Cowboy from the Future

by Cassandra Gannon

  Her mouth dropped open. “Are you seriously flirting with me, before you go off to a gunfight? Seriously?”

  Cade shrugged. “Your hair does look nice.” He said in way of an answer and slipped out of the house before she could come up with a halfway intelligible response.

  Addy stared after him. Crap. She was definitely engaging with that idiot.

  ***

  “One of us will die, if we do this.” Cade called and wished the damn fight was over with already. “Are you sure you want to start the count? We can still walk away.”

  Werd Carriollo stood at the other end of the street, his hand poised above his honuel band. “Oh, one of us will die alright, Voltyn! And it’ll be you. My family won’t rest until we have justice!”

  Werd was a rangy man with a graying beard and clothes he never bothered to wash. There wasn’t a doubt in Cade’s mind that he’d trade all six of his brothers for an opportunity to shoot Cade in the head. The Carriollos hated him nearly as much as the sheriff. Then again, in Shadow-of-the-Gods, being Cade’s enemy wasn’t exactly an exclusive club.

  Cade sighed. He had no idea why he’d even bothered to suggest they avoid bloodshed. He always tried to talk the other guy out of the honuel, but they never took him up on the offer. “Alright.” He agreed mildly and hoped to the gods that Addy wasn’t watching this. “You want to count it down or should I?”

  “One!” Werd bellowed.

  Men were lining the streets, waiting to see the carnage. A good honuel always brought out the crowds. Shaking his head, Cade braced his feet apart and prepared to take another life.

  Sometimes he hated Shadow-of-the-Gods.

  Actually, no. He always hated Shadow-of-the-Gods. He hated that he’d had to raise his brothers in such a shithole, because there was nowhere else to go. Hated the selfish, cruel people who lived there. Hated the bigotry and violence they embraced with religion fervor. Hated that he woke up every day and started the same never-ending cycle of hopelessness all over again.

  And it was worse since Addy came.

  Until he met her, Cade hadn’t noticed the lack of color and the despair that coated his world. Miserable as he was, he’d become inured to his bleak surrounding. Then, this shining creature appeared in his life and everything changed. It was so much easier to see the dirt after he’d gazed at something clean. So much harder to return to the miserable grays, after he’d stood for a moment in the brilliant gold of Adeline’s aura. She was changing things that couldn’t be changed back.

  What the hell was he going to do when she left?

  “Two!” Werd shouted, his hand poised above his hips.

  The honuel belt was a leather holster that fit around the waist, with laz-guns on either side. On the count of four, each man would both draw, and shoot both weapons, and whoever was left standing was declared the winner. It was so fucking pointless.

  “Three!” Werd paused for a beat, his grubby face creasing into a smirk. “I’m going to enjoy this, Voltyn.”

  Cade wasn’t.

  He never enjoyed killing. As soon as Werd was shot, it would begin. The man’s dull aura was going to come alive with jarring, painful orange as the blast impacted his chest. As he fell and knew he was doomed, yellow splotches of fear would bloom. Then, as he bled out, his aura would fade from the outside in, like it was being eaten away by devouring bugs. Until finally, Werd would go still and the halo that surrounded all living things would be no more.

  Only Cade would witness it happen, but that wouldn’t make it any less horrible. Seeing a person turn into a thing was one of the worst parts of being a Voltyn.

  “Once you’re in the ground, I’ll be visiting that fvreing hot redhead you got in your saloon.” Werd continued with a suggestive leer. “See if she’s as ripe as she looks.”

  “Do not talk about Adeline.” Cade warned quietly.

  “Bitch needs to be fucked by a human, so she knows what she’s missing in bed with a freak like you.”

  Cade’s eyes narrowed. “Just call it and let’s get this over with.”

  “FOUR!” Werd screamed, grabbing for his laz-guns.

  On the other hand, one of the best parts of being a Voltyn was having really good reflexes. Both of Cade’s weapons were free of the honuel belt and firing before Werd even drew his from the holster. The laser blasts slammed into Werd just like Cade knew they would. The man fell back, just like Cade knew he would. And his aura slowly disappeared… just like Cade knew it would.

  The crowd grew silent as Werd died in muddy snow. Everyone gathered to watch the honuel had been voting for him to kill Cade, but no one was particularly sad to see Werd die instead. Folks in Shadow-of-the-Gods weren’t a sentimental bunch. Shrugging in dismissal and muttering about the lackluster fight, they went meandering back into their business, leaving Werd’s dead body where it lay.

  Cade let out a weary sigh, turning back to the saloon. He knew Addy was going to be standing on the porch, even before he saw her. The woman was incapable of doing anything he asked. He stared up at her, hating that she’d just watched him kill someone. Hating that she saw this place for what it really was. Hating that he was just bred to kill and defend, without the softness she deserved.

  “I told you I was dangerous.” He said quietly.

  Green eyes were damp with compassion. “Come inside, Cade.” She whispered. “It’ll be alright. Just come inside.”

  “Someone’s gotta dig a grave for him.” He gestured towards Werd, not meeting Addy’s gaze. “The ground’s frozen and he’s an ass. Was an ass. Nobody else will bother.”

  “Jacobi and Deke will do it.” Addy held out a palm to him. “You come with me, now.”

  She had the most beautiful hands he’d ever seen. Cade had been insane to ever question the point of the frivolous purple paint on her nails. No matter what it cost, it was worth it. Addy should have pretty things. Soft things. She should be surrounded by nothing but peace and sunlight. She deserved that.

  A lady this pure shouldn’t be in Shadow-of-the-Gods, where men died in the street. The death and grime and gloom of this place would destroy her. Fuck. Had he even for one second imagined that he might be able to keep her? That he could somehow be worthy of such a gentle creature?

  He was such a godsdamn fool.

  Cade stepped back, away from the comfort she offered. “I’m fine.” He told her, even though he wasn’t. “Just stay in the house. Stay away from me.”

  “Cade, wait!” She called, but he was already walking away.

  Chapter Five

  And don’t think the fun ends at sundown!

  Every day wraps up with a fun-filled sing along and rousing campfire.

  (Caution: DO NOT light rousing campfires without glamping-ranger supervision.)

  Brown’s Glampling Tours Official Pocket Guide

  Addy had read somewhere that NASA had shot a recording of Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 into space. It was one of the artifacts that they thought would show the universe the heights of human achievement.

  Apparently, Bach worked for communicating with future cowboys, too. Well, that and all the piano lessons she’d taken, during her “musical phase.” In her continuing search for something that clicked with her, tenth-grade-Addy had decided to be a pianist. The phase didn’t last long, since she’d kept blowing off practice to watch afternoon soaps, but she could still play better than your average Shadow-of-the-Godsian. Cade’s bar didn’t have a baby grand, but it did have that harpsichordy-violinish instrument and Addy had been glued to its bench for over a month.

  She drew an audience every night.

  The sounds it made were lighter and sweeter than a piano, but it worked the same way and it reminded her of home. At first, she’d only played it when she was alone, trying to recall every song she knew. After a while, though, she stopped worrying people watching her. She had more on her mind than some smelly miners, so let them eavesdrop if they wanted.

  Every night, she played whatever music she could dredge
from her memory banks and the whole town seemed enthralled. It was weird to be at the center of so much attention. In fact, it made her uncomfortable, so Addy tried to ignore the men. She was playing the not!piano for herself not for them.

  Mostly, the men ignored her, too. Or at least they didn’t talk to her. About her sure. She could piece together bits of their fractured language (although she usually preferred not to) and she knew they liked to discuss her hair and body and eyes and pretty much everything else from the feet up. But, they didn’t come close to her. Not with the Westins around.

  And they were always around.

  When she went into town, one of them was right beside her. Not that she left the tavern often, but, when she did, Jake, Deke, or Cade played bodyguard. Addy didn’t feel safe anywhere that they weren’t. Shadow-of-the-Gods was just about the worst place she could imagine. Every day, she was poised for more weird laws and bloodshed, and she wasn’t usually disappointed. She was very grateful for the Westins.

  …No matter grouchy Cade became.

  Her huge, brooding, unwilling landlord continued to catalogue every move she made, like he was her probation officer. Ever since his Wild Bill shootout in the street, Cade had been surlier than ever. He was clearly trying to avoid her, which wasn’t so easy since they lived in the same house.

  When he did speak to her, it was usually to complain about the “disruptions” she caused. But, he’d yet to change the locks on her, so Addy ignored his grousing and focused on the fact that he always watched out for her. Whenever one of his customers got too close, he’d snarl the same one word warning to them and they’d scurry back to the safety of their rickety chair. Addy had no idea what “nynan” meant, but she knew he said it to protect her and it made her feel safe.

  With Cade Westin, actions were a lot more important than words.

  Jacobi wasn’t nearly so anti-social. Unlike his grumpy sibling, Jake liked to chat. Aside from gambling, stories were his favorite way to pass the time. Any kind of story. When he wasn’t demanding that she tell him about her life, he was telling her about his. Jake was the one who’d explained more of future history to her, although he seemed baffled as to why she didn’t already know it.

  That “flash” thing had wiped out everything, knocking civilization back to the Stone Age. Addy assumed it was some sort of nuclear blast, but she had no idea who’d started it or which side had won. As far as she could piece together, it must have happened about five or six hundred years after her time. She’d tried asking Jacobi more about it, but he squinted at her like she was deranged and she dropped the topic.

  Jacobi was far more interested in where she’d come from. The kid continued to pepper her with all kinds of questions about the wondrous metropolis of Yellowstone. Since, Addy couldn’t very well tell him the truth about her life, she made it all up. Lying didn’t come easy to her and it was hard to keep her stories straight, at first. But then she’d hit on a fabulous idea: Television!

  Instead of creating her own lies, Addy let professionals do it for her. She’d seen enough reruns of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman to recount a few Western-y plots. Mostly Addy watched ‘80s TV shows, but Dr. Quinn was close enough that she owned the DVDs. So long as no one asked her to midwife any babies or treat a rattlesnake bite, everything should be fine. Jacobi was Jane Seymour’s biggest inadvertent fan.

  She was less comfortable with Deke. As far as Addy could tell, the middle brother spent all day every day, staring out the window, waiting for someone to attack. She still wasn’t clear on who he’d been fighting in the Wilderness War, but it really didn’t matter. It was more than just his missing arm leaving him wounded. Clearly, no one in Shadow-of-the-Gods was giving him adequate mental health counselling, because the man seemed to be struggling with his memories of battle. Why didn’t somebody help him? It was so wrong that…

  Crap. She was engaging, again.

  Her plan to treat the Westins like passing acquaintances at an airport lounge got harder every day. Even when she knew it was a mistake to like them, she liked these guys. They were exactly how she’d always pictured a real family. Well, maybe not exactly, but damn close. They fought and complained and loved each other. It was getting way too easy to feel like she was a part of their dysfunctional bond. Like she had a place with them.

  It was a really bad idea to get so attached.

  Addy closed her eyes, pretending no one else was in the room. Her fingers flew across the keys, one note pouring out on top of another. Mrs. Baines, her old piano teacher, would’ve been pleased that she remembered at least one classical piece.

  Plus, Addy was playing with more confidence than she ever had, because who cared what the music sounded like in this place? For all intents and purposes, she now preformed the greatest concertos in the world. Her father might have sadly shaken his head at her musical efforts, but no one in Shadow-of-the-Gods had ever heard of Bach. She could’ve been cranking out a McDonalds’ jingle for all they knew.

  Christ, she missed McDonalds.

  She finished the piece in a flurry of sound, messing up countless times. Hell, she forgot the whole middle part. Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 was hard enough when the music was right in front of her. She still thought it sounded passable, though. Dead silence filled the bar as the imperfect music faded away, everyone staring at her.

  “My gods.” Cade finally whispered from behind the bar.

  Addy pushed the sonically-cleaned hair back from her face and glowered over at him. “It wasn’t that bad.” She snapped. Everyone was a critic.

  Lavender eyes stared back at her, not saying anything. It was impossible to read what was going on behind the flawless lines of his face. Cade finally shook his head and glanced away with a frown. He did that a lot. Anytime he was forced to spend time in the same room as her, he seemed uncomfortable and churlish.

  Addy shot him another scowl. Every hour she was stuck there, the man got better looking. He was so much wow!-er than everyone else, that it didn’t even surprise her that his DNA carried some special, sparkly enhancement. Even in this weather, he was tan, the golden color of his skin setting off the bright purple of his eyes and the blue-black shine of his hair. The lanterns flickering overhead highlighted the planes of his incredible cheekbones. Back in reality, he’d be posed shirtless on a billboard, selling expensive sporting goods to stockbrokers who wanted to pretend they could be half so masculine.

  And Deke seriously thought this guy was attracted a Jenny Craig dropout?

  “That one was the best song yet, Addy.” Jacobi called, jolting her from her hourly session of Cade staring. “Was that by those great artists you were telling me about?”

  Jake was sitting at a lopsided table, playing a Texas-hold’em-mixed-with-Go-Fish card game with three scruffy miners. The brim of his tri-corner cowboy hat was tilted back at a jaunty angle. If she wasn’t mistaken it was made of lizard-y green sanbor skin. And --geez-- she hoped she was mistaken, because ick.

  “No, Duran Duran didn’t write the Brandenburg Concerto.” She told him. “It was composed by a man named Johann Sebastian Bach a very long time ago.”

  “Stupid name, but the guy had some talent on the vianorgan. Not many folks do, anymore. That one there belonged to our grandmother.” Jacobi gestured to the not!piano, easily falling into conversation.

  For all his seeming good humor, he was still sending Cade wary looks every few minutes, though. Ever since that duel thing, Jacobi had been feeling guilty. Addy could read it on his face. The kid knew that he’d disappointed Cade and he idolized his big brother. Cade hadn’t mentioned the fight since it happened, but Jake still blamed himself.

  Of course, that didn’t stop him from playing cards. Jacobi had informed her that he was the family screw up, so maybe he had to keep up appearances. Or maybe he didn’t know he could be anything more.

  Shadow-of-the-Gods was a boring place for someone so young, so Jake was always looking for a distraction. She just wished he didn’t usually find it with dis
reputable gamblers. The confrontation with the Caroillos hadn’t slowed him down and his idiot brothers weren’t stepping in to stop him. They’d apparently never seen Silverado or they’d know it was the reckless kid who wound up dead.

  …Or had Kevin Costner’s character lived at the end of that movie? She couldn’t remember anything except the part with the dog.

  Well, either way, Jacobi needed to do something worthwhile with his time. He needed to know he could. Since Shadow-of-the-God didn’t have a public school system, Addy settled for teaching him to dance. She’d gone through a full year of dance classes, thanks to her middle school crush on Patrick Swayze. Jake was willing to relive them with her, even in the face of Cade and Deke’s eye rolling.

  She was also teaching him to play the not!piano, although, he was absolutely terrible at it. Once she remembered anything about algebra or Shakespeare, she’d teach him that, too. Someone really did need to take the kid in hand before he ruined his life and…

  Crap. She was still engaging.

  “Yeah, Grandmother was a real lady.” Jake continued without even a hitch. Most of the time, all three brothers spoke to each other in English around her and their proficiency in it was improving way faster than she was picking up their language. “Just like you, Addy.”

  Addy made a face at that designation. To her mind, ladies did needlepoint and drank lemonade under lacy parasols. Addy took Judo in college. Granted, she’d only signed up for it, because the instructor was incredibly hot and she’d needed the course credit. Still, Judo was a badass thing to do and ladies were rarely badass. She didn’t mind when Cade called her ‘lady,’ because he seemed to use it like a nickname, but she needed to be clear on the facts.

  “I’m not a lady.” No way. The only way she would survive this experience was to be as badass as possible.

  Jacobi grinned, like she’d said something funny. “Yeah, okay.” He agreed in a humoring tone. “I’m just saying that nobody’s touched that instrument for a decade or more, until you came along.” He gestured to the not!piano. “Not since the performers with the traveling show borrowed it that one summer. They put on a musical in the assembly hall, remember, Cade?”