Oh, Hugo understood it, alright… Which was why the fight was about to be far, far worse.
Cade would’ve reacted to the whole situation faster, but his brain was still stalled. He simply couldn’t process the seismic shift in his reality. Addy just kissed him. Publically. Even if she’d only meant it to discourage Hugo, it was still unprecedented. No human would ever publically kiss a Voltyn, especially not a lady like Adeline. They didn’t consort with his kind. It was against the law and, more important, against every rule of respectable human society. Cade had known all along that what he wanted from her was impossible.
Except she’d kissed him and it had been… pure. Absolutely pure, like nothing he’d ever known. He reached over to steady himself on a tabletop, his whole system reeling.
“Holy shit!” Jacobi blurted out in scandalized delight. “Now, she’s done it!”
Deke cringed as if he knew they were about to witness the first casualty in a new war.
Hugo’s whiskers twitched in fury. Thinking back on it later, he probably didn’t mean to grab Addy’s arm as she flounced off. The whole thing was over in even less time than the kiss, so he surely hadn’t planned it. The mayor was just used to being the most eligible bachelor in the polis. He probably didn’t know how to deal with a woman blatantly choosing someone else over him. Certainly not a Voltyn.
In the face of Addy’s rejection, Hugo’s bland aura went wild. Usually, it was a dim blob of beige-y brown, with some oozing maroon smugness at the edges. Now, it sparked with unprecedented shades of violent red.
With no other recourse to save his pride, the mayor charged towards the stairs after Addy. His meaty fingers reached out to seize her wrist, his grip biting into her perfect skin. “Hold on a fvreing minute!” He barked and events spiraled so damn fast that no one reacted quickly enough to stop them.
Addy cried out in surprise and pain, as Hugo dragged towards him. “Son-of-a-bitch!” She tried to yank away from him grasp, because the woman would always fight against bullies. It was part of what made her Adeline. The crazed and impossible belief that she could take on all the injustice in the world and make it right.
Hugo hadn’t expected her resistance. He tugged harder and Addy lost her balance in the brief struggle. She fell backwards, passed Hugo’s shocked form, and hit the ground at the base of the stairs. Her body crumpled into a small heap, flaming-gold hair tumbling against the floorboards.
…And Cade’s vision went black.
He had no idea what happened next. One second he was gaping down at Addy’s dazed face and the next Hugo was being launched into the air. Cade knew he must have done it, but he was didn’t recall reaching for his powers. They were just there, blasting out like every horror story ever whispered about his kind. Purple lightning scorched the air, creating a firestorm of flashing and heat and screaming.
So much screaming.
He heard Hugo frantic shrieks, and his own bellow of rage, and Deke shouting his name, telling him to stop, but the sounds were drowned out by Cade’s powers. He saw Jacobi scrambling forward and dragging Addy out of range, his body shielding hers as sparks rained down. He even had the impression of Addy’s eyes going wide, finally realizing why she should fear a Voltyn.
But mostly there was just Cade and the fucking human who’d hurt his woman.
The first lightning blast had hit Hugo in the chest, sending the guy flying halfway across the bar. Panicked and in shock, he regrouped enough to try and flee. Hugo rolled onto his stomach and desperately crawled for the door.
Cade stalked after him, all his instincts screaming for blood.
“Stop!” Deke bellowed again.
“My God.” Addy whispered, her voice seeming to come from a long way off. “Voltrons can control electricity.”
“Stay back!” Hugo shrieked, wobbling to his feet. “You can’t do this to me! I’ll have you arrested, you inhuman monster!”
Another purple arc slammed into Hugo, this one striking him hard enough to send him right through the exterior wall. Wooden planks and plaster fell away like they were never there at all. It was going to be a real pain in the ass to repair. Hugo’s body left a gaping hole in the side of the tavern, jangling Addy’s wind chime. The bits of metal and glass clanged together, as he sailed passed and landed in the middle of the street. Cade stared out at the unconscious mayor and realized he’d scorched the man’s mustache off.
“Fuck!” Deke rushed over to grab Cade’s arm and his expression desperate. “Are you out of your mind?!” He gave Cade a shake trying to regain his attention. “Stop!”
There were laws to protect humans from Voltyn. This situation wasn’t an honor ritual, like the honuel. It was a crime. It didn’t matter that Hugo would recover or that Adeline had been harmed first. Cade wasn’t allowed to touch the son of a bitch. Ever.
Cade gave an indifferent shrug and knew he’d do the same thing, again. Maybe it was Adeline’s influence, but making a pointless stand suddenly didn’t seem so pointless. “Nynan.” He said simply.
Deke closed his eyes like he was in pain.
“Cade, are you okay?” Addy called, trying to figure out what was going on. It would be a wonder if she wasn’t traumatized for life by what she’d just witnessed.
“I’m fine.” He didn’t want to look at her for fear he’d see disgust in her eyes. “Stay back, Adeline.”
“He’s not fine.” Deke shoved Cade away, his hands plowing through his matted hair. “Godsdamn it, Cade! Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
“Of course I do. And you would’ve done the same thing.”
“I’m a human, asshole. I’m allowed to be a maniac! They’re going to come for you!”
Jacobi glanced between his brothers, his eyes suddenly young. It was the same way he’d looked at Cade when he found out he was suddenly an orphan. Scared and lost and expecting his big brother to fix it. Only Cade hadn’t been able to change the fact that their parents had been killed by Outlanders and he couldn’t fix this. The best he could do was make it easier.
Voltyn might not know how to love, but they knew how to defend. It was what they’d been bred to do, after all. All the softer emotions Cade couldn’t feel were channeled into protecting his family. The unmistakable whisper of his mother’s blood moved within him. The knowledge that he’d do anything to ensure the three people in this room were safe. He had to keep them out of this. Jake, Deke and Addy needed to be okay, even if it meant Cade wasn’t.
Protecting them was all that mattered.
“Cade.” Jake whispered and his voice shook. “What’s gonna happen, now?”
Cade watched as the humans began to gather in the street and kept his voice calm. “You’re going to wait in here and close the door, while I go outside.”
Jake frowned, not understanding the plan. “Then what?”
“Then, I’m going to be hanged.”
Chapter Seven
Yellowstone National Park contains over 300 geysers and 10,000 other thermal features,
making it a geologic wonderland!
But beneath the natural beauty, there’s also danger.
Because of volcanic processes under the ground, up to 3,000 earthquakes happen every year in Yellowstone.
These rumblings can occur without warning, so be sure to have a plan if your party is separated!
Brown’s Glampling Tours Official Pocket Guide
“So, now we have to break the big doofus out of jail.” Addy summarized, looking between Jacobi and Deke. “How do we do that?”
“You don’t do anything.” Deke was drinking alcohol straight from the bottle as he paced around the saloon. “The last thing he’d want is you heading down there and making this worse. Cade wouldn’t even be in this mess if it wasn’t for you.”
“And now I’m going to get him out of it.” She shot back. “And the only way to do that is a jailbreak.”
When Cade had walked outside, Addy had been right behind him. She’d tried reasoning with the hatef
ul crowd and that asshole sheriff, but they hadn’t been interested in anything except hauling Cade away. And hitting him. And not even giving him a trial, before they sentenced him to death.
Oh, and Zecker looked nothing like Timothy Olyphant. As usual, Shadow-of-the-Gods couldn’t do a damn thing right. The sheriff was a rotund jackass with corkscrewed facial hair. His white pompadour and the triangular-shaped badge on his hip gave him an air of authority that he used like a club.
Cade had been totally right about Zecker disliking Addy. Apparently, just staying in the tavern was enough to blacken her name in his eyes. The sheriff’s gaze had narrowed as she talked, not understanding a word she said or even trying to. She told him that he was making a huge mistake, but he’d waved her aside like she was nothing. Instead, he’d snapped something with the word “Voltyn” in it and Addy assumed that he was accusing her of being on Cade’s side.
Before she could agree with that completely accurate assessment, Cade had interjected a firm denial. He shook his head at Zecker, but his gaze was on Addy. “Do not say another word.” He warned her in English. “It won’t do any good to land yourself in a cage beside me. Stay with my brothers and be safe.” Then, he turned to say something to Deke and the sheriff had carted him off to prison.
Jacobi had hauled Addy back from getting between Cade and the gestapo or she’d probably be in jail, too. God, she’d never been so angry in her life. This couldn’t happen.
The plan to keep an airport-conversation distance between herself and the Westins was history. Hell, it had probably never really been a workable plan, to begin with. Not with Cade being so damn appealing. Would she have kissed some random guy she met on a flight to Denver? No. She’d kissed Cade, because the impossible jackass was… Cade.
“I’m going to fix this.” Addy insisted, mostly for her own benefit. “There’s really no one we can appeal the sentence to? Like a higher court or something?”
Deke shot her a fuming look, but remained silent.
In the hour since Cade had been arrested, they’d nailed a quilt up over the hole in the wall, but otherwise everything was still in shambles. It took all of their concentration to shout at each other and try to think of what to do next.
Jacobi was paler and more somber than she’d ever seen him. “No one cares if a Voltyn gets executed. Even if they did, there isn’t time to stop this. They’re going to hang Cade at dawn. They’re really gonna do it.” For once, Jake looked like the scared kid he was underneath the bravado.
“No one’s going to hang Cade.” Addy promised, reaching over to grip Jake’s hand. “We’ll get him back, sweetie. Don’t worry.”
Jacobi turned his palm so his fingers linked with her.
“And how are we gonna do that?” Deke gestured out the window, towards the wooden building that served as the jail. “There are a hundred pissed off humans standing around down there, waiting for the show. You think they’ll let us walk in and open his cell door?”
Jacobi’s blue eyes met Addy’s steady gaze, ignoring Deke’s negativity. “You’re not scared of Cade now, are you?” He blurted out. “You shouldn’t be, Addy. Really. Cade likes you. More than I’ve ever seen him like anyone. What happened wasn’t about anything except him seeing you get hurt and losing control for a minute. The power he has,” he shook his head, “it doesn’t make him not human.”
“I know.”
Jacobi wasn’t convinced. “Because, everybody’s always scared of Cade. My mom and dad were always watching him. Telling me not to get too close to him. Waiting for Cade to hurt me or something. But, he never did. Not ever.”
“I know.” Addy repeated.
Cade Westin would never harm anyone weaker than himself. She’d known that from the first. The man was a protector. He’d argue it was because of his super-soldier DNA, but she knew better. It was his heart. The man had the biggest, most honorable, softest heart she’d ever known. He’d saved her life and done so much more. Addy’s free hand slipped into her pocket, her fingers rubbing against the bottle of nail polish Cade had given her.
Damn it, she was getting him back.
“I have always been a screw up,” Jake continued, “but Cade watches out for me, even when he shouldn’t bother.” He gave a watery sniff. “I lost Dad’s compass one time, playing cards with that asshole Berh Hutty. Remember that, Deke?”
Deke rubbed his hands over his face so hard that his skin pulled tight. “Jakey…”
“I was about seven and I knew the old man was gonna kill me. So, I came running into Cade’s room and I hid under the bed. It was where I felt safe.” Jacobi was staring down at the table and not seeing it. “But, then Dad comes rampaging it and starts in on Cade, accusing him of hiding me. Drunk off his ass, like he always was. Hitting Cade, ‘cause Cade’s not telling him where I am. And hitting him and hitting him. And I’m crying out, but Dad’s too far gone to even hear me.”
Addy closed her eyes.
“Cade lands on the floor, right in front of bed.” Jacobi went on. “And we look at each other. I see he’s hurt and I start to crawl out, but he pushes me back under the mattress.” Jacobi gave a mystified snort, like he still couldn’t believe it. “The son of a bitch pushed me back, so Dad didn’t see me. He got beat to hell, for something I did, and all he cared about was protecting me. And when it was over, the only thing he asked me was if I was alright.”
Yes, that sounded like Cade Westin.
Jacobi’s reddened gaze met her, willing her to understand. “My brother is more human than anyone I’ve ever met. He doesn’t see it, but I do. You need to know that, because he’s gonna think you’re scared of him. And I don’t want him thinking that at the end, Addy. It’s not fair that he would think…” He stopped, unable to go on without breaking down.
She gave his hand a squeeze. “Jake, I promise you, I have never been scared of Cade. I never will be. And this isn’t the end. I get feelings about things sometimes and I have a very strong feeling that I’m not through with your idiot brother, yet. Not by a long shot.”
Jacobi pulled back to swipe his palm under his nose and nodded. “Right. Good.” He cleared his throat. “So, you’ll think of a way to get him out, then?”
“No. We’ll think of a way. The three of us.” If they couldn’t do it the legal way, they’d go with drastic measures. “Like I said, we need to break him out of jail.”
Deke snorted. “Zecker’s going to suspect that me and Jake will try something. They’re not going to let us near Cade.”
“I could get near him. Hugo’s still out of it and the sheriff sure wasn’t listening to me earlier. What if I tell them that I was leaving with the nice mayor and cruel Cade tried to stop me? I’ll bet you they’d let me into the jail to confront my Voltyn abductor, if I squeezed out some tears.”
Deke took another long drink from his bottle, his eyes narrowed. “Fine. Then what?”
“…I have no clue. That’s as far as I got with the idea.”
“Fucking hell.” He went back to pacing.
“Well, why do I have to come up with everything? Help me think of the rest of the plan!”
“We should’ve gotten out of here years ago.” Jacobi muttered. “Zecker’s been looking for an excuse to get rid of Cade. It’s ‘cause Ma never liked him and the sheriff always had that thing for Ma. If that son of a bitch had his way, he wouldn’t have let Cade buy this place, at all.” He angled his jaw. “We need to free Cade and never come back here. That’s the only way.”
“Even if we get him out, where are we going to go?” Deke was consumed with pessimistic despair and refusing to contribute anything beyond anger. “We won’t be able to come back here and there’s snow blocking the pass. We’ll either freeze to death in the mountains or they’ll track us down and hang all four of us within the week.”
Addy glowered at him. “Then at least your brother will be alive for another seven days.” She snapped. “Since he loves you and you love him, I think it’s worth the risk.”
Deke turned away. “Voltyn don’t love anyone. You heard Cade say that yourself.”
“Cade’s full of shit.” Addy told him succinctly. “He feels just as much as everyone else does. Maybe more. If the situation was reversed, he would come for you.”
“She’s right. Cade would do anything for his family.” Jacobi agreed, his attention on Deke. “He loves you and me and Addy. Anyone could see that.”
Addy flashed him a surprised look, astonished that she was being included in that list.
“He would come for any of us.” Jake picked up a deck of cards, restlessly shuffled them like he just needed some outlet for his nervous energy. “When you got captured in the Wilderness, Cade went out to find you, Deke. You woulda died, without him.”
“I was supposed to fucking die.”
“Cade didn’t see it that way. He got you back home and helped you when you were out of your mind. When you were talking to walls, and shooting at people who weren’t there, and locking yourself in the closet for a month at a time. He saved you.”
“I know!” Deke roared, more words than he’d spoken in years rushing out of him. “I know Cade better than I know myself. I know he’d always come for me, alright? I knew lying in that fucking Outlander cage, that my brother would come.” He held up his amputated arm. “I knew it when they took my hand and ate it front of me.”
Addy’s eyebrows soared. Holy shit.
Cowboy from the Future Page 12
