The Hero Within (Burned Lands Book 3)

by Bec McMaster

  A hand around her belt hauled her back, and then a brutal knee drove into the back of her thigh. "Fucking... bitch."

  He slapped her across the back of the head, catching her cheek a glancing blow.

  Again.

  "Help!" she screamed, flinching away. CJ! Would he even hear her at this distance?

  "Deal's off," Black Tom snarled. "No money, no guide, but just for that, I'm going to take my pound of flesh."

  Hands flipped her over onto her back and tugged at her belt. Eden tried to claw at his eyes, but another blow to the face made her sway. Fire bloomed across her cheek.

  The world grew distant.

  Noise subsided.

  There were fingers unsnapping her jeans and she had to stop him, but her body wouldn't obey her. She could just make out a dark blur moving over Black Tom's shoulder as the bastard tried to tug her jeans open.

  The heavy weight of him suddenly vanished.

  Sound exploded back into the world, as if her body knew it was now or never. Eden rolled onto her side and somehow got the top button of her jeans done up. There was a scream trapped in her throat, her heart galloping a mile a minute as she realized just how close she'd come to being overwhelmed.

  Someone squealed, and Eden scrambled for the Taser, needing to feel it in her hands. She rolled onto her back, Taser held out and giving that little electric whine as she aimed.

  She'd been expecting CJ, but a massive man dressed in strict black stood over her, his face shadowed by his hat, and Black Tom a crumpled heap in the dirt.

  "Are you okay?" the stranger rasped.

  Eden took stock of the situation, despite the taste of blood in her mouth. Her hands shook. What had happened? What had almost happened?

  She'd never expected Tom to hit her while she had the Taser in hand.

  You idiot. You hesitated. All her sessions with Adam, and when it finally mattered, she'd tried to talk her attacker down instead. Everything had happened so quickly.

  "Maybe," she whispered.

  He'd... thrown Black Tom off her into a wall? Her would-be assaulter staggered to his feet, blood dripping from his nose. The stranger turned and drove a fist into Black Tom's gut, and the bastard slammed back into the tin, making a strangled sound.

  Then a tanned hand wrapped around his throat and her rescuer pinned Black Tom to the tin, whispering something in his ear as he lifted him off the ground.

  She caught a glint of silver in the stranger's hand, and Eden somehow crawled to her feet and grabbed his wrist.

  "No," she said.

  Tension locked through his wrist. All she could see was her rescuer’s black hat, dragged low over his brow. "He doesn't deserve mercy. Men like this don't go after women just once. This puta madre knew what he was doing."

  "I wasn't talking about mercy." She might have once, but she was a little older now and the world a little starker. "If you kill him, they'll set the warg dogs on you."

  She knew how it ran in towns like these. Black Tom had been sitting with friends when she'd entered the bar.

  The stranger froze, his head tilting to the side, almost as if he was listening to her.

  Dark stubble marred his jaw, and his skin was olive enough to hint at some indigenous heritage—or perhaps Latino. Maybe a mix.

  "Please don't kill him," she said, swallowing down the lump in her throat and trying to rein in her racing pulse. Every part of her was trembling. Adrenaline. Its just adrenaline. Eden tried to force a joke, partly for herself. "You just saved my life and I'd prefer it if the local scum didn't lynch you for it. A dead hero's not much use to anybody."

  "I'm not a hero."

  "You're my hero," she pointed out.

  Another faint twitch of the muscle in his jaw. She caught a glimpse of his mouth and that soft lower lip.

  "Remember those words," he said softly. Then he pulled the blade back and drove it in lower. Right between Black Tom's legs.

  Black Tom screamed and crumpled to the ground, blood pouring out of him. Eden gaped. There wasn't enough blood for him to have hit the femoral artery, but....

  He just....

  "You just stabbed him in the dick," she blurted.

  "Justice," said the stranger, sounding satisfied. "I daresay he'll never try that trick again."

  A part of her relished the bastard's pain, but the rest of her instincts were pressing her to see to the wound. Black Tom deserved it—the stranger was right, it probably wouldn't have been Black Tom's first attempt to harm a woman—but she was a healer. Eden pressed a hand over her lips, capturing her strangled groan. Her fingers twitched as if her body wanted to spring into action and stem the blood flow. Instinct. Habit. Difficult things to fight. Black Tom cupped his groin, his face white and blood welling between his fingers as he screamed.

  "Leave him be," the stranger said, wiping his knife clean on Tom's shirt. He sheathed it. "If he lives, then he lives. Come."

  Dogs were baying nearby and a man called out for them to "shut up" in a guttural accent. Something smashed, as if it had been thrown.

  A hand locked around her wrist.

  "Wait!" Eden grabbed her bag, and then almost tripped into the stranger's hard body as he yanked her back. "Thank you—"

  "Don't thank me just yet." He stepped past her, pushing her behind him as he faced some threat in the mouth of the alley.

  "Eden?"

  She couldn't see a thing, but the tension in her shoulders suddenly dissolved.

  "CJ!" she cried, shoving past, and throwing herself into the young man's arms.

  She only had a moment of relief. Dogs were baying like they could smell a fox in the henhouse and wanted to get at him.

  CJ. They could smell CJ.

  "What happened? Are you all right?" CJ drew back and cupped her shoulders. "I heard you scream."

  "I found a guide," she blurted, "but it turns out we're better off without him." She gestured toward Black Tom as she swiftly explained. "And then this guy came out of nowhere and saved me."

  "Saved you?" CJ's nostrils flared as he looked over her shoulder. "Eden," he said, in a warning tone she'd never heard from him before.

  "He's fine," she stressed, grabbing his tense forearm. "He hasn't made a move toward me. And we'd better get out of here. Those dogs don't like you."

  "It's not just me," CJ said, still staring behind her.

  A chill of premonition trailed icy fingertips down her spine.

  Everything had happened so quickly. She'd been jacked on adrenaline and then focused on Black Tom. She'd never really had a chance to look at the stranger too hard. But he'd lifted a huge man off his feet and pinned him against the wall. He'd thrown Tom off her as if the bastard was a lightweight. A little knot twisted inside her as suspicion reared its head.

  Eden spun back toward her rescuer.

  Dark eyes met hers from beneath the rim of his black Stetson. The stranger's lips curved up in a lopsided manner, as if half his mouth was smiling deprecatingly.

  It was the first time she'd seen him front-on.

  "Told you to remember those words," Johnny Colton said, tipping his hat back so she could see his face fully.

  Almost as if the action was a dare.

  A shock of recognition punched through her, as if she'd been Tasered herself. She'd recognize those eyes anywhere. They were imprinted in her nightmares, and she'd pictured them again and again as she punched the bag Adam had set up for her.

  He was older now. Leaner through the cheeks, and a little hungrier looking. The last time she'd seen him there'd been a hint of—innocence, perhaps, if one could use that word to describe Johnny Colton—but whatever light had remained in his eyes was quashed. Gone.

  There was only darkness now.

  "You," Eden choked out, her throat thick with shock.

  "Me." Colton stared at her through narrowed eyes. "I know why I'm out here on the edge of the godforsaken Wastelands. But what the fuck are you doing in a place like this, angel?"

  CHAPTER FOUR
>
  "IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME, EDEN," Colton rasped.

  The words broke the spell. Eden slammed her palms against his chest, shoving him back, hitting him, hammering at his hard frame with her fists. Rage tore from her lips in a gasp, and her eyes turned hot and wet. "You son of a bitch!" All she could see was her brother chained in that hut. Colton shoving her through the door, locking her inside.

  And Adam pleading, begging for him to let her out.

  "Please, Colton. Please. Don't make me do this," her brother had begged.

  "It's not my choice. Just give Cane what he wants and she's free."

  At first she hadn't understood. She'd been so frightened, dragged from her bed by this dark-haired ghost, a man who'd stolen a kiss from her the week before and flirted with her. At first she'd thought him an ally—he'd been riding a bounty with her brother for a week—and so she'd gone with him in order to help Adam. He'd promised softly no harm would come to her if she just played her part.

  "I promise you'll be safe," he'd told her.

  And she'd believed him.

  Instead, he'd locked her in that hut with her newly warg-cursed brother, and used her to push Adam into betraying Luc Wade to the same fate.

  "Mierda!" He staggered back a step.

  Eden screamed her rage into his face, raking at his jaw. There were hands on her wrists, a hard body jerking her away from Colton. And then her face was pressed against CJ's chest as he rubbed a hand through her hair.

  "Eden," CJ gasped. "Eden, he's a warg."

  "I know he is!" A sob tore loose. Eden shook all over, fighting to control herself. She'd never felt like this before; if she'd had a weapon in her hand, she half thought she might have used it.

  And that was not her.

  Sucking in a sharp breath, she pushed away from CJ and got her shit together as she faced Colton. The last thing she'd ever let this man do was turn her into something she wasn't.

  She could handle this.

  Claw marks raked Colton's cheek. His shirt hung awry. She barely recognized herself.

  "What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded. Probably up to no good, if she knew him. "Why did you rescue me? Were you following me?" Too many questions raced through her. "What kind of sick game are you playing?"

  "I had no idea you were even in town. And I was trying to stay fucking lost," Colton growled. "Until you stumbled into my bar and turned everything upside down—"

  "Your bar?"

  "I've spent enough fucking coin in there. I might as well own it."

  Eden glared.

  Colton's eyes narrowed right back.

  "Where'd you get the money from?" she asked hotly.

  A shrug. "Here and there."

  "Sounds like you're up to Bartholomew Cane's old tricks." She almost thought he flinched as she stepped forward, pushing him again. "I swear, if you're hurting people...."

  He captured her wrists and snarled, "Cane's dead. And I'm free. I don't have to play his games anymore. I'm a bounty hunter, curse you. And there's good coin to be made hunting things no one else wants to hunt in the Rim and the Divide—"

  "You hunt in the Divide?" CJ broke in.

  "Yeah—"

  "No," Eden snapped, turning to glare at her young comrade. No way in hell was she about to trust Colton again. "He's the last person we can trust."

  Colton let her go with a rough laugh. "Don't worry, angel. The feeling is mutual. You're the last person I'd ever get tangled up with again." He stepped back and tugged the lip of his hat down over his eyes. "Didn't mean to upset you. But you shouldn't go walking around out here with strangers. The Rim's not a place for those who have any goodness in their hearts."

  "You should know!"

  "Wait. What's going on? You two... know each other?" CJ asked hesitantly.

  "We have a history," Colton murmured.

  Eden's eyes bugged out of her head again. A history? He made it sound as though the pair of them—

  "Eden was the first girl who ever kissed me."

  "That was before I knew what an asshole you were!" She seethed as she turned to CJ. "This is the dick who had a hand in turning my brother into a warg."

  "I didn't turn him."

  "No, but you were Cane's little lapdog. He'd never have gotten his hands on Adam, if you hadn't helped him."

  CJ's eyes widened. "You're Johnny Colton?"

  "And you would be Adam's young protégé. You were helping him hunt me down two years ago. Spent months on my trail before I lost you down south."

  CJ's hand went to his gun.

  Eden slammed a hand out, warning CJ to back off. He didn't know what he faced. Johnny Colton was a dangerous man, and she didn't need to look at the hard bulk of muscle in his chest, and the ammunition on his belt to know nothing had changed in that respect.

  "Don't you dare hurt him," she snapped, shooting daggers at Colton. Dogs yelped nearby.

  Colton froze, glancing down slowly to where her palm was braced between them, a bare inch from his black shirt. "Pretty sure I'm not the one reaching for my gun."

  She wasn't touching him, but she felt like she was. A tingle shivered over her hand. A heated breathless feeling that stole through her as Colton slowly looked back up. Memories danced between them—hateful memories—and she saw the ghost of it echo in his eyes, before it vanished. A tiny hint of regret she must have imagined.

  What the hell?

  "I saved your brother's life two years ago, Eden. Adam and I are square. I understand why you're holding a grudge, but I'm a different man now. I'm sorry for the part I played in... in everything."

  Of all the things she'd ever expected to hear from him, an apology wasn't one of them. "Leopards don't change their spots."

  The baying of the dogs grew worse.

  "Eden," CJ warned. "We need to get moving."

  She couldn't look away from those heated brown eyes as Colton practically dared her to say something. His lips curled in a slow, lopsided smile. "Believe what you want of me, angel. But the kid's right. You should leave."

  A dog howled nearby. CJ's nostrils flared as he grabbed her arm, and stepped in front of her. And then a chorus of bays went up, coming closer.

  "CJ—"

  "They're loose," CJ said sharply, pivoting on his heel to look down the alleyway for a means to escape. "Shit." Nothing. "Edie, if you run, they won't chase you. They're after me."

  CJ drew his pistol and Eden grabbed his wrist. If he made a run for it and the dogs followed, everyone in town would know what he was.

  "Keep her behind you," Colton snapped, turning to face the mouth of the alley.

  Was he insane? They'd rip him to shreds as easily as they would CJ.

  Did she care?

  Two enormous brindled warg dogs slid around the corner, practically frothing at the mouth. Their eyes locked on Colton, and then the lead one threw its muzzle back and gave a hollow, echoing howl, almost one of delight.

  Another one joined them, and then they launched themselves toward Colton.

  "Down," Colton said in a low, flat voice that made Eden shiver, as if it cut through her. He held out a hand and slowly lowered it.

  The dogs slunk to the ground, their howls dying off. CJ's wrist twisted in her grasp, and he went down on one knee in the dirt, and then blinked.

  "What are you doing?" Eden asked.

  "I don't know," CJ blurted, and she saw his foot shift, as if to power himself to his feet again. But he didn't. Instead he looked at Colton helplessly.

  The trio of dogs crawled on their bellies toward Colton's feet, whining and licking at his boots. Eden had never seen anything like it.

  Colton turned those blazing eyes upon her, then his gaze shifted to CJ. "Not you. You can get up."

  "What did you do to him?" Eden gasped, as CJ staggered to his feet.

  Colton mockingly gestured them around him. "I'd recommend you step lively, angel. If more of them arrive, I don't know if I can hold them."

  The dogs whined and groveled as th
e three of them edged past.

  "Stay," Colton commanded, meeting each warg dog's eyes as he backed away. The shiver of his voice went through her as if he'd stroked her inside her skin.

  Then they were safely in the middle of Main Street. CJ opened his mouth, but Colton shook his head and gestured across the street to another alley. "Move."

  The sound of baying grew louder. More dogs. Gritting her teeth at the fact that Colton was the one commanding them, she started running.

  A hand caught her arm as she reached a junction, and Colton shoved her down another dirt-packed road. "This way."

  Pounding along the streets, she didn't argue as he guided them as far away from the warg dogs as he could. Finally they pulled up in the shadow of a shanty, and Eden bent over, panting for breath as she rested her hands on her thighs.

  "What the fuck did you do to me?" CJ demanded. "To those dogs?"

  Colton shot him a narrow-eyed glance. But he turned his attention to her. "Go home, Eden. The Rim's no place for a woman like you—"

  "You don't get to make my decisions for me," she snapped, stepping right up into his space and clenching her fists at her sides. "Adam might have forgiven you for the part you played in ruining him, but I won't ever forget it."

  His eyes narrowed. "So be it."

  Colton took a step back, tipping his head toward CJ. "You should keep a closer eye on Miss McClain. Take her home before she gets herself killed."

  And then he turned and walked away, his long strides eating up the ground, the sound of dogs baying in the distance.

  "Easier said than done," she thought she heard CJ mutter.

  "WHAT?" Eden demanded, feeling CJ's eyes upon her as she threw her clothes into her pack and searched the room for anything she might have left behind.

  CJ leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest. "This is a bad idea, Edie. It sounded good at the start, but the closer we get to the Divide...."

  "Bad situations make for the best possible solution. If we don't get to Cortez City, then we don't get a cure for the plague."

  "You don't think I know that? If we don't get a cure, then Lily dies." His voice choked off a little. "I will do anything—anything—to make sure she survives. But crossing the Divide by ourselves is a death wish."