by Maddy Barone
Victoria stared at her, but the table blocked the view of her stomach. How far along was she? Why would Todd bring his pregnant wife along on this trip? That made her wonder how many kids Todd had. And where was First Mrs. Todd?
A voice called from outside the tent, and the door flap opened showing a dapper man of middle years carrying a medical bag. “Ladies, forgive my intrusion. The president sent me to take a look at one of his guests who was shot.”
All the women looked shocked. Victoria raised her hand. “It’s nothing, just a little scratch.”
The man moved forward. “I am Dr. Penrose. Is there a private room?”
In only a minute, Victoria, Renee, and Anna were in a part of the tent that was sectioned off by canvas hangings. Janelle and Gina plumped pillows on the three cots and left. The doctor was very deft and gentle and confirmed that the wound was clean and there was no reason that it wouldn’t heal completely. He put a fresh dressing on it and left. A few minutes later, Gina’s mom poked her head in and told them they should rest for a few hours. She would call them when it was time for the dinner.
Victoria didn’t think she would be able to sleep, but she must have, because when Renee jiggled her shoulder she found that three hours had passed.
“They brought our luggage,” Renee reported, pointing to two bags.
“They robbed the train,” Victoria muttered.
The clothes she had packed only this morning were wrinkled but clean. She dressed and sat on her cot, staring numbly at her hands. It was this morning that she had kissed Marty good morning. Their first morning as man and wife. Her hands clenched into fists. But not their last. She pounded her fists into her thighs. Not their last. Marty was alive. He and Colby had met up and were organizing a rescue right this minute. She refused to believe anything else.
Anna was staring at her with wide eyes. Victoria made herself relax and smile. The canvas wall twitched and Gina slipped in. She was wearing a dress. Victoria looked down at her jeans and sweater.
“I hope we’re not expected to dress for dinner.”
Gina sat on the cot and waved that off. “You can wear what you like.” She motioned Renee over and spoke in a very quiet voice. “He won’t want to marry you. You’re too old. So be sure to make him know how valuable you are. Give him a reason to keep you safe and healthy.”
“I heard he treats women well. Why wouldn’t he keep us safe and healthy?” Victoria asked.
“He has five thousand men here. Todd often gives women to them. They can’t slap or punch or kick a woman, and those women are given extra rations and other comforts, but is that what you want to do?”
“Hawk would kill them,” Renee said with certainty. But unease glimmered on her face.
“The entire clan will go to war.” Victoria shuddered at the thought. “They will anyway, after what’s happened to us.”
“Then be sure to make that plain.” Gina’s head lifted just as the wall twitched again.
“Georgina? It’s time for supper.”
“Coming, mom.” She lowered her voice. “Good luck.”
As she got up, Victoria reached out and snagged her sleeve. “Colby isn’t dead,” she whispered rapidly. “He escaped.”
Disbelief flared in Gina’s eyes, chased by hope.
“Georgina!”
“Coming, mom.”
Victoria and Renee walked out to the main room with Gina and her mom. The table there had expanded to seat twenty. President Todd was at one end, and Victoria recognized Major Ellis, the man called Bill, and Lieutenant Mott sitting at the table. When the men saw the ladies enter, they all rose to their feet. There were three stragglers who stood up a second later than the others. Victoria’s heart stopped.
Brother Saul and his two sons. What were they doing there? Hadn’t they been killed with the rest of the men on the train? Her eyes narrowed and her back teeth clamped together. Why are they smirking at me?
The president gave them a warm, welcoming smile. “You lovely ladies are the only thing we lacked to make this table beautiful. Please, sit down.”
Victoria almost protested when he indicated that she should sit on his right. Renee was on the other side of the table, two seats down. Suppressing anger, Victoria allowed the president to seat her. Gina was opposite her, obviously ignoring the pretty major beside her. Bill was on Victoria’s right, his uniform loaded with awards and badges. Brother Saul sat between Suzanne and Shelley, his two sons on the other side of the table. Victoria stared down at her plate to give herself a minute to control her anger.
Good grief. There wasn’t a plate. There were three, stacked on top of each other. And three forks, three knives, multiple spoons, three stemmed glasses, a little plate off to the side. Victoria didn’t even know what to do with all those plates. Or the glasses. Who needed so many anyway? She slid a glance over at Renee. Her aunt was glaring a hole into Brother Saul’s forehead.
“Allow me to introduce General William Atwater,” the president said politely, indicating the man called Bill.
“Charmed,” the general said in a bored voice.
“Likewise,” Victoria said.
“Let us begin,” the president announced.
A line of young men in military uniforms entered the tent, carrying large trays with shallow bowls filled with salad. One of them held a plate of leafy greens over her stack of plates. She removed the intricately pleated napkin sitting there, and he set her salad down. Victoria inwardly shook her head. The Saturday suppers at the Plane Women’s Eatery were fancy compared to the other meals they served, but nothing like this. Even if the Eatery had a zillion plates per meal, they couldn’t serve fresh greens in March because there weren’t any available at this time of the year. Unlike other vegetables, greens didn’t freeze or can well. How in the world did he get fresh greens in March?
But that wasn’t nearly as important as her other questions. She plastered a polite smile on her face and turned to the president. “Excuse me,” she began. “Why are the Allersens here?”
He cut her off with an imperiously lifted finger. “My dear, my dear,” he chided her. “Ladies do not speak unless they are first spoken to.”
The polite smile disappeared. “Seriously?”
“Absolutely. The mark of a true lady is that she speaks only to praise and uplift the men in her life.”
“Fu—”
The president’s hand closed tightly over hers where it gripped her fork. “And she never uses strong language.”
Victoria forced herself to loosen her grip on the fork. “Oh? And what do you think you can do about it? Shoot me?”
His smile was somehow chillingly sweet. “I won’t do anything to you. That is so crass, don’t you think? But consider your cousin.”
Her mind went immediately to Colby. “What about him?”
“Her,” he correctly gently. “The young innocent you left in your quarters at the back of the tent. Anna.”
Victoria’s lips felt stiff. “What?” was all she could manage.
“So young. So nubile.” He smiled as he poured wine into one of the goblets at her place setting. “The men in my army work hard for me. They deserve a reward. They won’t do her any lasting damage. She may even enjoy it.”
“Anna?” she croaked.
“Yes, indeed.”
“She’s just a kid,” she burst out. “And I thought you didn’t hurt women.”
“Certainly not. I wouldn’t be causing her any harm. You would be, with your wayward and disobedient mouth.”
Horrified rage shook her hands. She clenched them into fists in her lap and said nothing.
The president laughed lightly. “Well, perhaps she really is your cousin. General Atwater is convinced she is the daughter of Ryan McGrath.”
Under the heat of her glare the greens on her plate should be wilted. They weren’t. Even though she no longer had an appetite, Victoria forced herself to eat her salad. She would need all her strength to kill this megalomaniac. She was aware
of his stare resting on her, but she ignored him. He didn’t seem to like that.
“As to your original question,” he said smoothly, “Saul Allersen is an ally.”
Traitor.
“He has provided key intelligence to me in the past several months.”
Victoria lifted her head enough to shoot a glance at Renee. Her aunt was listening, tight-lipped.
The president leaned back so the uniformed server could remove his salad plate and replace it with fish. He waited until Victoria had also been served.
“He has given me valuable information on Omaha and the goings on there. For instance, news of the train departing this morning with so many delegates on board was delivered by the younger Allersens.”
That was why Jon and Tanner were nearly too late to get on the train. Victoria cut her fish with grim control. In her mind, she was cutting into the Allersens.
“I also know that you are the daughter of the chief of the Indian werewolves.” He delicately blotted his mouth with his napkin and laid it down to put a caressing hand over hers. “As my wife, you could be instrumental in forging a powerful alliance between your tribe and Kansas-Missouri. Do you see that?”
Did he see how easy it would be for her to impale his hand with one of the many knives lined up beside her plate? Someday he would die with shock rubbing that smarmy smile off his face, because he would never see her coming. She gritted her teeth behind a smile that probably looked more like a grimace.
After a pause, he said, “You may answer. In fact, since I asked you a question, you are required to answer.”
She unclenched her teeth. “Naturally, I’m flattered, but I’m already married.”
From down the table, Brother Saul cackled. “He’s dead, woman. You’re free to marry again. So sad. Married only one day, and already a widow.”
Victoria had to look down at her plate to hide the hate blazing in her. Brother Saul would die too. Marty wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be.
“Mr. Allersen, can’t you see the lady is grieving? Show some respect.”
Under the president’s cutting censure, Allersen dropped his eyes.
Todd turned back to Victoria. “Of course, you will need some time to mourn. You will be my honored guest until you accept my proposal.”
Until I accept, Victoria mused, hiding her disgust. Not if. Huh. You’ll be waiting until hell freezes over, moron. Pretending meekness, Victoria raised her gaze to him. “May I ask a question?”
“Certainly.”
“What happened when you met with Ryan McGrath this morning? You did meet with him, didn’t you?”
“Yes, we did meet with the mayor.”
Victoria put the last morsel of fish in her mouth to keep from prodding him. Her empty plate was whisked away and a plate of steak replaced it. The president poured a different wine in another of her glasses. She eyed it warily. She drank very little. Was he trying to get her drunk? She picked up the goblet of water instead.
“You asked what happened when we met.” The president smiled at her over his wine glass. “Not very much, actually. I believe he is stalling. Trying to buy time.”
“Waiting for some of the delegates to send him reinforcements.” Brother Saul chuckled smugly. “He will be waiting a long time for help.”
Victoria noticed that no one else at the table was talking. Everyone was listening to them. “Because the delegates on the train were murdered.” She tried so hard to sound calm that her voice was flat. “Won’t it be hard to form alliances with cities whose leaders you ki— er, died?”
“That might be a problem if I wanted alliances with those cities.” The president waved that away. “But I don’t. They don’t offer anything of value in an alliance. They simply belong to me now.”
Victoria visualized punching the president in the mouth. Casting a glance down the table to Mott, whose mouth was still swollen, gave her a sliver of satisfaction. “But the tribe has something valuable enough to you to make an alliance worthwhile?” She purposely used the word tribe, although they called themselves the Clan. She wouldn’t give him anything, not even their correct name.
“Certainly. They will be fierce fighters in my army.”
After you murdered Colby and stole me and Renee? Victoria swallowed a bite of meat. “I wouldn’t count on it, if I were you.”
He smiled that gentle, sweet, evil smile, the one so like Lieutenant Mott’s. Does he teach it to all his men? she wondered. Is it part of their training?
“Oh, I am counting on it,” he said mildly. “If they ever want to see you or Mrs. Wolfe again, they will join me. I understand that a few of your werewolf relatives are still in Omaha.”
It was hard, but Victoria didn’t shoot a scowl down the table at the Allersens. She paid very close attention to slicing into her steak.
Todd looked at the man beside her. “General Atwater, arrange for an additional honor guard for the ladies. They’ll make an appearance at the parley tomorrow morning. A brief one, so the gentlemen from Omaha can see that the ladies are safe in our care. Miss Anna will be included, of course. I think seeing her will help Mayor McGrath come to the right decision.” He stroked her arm with his fingertips. “Be sure to go to bed early, my dear. You’ll want to look your best tomorrow.”
While Victoria tried to force her emotions into some kind of control, dessert was served. She took pleasure in the fact that the sponge cake was leaden and the canned strawberries were soggy. Anna’s brownies last night had been much better.
Last night? It was only last night that she had held hands with Marty under the table at the McGraths’ house and eaten a home cooked meal less fancy than this one but so much better. Just twenty-four hours ago she had repeated the words that made them legally man and wife in the world of the townspeople.
Where was he now? Was he in Omaha, organizing a rescue? Or had he returned to Kearney to bring help? Hurry, Marty, she thought. I need you.
Chapter Twelve
Marty ran. The jagged edges of his heart stabbed him with every stride, but he ran. He had left his nephew, the man who was the brother of his heart, wounded behind him. Ray couldn’t run. He hadn’t even been awake. It tortured Marty to leave his nephew, but he knew Ray would want him to leave him to fetch help. He had taken only enough time to pull Ray away from the other dead men and build him a slight shelter so scavengers wouldn’t get him. He would return for Ray as soon as he could, but right now he had a mate to save. He had to get her back, and he couldn’t do it himself. He needed help, so he left Ray behind and ran.
A mountain cat could cover a lot of ground even when bullets had torn chunks out of his chest and hip, even when a bullet had cut a groove in his skull. It hurt, but he ran because he had a mission. He was going to save Victoria, and punish the men who had stolen her and murdered so many from the train. The railroad tracks would lead him to where he needed to go, so he followed them with all the speed he could force from his broken body. Through the mud created by the early spring sun, he ran. When the mud turned to ice as the sun fell, he ran. He didn’t have time to baby himself, not if he was going to find the help he needed to save Victoria. With that thought alone in his mind, he ignored the pain of his wounds and followed the tracks to the place he knew he would find help.
“It’s cold this morning,” Gina commented. She curved her hands around a mug of coffee and shivered. “I don’t like living in tents.”
Victoria sat beside her at the table that had shrunk overnight. “I’ve spent most of my life living in a tent. I don’t mind it.”
Gina sipped coffee that steamed in the chilly air. “Last night you said something about Colby.”
Victoria looked around the main room of the harem tent, but no one was around except for her, Gina, Renee, and Anna. They were going to be paraded around in front of the men from Omaha in a few hours. It was past nine in the morning, and the other women were still in bed. Victoria couldn’t imagine sleeping that late. But any of them could come in at any time, so
she lowered her voice, knowing that canvas dividers wouldn’t keep them from being overheard.
“Colby jumped out of the truck on the way here,” she whispered. “He’s alive.”
Gina’s hands fell limp to the table. “How can he be? I saw him. He was dead.”
“I thought so too.” Victoria looked at Renee for confirmation, and the older woman nodded. “I don’t know how, but he survived. He’s a wolf warrior. They heal quickly.”
Gina closed her eyes and let out a trembling sigh. “I’m glad, but it doesn’t make any difference. He can’t take me to his family now.”
“He’s a wolf warrior. You’re the mate his wolf chose.” Victoria drank coffee. “You haven’t seen the last of him. He’ll get you out of here.”
Gina shook her head slowly. “It’s impossible. You’ve seen what it’s like. And now you’re stuck here too.”
Renee snorted. “You don’t know the Clan.”
Voices came from outside the tent. Major Ellis entered. “Miss Gina, you look beautiful this morning.” He nodded to the rest of them. “I’m glad you’re awake. President Todd wants us to be ready to leave in ninety minutes.”
Eighty minutes later Victoria, Renee and Anna were in the back of a truck. Victoria had been reunited with her coat, which must have been picked up when the Kansas-Missouri soldiers scavenged the train. There were six soldiers in the truck with them, and an entire fleet of trucks growled around them. Victoria put her hand under her nose to try to hold off the fumes.
“Ugh,” she said to Renee. “I hope this won’t take long.”
“About half an hour,” one of the soldiers shouted cheerfully, but before he could say more the trucks roared to life, drowning out anything else.
There must have been at least forty trucks in this convoy, and the noise they made and the tracks they left would make it easy to track them. Victoria wondered where they get enough fuel for so many vehicles. Todd must not be worried about keeping the location of his camp a secret. If each of these trucks held ten soldiers each, the President would have about four hundred troops with him at the parley, which left his camp still well protected by the rest of his soldiers. Victoria wanted to say something to Renee about it, but between the noise and the jolting she lost interest in trying to say anything. She amused herself by imagining how much fun it would be to punch Todd right in the teeth.
