His smile slowly faded, replaced by an aloof look. “It’s a long story,” he warned. “And one that might seem unbelievable, sort of like a, er, fairy tale.
Which to her meant his story would be a fable. One big, fat, honking lie.
“Fine, then go.” She sighed, letting the familiar despair settle around her shoulders. Even his intense masculine beauty couldn’t take that from her. “I don’t really want to know anyway. Nice meeting you, Alrick.”
She turned to head back to the house, where she could lock the door and return to the grind of her daily chores. This ranch had been Liam’s dream and she had known next to nothing about farming or ranching when he’d died. Sometimes she missed Liam so much it felt like a she was moving through clouded water.
“Wait.”
Though she stopped, she didn’t turn around to look at him. His masculine beauty only reminded her of what she’d lost. Though no cover model look-alike, Liam had been everything to her. And more.
“If you want to pay me, what I really want is a – job.” He stumbled over the last word like it was unfamiliar.
“A job.” She couldn’t help turning around.
“Yes. Please. His long-lashed eyes appeared to glow. Damn he was beautiful. He made Carly, who’d never even picked up a brush, wish she knew how to paint.
Concentrate. She forced her mind back on track. “Then tell me the truth. What happened here this morning? What was that thing in the sky?”
Clearing his throat, he held her gaze. “I will tell you, if you really want to know.”
“Yes. I do.”
“The truth is – someone is trying to kill you. I’m here to protect you.”
Of all the things he could have said, that was not what she’d expected. She gaped at him and said the first thing that came into her head. “Why? Why would someone want to kill me?”
“Because you’re important.”
Kayo stood, tail wagging, tongue lolling from his mouth as he looked from one to the other.
“Important.”
“Yes.”
Right. Everyone was important, in their own way. With his non-answer, she found she could breathe again. That settled things. He was even crazier than she, and she was the one with the reputation. “Look bud, you’ve got to go.”
He didn’t move. “You don’t truly understand. Your life is in danger.”
“Riiight. Anyways, thanks for helping with my horse. And,” she waved her hand towards the door, “with the fireball thingee this morning. Bub-bye.” Spinning on her heel, she took off again.
He kept pace. “I’m not jesting.”
Maybe it was his odd choice of words, or maybe the thread of fear she heard in his tone, but she stopped. Again. Almost in the house, where she could lock the door and keep him out. Almost to safety. And she stopped. Pure stupidity.
Either way, with one hand on the doorknob, Carly stopped and looked at him over her shoulder. Kayo, her traitorous pet, stood by his side. “Are you on drugs?”
His amber eyes looked clear, unclouded. “Drugs? Of course not.”
“If you aren’t insane, and you aren’t on drugs, then…” She shook her head. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am. Utterly.”
What did he take her for, an idiot? Did he really think she’d buy his “you need me to protect you” story and let him stay on her ranch? She wanted to throw up her hands. “Why would anyone want to kill me?”
She continued without waiting for his answer. “Look, whatever you’re after, I don’t have it. I seriously don’t have any money.”
“And I seriously have no need for coin. Let me stay and help protect you. I will work. A roof over my head, food to eat, wine to drink. Those are the things I require.”
Strike two for him. At least she understood his angle now. From panhandling to outright mooching. She’d just bet he intended to work. “Hell no, you can’t stay in my house.”
“Why not?”
She gaped at him. “Because, because…”
He strode across the grass towards her. “You need me.”
“I do not.”
“Look around this place.” There was an odd gentleness to his tone. “Your fences are falling down, the barn needs painting and repairs, your fields—.”
“Stop. I know how crappy I am at running this place. My life has nothing to do with you.”
“You need my help.” At least he didn’t look at her chest when he spoke to her. She liked that in a man.
What the hell was she thinking? He was nuts, certifiably insane, possibly dangerous, and she was alone.
“Never mind.” She crossed her arms. “You can’t stay here. The place looks bad because I’m a widow. My problem, not yours. I work alone. I like it that way.”
“Your cannot possibly like,” he waved his hand towards her barn, “to live like this.”
Before Liam died, she might have felt hurt. Now, she simply didn’t care. “You know what, Alrick? You’re not only pushy, but rude. Thanks for helping with the horse, but you’ve got to go. Now.”
“I apologize. I meant no discourtesy.”
“And you talk weird.” Petty, she knew, but she felt the need to strike back, no matter how small.
He laughed, a rich masculine sound that made her chest ache. “You don’t like the way I talk?”
“You sound like a bad actor.”
“I forgot I wasn’t at court.” He took a step closer. “Now, you can use my help. Where else will you find such inexpensive labor?”
He had a point, but Carly held her ground. At least he wasn’t going on about people trying to kill her. “No.” His amazing looks might have temporarily stunned her, but she hadn’t totally lost her mind.
“I’ll train your horse, help out around this,” he continued on as if he hadn’t heard her. “farm. In return, you’ll let me sleep in the barn and let me protect you. Agreed?”
Agreed? What the hell? Bemused, she stared up at him. “I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone or something. Is there a camera hidden somewhere?”
“A camera?” He squinted at her as if she was the crazy one.
“Fine.” She sighed. “What’s this about someone trying to kill me?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve come to protect you.”
“Delusions of grandeur, I see. Protect me from what?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know.” She could tell that bothered him. Hell, she supposed it would bother her, if she believed him. “You don’t know who’s trying to kill me.”
“I know who. I don’t know what form the attacks will take. I know only that they will be magical.”
“Magical. This doesn’t sound magical to me.” She thought for a moment. “Ok, I’ll bite. Who? Who’s trying to kill me?”
“The Warlord. He’s from the future.”
“The Warlord from… This just keeps getting weirder and weirder.”
“I’ll defend you.” He repeated. “So I have sworn.”
An actor. She told herself not to soften. “You don’t even know me.”
“So?” His expression softened, the impatient arrogance fading from his face. “I’ll look after you.”
Right now she needed to get rid of him. “I’ll have to think about this. I need some time. Alone. To think.”
“Very well.” He reached down and petted Kayo, to the Border collie’s delight. “Will one hour be long enough?”
“One hour?” Even if she called 911 again, it would take the police nearly that long to make it out here.
“Two?” At her scowl, he sighed. “Why don’t you tell me how long you will need to decide?”
Right now she just wanted him to go. “I don’t know. At least a day. Possibly more.”
“You many not have that long.”
She took a step back. “Are you threatening me?”
“Not I. The Warlord.”
“The Warlord. Of course. I need at least to sleep on it. I’m not budging on
that.”
Alrick nodded once and turned to go. Shaking her head, Carly looked at her dog. Kayo gazed mournfully after the man, as though he might never see him again.
“You sure as hell seem to like him,” she groused. Kayo wagged his tail in agreement.
Chapter Two
ALRICK COULD feel the woman’s green eyes on his back as he forced himself to saunter away. Leaving her, even though every instinct told him Carly Roberts was still in danger. Grave danger, if the Mage of future Rune had foreseen correctly.
He felt oddly at home in the human world, though he’d previously made only a few, short trips here. Ever since Rune had started fading, traveling across the veil became more difficult. These days, the Fae mostly remained in Rune and left the humans alone.
Once he was out of sight of her home, he let himself sink to the ground, yanking off a stalk of grass to chew on. Carly Roberts puzzled him. She ran a ranch, yet she’d seemed afraid of her own, young stallion. Even the horse had sensed this, embellishing his own performance to play on her fears.
Alrick knew Carly worked her farm alone, yet had only one horse. He’d counted less than four cows roaming the dried and burnt fields. He had seen only her small garden, no crops growing in her neglected fields. Though she had a sheepdog, he’d seen no sign of sheep. He shook his head. This was no way to run a farm.
Yet, according to the Mage, this tiny, emerald-eyed woman with hair the color of flame held the future of Rune in her hand.
Alrick could scarcely credit such a thing. Yet he’d risked crossing the ever-thickening veil to reach this place. To reach her. And she clearly thought him crazy. He dug his hands into the dry, hard, clay and let the earth sift through his fingers. He’d been giving the task of saving a woman who did not want to be saved.
The task. When the Mage of a future Rune had appeared, asking help from the King, Alrick’s father had listened. And when his father had announced that one of his twin sons would need to cross the veil into the mortal world and guard a woman there, Alrick had promptly volunteered. Also, he’d suggested what had seemed like the simplest solution – bring the woman to Rune where she would be safe.
Both the Mage and Alrick’s father had promptly vetoed that idea. When Alrick had asked why, he’d been given some nonsense about messing with destiny.
Fine. So she had to stay in her own world. He would make this work. He would prove to his father he was fit to be named heir. Fit to be named heir, fit to become the next King of Rune. No harm would come to Carly Roberts, not while he lived and breathed.
As the blazing sun sank lower into the horizon, coloring the sky a brilliant red, Alrick made ready to rest. The night was cool and the breeze gentle. Carly would be safe, at least for this eve, for the Warlord had not remained.
At the first light of morning, Alrick stood and stretched, then crossed the unkempt fields to her farm, the place a hand-carved, crooked wooden sign proclaimed The No Name Ranch.
First, he inspected the perimeter, sniffing for telltale hints of magic, looking for magical signs left by the Warlord. Whatever energy sustained him, the Warlord had not yet fully made the transition to this time. They were safe, for now.
But the Warlord would return. Carly, and what she meant to his world in the future, was too important.
Her house still looked dark. Most likely she still slept. Her dog greeted him silently, tail wagging. Instead of presenting himself at her door, Alrick slipped into the barn, where the horse named TM waited. As soon as Alrick slid the warped wooden doors open, the young stallion whickered.
“You have not eaten?” Moving closer, Alrick looked around for the grain. “Perhaps your mistress yet slumbers.”
TM snorted his agreement, bobbing his well-shaped head up and down. Energy burned in him like a flame.
Finally, Alrick located some sort of feed. Made to look like green rabbit pellets, Carly kept the stuff stored in a large, faded plastic can. Inside was also a plastic scoop, for which he was grateful since Fae skin was burned by the touch of metal. He’d brought gloves just in case.
“He gets two of those.” Carly’s voice, still rusty with sleep, made him turn. “And two of the grain. He’ll have hay as well. That’s his regimen twice a day.”
Alrick could not take his eyes off her. With her tousled hair and sleep-swollen eyes, she looked at though she had just tumbled from some man’s bed.
He cleared his throat, forcing away the heat such thoughts brought. “May I feed him?”
She gave a short nod, sending her flaming curls flying. “Go ahead.”
Hope flared in his chest. Letting him tend to her horse sounded as though she’d decided to let him stay.
While he busied himself gathering the feed, he felt her eyes on him. She tracked his every movement, like a hawk watching a sparrow.
TM nickered his impatience, pawing at the ground.
“Be still,” Alrick ordered. Immediately the impatient young animal quieted.
Behind him, Carly snorted.
Once he dumped the pellet and grain mixture into TM’s feed trough, and the horse was munching happily, Alrick turned to face her, crossing his arms.
“Well?”
Swallowing, she looked away. “Where did you sleep last night?”
“Sleep? In the field beyond those trees.”
“Don’t you have a car?”
“A car.” He repeated the words, remembering. Metal machines. “I don’t have a car.”
“No pickup?”
Despite the fact Alrick had no idea what on earth a pickup might be, he shook his head. “I feel quite certain I don’t have one of those either.”
She frowned at that. “Either you do or you don’t. Are you homeless?”
“I have a home, though it’s a long journey to there.”
If anything, his words seemed to make her even more unhappy. Her frown deepened. “Hmmmm.”
He squared his shoulders and looked her in the eye. He felt like one of his father’s overlords, defending himself against some imaginary insult. He had his sword and his bow, though compared to the weapons of her world, they were nothing. And he had his magic.
“You’ve got to leave,” Carly said.
“Leave?” His heart sank.
“Yes. Now.” She pointed east, towards where the rising sun colored the clouds a bright pink. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. There are lots of other ranches in this area. I’m sure you can find one that’ll hire you.”
“Dragons teeth—.” He took another step closer, halting when she held up her hand.
“You’re creeping me out. Please just go.”
“But—.”
“Look, Rick, Al, whatever your name is. I don’t need any help.” She scrunched up her nose in such a way that he knew instinctively she was about to tell a big, fat, lie. “I have, er, six strong brothers. Football players, all. They come over every morning and help me work the ranch. As a matter of fact, they should be here any minute. You need to leave before they see you.”
He smiled. “What happened to the high school kids?”
Her mouth fell open and he knew she’d forgotten her earlier lie. “They are. High school kids. My brothers, that is.”
In his stall, TM reacted to the edge of hysteria he heard in Carly’s voice. He reared up, giving a shrill whistle, and kicked the padded side of the stall.
Alrick crossed to the stall door and pulled it open.
“Don’t go in there.” Carly actually sounded worried.
“He won’t hurt me.” He slipped inside the stall.
Showing the whites of his eyes, TM stood still, sides heaving, nostrils flaring.
Alrick spoke three short words, all in the old language, the one still used by animals.
TM let his breath out in a snort. He lowered his head, tilting it sideways so Alrick would have better access to his ears.
With a soft chuckle, Alrick obliged.
“I don’t know how you do that.” Carly’s voice sounded hus
hed, though he could still detect her simmering anger. And fear. Though why she would be afraid of him, he couldn’t fathom. Most women wanted to bed him, not chase him away.
But then the Mage had revealed Carly was not like most woman.
Alrick looked at her over the stallion’s lowered head. “I’ve spoken nothing but the truth. I told you I am skilled with horses, didn’t I?”
She nodded. “Yes, but I still can’t let you stay.”
“Why not?”
“I—.”
A crash sounded. Thunder in a cloudless sky? Alrick felt that familiar prickle along his skin that meant magic.
Magic? Here, now, again, so soon? Surely the Warlord realized how careful he had to be not to disturb the balance of this world. Awful disasters of weather had been known to occur as the result of misused magic in the human realm. Even coming from the future, the Warlord would know this as well. Most likely he simply did not care.
Carefully, Alrick left the horse’s stall and closed the door until it clicked.
“Did you hear—?” Carly pointed up, in the general direction of the sky.
Again he felt the hair on his arms raise. He cursed the Warlord, even as he sensed what was about to happen.
There was a flash as lightning struck the roof. A second later, another boom of thunder. The rear of the barn erupted in flames.
Alrick spun, pushing Carly away. “Get out,” he shouted.
She hesitated, her frantic gaze darting from TN to him and back again. “TM…”
“I’ll get the horse.” With another urgent shove, he pushed her towards the door. “Go. Now.”
Carly ran.
The fire spread quickly, devouring the dry wood like a starving demon.
TM screamed, panicked. Alrick tore off his tunic, running to TM’s stall. The stallion reared, the whites of his eyes and his flared nostrils showing his terror.
Alrick spoke in the old tongue, swearing to get the animal out safely. This quieted TM enough for Alrick to wrap his tunic around the horse’s head. Gripping his mane, Alrick prodded the stallion forward.
The roaring fire leapt along the roof, crackling. Close enough that Alrick felt the heat singe his hair. Thick black smoke billowed around them, stinging his eyes, tearing up his throat. Coughing, he tried again to make the stallion move. TM balked.
Lone Star Magic Page 2
