Silver Mist

by Raine Cantrell

  “For pity’s sake, Dara! Leave me some pride.”

  “No. This has nothing to do with pride. You told me everything and I’m still here, holding you. I want an answer.”

  “You didn’t just get bold and sassy, you’ve got a right testy temper, too.”

  “Answer me.”

  He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. “No man lives easy with the knowledge that he ran from this kind of a fight.”

  “You’re not going to run this time, are you?”

  “No.”

  Nausea churned inside her. “You’ll kill Lucio?”

  “I’ll stop him from destroying what I’ve built here.” If his voice was flat and hard, his eyes, opened, intent on hers, were more so. “I’ll stop him any way I can,” he added. Suddenly he wanted her understanding of what he was committed to do.

  Dara struggled to find the right words. She couldn’t condone his killing anyone. But he didn’t give her time.

  “Will it change your feelings for me?”

  Her gaze flashed anger. “Do you think so little of me to ask that? Am I so shallow a person to you?” She shoved against his hold, but he merely tightened his arms so she couldn’t get away from him. “Did you really believe that I made love with you to satisfy my ‘virginal curiosity,’ as you so smugly termed it?” Her breathing was erratic and she poked her finger at his chest. “I said that I loved you. To me that means loving all of you; the strength, the very gentle caring, the infuriating arrogance, and the incredible joy you bring to me every time you make love to me. I know you believe that killing isn’t the only answer, but you’re a man that must live by his convictions.”

  Her hands suddenly framed his cheeks. “I respect you for having that kind of courage. You’ll do whatever you need to do, Eden. That’s all I can offer you.” She bit her lower lip, took a deep breath, and knew she had to say the rest.

  “I’ve had to make some choices that weren’t easy ones. I’ve turned my back on all that I was taught to believe as right. I have a brother who hates me for loving you.” Her fingertips silenced his move to speak. “No. Listen. Nothing matters if you care for me. I can’t divide my love,” she whispered, tears filling her eyes. “I can’t love a part of you, without loving all that you are.”

  Her hands slid down from his face and came to rest between them on his chest. For a long moment he gazed down at the delicate flush of her cheeks, then lowered his head, his lips kissing away her tears.

  “Don’t cry for me, Dara. Don’t cry at all. I never meant to bring you tears,” he murmured. “I told you once that you unman me with your honesty. You do, love, you do.” He stole her cry with a kiss so shattering that they both shuddered from the intensity of its promise.

  When he forced himself to end it, he saw the dazed look of her wide, dark eyes, her lips, parted and damp from the hungry strokes of his tongue, and he wished for time to say what had to be said to her.

  But their time together was ended a moment later when Jake called out for him. Eden brushed his thumb over her satin-wet lips as if to take her breath and her taste with him. The quick shake of his head stopped her from uttering a sound as he left her.

  He met Jake midway down the aisle. “I had to come and get you,” Jake said first. “Matt’s in town and so is Pierce. You’d better hear what they have to say.”

  “Anne wasn’t home.”

  “No.”

  Eden stopped him from turning around. “I think I know where she went.” His fingers clenched on Jake’s arm. “Lucio was here and told Dara about Linda. He might have gone to your wife, too. If he—”

  “I’ll kill that bastard!”

  “No. Lucio is mine. But there’s a chance that if he told her, Anne may have gone to tell Clay. He’d use this against both of us.”

  “Don’t ask me to believe that my wife would betray—”

  “She hates me, Jake. Not you. And Clay will twist it all to get the fanners riled up.”

  “No. He wants to go after you himself. Christ! I don’t want to go gunning for him.”

  “I didn’t ask you to. I’ll take care of Clay. As with Lucio, it’s been between us for too long.” But Eden recalled a man who once swore to him that this was his town, his future, and violence would not rule it. It was this thought and Dara’s words of unshakable faith that made him speak out.

  “Just think about the choices you’re making, Jake. If you back down over Clay now, will you ever face yourself or these people again? Do you want to have a marriage built on lies?”

  He didn’t wait for Jake’s answer, but brushed past him and nearly collided with Matt rushing in the front door. “What the hell are you doing here?” Eden bit off. “I gave you orders to stay out at the site.”

  “Where the devil have you been?” Matt demanded, ignoring his question. He blocked Eden’s forward move. “Just wait a minute. Pierce!” he called, and watched as Eden stepped back. “You’ve got to listen to him. My brother came out to the mine to tell me what Clay plans to do. Clay’s alone in this, no one’s going to help him. I doubled the guards before I left, but I had to find you. When I couldn’t, I was going back to the mine, but Pierce had figured to look for you, too. We rode back in together.” Matt glanced at his brother. “Tell him.”

  Eden listened, losing his skeptical look, and when Pierce was done, he made his decision. “Matt, stay in town and keep watch for Lucio. Don’t go near him. He’d kill you if he thought you were in his way. I’ll ride out to the mine. It’s me that Clay wants.”

  “I’ll stay with Matt,” Pierce stated, his look daring Eden to deny him that right. When Eden didn’t answer him, he added, “Or if you want, I’ll ride out with you and try to talk to Clay again.”

  “You’d do that?”

  Pierce straightened, looking up at the man who stood half a head taller. “Clay was wrong to think he could solve anything by hurting you or the other miners. I guess you’re all here to stay, and we need to work together. My sister won’t love him again, if she ever really did, and I can’t respect him.” It was the only way Pierce could think of to apologize.

  “Stay with your brother, Pierce. And Matt,” he said, putting his hand on the younger man’s shoulder, “you did the right things.”

  “Pierce,” Jake cut in, tension gripping him. “Did he say anything about Anne coming to see him?”

  “She was there. I’m sorry, Jake. Whatever she told him seemed to trigger this crazy idea that he could destroy Eden’s site and get rid of both him and Lucio.”

  Jake glanced at Eden. “I’ll help you find Clay.”

  The four of them left the store, intent on what they had to do. Dara stood gripping the counter, having overheard them, and was stricken with the thought that they all could be killed. Running toward the doorway, she saw Eden and Jake ride off. Matt and Pierce were halfway down the street talking to Lyle and Jesse. The joy of knowing that Pierce had forgiven her and made his peace with Eden and Matt was overshadowed by fear. Not quite sure what she could do, Dara felt the need to do something. She left the store at a run.

  Once again she found herself pounding on Anne’s door, calling for her to open it. Jake didn’t know of the days when Anne would lock herself inside, refusing to see anyone. She could have hid herself when he came home. Clay had to be stopped, but Eden could be hurt, unless she got there first. With both her and Anne there, Clay might be reasoned with, and if Anne refused to help her, Dara knew she would make her tell what she said to her brother.

  Desperate now that minutes had passed, Dara spun around, undecided what to do. She walked to the edge of the porch and was about to step down when she saw Anne driving a carriage toward the new livery. Dara lifted her skirts and ran, reaching the stable before Anne did. She barely spared a glance at Anne’s disheveled state.

  “What did you tell Clay?” she demanded, shaking with fury. “Do you know what he plans to do at Eden’s site? Men could be killed if he gets past the gua
rds. Clay could be killed because of what you—”

  “Stop it! I know! I tried to tell him that wasn’t the way. He wouldn’t listen to me. He went crazy. But it’s not my fault. It’s yours for leaving him!”

  “Move over, Anne.” Dara didn’t give her time to decide. She climbed into the carriage, pushing Anne aside, grabbing the reins from her hands.

  “What are you intending to do, Dara?”

  “Here now!” a man yelled from inside the stable. “You can’t be takin’…”

  His words were lost as Dara snapped the leather against the mare’s back, turning the carriage around.

  “Dara! Answer me!” Anne screamed, watching her whip the horse so hard that the carriage rocked crazily.

  “I’m going to stop him.”

  She avoided a chance meeting with Eden and Jake by taking little-used back lanes. And her thoughts were filled with the need to stop Clay from destroying all that Eden had worked for. More, she couldn’t live with the guilt if Clay destroyed himself.

  Chapter Twenty

  Clay had to wipe his damp palms before he lovingly picked up the sticks of dynamite. He smiled at the ease with which he had eluded the guards walking the perimeter of Eden’s land. With his old felt hat pulled low, his sweat-grimed clothes dusted with flour to give him the appearance of having worked with phosphate, he was just another worker to them. No one had called out, or tried to stop him from entering the small shed where he had found what he wanted. His fingertips caressed the smooth papery finish on the sticks while he planned where he would use them. Crouching in the musty shadows, Clay thought of the layout he scouted.

  The largest of the pits was directly to the left of the shed. It was almost fifteen feet deep, but access could be had to its bottom by a number of wooden ladders placed around the earthen walls. Wooden walkways crisscrossed the bottom. He wouldn’t have any trouble getting down there. If he could get hold of a shovel, he could plant the dynamite, light it, and be gone before it blew.

  He wasn’t going to wait.

  Clay tucked the sticks beneath his shirt, opening two buttons for easy access. He clutched a small match safe in his hand and darted for the door. Sweat beaded on his face as he listened to two men lingering in front of the door.

  “Eden said to keep a sharp watch. He’s ’round here.”

  “You stay. I’ll head over to the drying machine.”

  Clay searched in the gloom for a weapon. He wasn’t going to be stopped before he did what he came to do. Barrels of blasting power and cases of dynamite were all he saw. There wasn’t even a stray piece of wood lying around. He turned too fast, hitting a stack of barrels, but grabbed the topmost one before it fell. The door slammed open, and he froze a second before stepping back into the shadows.

  “I heard you. Ain’t no sense in hidin’.”

  “I can’t walk. I twisted my leg. You’ll have to help me.” Clay watched as the man lowered the rifle, swearing that he couldn’t see him. “Back here,” he whispered.

  He willed the man forward, then lunged when he was within reach, his powerful forearm cutting off the man’s strangled cry. Clay lost track of time. Minutes or seconds passed—he neither knew nor cared. At last the weight of the man’s limp body signaled that Clay no longer needed to choke him.

  He looked toward the open door, but no alarm came, no one passed. But now he knew his time was short. They would be watching for him. He stood in the open doorway and saw Eden at the far edge of the pit, urging men to leave their work. A powerful surge filled Clay as he watched them scurrying for the safety of the ladders. He almost laughed. Eden was too late. He struck a wooden match, lit the fuses of the sticks he held, and ran forward.

  “Eden! Oh, Christ!” Jake yelled, drawing his gun. “Clay, don’t do it!” Jake aimed for Clay’s raised arm—he didn’t want to kill him—but the shot came a second too late, and the bundled dynamite flew high, arching out over the pit before its descent. Men flattened themselves just moments before it exploded.

  Eden was up and running before the dust and wooden debris settled. He didn’t see Dara fighting to stop the mare from rearing in fright, sawing on the reins until she thought her arms would be pulled from her body. Anne roused herself to help Dara, but it was the man leaning from his saddle that brought the mare under control.

  Shaken, Dara stared at him. And then her gaze fell on the gun he held. Her throat closed. She couldn’t scream for help. The men were shouting, running to help those who had been injured in the blast. No one would hear her, but she could see Eden.

  “Get down,” Lucio ordered. But as Anne moved to follow Dara, he stopped her. “Not you. You have already served me this day. She is the one I want.” Without dismounting, Lucio urged his horse close enough to use his free hand to grab Dara’s thick braid, yanking it free. At the press of his knees the horse stilled, and he dragged Dara up against his leg.

  “I swore he would not live this time.”

  Dara didn’t answer him. She wasn’t going to goad him into killing her. And she had no doubt, looking up into the near blackness of his merciless eyes, he would do it.

  Still holding her braid, he took up his reins and began walking his horse forward, dragging Dara with him.

  “McQuade!” he shouted, firing his gun in the air to gain his attention.

  Eden was kneeling beside Clay, with Jake across from him, when they heard Lucio’s shot.

  Eden’s head snapped up. His eyes narrowed and the blood drained from his face. He thought his heart had ceased beating in that instant he saw Dara. Fear twisted his gut. His throat convulsed, a once familiar desert dryness sucked every bit of moisture from his mouth. He couldn’t breathe. Every nerve ending in his body screamed for him to move; every sense warned him to be still.

  Jake shifted his body.

  “Don’t move!” Eden snarled, focusing on Lucio’s smile as he urged his horse forward a few steps. He had to force himself to look at Dara’s white face, its starkness blending with the pristine shirtwaist. A tremble began deep inside him as he noticed the taut arch of her neck and the way her eyes closed tight against the pain of Lucio’s yanking her braid. He swore he would break every bone in the hand that held her chained at his side. Blood surged hot as he felt a primitive need to protect what he claimed as his, followed by a rage unlike any he had known.

  Eden released the breath he held, slowly rocking back on his heels, the move taking him away from Clay’s body. He waited and when Lucio continued smiling, his black eyes snapping with challenge, he carefully came to his feet, arms held away from his sides, so that Lucio could see he made no move toward his gun.

  Clay moaned.

  “Shut him up,” Eden hissed, barely moving his lips.

  “Will you sacrifice yourself for her?” Lucio asked, his voice gloating.

  “Let her go.” Eden didn’t wait. He opened his gunbelt buckle and let it fall to the ground.

  “Eden, don’t be a fool. He’ll kill you,” Jake whispered.

  “Just you and me, Lucio. No guns. No interference.”

  Lucio laughed. “You take me for a fool, amigo.” He wrapped Dara’s braid around his hand and dragged her backward, nudging his horse along with her.

  Dara bit her lip, tasting blood to stifle the moan that rose. She wanted to scream at Eden to stay away. Lucio couldn’t use his gun and watch her at the same time. But there was no way to convey that message to Eden. He was already walking forward. His steps were slow and measured, but she sensed his fury by the set of his body.

  “Man to man, amigo,” Eden taunted in a flat voice, desperate to get him to release Dara. He fought the urge to curl his fingers into fists, refusing to give Lucio a clue to his rage.

  Dara stumbled against the horse’s side, refusing to move, and forced Lucio to stop.

  “The lovely señorita has a delicate neck, no?”

  “If you break it, Lucio,” Eden warned, “I’ll hunt you down and tear you apart.�
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  “But you will be dead, hombre. It is a just price for what you took from me.”

  “I’ll give you the money, Lucio. I’ll repay what you owe Weeks and double it. Let her go.”

  “See how much value he places upon you,” he murmured to Dara, snapping the braid like a taut leash. The move caught her unprepared for the pain, and she cried out.

  Eden lunged forward. Lucio’s shot kicked up dirt to the side of him. Dara twisted, reaching up with her hands, and raked Lucio’s fist that held her hair. She struggled to get herself free despite the needlelike anguish tearing her scalp. Lucio couldn’t control the horse. It was dancing in place, eyes rolling, and Dara tried to watch that she didn’t get caught under its hoofs. The distraction she provided for Lucio was enough to send Eden running.

  He tore Lucio from the saddle just as Dara managed to tear her hair from his grasp. Her head felt as if it were on fire, but she grabbed for the free-swinging reins, afraid that Eden would be trampled. Jake was suddenly beside her, his sharp jerk on the bridle bringing the horse’s head down.

  “Get back,” he ordered her, taking the reins and jerking the horse after him.

  She obeyed him, but her eyes were locked on Eden.

  He straddled Lucio’s body, his fingers wrapped around Lucio’s wrist. Eden repeatedly banged Lucio’s hand against the ground to make him release the gun.

  Lucio managed to land a solid punch to Eden’s jaw. With a sharp cry and sudden twist, he rolled away from Eden. His dark eyes were frantic. The gun lay in the dirt between them. He struggled to his feet, holding his wrist.

  Eden came up in a fighter’s stance, bloodlust blinding him. He was deaf to Dara’s pleas to stop. He had eyes for no one but Lucio, eyes that watched the other man with a promise of death.

  Lucio darted to his left, but Eden was there. Lucio spun around, running along the edge of the pit, stumbling over rocks and scraps of wood. There wasn’t a sound to be heard over their harsh breathing. Not one man made a move to stop them.