AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Wait! Is Rhea my mother?”
Ryannon, in the fury’s arms, her eyes rolling back from the seizure. Her inner light was—
“It wasn’t a seizure. Her light, it was beaming to the sky for me to see.”
“What was that light telling you?”
My frustration was building. “I don’t know. Where is my mother?”
His voice began to fade. “Maybe you should be asking where hers is?”
Startled by the sound of grinding metal, I sat up in bed, instantly reaching around the blanket for Rya. She wasn’t there, but the sun was up, and I heard voices.
Running to her attic-bedroom window, I quickly read the scene. Rya’s brothers were back and loading horses. “Motherfuckers.”
I ran down the stairs and outside to raise hell, but Diesel saw me coming, tapping the back of a trailer before it drove away. “Breathe, numb-nuts.”
Last night he proclaimed to have fathered a god. Today he called that ‘god’ numb-nuts.
“Or you’re gonna stroke out by twenty-five.”
Talk about keeping a deity grounded.
Diesel didn’t have quite the same etiquette as Lu, but his straightforwardness was just as appreciated. “I’m calm. See?” I gesture to my body as I worked to slow my breathing.
“I used to be as hotheaded as you, so don’t try to bullshit me, pup.” He held up papers. “Either way, everything is official. I got papers from the lawyer.”
Halfway down the porch steps, I bitched, “Aren’t those the same papers from yesterday?”
“Nah. Those were a bluff the feds never asked to see.”
That had me missing a step and grabbing the railing to avoid landing on my face. “Diesel! What the fuck are you doing? What if they had?”
“Oh, relax. They didn’t. Let go of what’s gone. Grant—the asshat— is so ‘over the barrel’ with ‘daddy’s’ big money spent and no horses delivered, he would’ve signed anything to get hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of horses. He still walked away with a pretty penny.”
Even though that was good news and Grant would be off my back, the ‘let go of what’s gone’ stung, because I was sure Rya didn’t agree. She had taken care of those horses every day, even when so sad she could barely move. This must’ve broken her heart. “Where’s Rya?”
He thumbed over his shoulder. “Riding Sable.” He started walking toward me. “By the way, to get her to stop crying and start breathing again, I promised to introduce her to a legendary trainer in Austin, Texas, so you could buy her one of his horses.”
“You did what?” I squeaked, forgetting I had a pair. “He sounds expensive! I don’t have a lot of money!”
Not slowing his walk, Diesel ignored me. “Cowboy is married to a country singer. Ain’t that cool? Like a bonafide country star.”
I practically rolled my eyes. “A Texan cowboy named Cowboy?”
“What?” he scoffed. “It’s catchy!”
“Diesel.”
“His wife’s name is Destiny.” He stopped in his tracks to rub the back of his neck. “Fun little gal, but be prepared for bar fights. She’s a hellion..…” He side-eyed me. “She one of your people?”
What? “No.” I contemplated tackling him to the ground for a good healthy throttle. “Anything else I should know? About my own life, that is?”
Thick arms folded at his chest as he tapped his chin. “Hmm… Oh!” He threw his hands in the air. “We’re leaving tomorrow.”
Without further explanation, he walked past me. “Better go pack your shit.”
The sun felt good on my skin, warming the chill the nightmare had given me, but her pain was becoming mine. I followed it then excused Chubs and Roamer so I could watch over Rya as she rode through yet more sorrow.
