Hinkle cocked his gun and aimed it at her again. He never took his eyes off her as he raised his hand to the injured lobe and licked the blood off his fingers. “So, the kitten has claws.” He pressed the barrel against her temple. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t kill you and your friends right now.”
Her grip tightened on the dagger and she made another swipe at him. But this time, he easily dodged her blade and clamped his hand around her wrist, tightening his grip until the dagger fell from her hand.
He picked it up with a smug grin on his face. “We’ll see how long it takes you to learn how to play like a nice girl.” The door slammed behind him, followed the rattle of the lock
Oni waited until he was gone before she spit the blood out of her mouth. She gently pressed her fingertips against her busted lip. That was going to leave a nasty bruise in the morning. A muffled conversation filtered through. Hinkle told a soldier to store her knife in the jail with the Reynoldses’ weapons. At least he doesn’t realize it’s a wand.
She sat up and leaned against the storeroom wall. What kind of mess had she gotten herself into now? At least Diah was still alive. Cager, too, although she wasn’t so sure she’d risk her life to save him. And then there was Hinkle. Somehow, he thought she knew where to find the White Buffalo when, in all honesty, she had only a general idea where it might be.
Her throbbing jaw made it difficult to concentrate on an escape plan. She would either have to wait until someone unlocked the door or try to squeeze through the tiny window overhead. Once she was free, then what?
The songs of the coyotes were the only sounds in the night as Oni shoved the last crate under the window. I wish I could be out there with you.
She scrambled up the improvised staircase and looked out the window. Shadows stretched across the empty fort, and only two lights shone from the windows. One of them was the jail. Otherwise, it appeared everyone was asleep.
Here goes nothing. She climbed down the crates and shifted. After backing up to the opposite wall, she sprinted to the crates and launched her smaller body at the window. She managed to get her head and front paws outside before she got stuck. Her back legs dangled above the top crate and she scratched the wall with her claws to try to get a foothold. Each time she exhaled, she pushed against the outside wall and moved a couple of inches closer to freedom.
Her last push sent her tumbling to the ground eight feet below. Her right paw exploded in pain. She saw stars each time she tried to put weight on it. So much for sneaking around the fort in this form. She shifted back into a human and stared at the deformed wrist. Broken. Oni cursed under her breath and stood.
She hugged the buildings to hide from the moonlight as she crept through the fort. Her first destination was the stable. It wouldn’t be wise to try to escape on foot. She saddled their horses and retrieved her pinto, praying no one would notice them until she freed the men.
Hearing voices, she peeked through the lit window, hoping they wouldn’t see her. Two soldiers were playing cards and drinking, and on the table beside their bottle lay her dagger. Diah and Cager weren’t in sight, but a small hallway led to more cells in the back.
She dived back into the shadows and held her injured wrist to her chest, weighing each plan that came into her mind. Please, spirit of the Great Trickster, help me find a way to make this work. An idea formed when she saw the open cell behind the two men.
Oni shifted and tested her paw again. It still ached, but she could limp around on it. She wondered how long it would take the guards to realize there was a coyote in the jail.
She slinked through the door and crouched close the floor, moving through the front room and under the table. A leather cord with several keys hung on a peg high overhead. If it wasn’t for her broken wrist, she’d make an attempt to jump for it and run off. But as it was, she needed to put another plan into action.
The men were too engrossed in their card game to notice her. She listened to their conversation and tried to decide which one she should attack first. The fat one slurred his speech as through he’d been sipping the half-empty bottle of brown liquor most of the night. She spied a spot just above the boot of the thin one and sank her teeth into the flesh of his thigh.
“What the hell?” he screamed.
Two pairs of eyes stared at her and she ran out from under the table, ignoring her pain. “How did a coyote get in here?” the fat one asked.
“How should I know? But it fucking bit me.”
She stopped in front of the open cell and yipped at them. Would they be as stupid as she hoped they’d be?
The fat one fell for her trap and stumbled after her. He dived for her but was too drunk to make a coordinated effort to catch her and landed face-first on the dirt floor of the cell.
It was almost comical to watch until a bullet kicked up the dust in front of her. Shit! She’d forgotten about guns.
The thin one stood behind the table and reloaded his rifle. The barrel followed her while she ran for cover behind the cast-iron stove. Another shot pinged off the metal. Before he could load the next shot, she bit him again. This time, she didn’t let go. The rifle clattered to the ground, and she tugged on the material of his pants, pulling him closer to the cell. “Help me! This coyote is crazy.”
The fat one struggled to his feet and Oni released the other guard. She didn’t want him getting out of the cell. She pounced on him and knocked him back down, baring her teeth with a growl.
“Get it off me, O’Conner.”
“Distract it while I load my rifle.”
“Don’t shoot me, you idiot!” The fat one lifted his arms, earning a nip along his jaw for it. “Shit, it just bit me too.”
“Now you know how I felt.” O’Conner laid his rifle on the table and limped toward her. A dark stain spread along the side of his blue pants. The two bites had disabled him enough to where they were on a somewhat even playing field, even though there were two humans against a maimed coyote. But she had the spirit of the Trickster behind her.
Tears rolled down the plump cheeks of the guard under her. “Don’t let it eat me.”
“You’re a pathetic drunk, Wilkes.” He waited just inside the cell, his hands poised to catch her. “Just hold still.”
As soon as he moved forward, she rolled to her side. His fingers ruffled her fur, but that was as close as he got. Wilkes gasped when O’Conner’s elbow rammed into his gut.
Oni rushed out of the cell and pushed the door closed with her nose. A loud clang resounded through the jail, followed by the click.
Both guards looked up surprise. “Did that coyote just lock us up?” O’Conner asked.
Knowing she didn’t dare reveal what she was in front of them, she ran out of the jail and shifted in the safety of the shadows. A few voices called out in the darkness, no doubt awakened by the sounds from the jail. She needed to get the Reynolds brothers out of there before the others showed up.
She ignored the pleas of the two guards as she snatched her dagger off the table, grabbed the keys from the peg and ran down the hall. “Diah, Cager?”
“Over here,” Cager replied from the last cell on her left.
“Oni?” Diah grasped the metal bars in front of him with a glazed expression in his normally bright blue eyes. “Is that you?”
She slid the key into the lock and turned it. “What happened to him?”
“Don’t pay any mind to him. Diah got his bell rung earlier.” Cager threw the door open and looked down the hallway. “Be careful—sounds like there was a rabid coyote in here earlier.”
“I know.” She wrapped her good arm around Diah to steady him.
His thumb grazed her busted lip. “You’re hurt.”
“Will you two shut up and get moving? I’m surprised no one is here right now, investigating those gunshots.” Cager rummaged through the drawers in the front room. He pulled out a gun with golden veins of orichalcum sparkling though it and kissed it. “I’m not leaving without you, baby.”
Oni pau
sed to readjust her grip on Diah. “Nice to know you love your gun more than your brother, Cager.”
“You nag just like every other woman I know.” He tucked the gun into his holster and grabbed the loaded rifle on the table. “No wonder Diah likes you—he’s whipped.”
The insult revived Diah enough to allow him to catch the rifle when it was thrown to him. “If we get out of here, I owe you a black eye.”
“Hush.” Cager shoved the last bullet into an extra revolver and peeked around the corner of the door. “People are coming.”
“I have the horses waiting in the stable if we can get there without getting caught.”
Cager raised one brow. “You planned this out, huh? Coyote and everything?”
“Sort of.”
Still looking out the doorway, Cager waved them forward. “Stay off the main thoroughfares.”
Diah nodded and grabbed her right hand. Tears stung her eyes when he pulled her out into the night, but she refused to cry out. They dashed from shadow to shadow, turning corners to avoid being seen. After several tense minutes, they reached the stables. “Can you help me on my horse, Diah?”
“Why?”
“I broke my wrist when I escaped.”
Diah’s frown shone through the low light while he examined her injury. “Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”
“We can take care of it when we get past the gate.”
More shouts filled the fort. Cager slipped into the stable. “The alarm’s been raised. How were you planning on getting us out of here, Oni?”
“I was hoping to knock out the guards at the gate and get out that way, but it seems I’ll need to change my plan.” She opened the door a crack and stared at the armed guards in front of the closed gate. Lanterns appeared in the street, chasing away the shadows. This didn’t look good. Then she felt something press against her hip from inside her pouch.
She reached in and pulled out one of the vials of black fire she’d stolen the other night. The dormant flames rippled through the liquid as she held up to the light.
“Oni, is that what I think that is?”
She turned to Diah and nodded. “How far do you think you can throw this, alchemist?”
“What do you want me to hit?”
“The gate.”
Diah peeked out the door. “That’s almost a hundred yards.” He took the vial from her. “I don’t know how accurate I’ll be at this distance.”
Cager cast a glance at the target. “Nonsense, Diah. I’ve seen you knock acorns off a tree with a pebble when we were kids. You can hit that gate.”
“Fine.” Diah wrapped his arm around her waist and lifted her on the pinto. “I’ll feel better if we’re at a run when I throw it though.”
Annoyance rose in Cager’s voice. “Why are you helping her on her horse?”
“She has a broken wrist.”
Cager grabbed her hand and she gasped. “We can’t have the mistress of the plan unable to handle her own horse.” He drew his gun-shaped wand and pressed it against her skin. The orichalcum glowed as he focused his magic through it, and Oni’s head swam from the pain. He was force-healing her.
When he finished, the pain vanished and she was able to move her wrist without difficulty. “I suppose you have your uses.”
Diah waited for his brother to mount. “Everyone ready?”
She nodded. This was insane, but it was their only chance to escape. It was now or never.
Cager grinned, pointed his wand at the stable doors and blew them away.
Chapter Nine
The wood splinters flew through the air as Diah’s horse burst from the stables. He held the vial of black fire firmly in his hand and focused on the main gate. Throwing from a galloping horse would add an interesting level of difficulty, but he made up for it by getting closer. He twisted the stopper between his thumb and forefinger, activating the solution, and then hurled it at the target.
His horse almost threw him when it exploded. Flames licked at the wooden barricade and eroded a hole big enough for all three of them to ride through. Oni streaked past him and he kicked his horse after her.
Shots rang out around them from the streets and the top of the barricade. The explosion had bought them enough to time to escape into the prairie before the cavalry could mount their horses and follow. They only needed to get out of rifle range.
A strangled cry sounded behind him over the crack of rifles and the zing of bullets. Diah yanked on the reins to see what happened. Cager’s horse slowed to a trot and his brother slumped forward. “Cager!”
He lifted his head and winced. A dark stain spread across the shoulder of his shirt. He reached his hand up to the wound to staunch the flow of blood. “Keep going, you idiot.”
“Not without you, big brother.” Diah snatched the reins of Cager’s horse. “Hold on.” He spurred his horse into a gallop and the other horse increased its strides to keep up.
Ahead, Oni’s horse ran like the devil himself was chasing her. They continued at that breakneck speed for almost an hour until the horses’ mouths foamed and their sides heaved. As the sun rose, she pulled off into a grove of trees along a creek and dismounted.
Diah slowed down and looked behind him. Cager’s face was ashen and blood dripped down his sleeve. “Oni, help me with Cager.”
She caught his brother as he slid out of the saddle. “When did he get shot?”
“As we were leaving the fort.” He tossed the reins over a branch and hopped down from his horse to help her. “It looks bad.”
“It’s just a scratch,” Cager murmured.
“Then why is it still bleeding?” Diah pulled back the shirt and revealed the oozing wound. The bullet had entered near his shoulder blade and passed though his upper arm. No vital organs in that area, but he didn’t like how much blood he’d lost. “Give me something to stuff it with.”
Oni searched through her bag and pulled out a wad of faded yellow fabric. “Here.”
“That had better not be one of my shirts.” Cager tried to identify it, but Diah shoved his head to the side.
“You’re bleeding like a stuck pig and all you care about is whose shirt we’re using?” He noticed Oni had only grabbed their gear bags. The ones with their clothes were still sitting in Hinkle’s house.
“I happen to have my shirts imported from France.”
Diah rolled his eyes and pressed harder against the wound. His brother hissed through his teeth, but he stopped complaining.
Oni closed up her bag. “Do you have any healing potions, Diah?”
He shook his head. “Hinkle confiscated all of them. The black fire too.”
Oni placed her hand over his. “Let me have a look at it then.”
He removed the shirt and she bent closer to the wound. “I think you’ll live if we can get you someplace where you can have that stitched up.”
“Can you sew, Miss Matthews?” Cager’s normally charming grin appeared to be more of a grimace.
“I might have something better.” She pulled out her dagger.
“Oni, what are you doing?”
“Just trust me.” She pressed the golden blade against the wound and closed her eyes. The dagger began to glow faintly at first, but the light intensified over a few seconds.
Then Cager screamed so loud, the birds flew from the branches overhead with a screech.
Diah shoved her aside. “What the hell are you doing to my brother?”
She blinked a few times. “I…” She tried to stand but ended up back in the mud.
“She was using magic on me.” Cager winced and checked his shoulder. “And you didn’t let her finish.”
“You’re a Wielder?”
She continued to stare past Diah, never registering that he’d asked her a question.
Some of the color returned to Cager’s face and he reached down to pry her dagger from her hand. He held it up in the sunlight. “It seems like I’m not the only who likes to disguise my wand as a weapon. Very clever
.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Diah knelt in front of her and waved his hand in front of her face. “Why isn’t she answering my questions?”
Cager placed her dagger back in its sheath. “Being a non-Wielder, I doubt you’d understand how healing spells suck more strength out of you than just about any spell out there. Secondly, it’s rather disorienting when someone interrupts you in the middle of the spell. It’s sort of like getting hit over the head.”
Diah rubbed the knot on the back of his and remembered how groggy he’d been when he first awoke in the jail cell. “That still doesn’t explain why she never told us she was a Wielder.”
“Besides the fact it’s illegal to practice magic without a special license?” Cager looked at him with raised brows as though he was an idiot. “She doesn’t seem to be a very strong one. Probably never had any formal training.”
“Will she be all right?”
“In about an hour or two.” He snatched the bloody shirt from his brother. “You want to help me make some sort of sling out of this thing so we can keep moving? I don’t care to run into Hinkle and his men again.”
Diah glanced at her one more time before helping Cager fashion a sling and mount his horse. When he was done, she still hadn’t moved. “I’m kind of worried about her staying on the horse in her condition.”
“Wounded here. I don’t think I’ll be able to handle her and my horse.”
“Fine. I’ll take her.” Diah bent down to help her up and felt the sting of her fingernails raking down his arm. “What the heck?”
Cager laughed from his horse. “The last thing she remembers is you knocking her down.”
Four lines rose on his arm and red liquid trickled down to his hand. “She drew blood.”
“You should be thankful I put her dagger away, then.”
He looked down at the scratches on his arm and then back at her face. Her swollen lip trembled. “I’m sorry I pushed you, Oni. I didn’t understand what you were doing.”
Her amber eyes locked with his. “Don’t ever do it again.” Her voice rose barely above a whisper, but the anger in it was crystal clear. She took his hand and staggered to her horse.
The Alchemy of Desire Page 8