Ever since his father impregnated a Voltyn woman, a pall of shame and hopelessness had settled over the family. Nothing could dispel the stigma of his birth. Not his mother dying in childbirth or his father marrying a cold and pious human. Addy had no idea about Voltyn, though. Hell, she didn’t even know how to pronounce Voltyn. The girl was quite possibly the only person in the world with no hatred for his race. Being near her was like getting washed clean. Every time Cade saw her, the click grew louder and louder.
…And he grew more certain that he needed to get rid of her before it was too late.
“Adeline.” He called and hated himself. “Someone’s here to see you.”
“Moron.” Jacobi muttered in disgust.
Deke shook his head and went back to staring out the window. “You’ll regret this, Cade. You should’ve just asked her to stay.”
Godsdamn it.
“I was about to come back down on my own.” Addy bounded down the stairs. Her compliance had lasted a full thirty seconds longer that Cade thought it would, so he supposed she deserved some credit. “I needed to see Tony the Tiger up close.” Her eyes locked on Hugo’s cat-whiskered mustache, like it fascinated her. “I mean, damn. That thing is epic.”
Hugo’s jaw sagged. He might have been told she was “a real looker,” but there was no preparing for Adeline Mulhaney. She’d been borrowing Jacobi’s old clothes, so she’d have something clean to wear. The lush curves of her body filled out the pants and flannel shirt in ways that defied the laws of gods and men. Someone would have to be blind not to stare.
Cade’s eyes flicked over to Hugo and wanted to slaughter the son of a bitch, anyway.
“This is the mayor, Addy. He wanted to meet you.” Jacobi shot Cade a sideways look, gauging his reaction to Hugo’s gaping. “This is your fault.” He mouthed.
Cade ignored that and moved from behind the bar, so he was between Hugo and Addy. He couldn’t stop himself.
“He’s your mayor?” Addy’s gaze stayed on Hugo’s fashionable facial hair. The feline look was all the rage in the bigger cities. Even Cade knew that. But, she couldn’t seem to tear her eyes off of the half-foot wide whiskers sticking off the sides of Hugo’s face. “Someone voted for a guy who looked like this?”
“I didn’t.” Deke intoned, still staring into the night. “Bigoted fuck.”
“I’m Mayor Hugo Wode, ma’am.” Hugo squeaked out in a too-high voice. Then, he remembered she didn’t understand their language. “I mean,” he cleared his throat, speaking very slowly, “Greetings beautiful cow. You bring much Wednesday to our jungle.” He gave a gallant bow. “I am the ardent groper, Hugo Wode.”
This time Jacobi didn’t bother to hide his snickering.
Addy blinked. “Um… thank you.” She was always lady, even in the face of idiots. “I’m Adeline Mulhaney.”
Hugo tried to edge closer to her, but Cade blocked his path. Hugo was too far gone to notice. “I had heard of your sausage, but you are…” Hugo trailed off and looked at Cade, switching back to their dialect. “Quick, how do I say ‘more lovely than I dreamed’ in her language?”
Cade’s teeth ground together. He lowered his voice, so only Hugo could hear.
“Warts cover my ass.” Hugo obediently repeated to Addy in a breathless tone.
Deke honest-to-the-four-gods burst out laughing. The guy hadn’t laughed since the Wilderness War, but now he was roaring with hilarity. Jacobi wasn’t much better. The kid’s head was on the table as his shoulders shook uncontrollably. It occurred to Cade that he’d never made his brothers laugh before.
Addy’s eyes went wide. “Okay. Good to know.” She looked over at Cade and her mouth curved. “You may have given him the wrong translational there.”
He loved to see her smile. “Voltyn have no sense of humor, so such a petty act is impossible.”
Hugo ignored their chatter. “A woman like this cannot be staying here.” He sputtered, regaining a bit of brainpower. “She deserves to be in a respectable place. Look at her!” He swept a hand at Addy’s perfect body. “Mizusa Mulhaney is clearly a lady. What would it do to her reputation if word got out she’d shared a house with you?”
Cade had known this would happen, but rage still filled him. “She is a guest in the hotel. Nothing more.”
Hugo ignored that. “It simply won’t do. I think I’d better take her home with me. Much more appropriate…”
“No.”
The word was out before Cade could stop it. Now that the moment was here, he couldn’t let Addy just walk away. Something rose up inside of him, revolting at the very idea. It couldn’t be emotion, since Voltyn didn’t feel. But, whatever it was, it trumped every rational thought in his head, driving out logic. Addy brought sunlight to his dark life. He needed her.
Deke and Jacobi turned to look at him in proud surprise. Anytime he made his little brothers proud of him, he had to be doing something right, right?
Shit, what was he doing?
Hugo’s round face suffused with color. “You cannot… A woman like this will never…” He was too flustered to even form sentences. “See here, Cade, you must be reasonable about this. You’re a Voltyn. You know how this looks.”
Addy’s gaze cut between them, sensing the escalating tension. “Now what?”
“Hugo wants to take you to his house.” Jacobi volunteered. “He doesn’t like you being with Cade.”
“Why not?” Only she would have to ask something so obvious.
“He thinks a Voltyn is unsuitable company for a lady.” Jacobi shot Cade a quick look and loyally added. “But, he’s wrong, Addy. Really. You belong here with us. Cade isn’t going to hurt you or…”
Addy cut off that spirited defense of Cade’s honor. “Oh Lord, this again?” She whirled back around to Cade. “Just tell him I’m not a lady. I know you keep calling me that, but I’m really not. Ask my father. He’s always saying I’m a scatterbrain and embarrassment. I got drunk at my own cotillion and threw up on my date’s shoes. That’s not what a lady would do.”
Cade’s attention stayed on Hugo, considering what was best for Addy. What the hell was he doing? The mayor had a point. It really would be impossible for her to recover if her name was linked to a Voltyn. She might not understand that, but Cade did. How could he ask her to stay with him and ruin her whole life?
He let out a long breath. “Hugo has the largest home in the polis, Adeline. It is warmer and more luxurious than your room here. You’d be very comfortable there. And if you stay with him, you will meet people from your own world.”
“I seriously doubt that.”
“Perhaps not quite so refined as you’re used to, but he is the richest man around. He’s a better companion for you, until spring.”
“No, I am the richest person around.” Addy corrected. “Or at least Brian is.”
Cade had serious doubts that “Brian” even existed. Just so the man didn’t have designs on Addy, he didn’t much care, though. “Adeline, you must…”
She cut him off. “Damn it, didn’t we settle this? Look, I’ll give you more money, if that’s what it takes to stay. Lots more. I know you want me gone, but I can pay you double. I swear.”
“She doesn’t want to go.” For the first time since the Wilderness War, white swirled into Deke’s murky aura. Hope. Adeline had done that. “I knew I was right about her.” He glanced at Cade. “What the fuck are you doing, trying to sabotage this? Let the woman decide what she wants.”
“She doesn’t know what she wants.” Cade retorted. Godsdammit, why didn’t she understand the simplest things? “Adeline, it is not about the money. It would just be better for you if you weren’t… connected to me.”
“It would be better for you, you mean.” She shot back, her face reflecting outrage and betrayal. How could she possibly have turned this around so he was the one being unreasonable? “I know you wanted me gone at the beginning, but I thought we were getting closer. I thought…” Addy trailed off and green eyes glittered wi
th hurt tears. “Don’t you like me?” She asked in a confused voice.
Gods, she was going to gut him, if she kept it up. “I like you too much, lady.” Cade whispered helplessly. “For your own sake, you have to go.”
“No. I’m holding you to our deal. It’s best for me to stay here and you promised I could. I don’t even know this guy!” She waved a hand at Hugo. “Deke says he’s a bigot. Didn’t you say that, Deke?”
“I did say that. And he is.”
“You see?”
Cade let out a long sigh. “That may be true, but Hugo’s not bigoted towards you.”
“Oh, like that makes it so much better.” She scoffed, wiping at her eyes. “So, I should pal around with bigots, because they haven’t turned on me, yet? Is that who you think I am?” She leaned closer to him, her voice going serious. “I was the fat kid in school, Cade. The one nobody wanted to play with and who even the teachers picked on.”
Cade couldn’t imagine there would ever be a place where Adeline wasn’t treasured. It didn’t seem possible. Yellowstone must be the dankest hole in the universe to not see her glow.
“I know the Voltyn prejudice here is even worse,” she continued, “but do I understand at least some of it. I know what it feels like to be left out and picked on. No one deserves that, certainly not you. It doesn’t matter what anybody else in this town thinks. I am on your side, Cade. They can just hate both of us, if they want to be idiots.”
It took him a moment to find words. The woman was going to drive him to his knees. “You’re speaking as if some battle is being waged. It isn’t. This fight is long over and the humans have won. Stand with them or you’ll suffer their wrath, too. It’s impossible to change the way things are.”
She met his gaze dead on. “If we don’t try to change the impossible, then nothing would ever change.”
Cade’s hands grew hot and he shoved them into his pockets to hide his reaction to her words.
“What is she saying?” Hugo demanded, glowering at Cade. “She seems upset. Have you upset her?”
“She’s upset at the idea of leaving Cade.” Jacobi corrected quietly. Adeline’s speech must have affected him too, because he was regarding her in something like wonder. “She wants to stay with him.”
Hugo’s eyes bugged. “She wants to stay with a Voltyn? No. That’s impossible. She must not understand.” That was true, but it still pissed Cade off to hear someone else say it. Hugo focused on Addy with a repressive frown and switched to her language. “Cade is… bad… manatee. You… stout… me… instead… for… laundry.” He held out a hand and gestured for her to come close.
Addy shook her head and moved back from him. That forest green gaze turned up to Cade, full of trust that he’d done nothing to earn. From the moment she’d walked into his bar, she’d been expecting him to act as a human would. And not just any human, but the kind of honorable man who didn’t exist outside ridiculous mermaid stories. “Don’t let him take me away. Please.”
Deke and Jacobi were both staring at him, waiting to see what he’d do. Even Hugo hesitated, looking at Cade for some clue as to how they should proceed.
Cade squeezed his eyes shut.
Fuck.
This was going to be a disaster. Every time Addy said “please,” the argument was over, though. He had absolutely no defense against it. No one had ever asked him for anything using that word before. Not even his brothers. It was a human word. Using “please” with a Voltyn was pointless, considering they had no compassion or empathy. They didn’t say “please.” They didn’t respond to “please.” It was ridiculous to think they even understood “please.”
But, Adeline Mulhaney didn’t seem to know that. She said “please” like she expected it to work. …And because she believed it, it did.
“I told you, you can stay until spring.” He muttered. “I don’t break my promises. If you want to ruin your reputation by turning your back on the most important human in the polis, be my guest.”
His brothers’ eyebrows shot upward as the ease of his capitulation. Cade didn’t capitulate. Ever. Surrender wasn’t in the Voltyn blood.
Addy smiled in triumph, missing the astonished reactions of the others. She loved to win, which was lucky since she somehow always ended up as the victor in their disputes. The woman could out plan and outmaneuver anyone. “Then, I’m not leaving this hotel.” She edged back another step as Hugo beckoned her forward. “Can cat-guy make me leave this hotel?”
Cade hesitated. “No.” …But Hugo would certainly try.
“Good. So tell him to get lost, because he’s freaking me out.”
Cade snorted at that impatient demand. The woman didn’t even reach his shoulder, but she’d taken over his life like a ghaa beast. How could he ever have thought to part with her, even one moment sooner than he had to? Getting rid of Addy now wouldn’t protect himself from heartbreak. It was far too late for that.
“Alright.” He murmured. “You’d better go upstairs for real this time, though. Hugo won’t like hearing it.” Neither would his small army of hired men.
“You must hand her over, at once!” Hugo blustered. “It’s basically kidnaping to keep an innocent human woman locked up here!”
“Locked up, my ass.” Jacobi shot back and glanced over to her. “Addy, who do you want to stay with?” He spoke so slowly that even Hugo would understand her language. “Cade?” He motioned to Cade. “Or Hugo?” He motioned to Hugo.
Addy very deliberately pointed at Cade.
So that was what it felt like to chosen.
Cade had always wondered. Through all the times his father had taken his brothers hunting and left him behind and his stepmother refused to let him call her “mom.” All the children’s games he’d been excluded from and stores that wouldn’t allow him through the door. All the women who pretended they didn’t know him in the morning. Finally, someone had picked him and it was even better than he’d imagined… because it was her.
Cade gazed down at Addy’s impossible aura and knew what he’d known from the second he heard that click in his head. “Nynan.” He breathed.
“See?” Jacobi turned to Hugo with a victorious grin. “It’s Addy’s choice and she wants to stay with us.”
“Well, she doesn’t get to make that choice.” Hugo snapped, furious over Addy’s slight. “We have rules in this polis about Voltyn corrupting human women.”
It was difficult for a Voltyn to smirk, but Cade managed it. “Rules won’t matter much to you, if you’re dead.” The words were a flat vow. “And if you touch Adeline, we’re going to have a problem.”
Hugo gasped in outrage at the threat. “I’m not afraid of you, you bastard! Your family has always been blight on this polis. Deke’s a madman, Jacobi’s just a screw up, and you’re a Voltyn. You and your brothers aren’t going to sully this girl with your insanity and lawlessness.”
Deke rolled his eyes.
“I’m not just a screw up!” Jacobi snapped in a tone that suggested he thought exactly the opposite. “One day, I’m going to have my moment and everyone will see that I can be more that some stupid kid in this…”
Hugo cut him off, his eyes on Cade. “You’re giving me the woman, Westin. If need be, I’ll go to Sheriff Zecker.” Hugo arched a smug brow. “He told me himself that she should be taken from you, but I thought we could do this the civilized way.” Zecker’s sadistic streak and hatred for Voltyn was legendary in Shadow-of-the-Gods.
Cade didn’t care. “I never claimed to be civilized.” He snarled back. “Adeline will stay here, with me, for as long as she likes. Now, get the hell out of my bar.”
“Is Garfield the Cat still trying to abduct me away to be respectable?” Addy was attempting to follow the argument, as Hugo grew even angrier.
“Yes, but it won’t work. And not just because you are an unlady who throws up on shoes.” Cade wanted to brush a hand over her hair, but touching her in front of Hugo would just make things worse. “Go back upstairs, Adeline. W
e will deal with this.”
He glanced over at Deke, who gave a philosophical shrug. Jacobi moved towards the closest weapon. His brothers weren’t going to argue over the coming bloodshed. Addy had aligned herself with the Westins and no one took what belonged to the Westins without one hell of a fight.
Addy picked up on the undercurrents, her eyes narrowing. “Wait, are you three about to get in a brawl over this?” She snorted. “Lord, why am I not surprised. You know what, I’ll deal with it myself. The last time you guys handled things, there were a bunch of dead bodies and a shootout in the street. Watch and learn how to dissuade a jerkoff in a bar.” She stepped closer to Cade and yanked his head down.
Their lips met and Cade’s mind went blank.
Adeline’s mouth opened against his and everything that he’d been before was swept away. No, burned away in the bright halo of gold that surrounded her.
His whole life, he’d been staring through a window of a party he wasn’t invited to. Unwanted. Shunned. Left out and overlooked. But, Adeline Mulhaney threw open the door and dragged him inside. A woman he wasn’t worthy to desire, but who he wanted beyond anything he’d ever dreamed. She tasted like Adeline had to taste. Like clean, hot salvation. Like touching the top of the sky. Addy was in his arms and he was free.
Two heartbeats of time. That was all it took. Cade didn’t even have the chance to kiss her back, because he was too damn shocked to move. Then, Addy pulled back from him, looking as startled as he felt.
Green eyes blinked up at him, her cheeks flushed. “Did you just hear a click?” She whispered.
Gods yes.
Addy shook her head, without waiting for an answer. She probably noticed that he was in no condition to come up with an intelligible response. “Sorry. Stupid question, for a second I just thought…” She trailed off, like she didn’t know how to explain it.
Neither did Cade, but he knew what it meant.
“Right.” Addy looked over at Hugo and got back to business, calling on Jacobi’s language lessons. “Fuck off, asshole.” She said in their dialect and gave the mayor a taunting wave goodbye. Turning on her heel, she headed for the stairs. “There you go, fellas. I think Hugo understood that just fine without the big fight scene.”
Cowboy from the Future Page 11
