to wait around to find out.
I could make it to the post faster on foot anyway. Bill’s horse looked like he was as old as Bill. Probably walked like him, too, I told myself.
Yep. My run-in with Bill taught me a valuable lesson: The west was wild, and if you forgot that for even a split second, someone wouldn’t hesitate to shove a gun in your face to remind you. And if you happened to be unlucky enough to be stuck staring down the barrel of a gun, it might be too late.
Abram
I crashed through a roof, breaking support beams and landing in what once was a bed, luckily unoccupied. It was small, only large enough to hold one man, and even then, only a short, skinny one. I realized it was stuffed with feathers as I watched them fly into the air, pause and then begin their delicate descent.
This is not home. The thought sank in as the feathers drifted to the dusty floor.
I had to kill Titus and Eve. I couldn’t let them return home and claim any rewards for their traitorous behavior. I was sure they’d make up lies and feed them to Victor, who would no doubt buy into everything Eve said if she batted her lashes at him.
She would tell everyone what we’d been through; a harrowing tale of near-death experiences, one she was lucky to have escaped unscathed. And then there would be me. The one who was attacked but survived. The one chosen by God to take on the foul beasts that terrorized humanity throughout the ages. The one who remained loyal. But would Victor see that? No. He would only see that I’d been turned and would have me put down like a dog. He would choose Eve over me. He had every time before.
Either I had to get home before her, or I had to keep her from leaving this time. I just needed to figure out how.
With a strategic attack, I could remove her tech, maybe even turn her. Then I could do the same to Titus for following her around like a pathetic mutt.
Loud music filtered up through the floor boards. I sat up, listening. Someone was playing an upbeat tune on a piano. I pictured the pianist’s fingers tickling the ivory keys. In addition to the boisterous music, the din of conversation flowed beneath the notes.
A man wearing a long duster jacket and a tattered cowboy hat opened the door. “Excuse me. I thought this room was mine,” he apologized politely, tipping his hat. Then he looked around the room and pushed the door open wider. “What happened in here?” He took in the feathers, the broken bed, and then his eyes travelled to the hole in the ceiling. “What the hell happened in here?” he demanded louder, in a gruff, raspy voice.
Heated blood thrummed through his veins. I sped across the room and pulled him away from the music and bawdiness below, drinking in his short-lived struggle along with his blood. When I dropped him to the floor and stepped over his legs, his fingers twitched. Soon, he would wake. The people celebrating downstairs had no idea how thirsty he would be.
Chapter Four
Yarrow
Oh, shoot. Shoot. Shoot. Shoot! Maru disappeared in an instant, but not before Enoch saw him. I rushed across the roof to the access point and wrenched the door open to find him already behind it.
“What was he thinking?” Enoch growled.
“He was thinking of saving Eve.”
“I will save Eve! I needed him here. If she lands, it may be near the Compound. He’s the only one who knows the way in.”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes, pushing my glasses up my nose. “Number one, he’s not the only one who knows how to break into the Compound. I can see that it happens, and that security won’t even see you coming. Number two,” I paused to add drama, “Victor announced that Maru is wanted for treason. If any of Victor’s soldiers sees Maru anywhere near the Compound, they’ll have to arrest him. If they don’t, they face the same sentence as the accused they allowed to roam free. No one wants to die for someone they barely know, even if they respect the person. They respect Maru, but there’s not a soldier in the army who wouldn’t turn him in to save their own neck. There’s even a ransom posted for him at this point, which screams desperation to me. Victor must really want or