Cowboy from the Future

by Cassandra Gannon

  He subsided with a look a chilling hate.

  “I do have magic.” Addy blurted out before they killed each other and, more importantly, her. “Really. And I’ll trade it to you for our release.”

  The queen hadn’t been expecting that. Her head tilted, studying Addy with deepening curiosity. “What sort of magic?”

  “The most powerful kind in my world: Technology.”

  Addy’s iPhone was still zipped into the pocket of her coat, along with the nail polish Cade had given her and a pink lip gloss. Make-up probably wouldn’t impress the Outlanders, but she was betting electronics would blow their minds.

  She grabbed iPhone and turned it on. There was no reception in the future, but the apps still worked. The familiar opening chime sounded and both Outlanders jumped in amazement. Pleased that she had their attention, Addy swiped the screen to her music player and scrolled down the list. She had no idea what sort of songs mutants might like, so she settled on something classic: Take On Me by a-Ha.

  The ‘80s synthesizers started and the Outlanders couldn’t have looked more astonished if Addy grew a dozen more eyeballs. As usual, the artistic powers of the world’s greatest decade were universally understood.

  Quel gazed at the iPhone with ill-concealed greed. “It truly is magic. I knew it existed!” He breathed. “Where did you get such a thing, woman?”

  Addy prayed the battery held out for a few more minutes. “My powers come from an enchanted place called the Apple Store. I’ve traveled thousands of years from the past and I know things you cannot even imagine.”

  Quel’s mouth parted in amazement. “You’ve come through time itself?”

  Addy waggled the phone enticingly. “Yep. And I will give this mystical amulet to you, if you let us go.”

  Her royal sixclops-ness rallied. “We could just take it.” She pointed out, her attention locked on the glowing screen.

  “Except, you don’t know how to work this incredibly complicated spell.” Addy hit the pause button and the music went silent mid-falsetto. “I’ll show you, but only if you release me and Cade.”

  The queen considered that for a long moment and Addy could almost see her brain working through her translucent skin. Norwegian pop singers must have appealed to her, because she clearly wanted the iPhone.

  “I’d planned to kill the Voltyn.” The queen finally said. “He’s dangerous to have around, especially if he is a Westin. No one will ransom for one of his kind, so his only purpose is food. The men are already building a fire for his body.”

  Addy’s heart stopped.

  The queen arched a brow. “But, we have plenty of courses for tonight’s feast, thanks to that posse. I suppose I could be willing to make a deal for your lover.”

  “Great! I can…”

  The queen cut off Addy’s quick agreement. “But, you have value to me. A magical human who looks as you? I could trade you for enough supplies to last us this entire year. You stay.”

  Addy hesitated. Cade was already in a bad mood thanks to finding out she was a virgin. And getting kidnapped by mutants. And her declaration of sort of love. Yeah… he clearly hadn’t wanted to hear that, but Addy had been helpless to stop the words. She wasn’t good at hiding how she felt. She didn’t even want to. Cade would just have to adjust and try to sort of love her back. It was only fair.

  But, this deal was really not the best way to make that happen.

  In fact, it was going to piss him off so badly, she anticipated a lightning storm of Ben Franklin proportions springing from his hands. He was a protector by nature. Someone helping him was totally outside of his experience and he didn’t much like it. Cade’s super-solider DNA wouldn’t let him walk away from this camp without her. Especially, since these were the bastards who’d hurt his brother.

  “Even if I agree, Cade might not like this arrangement.” She hedged, trying to think of another way to save him from becoming an entrée.

  “He’ll go along with it or we’ll kill him.” The queen summed up with smug look. “The choice is yours, human. You remain here willingly and he goes free. Otherwise, you remain here unwillingly and he is tomorrow’s dinner.” She smirked, her teeth as yellow as her eyes. “Well, the real question is, how much do you value your ‘boyfriend’?”

  ***

  “What the hell is this?” Cade scowled as the Outlander male dragged him to his feet and shoved him forward. He’d been tied on the outskirts of the camp for hours, his wrists fastened behind his back. The feeling was gone in his hands, he was covered in more bruises from the repeated beatings they’d given him, and his fingers were probably frostbitten from the cold.

  None of it even registered.

  “Where’s Adeline?” Getting her back was all Cade cared about. Ever since they’d taken her into the queen’s tent, he’d been in a panic. “What are you doing to her?”

  He recognized this clan of Outlanders. They were the same group who’d held Deke prisoner, so he knew how vicious they could be. Gods, he should have killed more of them the day he came to rescue his brother. At the time, he’d only been concerned with getting Deke out, but every single one of them deserved a painful death.

  And if they harmed Adeline, he would make sure they died fucking screaming.

  Logically, Cade realized that Addy was worth far too much for them to injure. A beautiful, virginal human needed to stay beautiful and virginal to command a top price. It only made sense. Still, “sense” meant very little when it came to that woman. How could he be sure Addy was safe, given the chaos she created just by being herself? What if the Outlanders lost control and hurt her? What if they planned to sell her to someone right away and Cade wasn’t there to stop the man from raping her? What if she came up with some crazed escape plan and got herself shot?

  He couldn’t stand that she was alone with these bastards. Vulnerable and probably terrified. Adeline was the only bright part of his life. If anything happened to her…

  “The woman is fine. More than fine.” Quel had the same enraptured look everyone got when they first met Adeline Mulhaney. His grayish aura was alive with excited sparks. Only Outlanders had gray auras. It was creepy. “She possesses magic like I’ve never seen before and I am a student of the supernatural. I doubt we could harm her if we wanted to. She’s surely protected.”

  “She is protected.” Cade would destroy anyone who touched her and he planned to start with this asshole. “Take me to her.”

  Quel seemed oblivious to the danger. He looked at Cade, both of his eyes bright. Outlanders decided ranks based on the number of eyes a person was born with. Six eyes meant you were a general. Four eyes meant you were a soldier. Two eyes meant you were a serf. Quel clearly had bigger plans than servitude for his future and he was looking for a way out.

  Adeline had just given it to him.

  “Do you know of her home?” He demanded. “Of the power that resides in her time? How does she harness it?”

  Addy had told them she came from the past? Cade weighed his response, wondering what she was up to now. “I know that she’s valuable. Very valuable. Harming her would anger the gods themselves.”

  That response didn’t satisfy the Outlander. “But how does she travel there? Through this place she’s marked?” He pulled out that priceless guidebook, pointing to a page that showed a map and jets of water shooting into the sky. It had to be Addy’s “geyser.”

  Cade nearly smiled when he saw that she’d drawn a star next to it in the purple nail paint he’d bought for her. She’d also written his name in her language, with a heart swirled around it. He wasn’t sure what that meant exactly, but he liked it.

  “I must see this Apple Store for myself.” Quel insisted. “It is everything I have ever dreamed of finding --someplace of my own-- and this human is the key.”

  Cade had no idea what an Apple Store was and he wasn’t in the mood to speculate about which powers would sweep Addy back to her own world. “I don’t give a shit about your family squabbles. Just tak
e me to Adeline. Now.” It was the last time he planned to ask.

  Quel scowled at that response and gave his head a shake, apparently giving up on questioning Cade. “You no longer need to be concerned about her, Voltyn.” He led Cade towards the camp. “The woman had arranged your release.”

  Cade planted his feet into the snow, refusing to move forward. “You’re letting us go?” He said skeptically. Addy could accomplish the impossible, but not even she could manage that. What was really happening here?

  “We’re letting you go. You’re leaving the camp and, if you’re smart, you’ll never come back. The girl stays with us.”

  Cade’s eyes narrowed at that news. Fucking hell, this idiocy really was an Adeline plan from start to finish. Only she would think it was a good idea. “I’m not going anywhere without my woman.”

  “Yes, you are. My mother made a deal with her for your life.” Quel shrugged. “It’s strange how determined she is to keep you safe, given that you’re nothing but a Voltyn. Humans are like everybody else in the world. Maybe worse. They usually want to belittle and destroy everyone different than they are.” He paused. “Your woman surprised me.”

  “She does that a lot.”

  Quel grunted. “She says you’re her ‘boyfriend.’ Insinuated that means the same as a mate. Is that true?”

  Cade didn’t recognize the word, but he still knew the answer. “To me, it’s exactly the same.” He said quietly.

  “Well, I’ve never heard of a human mating with a Voltyn. At least not openly. What makes you so special?”

  “Nothing.” Addy was the special one.

  Quel gave another grunt. “That part I believe. You’re a nobody. All Voltyn are nobodies.” He arched a brow. “I have heard of Deke Westeeen, though.”

  “Deke is my brother.” Cade agreed, although he had no clue what was going on with that exaggerated pronunciation of their last name.

  “That’s what I thought.” Quel said smugly, as if there had been some debate on the matter. “That bastard murdered dozens of my kind and your people gave him a medal for it.”

  “It wasn’t murder. It was a war that the Outlanders started. Then your bitch of a mother took Deke prisoner and tortured him. You think a medal makes up for that?”

  “He deserved everything he got! I knew someone helped him sneak out of that cage, I just couldn’t figure out who’d be stupid enough to come looking for the crazy bastard. It was you, wasn’t it?”

  Cade wasn’t going to deny the truth, even if it would piss the Outlanders off. “I will always come looking for my family.”

  “Very inspirational.” Quel mocked. “No need for such heroics today, though. You’re going free.”

  Cade braced himself, already knowing it wasn’t going to be that easy. “What about Addy?”

  “Oh, she stays with us.” Quel reported with a supercilious smirk. “With me.”

  If Cade’s hands had been free, he would’ve slugged the bastard. “No.” The single word was a threat and they both knew it.

  “No?” Quel echoed incredulously.

  “No. You aren’t keeping my woman. You’ll have to kill me first.”

  Quel leaned closer to him and lowered his voice. “I didn’t want to spoil the surprise, but killing you has been my plan, all along.” His yellow eyes glinted. “Deal or not, I don’t see as I have a choice. As long as you’re alive, I know you’ll come back for your little human.”

  “Yes, I will.”

  “And I can’t risk you fucking this up for me. That woman is my path to greatness. My guide. Given to me by the gods to lead me to my destiny. You want to steal her away, which means you have to go, Voltyn.”

  Alright, now Cade was getting pissed. “Adeline Mulhaney is mine.” No Voltyn had ever claimed a human before, but the words came easily. From the first moment he met her, all his instincts had shouted the same thing.

  This girl is supposed to be yours.

  The longer he knew her, the deeper it got. Adeline told stories to Jacobi, and worried about Deke’s madness, and smiled at Cade in some magical way that made him just who he’d always wanted to be. She stood up against injustice when other people looked away. She disrupted everything around her and somehow made it better. She was insane. And took nothing seriously. And had the cleanest aura he’d ever seen. …And when she kissed him, Cade felt every pure, real, sacred emotion he’d always been told he couldn’t feel.

  He might have to surrender his woman to her perfect fucking home in the perfect fucking past, but he would never hand her over to this son-of-a-bitch Outlander.

  Frozen or not, Cade’s fingers began to smolder. Not with the small sparks meant to signal desire, but with the hot jolts of rage that usually resulted in someone being fried to cinders. For once, he didn’t try to pull back on the power.

  Quel didn’t even notice. “Let’s not make this harder than it has to be. Just surrender to the inevitable and save us both some time.”

  In the midst of their arrogant bigotry, everyone forgot that Voltyn were warriors. It was why they’d been bred. And warriors didn’t take kindly to anyone stealing their mates.

  Cade twisted his hand, burning ropes and snapping them free. He had the satisfaction of seeing Quel’s eyes widen in panicked surprise and then the guy was convulsing as electricity scorched through his body.

  Cade’s powers lashed out, slamming into Quel’s chest and sending him flying. The Outlander careened headfirst into a pine tree, blood trickling from his nose. He slumped over unconscious, his face pressed into the snow.

  That was easy.

  Sometimes Voltyn powers weren’t so terrible, after all.

  Cade headed over to check Quel’s pulse. The guy was still alive. He scowled in irritation. Regardless of how big a dick the Outlander was, Cade couldn’t kill somebody who was passed out. …But, it was pretty damn tempting.

  Cade sighed. Maybe Quel would die on his own. Maybe he would live. At the moment, Cade didn’t care which, just so Quel stayed out of the way. He looked down at his hands and saw they were brighter than ever. Hotter. The glow wasn’t fading, but was spreading up his arms.

  Shit, was that normal?

  Probably not, but Cade had no idea how to stop it. Inside his body, there was a buzzing of unleashed power, looking for an outlet. He gave his head a sharp shake and started towards the camp. Voltyn knew how to focus on objectives and, right now, all his instincts were screaming at him to find Addy and make sure she was safe.

  Protecting her was all that mattered.

  Electricity continued to singe the air, igniting the trees and bushes around them. Flames leapt twenty feet high. This whole place and everyone in it was about to burn to ashes. Cade should’ve wiped the Outlanders off the face of the world when they touched his brother. Taking Adeline hostage and threatening her was just the last fucking straw. His powers would let him level the whole camp, so that’s exactly what he planned to do.

  Cade headed for the makeshift corral where the Outlanders were keeping the horses. His gaze swept over the square tents, searching for the queen’s quarters. “Addy!” Damn it, where was she?

  As he walked, dozens of other Outlanders came running towards him, angry and waving weapons. Cade slammed the electricity into them, too. People screamed in panic. The fire spread. Sal-gun blasts were wildly fired through the smoke.

  Cade kept going. It took him less than a minute to reach the corral and get the saddle on Addy’s horse. He’d always been good with animals and Madonna seemed happy to see him. She gave Cade’s shoulder a playful shove of welcome. He patted her nose, getting her ready to go. Recognizing one of the Westins’ supply packs on the ground, he grabbed that, too. Cade turned to saddle a horse for himself, but there wasn’t time.

  One of the possibly braver, possibly stupider, Outlanders closed the corral gate, trapping Cade inside. “You’re not going anywhere, Voltyn!” He bellowed.

  Cade considered it options. Starting a fire so close to the horses would frighten
them, so he couldn’t blast the guy. Fuck it. He and Addy could ride together. He just had to find her first.

  Cade swung himself onto Madonna’s back. Clicking his tongue at the horse, he shifted the reins and charged at the fence. The Outlander fell back in shock as Madonna sailed over the gate in a graceful leap. The guy stumbled to the ground and then scuttled out of the way on his hands and knees.

  Cade smirked, not slowing down.

  Gods, he liked horses.

  Chapter Thirteen

  And you’ll find plenty of hot springs in this region, too. These natural pools are much warmer than other lakes and streams, the water heated by geologic processes under the ground.

  Be careful if you choose to swim in one, though. Their temperatures can get intense!

  Brown’s Glampling Tours Official Pocket Guide

  “I will kill you!” The queen shrieked. “You and that Voltyn scaumm betrayed me and now you’ll pay!”

  “We don’t know that Cade did this.” Addy argued, although she knew that Cade totally did this. “It could’ve been a freak storm. Or arson. Or…” Shit, what else could start a fire? “Substandard wiring.”

  The queen turned on her with a furious screech, yellow teeth bared in a snarl of hate.

  Addy didn’t think about what to do next. She just did it. The Outlander lunged at her and Addy seized hold of her Invisible Woman-y arm, using the queen’s body weight to flip her to the ground. Judo classes really should be mandatory for anyone planning to time travel. The queen splayed on the dirt floor, shock reflected in all of her many eyes.

  Addy didn’t wait around for the woman to kill her. Tripping over her own feet, she raced out of the tent. “Cade!” She looked around the burning camp, desperately trying to spot him. Christ, it was like a scene from The Wild Bunch. “Cade!”

  All around her tree and tents burned. People ran through the smoke, pushing each other as they fled. Addy shoved her way through the madness. She knew that Cade was being kept on the far side of the village, so she needed to somehow get to him. Somehow find him, even in the midst of the chaos.