She’d asked herself that question at least a hundred times, now. And she’d asked the men, who’d taken Kid, at least a dozen. But, each time, she’d been told that an old man sat in his house, waiting to answer her questions. And this did nothing to calm her rising fear—or the anger that kept following close on its heels.
What did this old man want with her? Why did he think he was her grandfather? And why did she get the feeling—that she didn’t really want to know?
The size of the city of Richmond did nothing to allay her fears. She’d never seen anything like it—and nothing she’d been told could have prepared her for such a place. They were taken to someone’s home, just on the outskirts, and instructed to put away their guns.
The size and beauty of her grandfather’s home didn’t help to calm her panic either. She’d never get use to such riches. The grounds were immaculate, the home large, sprawling across the well-kept yards. Some man, dressed in a black suit, met them at the door—and the ladies that cleaned the place wore fancy, black outfits.
Unnerved, Kat’s hand had fallen to the skinnin’ knife, she now kept tied to her leg. Kid quickly took it away from her, laughing. He told her she couldn’t use it here—or she’d find herself in jail. She glowered at him—and the man in the fancy, black suit quickly left the room. It would seem that he’d been just as unnerved—and sought someone in the house to get rid of her.
She felt naked without her knife. She knew Kid might be right—she shouldn’t need it here—but what was she going to do without her skinnin’ knife? And how could she cope with a town that didn’t carry weapons?
Worse yet, the woman who’d been brought to the house, that morning, had brought Kat a dress. Now, she stood there, holding it out to her. Kat had eyed her—then the dress—one of those lavish, lacy things she hated, causing her to glower. The woman’s hand trembled, and Kat tried to stop glaring at her.
She’d scared her for heaven’s sake.
“Why do I have to wear that thing?” Kat nearly snarled.
The older woman gave her trembling smile. “You cannot go into the city—dressed like that,” she said.
To which Kat immediately took offense.
Hawk had to step in and rescue the woman, when Kat started for her, fully intending to shred the dress—though the woman couldn’t have known that. She appeared to think that Kat had intended to skin her, instead.
“She’s right,” Hawk had said in low tones, standing between the older woman and Kat.
The older woman smiled now. “Good,” she said.
Mistaking what she’d meant by that, Kat took the dress and allowed herself to be ushered into a room. When she emerged a half hour later, she looked up, surprised to see Kid, Jake and even Hawk had been given a similar task.
The three of them were dressed up like smart gentlemen.
Her discomfort forgotten, Kat dissolved into a fit of giggles. She could barely stand up. Even Kid sat, glowering at her. She pointed at Hawk. “I wish Mandy were here....” she managed to get out, laughing so hard that not even Hawk’s thunderous countenance could detour her. Although, somewhere in the midst of it, she did notice that the older woman, and the other gentlemen, had left to go back the direction they’d come.
In the end, she did get Kid to give her back her knife. And, right now, it sat warm, where she’d strapped it to the inside of her leg. She felt better already—even if she did have to promise Kid she wouldn’t use it unless she found herself in immediate danger. She looked over the banister, now, peering down into the foyer, she figured there had to be some danger around here somewhere.
And Kat went off to look for that danger.
What Kat couldn’t have known was the affect she’d on Kid, when he’d first seen her in that fancy dress and for the rest of the ride it took to reach her grandfather’s estates. He’d smiled as Kat had been as equally put off by the carriages that had been sent to fetch them, and she’d fussed about them for much of the ride.
Although Kid had seen her in dresses before, thanks to Mandy, he’d never seen her in such beautiful attire. The older woman had expertly pinned up her blond curls into a mass of ringlets, which bounced around her neck with her laughter. The sight of her face, lit up in her glee, and flushed with her laughter, struck him in his middle. Her full, pink lips, gave way to her natural white and beautiful smile. Kat was absolutely beautiful, dressed up like that.
And Kid had never wanted to kiss her more.
Once they’d arrived and been seated in the home, Kid made sure he sat near her, but Jake was too busy talking to Kat to get the point.
Hawk realized it, because he nudged Jake hard, when Kid went from glowering—to staring. For a long moment, Jake appeared not to get the message. When he did, he turned to find Kid glaring at him. In spite of that fact, he turned, again, for a moment to look at Kat. Then, he seemed to collect himself—and the two men left the couple alone.
Kat sobered, seeing this—and the purposeful way that her fiancé had gotten up out of his chair—and now advanced on her.
“Oh, my,” she whispered, only a moment before Kid gathered her up out of the seat, and into his arms, kissing her soundly.
Kat only needed the breath of a moment to kiss him back, matching his passion. They stood that way, Kat’s arms stealing around Kid’s neck. For several long moments, neither of them came up, long enough to realize they were no longer alone.
Someone stood only a few feet away, openly staring at them. And when they finally did grasp this—they both turned, at the same time, to glare at their intruder.
A handsome man stood before them. So handsome, in fact, Kat caught her breath—the fact that Kid had noticed she’d done so, not lost on her.
The man came forward and took her hand. “My name is Liam,” he said. He’d bent at the waist, kissing her hand. Hawk had stepped into the room, just in time to save the young man’s life.
When Hawk succeeded in getting Kid to sit down on one of the fancy chairs, and they’d explained the custom to Kid—and to Kat—they finally got down to why he’d come.
Liam confirmed that he had sent for her, as the dying wish of her grandfather—that he’d wished more than anything to see her, once more, before he passed.
You could have knocked Kat over with a feather at that—even if they’d tried to save her life from the gunman in the doing. She just still couldn’t grasp what they’d been telling her, these past couple days, about her grandfather. “There must be some mistake,” she said. “I heard about this grandfather. But you have to understand—my grandparents are all dead.”
She had the man’s full attention now. “I assure you,” he said. “There’s no mistake.”
Hours later, Kat stared out across the valley. She faced the West, but couldn’t help the terror that had taken over her insides. Somewhere, deep inside her, her fear amplified a hundred fold, all of her senses telling her that she might never get to go home. Somehow, she felt frightened that her life would never be the same again. And all of that, put together, told her that somewhere, locked inside of her, she knew the truth of what she’d been told. She might not remember all of it, but she had the sickening dread that the man who they’d called her grandfather, had found her and brought her home to do the bidding of his last dying wish.
Finding out about her grandfather had been one thing. But that also meant she’d been right, from the first terrifying dream, from the first moment she’d first begun to realize that her dreams were actually memories. That everything she’d known about her childhood—had been based on a lie.
How did she reconcile that?
How did one wake up one morning and live with that? If she let herself be led down this journey, and it turned out to really be true, she knew that it would challenge everything she’d thought she known about herself and her life. It changed everything—forever. There wasn’t a way to close that door—once it had been opened—and part of her wanted to run away while she still could.
I
f all of this really turned out to be true, what of her future with Kid?
Kid, himself, had come into the room, as she turned. She knew he recognized the wild fear in her eyes—because she saw that it mirrored the fear in his own.
Her eyes flew wide, as he pulled her head to his chest and just held her face against the beating of his heart. She heard the increased rhythm of his heartbeat there, and she knew it came from the recognition of what this might mean for her future—for their future together.
Her arms slipped around his waist, and she held him to her as tightly as he held her to him—as though they could anchor each other against the certain destruction of her past. A destruction they’d been launched into—that seemed destined to destroy both of their futures.
Kat wanted to shake her head, but Kid held her fast. She couldn’t let this happen. She couldn’t allow anything prevent her from going home. She’d die if she stayed here. She had a wild spirit. One that would never survive here. And she knew Kid would never survive here, either.
She’d never let that happen to him. She’d never let anyone destroy their future.
Not even her grandfather….
Chapter Eleven
Dreams of Ashes
Kat had thought she’d be the threat to her future happiness with Kid, if she didn’t get her act together. She realized, now, she’d give anything for the problems of yesterday. They seemed so small—compared to the ones she now faced.
She stood, gazing out the window, knowing she’d have to go to meet the dinner guests—and dreading it with her entire soul. She realized she’d had no idea what a real threat to her future could look like—and she wished she could go back.
The start of this real threat to her future—the knowledge of what she’d thought that meant to their future—now loomed before her like a wide, dark chasm—that simply couldn’t be crossed. Not even with the best little Indian pony around.
Until these past few months, Kat hadn’t even known how to cry—now, lately, crying was all she wanted to do.
No one, here, appeared to know who sent that assassin after her. Her grandfather’s men had only been attempting to protect her from the gunman in the process of bringing her home, saw an opportunity to do both of those things by arresting Kid. And if someone, here, wanted her dead, here, no one seemed to know who it was.
Even so, for Kat, everything had changed.
They’d brought her home, they said, as she looked around the fancy marble hall—and descended down the fancy marble staircase—to meet her grandfather. Kat’s gaze sought that of her grandfather, who sat waiting patiently for his servant to come and wheel him to the dining hall for their dinner. She’d never be able to hurt this frail, gentle, old man. She’d never be able to look him in the face—and tell him she couldn’t be the granddaughter he’d missed, all those years. And she’d never be able to tell him that he’d have to lose her—once more—because she had to go back home.
How could she?
Anyone could see he that clung to life. He looked so ill, she couldn’t imagine how he’d managed to come down to dinner at all. Now, she’d been told that he counted on her to run all he’d built here when he was gone, which, by the looks of him, might happen all too soon.
Looking around, she realize that most women would be giddy, with all the wonderful things he had plans of leaving her.
But Kat only felt—trapped.
This beautiful place—would become her cage. One which, she could find no means of escape, except to be purely selfish and just leave. And like that caged animal, she walked her room by night—and tried to smile like a dutiful granddaughter by day. Worse—she’d been told by her cousin, Ethan, that her grandfather wasn’t at all happy that she already had a fiancé. It would seem that he’d planned that detail for her as well.
In fact, it would seem he’d planned to leave everything to her—and to his favorite right-hand man, Liam—the man her grandfather intended for her to marry.
Kat found her cousin shocking. He dressed in fancy overcoats with silk ties and fancy ruffles. He had on long, extravagant, well-polished boots, and he walked with an elaborate, ornate walking stick. She’d never seen anyone like him. He also had some kind of strange, clean-cut beard on his face. She had an idea that he was what she’d heard to be called—a dandy. And that didn’t bother her in the least. But something about him—did.
Yet, he seemed nothing but delighted she’d been found—even though, it would seem, he’d been completely left out of her grandfather’s will. Of course, he had his own land and estates, she’d been told. He already owned more than he would ever need. Why would he need hers?
Why indeed?
She didn’t even want all of this. She would gladly leave it all to Liam, and she swore to herself to do so—whenever her grandfather did pass. But she couldn’t wish for that—just so she could be freed from her new prison—just so she could return home.
She might have to live here for many years, before she’d be able to leave. Would she live that long, herself? For her, it felt like a wild animal—forced to live within four walls. Kat didn’t think she’d survive here, for even a few months more-or-less a few years.
Her grandfather might be ill now, but she couldn’t think of his passing as being the ticket to her freedom. She couldn’t live with such a thing. He seemed such a sweet old man. She knew she’d come to love him. He was her grandfather—and she already valued that, even more than her freedom to return to the West.
Still, a pang of homesickness swept over her. Kat already missed Old Charlie. She missed Mandy. She missed Meg. She even missed Star Flower—and she hadn’t really had a chance to get to know her yet. Would she ever get the chance now?
Her cousin didn’t seem to pay her grandfather any mind, but he was kind to him, when he did chance to meet up with him. Was an odd duck, she thought, yet he did appear to be a decent man.
Ethan descended on her now, as she came down the stairs for her dinner. And before she could escape him, he began kissing her hand, then putting his arm around her, he took her to show her off to all of her grandfather’s, ever arriving, dinner guests.
“I’ve never seen grandfather so happy,” he leaned in and whispered near her ear.
“I’m happy to hear it,” she murmured.
“I hear he’s already arranged to begin your lessons,” he said. “I trust you won’t find these too vexing. It’s just that he’s so delighted to have you home.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll live,” she replied, her gaze searching the room for Kid. She didn’t find him and had to tamp down the desperate way she wanted to search the room again.
“You know grandfather cannot approve of your marriage,” her cousin pointed out, again. “I doubt he invited him to dinner.”
Kat had to swallow through her ire. “That’s one thing he’ll have to come to terms with,” she said. “I’m supposed to accept an entire life here that I never even knew existed. I won’t give up the man I love too.”
“Tsk, tsk,” her cousin said. “Do not worry yourself, sweet cousin. You won’t miss him so much, when we show you all the things he has in store for you.”
Before Kat could respond with the full, hot point of the blade, hidden beneath the many folds of her dress, her cousin had gone.
The rest of the dinner went uneventful, although it seemed interminable for Kat. After everyone had left, and her grandfather had retired, Kat dressed in her leathers and escaped out the balcony, to find Kid.
She found him waiting on the ground for her, when she descended the tree below.
“How did you know I’d do this?” she said, smiling—a bit breathless from climbing down the tree.
Kid laughed. “Like you wouldn’t,” he said and kissed her soundly. “I’ve missed you, kitten,” he said.
For a long moment, Kat gave herself up to the kiss. But at length, she pulled back, gazing up at the man she loved, before hugging herself close to him. “What are we going to do?” she whispere
d. “I can’t live this way.”
Kid’s arms came around her. “I know, kitten. I know.”
She pulled back, glancing up at him, once more. “What does Hawk say?”
“He’s gone back to search for the assassin, to find out what he has to do with this. But Jake stayed behind to help us here.”
“What is there to help with,” she said, with growing hysteria. “We are trapped in Richmond, Virginia—a huge city in the East.”
“We’re not trapped, kitten,” Kid said, reasonably. “We just need to figure out what to do about the situation.”
Kat let out a laugh—too loud—and much too close to anger. Anger had begun to become a growing part of her, lately. “He doesn’t even want me to marry you,” she hissed. “How are we ever going to fix this?”
Kid took his finger and pushed back one of her curls, then placed a finger gently over her lips. “You’re not their captive, kitten. We’ll stay until we find a way to handle this.”
Kat stared up at him, frustrated. “And if we cannot find a way to handle this?”
He smiled gently. “Then, it’ll be up to you—to choose when to head home with me.”
She giggled softly. “That’s easy. Can we go right now?”
His smile grew somewhat sad. “Not yet, kitten. He believes you are special to the Cherokee people. We must at least try to honor that—before we walk away.”
“What?” she said. “How can that possibly be?”
Kid shrugged. “I don’t know. But don’t you think we should find out?”
Kat stared at him. “Just promise me—we will go,” she said, earnestly, “if we cannot find a way to resolve this.” She searched his dark eyes. “I cannot live her the rest of my life, Kid. I’ll die if I do. I won’t survive it.”
Dark Warrior: Kid (Dark Cloth Series Book 2) Page 8
