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I cock my head and my whole body tingles.
A twig cracks and Angel rears back. I grip the saddle horn as she comes down. My teeth clash and my vision flashes as her hooves hit the ground. She whirls despite me trying to keep her restrained. Her ears prick forward and we both hear it this time.
Hoofbeats. Pounding the earth.
I stare into the empty pines as the sound grows closer. There’s nothing I can do now except face whoever pursues me. My pounding heart begins to slow and my breathing evens. Angels stops prancing and falls quiet, ears pricked and eyes round.
I inch my hand closer to the pistol at my hip. I’m a good shot, my father made sure of that. But I’ve never had to aim at a moving target and I know it’s not the same thing.
Thomas Garrison bursts into view, astride a deep bay horse. He sees me and veers to the left without missing a beat and he’s gone.
Water sprays from behind me, but before I can turn, Angel rears hard. I don’t have time to grip the saddlehorn. My feet come free of the stirrups and I’m falling through space. My teeth clack together and my head hits the ground hard enoughto make stars pop overhead. My limbs are a tangle on the forest floor.
From the corner of my vision, I see Angel disappear through the trees.
I don’t blame her. She wasn’t ready.
Before I have a chance to recover, I’m grabbed by the collar of my coat and yanked upwards into a warm wall. My legs automatically wrap around his waist and my head lolls back. Sovereign is holding me with one arm, trying to shift to sit behind him.
“Get behind me, redbird,” he says, his jaw clenched.
I wriggle to get into position and lock my limbs around his body. Euphoria bursts through my brain as the scent of leather fills my nose. He’s here, he’s warm, he’s real. He didn’t die last night.
“Sovereign,” I pant, sliding my arms around his waist.
“Hold on,” he says. “I’ve got one more thing to do and then we’ll go home.”
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
GERARD
Her arms wrap around my body so hard I can barely breathe. When all this is over, I’m going to bring her back and let her recover. Then she’s getting punished. Not for fun. She’s going to feel her disobedience across her beautiful ass and thighs.
Avery Garrison is dead. Thomas is the only one left. He ran out the back door, leaving his wife sobbing as Westin dragged her out to the truck. Leaving his brother’s dead body slumped over the kitchen table.
I dropped a match in the living room and went after him with Jack.
It’s been hours and I finally tracked Thomas to the north cabin. He crossed the border into my land, which pisses me off even more, but fair is fair. I entered his ranch last night and killed his brother and let Westin take his wife. I’ll let him fight on my ranch if that makes him feel better about dying.
He’s only loosely familiar with this part of the ranch. He’ll move through the pines and try to get back down the ridge to the house. Probably in search of the main road. I have to head him off before he gets to the ridge.
I shift my weight and Shadow moves seamlessly from a trot to a canter. His big body winds easily through the trees.
My muscles ache. I’ve been hunting Thomas since after midnight. I thought this would go faster, I had lower expectations for him. But he’s angry and he’s fighting back.
I shift my weight and Shadow picks up speed as we break from the woods. We leave from the northeast side where the mountain flattens out to reveal the river winding through the center of a grove of pines.
Up ahead, I catch sight of the hind end of Thomas’s horse. Spraying water as he fords the river.
Shadow senses my mood shift and he lengthens his stride. Rocks and dirt kick up from his hooves as we ride down the bank. Icy water drenches my boots and I hear Keira yelp softly as it hits her legs.
Shadow is tiring. The disadvantage we both have is that we’re big, and carrying a lot of muscle tires us easily. And he’s carrying us both. Thomas is lighter and so is his horse. They can go for much longer than we can.
We burst from the other side of the river. For a second, I think we’re alone.
Then a bullet whizzes by, striking the ground behind us. Shadow shies back, and Keira’s arm clamps around my torso like iron. I pull my gun free and spin Shadow in a quick circle, scanning the area.
I can’t fucking see where he’s coming from.
