kitchen door, looking out in the snow for footprints, signs of a struggle. Went to the front door, saw sweeping motions in the fresh snow. Ash had put up a good fight, her boots scrabbling as she’d kicked at her captor. Fresh anger poured over him, whipping him into a red-hot desire to put Wolf out of his misery— and theirs.
“Fiona!” Xav yelled up the stairs.
Fiona’s rollered head and pink robe appeared at the top of the stairwell. “Find her?”
“Get the babies. You and Burke go in your room and lock the doors.”
Her eyes went wide. She scurried down the stairs. “I have to grab bottles for the babies!” She threw several into her robe pockets and disappeared into the secret elevator, a whirl of motion.
Xav pulled on his jacket and hat, grabbed a gun from the locked gun cabinet in the kitchen, not surprised when the kitchen doors burst open a second later and Callahans spilled in. They stamped their feet on the floors, glancing around, scoping everything for information, in instant military mode.
“What’s happening?” Sloan demanded.
“Whoever grabbed her took her through the front.”
“Then we’ll have him in five. Good work, brother,” Jace said, and hauled ass out of the kitchen with his fierce brothers.
Yet something held Xav back. He glanced at the door they’d come through, went to it, trying to figure out what was niggling at him. He knew Ash had been taken out the front.
He stepped out the back anyway, not sure exactly what was bothering him. Saw someone in the shadows throw something fiery through the kitchen window.
He ran back inside. A bottle lay on the kitchen floor, smoking from the flames inside it. It should have burst, should have lit the kitchen into an instant inferno. He knew what it was, knew he had a limited time to get it out of the house. Maybe he wouldn’t even make it—but he had to try. His children were upstairs, as well as Fiona and Burke.
In a split second, he’d thrown a heavy cast-iron pot over the Molotov cocktail, smothering it as it belched flames underneath it. He grabbed Fiona’s fire extinguisher, putting out the flames. Dialed the sheriff to let him know they needed backup and coverage on the house—then called Galen.
“They took Ash out the front as a decoy, knowing we’d give chase, then threw a Molotov cocktail through the kitchen window.”
“Holy hellfire,” Galen said. “Is everything all right?”
“It is now.” It had been close—too damn close. “I’m going to stay here until the sheriff arrives. You get Ash.”
“Dante and Tighe are riding back with Ash right now. They found her walking back, pissed as hell and sporting a gash on her cheek. She doesn’t take well to being dragged off against her will.”
“Who did it?” If it had been Wolf, he’d be lucky to still be alive—Xav was going to take him out with his bare hands.
“Dante said it was two henchmen. By the time Ash nearly bit off her captor’s finger and kicked his kneecap almost to China, he was ready to get rid of her. His buddy lit off when she said if he so much as moved she was going to do something to his balls that would leave him singing like a girl for the rest of his life. Wolf must not pay enough to make the job worth it, because I don’t think their hearts were in it. Then again, Ash is scary when she’s ticked.”
“That’s my girl.” Xav grinned proudly, relieved, but still seething and ready to kick some Wolf ass. He had the sexiest spitfire in New Mexico. Hell, in the whole country. “Thanks, Galen.”
“Thanks for keeping Rancho Diablo from burning to a cinder.”
He heard a gasp and Ash’s sweet voice came on the phone. “Xav! Are you all right? What happened?”
He got a blinding rush of relief at the sound of her voice. “It’s all right. Someone threw a parting gift through the kitchen window. Fiona got a little something in one of her pots she won’t be too happy about, but fortunately, cast iron does a good job of containing an incendiary device.”
“I’m going to kill him,” Ash said.
“You can’t,” Xav said. “We don’t know that it was Wolf. Could have been the cartel. Dante and Tighe said you were taken by a couple of henchmen, and I didn’t know the asshole who tossed the cocktail. I didn’t get a good look at him.”
“It’s Wolf’s fault for bringing them here. He’s the reason the cartel got so dug in. He’s the reason everything has been screwed up for so long, for all of us. And will be for our children, all of our children. Galen, don’t try to stop me.”
“Galen? What just happened?” Xav said, as Galen came back on the line.
“Ash took off. She grabbed Jace’s horse and she’s gone.”
“I know where she’s going,” Xav said. “She’s going to the tunnels, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s thinking to set off that dynamite. Stay with her. I’ll catch up.”
He knew exactly what his bride-to-be would do.
* * *
ASH RODE HARD through the canyons to Sister Wind Ranch, snow flying from the horse’s hooves. She knew her brothers were hot on her trail and that was fine. They should be with her. This was the moment for which they had come to Rancho Diablo. Just knowing that someone had intended to burn it down—with her family in it—pushed her past the point of reason.
There was no forgiveness for Wolf now.
She leaped off Jace’s horse at the mouth of the tunnel she and Xav had gone in. Hurrying through the maze of cold dark passageways, she didn’t even try to be silent and unseen.
As she’d expected, Wolf was in the tunnel.
“Hello, niece.”
“Get out of my way, Uncle Wolf.”
He smiled. “You’re here because of my housewarming gift.”
Housewarming. He was laughing at her, at her family. “My children were in that house, you miserable scum. I don’t know why Grandfather won’t let us kill you. You have no soul.” She wanted to murder him in the worst way, felt her grandfather’s spirit settle over her, taking the edge off her boiling rage.
He shrugged. “Running Bear protects me because he is weak. My father is always hoping the prodigal son will come back to the family fold.”
“He certainly gave you enough chances to do so. Why didn’t you?”
“Because,” Wolf said, his voice deep with determination, “my brothers are in hiding. They can never claim anything. Everything will come to me. All that’s standing in my way is Running Bear—and you. Running Bear is old. He can’t last forever. And you,” Wolf said calmly, “you’re just a girl. And in spite of your brave words, you won’t go against Running Bear’s teachings. You won’t harm me.”
He smiled, confident and chilling.
“You could have killed my children,” Ash said. She thought about the gown burning away, a sure warning; she thought about the Diablos being trapped to be sold for God only knew what purposes, and she thought about this man almost killing Jace. She thought about her parents’ suffering and the Callahan cousins’, and she thought about the family life they’d never had—and she pulled out a gun and pointed it at Wolf’s boots. “Run.”
“You won’t shoot. All this dynamite will go up in a fireball.”
“Let’s not test her,” Xav said behind her. “She’s not in the best of moods. In fact, her mood is distinctly not favoring you at the moment. And neither is mine. So if she doesn’t get you, I probably will.”
Her brothers suddenly appeared around her.
“She doesn’t have to shoot you,” Dante said. “I’ll do it.” He drew a gun, as did his brothers.
Wolf’s eye widened. “You’d all die with me.”
“Then we’ll all go to Hell together. Run fast,” Xav said again, and Ash fired
one single shot between Wolf’s boots, and Wolf took off running.
“Follow him, Jace,” she said, her voice cold. “Everybody out of the tunnel. Get far, far away.”
“Let me handle this part, sister,” Jace said. “As you know, this is something of my specialty.” He looked at the neatly stacked contraband. “In fact, the Great Spirit probably let me live just so I could enjoy this moment.”
She nodded. “Give us to the count of sixty. And you get the hell out, too. Don’t piss me off by dying or getting some fingers blown off.”
They hurried from the tunnel, Xav pulling her along.
“The wedding’s going to seem a bit anticlimactic for you,” Xav said as they ran.
“Anticlimactic sounds heavenly.” She looked behind them, then mounted Jace’s horse. “Everybody ride like hell for the canyons.”
She glanced around for Wolf. Sure enough, his bony body was running as fast as he could in the chewed-up snow, hightailing it for safety.
She wanted to ride him down, but didn’t. Focused on the rules Grandfather had given them, reminding herself that his spirit resided inside her.
On a high mesa visible now in the dawning sun, she saw Grandfather, realizing she’d expected him to be there. Knew he would be there. He stared down at them, watching the battle unfold, waiting.
She turned, waiting for Jace to make it out.
“He’s going to be fine.” Xav pulled up beside her. “Fireworks are never going to seem quite the same after Jace sets his off.”
“Come on, Jace,” she murmured. “Get out of there.”
She saw Jace riding like the wind, galloping hard toward the canyons on the back of the silver mare, swifter than any horse she’d ever seen run.
“Go,” she said under her breath. “Come on!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, knowing it couldn’t be much longer before Armageddon let loose.
She glanced toward Wolf, seeing that he’d stopped, too, was watching behind him—then gasped when he raised a gun to his eye to fire on Jace.
