I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed. Once again I fought tears, and it pissed me off even more.
****
The A/C in Solomon’s Excursion cooled my body and my temper. Soft Native American rock music played from an expensive sound system. Maureen sat shotgun, chatting non-stop to Solomon about the unusual places she’d visited while wandering the eastern U.S.
The steep landscape whizzed by my window. I’d had enough of Virginia. It was time to go further south, but that desire was postponed until we bought new tires for my Jeep. Yet another obstacle had landed directly in my path to Key West. I looked over at Maureen.
Correction. Our path to Key West.
The difficulties so far came as no surprise. For once, it would be nice to have something good happen. Was that too much to ask?
Solomon appeared to be looking at me in the rearview mirror, but with his dark shades, I couldn’t tell for certain.
“You’re awfully quiet back there,” he said.
“I’m still stewing over my slashed tires.” Actually, I entertained thoughts of using the biker dude’s Harley to peel out on his pecker. I guarantee it would be the first time a woman had ever laid real rubber on his dick.
But the things the guy had said, the yellow eye blazes... I shivered.
“I’ll call a buddy of mine and have new tires put on your Jeep first thing in the morning. For now, just kick back and enjoy the evening.”
“Yeah, Ruby.” Maureen twisted around in her seat to look at me. “We’ll make up for our lost time. Don’t worry.”
I added her enthusiasm and optimism to my list of irritations.
“How is it that you can glow? And how did you throw that woman across the room without touching her? She’s much taller than you and outweighs you by about fifty pounds.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied, staring pointedly at Maureen in hopes she would take the hint.
She didn’t.
“You didn’t touch her,” she insisted, “and your hair turned a different color, plus your fingernails were glowing bright orange. I knew something happened in the café parking lot, but you denied it.”
“You imagined it,” I said. The comment sounded lame.
“I saw it too,” Solomon stated. “It was amazing.”
They were delving too deeply. Panic hit me. “You can take me back to my Jeep now. I’ll figure something out on my own.” Heart slamming painfully, I waited for the SUV to slow, pull over, and then around, but it didn’t.
“Take me back to my Jeep!” Tears prickled in my eyes and heat flowed through my body.
“Just calm down,” said Solomon. “We’re not—”
“I want to go back to my Jeep now!”
“I’m not taking you back. Where the hell would you go? How would you get there?” He slowed the Ford. “No one is around the museum for miles, and you’d have to walk—”
“Please, just turn around and drive me back.” Light radiated off me, infusing the Excursion with brighter illumination than what was outside.
“Ruby, calm down,” Maureen said. Her eyes grew wide. “Take it easy.”
“Then just let me out!” Panic skewered my innards. “Pull over and let me out of this damn truck!”
Solomon pulled the Ford over and stopped. I fumbled for the door handle and lunged out of the vehicle. I started walking. Calm, think calm thoughts. Tamp it down. Put it back. Stow it in a dark, safe place.
“Ruby! Wait!” Solomon called and jogged after me, his feet crunching on the pebbles strewn along the roadside. “Let me talk to you.”
“NO!” Sobs burst from me. “Just leave me alone. It’s safer that way.”
He caught up with me, grabbed my arm, and turned me around. Instead of horror, he wore a mask of concern.
I blinked. That wasn’t right. He was supposed to freak out, cuss, and tell me to get the hell away from him.
“Look at me, Ruby. You heard what the biker called me. I’m the last one to judge you,” he said with sincerity. “I’ve never seen anyone do what you did, but it didn’t scare me. I think it’s amazing.”
“It should scare you.” Angrily, I wiped tears away. I couldn’t let a complete stranger see me suffer a nervous breakdown. Oh, but he’s not a stranger, something whispered in the back of my mind.
LET HIM HELP YOU, RUBY. GIVE HIM A CHANCE.
Terrific, now the voice was back. Trembling, I sighed and stifled another sob.
Before I could react, Solomon pulled me into his arms and snuggled me tightly against his body. With his hard length pressed to mine, his strong, sinewy arms around my shoulders and crossed over my back, and the intoxicating aroma of his own personal scent mixed with a spicy, fresh cologne, I found myself giving in to his embrace.
“Come on, Ruby. Let me take you to my place where you can chill out and have a fabulous meal. I have a roommate who can cook up a storm.”
With another sigh, I nodded against his shoulder.
“Please tell me she’s coming with us,” Maureen called from the Excursion. “She has to stay with us.”
Stunned, all I could do was allow Solomon to walk me back to the SUV and help me into the back passenger where I sat quietly. With my mind in a whirl of disbelief, I stared out the window.
“What did those bikers mean by those weird comments they made?” Maureen asked.
I almost didn’t hear her. My thunderous pulse nearly drowned out everything. No one took my weird abilities in stride, not even my father. No one ever hugged or held me either.
“Comments?” I finally managed.
“Somehow they recognized all three of us,” she stated
“Whoever they are,” Solomon interjected, “they certainly have axes to grind.”
Yeah, I’d caught their words, too, but feigned ignorance. For the moment, I could only handle one thing at a time, and the main one was the fact that neither Solomon nor Maureen seemed to fear me.
I shrugged and finally looked at Maureen. “Maybe they have us confused with someone else.”
She favored me with a skeptical expression.
****
The Excursion bounced down a gravel lane that ended at a beautiful log home. Surrounded by tall trees on three sides, the front of the home overlooked a shallow valley to the west. A small red barn stood behind the cabin. Solomon parked the SUV in the drive, got out, and walked around to the back to retrieve our bags.
I stepped out of the truck. Stiffness had settled in my muscles. Some of it stemmed from tension, but most of it was a side effect of my weird ability. I studied my surroundings and worked my neck and shoulder muscles. Crickets chirred in the surrounding undergrowth. Off to the side of the split-rail fence stood wooden statues of Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear. A hammock hung between two maples and rocked gently in a breeze soughing up from the valley.
I could get used to living in such a place.
The front door opened. A bundle of black-and-white fur bounded through it and rocketed off the porch. The canine monstrosity launched itself at me like a heat-seeking missile. The animal hit me square in the chest. I landed flat on my back in a bed of purple asters. A wet tongue and nose violated my face and insulted my nostrils with the vulgar scent of canned dog food.
“Shunka Wakan!” Solomon yelled. “Get off of her!”
The dog used my boobs as a springboard and leapt off of me with an excited bark. Dazed, I stared up at the hazy sky. Solomon’s face appeared over me, worry lines creasing the corners of his mouth.
“I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
Blinking, I wiped dog goobers from my face as Solomon helped me to my feet.
“Wow, Ruby. You went down like a ton of bricks.” Maureen giggled from where she posed on a flagstone walk.
“I’ve never seen my dog react like that to anyone. He’s usually reserved until he gets to know someone.” Solomon brushed dirt and dog hair from my clothes. “Did he hurt you?”
“No, just slobbered me t
o death.”
I imagined his ice-chip colored eyes smiling at me behind the sunglasses.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine, but I need a bath now.”
His inviting lips spread into a hypnotic smile. “That can be arranged.”
“I’m sorry, Solomon,” a masculine voice said from the porch. “I had to open the door and let him out. I was afraid he would break the glass. One way or another, he was going out to meet you.”
An elderly man hobbled down the front steps. He grasped the handrail until he reached the ground and stuffed both hands into his pockets. Simple leather moccasins shod his feet. Two long white braids hung on each side of his head, and a pocket t-shirt covered his lean torso. The old man could have been any age from seventy to a hundred.
“It’s all right, Sam,” Solomon said and picked up our bags from where he’d dropped them in the gravel. “You’ll have to tend to your asters, though.”
Sam shrugged, turned, and started back up the steps. “They’ll survive. They served their purpose by breaking that Nutter’s fall.”
At first, it didn’t dawn on me the old Indian had called me by my last name. Astonished, I glanced up at Solomon, who shrugged. “Sam is the friend I was telling you about,” he stated.
We followed Maureen into the cabin. I frowned at the amount of ass cheeks hanging out of her shorts as she climbed the front steps.
As Solomon showed us to our room, the Alaskan Malamute remained at my side.
“Make yourselves comfortable,” Solomon said. He ushered us into a lovely bedroom with twin beds. “There’s a bathroom off to the right.” He motioned toward a closed door next to a cherry vanity. “Everything you might possibly need should be in there.” He shoved his sunglasses atop his head and patted his thigh. “Let’s go, Shunka. Give the ladies some privacy.”
The canine padded to my side and sat on his haunches, his ears perked as if to say he had no intentions of moving.
“Come on, boy.”
The dog promptly lay down and yawned.
“Looks like you made another new friend, Ruby.” Maureen laughed and flopped down on one of the beds.
Solomon crossed his arms. “I’ve never seen him act like this before.”
“What does Shunka Wakan mean?” asked Maureen.
“Sam named him. When Native Americans saw horses for the first time they thought they were very large dogs, so they dubbed them mysterious dog—Shunka Wakan.”
“Well, he’s certainly big enough to be a pony,” she said.
Solomon leaned against the doorframe, his gaze drifting down my body and back up it again. The heat in his eyes ignited an ember of longing within me. Flustered, I turned and set my suitcase on the end of the other bed.
“The morning after I got out of the hospital,” he gestured toward his face covered in fine scars, “that dog showed up on the porch and has been with me ever since. Sam says he’s a spirit guide, but it appears his duty to me is finished. It looks like he’s your spirit guide now, Ruby.”
“Mine?” I looked down at the canine and wondered if drooling on the carpet was a spirit guide sort of thing to do.
“It’s just a theory.” Solomon laughed. He began pulling the door shut. “Supper will be ready in about an hour.”
For a moment, I just stood gaping at the closed door. Could this day get any more bizarre? No, I didn’t want an answer to that.
Chapter Seven
I had a soothing bath and changed into clean shorts and a halter top. Maureen showered and put on a mint green sundress. The garment’s plunging neckline revealed cleavage that probably had Homeland Security scrambling to determine where the hell the unauthorized missiles had come from. Studying her from across the supper table, I knew her chances of survival in a head-on collision were significantly better than mine.
Sam served a delicious meal of greens, stir-fried chicken, cantaloupe and a spicy noodle salad. I admired the spacious kitchen done in red and black, complemented by stainless steel appliances. I would’ve never considered such a color scheme, but it exuded classiness that appealed to me.
We ate quietly, keeping conversation to pleasantries. Maureen babbled about her travels and her peculiar aunt, Lula. Once everyone finished, Sam began clearing the dishes. Without another word, Maureen stood and began handing him plates and glasses. The old Indian never acknowledged the help other than to accept the items as she passed them to him. He placed each dish into a dishwasher.
“Is there something I can do?” I asked.
“Go keep Solomon company on the porch,” Sam replied brusquely. “I will bring dessert out when we are finished here.”
“Go on, Ruby,” Maureen said. She reached for the empty salad bowl. “You need to kick back for a while. You’ve been strung tighter than a banjo string today.”
Her Appalachian expression brought a smile to the old man’s face.
Turning, I found Solomon standing at my side. He offered his arm, and I threaded mine through his. This time I was ready for the familiar feelings that washed through me. At his touch, a tremor started in my feet. Together, we strode through the tastefully decorated home with its antler chandelier, plush beige carpeting, and southwestern flair. By the time we reached the front door, my legs quivered so badly I was afraid of falling on my face.
He’s not my type, he’s not my type, he’s not...
“Hopefully the humidity isn’t as bad as it was earlier today,” said Solomon.
“Don’t you need your sunglasses?” The tremble in my voice embarrassed me and I hoped he hadn’t detected it.
“The evening light doesn’t bother me.”
The Malamute trailed behind us and slipped through the door before it shut on him. Solomon gestured for me to take a seat on the glider. With gratitude, I sank on the cushion, and he sat next to me. We relaxed quietly for several minutes, my thoughts centering on the mysterious man beside me.
Sprawled along the top step, the dog panted. Solomon and I began a slow back-and-forth rhythm that had me thinking erotic thoughts. Feeling a blush creep into my cheeks, I tried to concentrate on the western horizon and what the sunset might look like if the humidity hadn’t camouflaged it.
“So...you and Maureen are heading to Key West?” Solomon said.
“How do you know that?”
“She mentioned it while we were waiting for you to come downstairs.”
“What else did she say?”
He raised a fair brow and tipped his head to one side. He studied me long and hard. “Only that you picked her up in West Virginia and you decided to travel together since she’s going to Florida too.”
“Well, we didn’t exactly decide to travel together.” I broke eye contact. Something about the way he looked at me, or rather looked inside me, made me nervous and vulnerable. “It just sort of worked out that way. She’s a likeable woman, but she…”
“She what?”
“She has the uncanny knack of making me want to take my own life.”
Laughter rumbled out of Solomon. I hated to admit it, but the sound sent a pleasant thrill winding through my body.
He grew silent and stared out across the valley. The smattering of fine scars across his face drew my attention. The muscles in his jaw worked, and he turned, staring deeply into my eyes. My breath caught, a butterfly of panic careening through my stomach.
“I got them in North Carolina one evening. I’d been out for an evening walk with my sister.”
“Got what?” I stammered.
“The scars.” He offered me a patient smile. “Gabriella, my sister, and me were visiting our uncle. We took a walk about dusk. It was in December during deer season, but since hunters must leave the woods at dusk, we figured we were safe. As we strolled back to my uncle’s house, a truckload of hunters spotlighting deer roared across the field toward us. They were so drunk we smelled the whiskey from their pickup. When they saw me, they hollered something about a king. The ones in the back got o
ut and held us at gunpoint.”
Spellbound, I couldn’t break away from his steady gaze, and although I sensed the sad outcome of his story, I still desired to hear every word.
“The driver and his two buddies got out. I didn’t know whether to tell Gabriella to run, or what to do. With their shotguns aimed at us, she probably wouldn’t have made it far before they killed her anyhow, but now I wonder if maybe she would’ve had a chance.”
“They shot her anyway?” I asked, appalled.
“No.” He closed his eyes, gulped, and then opened them again to stare out over the valley. “They grabbed my sister and raped her in the frozen pasture. I tried to reach her, but one of them cracked me over the head with a whiskey bottle, and another hit me on the back of the head with the butt of a gun. I went down, followed by another bottle repeatedly smashed into my face until I couldn’t see for the glass, blood and liquor in my eyes. They kept shouting ‘white king’ as they bashed me with it.”
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
“When the hunters were finished with Gabriella, they stabbed her in the heart with a hunting knife and then gutted her.”
Horrified, I gasped.
“I think I survived because they were so drunk they thought I was dead.” He fell silent, and I thought his sad tale had ended, but he started talking again. “Sam found us a couple hours later. He managed to prop me up behind him on his snowmobile and take me to my uncle’s house. The authorities investigated the scene and took my sister’s body to the morgue.”
“Where the hunters sent to prison?” I asked.
He continued as if he hadn’t heard me. “The hunters disappeared. No one had seen them, and no one recognized their descriptions. After two long, grueling years of searching for them, I realized I wasn’t going to find them.”
“What do you mean? Surely the authorities would’ve had some leads.”
He stared at the ridgeline as if searching it for answers. “Today at the museum, I saw the bikers’ eyes flash yellow just like the hunters’ eyes had that night they attacked me and Gabriella.”
The Sorcerer King and the Fire Queen Page 7