Cowboy from the Future

by Cassandra Gannon

  “Cade was what kept me living for one more day and one more day and one more day.” Deke continued. “Even when it would’ve been so much easier to stop, I kept going, because I knew Cade would be there soon.”

  Addy couldn’t imagine having that kind of faith in someone. To just know they would find you, if you were lost.

  “You think you’re the only one who grew up in that house, Jake?” Deke’s voice cracked. “The only one who knows that Cade fucking saved us every day?” He looked over at Addy. “Dad was a godsdamn drunk. Too fucking weak to be with the Voltyn woman he loved, so he married the only human in the polis desperate enough to have him.” He shook his head. “That meant Jake and I got a bitter shell of a mother, who spent every day of her life hating my father for being obsessed with a dead woman and Cade for existing at all. You think that was a stellar childhood?”

  “No.” She said softly.

  “It was Cade who got us through. It’s always been me and Jake and Cade.” His tone was tormented. “I love my brother more than anything. And, you’re right. I know he loves me back. Voltyn or not, I have never doubted that he feels it, too. I would do anything for Cade.”

  “Good. Then, we can…”

  Deke cut her off. “But, he wouldn’t want me to do this. He wouldn’t want me to risk you or Jake to save him. Not ever. He would die before he chose that and you’re asking me to go against his wishes.” He shook his head. “The very last thing he said to me, as they dragged him away, was to look out for you, Addy. To protect you.”

  Addy’s heart flipped, but she wasn’t backing down. “Well, too bad for Cade, he doesn’t get a vote. That’s what happens when you’re a dummy who gets yourself arrested.”

  “I’m with Adeline.” Jacobi nodded. His tears had dried now that they had a (sort of) plan going. He was eager to go along with anything that meant action. “I don’t care what Cade wants. I want him back. We have to do something. Even if he kills us later, he’ll be alive to do it.”

  “The vote is two to one, Deke.” Addy declared victory for her side by pounding a fist on the tabletop. “Majority rules and the majority wants to rescue Cade. Help us do it right.”

  Deke pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why the hell did I ever encourage him to keep you around?”

  “Because you were right about me. You said it yourself.”

  “I say a lot of shit.” But he was studying her, weighing her resolve.

  Addy could sense him weakening and went in for the kill. “Right now, Cade thinks he’s all alone.” She didn’t wasn’t to imagine how terrifying it must be for him, surrounded by monsters who hated him and waiting for death. The man always protected the people he loved, but he didn’t expect anyone to come for him. “I’m not going to leave him like that. I don’t think you will, either. So, we can keep arguing, but we both know how it will end. Because you and I want to do the same thing, Deke.”

  “Yeah, but I’m a lunatic.” He stared at her for a long minute and then slowly shook his head. “You’re even crazier than I am, though, so what the hell.” He put the bottle down. “Give me an hour and I can get us some horses. Then, if we don’t die in the first hail of bullets, at least we’ll have a way out of the polis.” He paused. “…That way we can die in the mountains.”

  Addy smiled brilliantly. “That’s the spirit.”

  “We could create some kind of disruption.” Jacobi volunteered, all-in on whatever desperate idea they came up with. “Then everyone would rush off to investigate and we could get Cade out in the confusion. I read that in a story once. Crooks stampeded this herd of sanbor straight down the street to distract the sheriff, while they robbed the bank.”

  “We don’t have a bank or a herd of sanbor.” Deke reminded him. “And we’re not fucking crooks. Breaking him out of jail is just.”

  Addy frowned. “That’s true. Still, I like the concept. We’re not going to be able to kill a hundred men, so we’re definitely going to need to draw them away from Cade’s cell. What would really get their attention?”

  “A hanging.” Deke muttered. He might be cooperating, but he was still a glass-is-half-empty guy.

  “What else, smartass?”

  “Mudslide. Another flash. An enemy invasion. Got any of that stuff handy?”

  Addy’s eyes narrowed in thought. “Enemies of the town? Okay, are there any other Voltyn around who might be able to help Cade?”

  “There are some Voltyn in Big Rock.” Jacobi didn’t sound hopeful about gaining their assistance, though.

  “Big Rock?”

  “Yeah, you know Big Rock.” Using his foot, he drew a flat topped “U” shape in the dust on the floor. “It’s a polis without laws, so the Voltyn like it. Everybody’s whose running from something runs there. According to stories, there’s a whole outlaw community.”

  Addy studied the rough sketch for a beat. “Devils Tower? The weird-shaped mountain from Close Encounters?” Of course, that massive pillar of stone would still be used as a landmark in this time period. It was too big to erode away and nothing else in the world looked quite like it. She glanced over at Deke. “How far is that from here?”

  “Too far to get to before morning.”

  “Are there are no other Voltyn around? Someone closer?”

  “None that will risk their necks to help us.”

  Damn it. Addy ran a hand through her hair, trying to think. What else could create a disruption? She couldn’t manufacture a mudslide or set off another atomic bomb. That left enemy attack. So if the Voltyn were out of the running, who might stage a timely raid…? “Wait, didn’t you say those mutant cannibal guys were nearby?”

  “Outlanders.” Jacobi nodded. “But they’re not close enough to attack tonight, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  “How do you know?”

  “When Outlanders are about to attack you see their fires start in the hills. They build torches so they can burn the whole polis, as they rage through. We haven’t seen any flames being lit, yet.”

  Addy’s mouth curved. “But if they did attack tonight, everyone would have to go rushing off to defend the town, right? It would be wonderfully disruptive.”

  Jacobi looked confused by her persistence. “Sure. But they’re not going to attack tonight.”

  “Oh, yes they are.”

  Deke snorted in derision. “What do you want to do, Addy? Go out there, find the Outlanders, and request a raid? I should warn you, they’re not usually so interested in what humans have to say.” He held up his severed hand. “Trust me.”

  It was sad how life without TV had so severely limited their imaginations. Thankfully, Addy had taken almost a full semester of screenwriting 1305, during her “artistic phase.” She knew the power of misdirection and repackaged ideas.

  “Outlanders don’t have to raid the town. The town just has to think Outlanders are raiding.” She arched a brow, her mind racing. “We have liquor, matches, and wood. How many torches can we put together in an hour?”

  Chapter Eight

  The “Wild West” has quite a reputation for lawlessness thanks to Hollywood and popular legends.

  The truth is a little different, though.

  While there were some gunfighters and desperados causing trouble, most people were honest citizens,

  who didn’t tolerate criminals in their towns. Outlaws were quickly dealt with.

  Brown’s Glampling Tours Official Pocket Guide

  “OUTLANDERS!”

  The panicked scream had Cade sitting up on his cot and looking out the small window of his cell. His body hurt from the beating the sheriff had given him, but he didn’t even notice the flash of pain as he surged to his feet.

  Outlanders were attacking tonight? That was impossible. They would’ve seen the fires by now.

  Even as he thought it, flames started popping up. One after another, torches were lit, until the hillside was filled with at least three dozen ominous fires. Shit. Three dozen torches meant four times that many Outland
ers. It was an even bigger band than usual. If a group of warriors that massive charged into Shadow-of-the-Gods, it would be a bloodbath.

  Where the hell was Addy?

  Cade tried to lean forward, so he could spot the saloon through the window, but the position of the bars wouldn’t let him. All he could see was the mad retreat of his lynch mob. Everyone who’d been gathering for his hanging, raced for their weapons or for cover. Cade had the vague thought that this might postpone his execution. Not that it really mattered. He’d rather be dead than locked up in jail for the rest of his life. But, he didn’t want to die, yet.

  Not until he made sure Addy was okay.

  Son of a bitch, Deke and Jacobi had better be getting her out of the polis. If Outlanders got their hands on Adeline, she would be…

  “I’d like to see the lowly Voltyn scum who’s ruined my good name.” Addy’s irate voice said from the outer room.

  For the longest second of his life, Cade stopped breathing.

  He hadn’t thought words could wound him anymore, but hers cut him to the bone. His stomach sinking, he turned towards the door. Adeline hated him just like everyone else. She’d seen him use his powers and was repulsed that she’d ever kissed someone who wasn’t human. He’d anticipated this, but it still felt like someone had ripped out his lungs. He couldn’t die with Addy hating him. He… couldn’t.

  But, almost as soon as it began, the hurt faded and sanity returned.

  No. Cade shook his head, pushing aside his instinctive panic.

  No.

  This wasn’t right. He knew this woman. Addy wouldn’t say such a thing. Disruptive lunatic that she was, she didn’t have it in her to be cruel. Addy would never show up at Cade’s jail cell to taunt him in the last moments before he was hanged. The very idea was preposterous. Adeline told mermaid stories and wanted equal rights for Voltyn. She was a lady, in the truest, purest sense of the word.

  She was lying to the guard… Which meant she was up to something.

  Cade closed his eyes. Of course she was up to something. She was always up to something. And she’d apparently dragged his brothers into it. Deke wouldn’t have let her wade into this mess alone and she was speaking the local dialect, which meant that Jacobi had probably taught her how to say that “Voltyn scum” line.

  Godsdamn it.

  “Adeline, get out of here!” He roared. “Whatever you are planning, stop it. Now.”

  “Oh, don’t be such a grouch.” Adeline called back in her own language. For the guard’s benefit she used a ridiculously theatrical tone, though, full of scorn and hatred for his scummy kind. “You haven’t even seen the best part, yet.”

  Cade groaned as she swept in from the front office. Pober, the pimple-faced guard, hurried in after her. The others had left him behind to watch the jail, because he was the most inexperienced and they needed the best fighters to hold off the Outlanders.

  What a coincidence that Addy had shown up just when Sheriff Zecker and his goons went off to face the invasion. How in the hell had she timed an Outlander attack?

  She frowned when she saw Cade’s face, taking in the bruises. “Did the sheriff do that to you?” She demanded, furious on his behalf. “Damn it, he shouldn’t be allowed to get away with that, Cade. We should sue him or something.”

  “Do not go near Zecker. I mean it. The man is a sadist and there have been enough catastrophes for one day.”

  “Whose fault is that, Electro?”

  Cade had no idea what that meant or what she was plotting. How could he? He was fucking sane. Addy’s plans were always crazy, all the more so because they usually worked. Gods, only this woman could make an impending execution seem like a peaceful break. “What are you doing here, Adeline?”

  “I’ve come to save you. What do you think?”

  Pober was still speaking in the normal tongue. He hurriedly assured Addy that he sympathized with her desire to see Cade punished for his heinous crimes, but that this wasn’t the time to worry about the prisoner.

  Adeline glanced up at the kid. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re saying.” She told him apologetically. “Can you just shut up, so I can talk to Cade?” Dressed in her pink coat, her red-gold hair shining, she looked like an angel. A miracle. The most stunning, innocent, refined lady ever to grace Shadow-of-the-Gods with her harmless presence.

  How could anyone miss that she was up to no good?

  Pober nodded in a fairly typical Addy-trance. She induced them just by smiling at some poor sap. Cade knew that firsthand. The kid didn’t understand her words either, but he was clearly captivated by her beauty. He didn’t even try to drag her away from Cade’s cell. He just mindlessly gulped and gestured for her to follow him back into the office.

  Addy ignored him and moved towards the cell.

  Cade rolled his eyes. “You’ve come to save me?” He repeated skeptically.

  “Seems that way. Although, I shouldn’t have to, really. You’re the one with super powers here. You should fry these guys and just walk out the door.”

  “I won’t do that. I won’t be who they think I am.”

  “Well, I think you’re an idiot. Whatever, though. If you’re not going to save your life, I’ll have to do it for you.”

  “You’re going to break me out and live the rest of your life as a fugitive, then?” He scoffed, not believing it for a second. “Be serious. Nobody would do something so stupid. Not for me.”

  The last part of his words hung in the air between them.

  Forest green eyes met his for a beat. “You are the least stupid thing I’ve ever done, cowboy.” She said seriously.

  Cade’s eyebrows drew together in surprise. Wait a minute, what was this really about? Was she really going to…?

  He didn’t know what he expected, but it wasn’t for Addy to attacked Pober.

  She grabbed the boy’s hand and twisted his wrist back. At the same time, she did some sweeping move with her foot, knocking his legs out from under him. Pober was a head taller than Addy, but he went down like a fallen tree. It was all so fast and smooth that Cade didn’t even realize it happened until it was already over.

  “Holy shit!”

  “Yeah, I took Judo in college.” She told him calmly. “I’m not really into fitness, but I was pretty good at martial arts. It’s like dancing.” The teenage guard let out a terrified squeal, flailing around on the ground as he tried to escape, but Addy was already on top of him. “This move isn’t technically allowed,” her elbow locked around his neck, “but I need him to be out and I have a feeling you guys don’t care much about competition rules around here.”

  Within a few second, Pober had slumped over unconscious. The woman hadn’t even broken a sweat. “Sorry about that.” She told her victim, getting to her feet and dusting off her hands. “No hard feelings, huh? Deke voted to shoot you, so I really did you a favor.”

  Cade tried to process what he’d just seen. “You defeated him.” He got out in shock. “All by yourself.”

  “Yep. Your chauvinist brothers each owe me a gold coin, by the way. They thought you’d have to help me. You can take it off Brian’s bill.”

  Cade was silent for a long beat. “You know, if you’d done that trick with Hugo, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

  “I know. He caught me off guard and I fell down the stairs. My sensei would’ve been pissed. His name was Dylan and he was adorable, by the way.” She grabbed the key ring from Pober’s belt. “Not as adorable as you, but --for a human-- pretty damn cute.”

  Cade shook his head as she unlocked the cell. “You are the oddest creature I’ve ever met.” He murmured, not recognizing the feeling that swept over him. Everyone told him that his Voltyn blood didn’t allow emotions, but, around Adeline, all things were possible. “Have you really done all this to save me?” He couldn’t wrap his head around it.

  “No, I just like beating people up.” She grinned at him and swung the door open. “Yes, I’ve done it save you, dummy. What do you think
?”

  I think I am yours, lady.

  “I think you’re a menace to yourself and others.”

  “Yeah, yeah, you can thank me later. Right now, we have to get out of here, because I’m not sure how long my disruption will last.”

  Cade glanced over his shoulder to the Outlanders’ fires. None of them seemed to have moved, which belied the idea of an advancing hoard of cannibals. “There isn’t an attack coming, is there?” He guessed, putting the pieces together.

  “Not unless Jacobi’s up in those hills, doing some fast recruiting for our team in between the lamp lighting.” She paused to admire her handiwork out the window. “Nope, those are thirty-nine handmade tiki-torches. Just like we had around the lanai growing up, only a little more rustic.” She shrugged. “We had to rip up a lot of your clothes to make the wick parts, but we’re skipping town anyway, so you really couldn’t have packed much.”

  “Do I even want to know where we’re going?”

  “Camping. I decided it was my kind of thing, after all.” Addy headed back into the office. “Come on, we have to meet up with Deke and Jake.”

  Cade dragged Pober into the cell, locking him inside. When the kid woke up, he didn’t want him raising any alarms. “I cannot believe you convinced my brothers to go along with this scheme, Adeline. I thought they were smarter than this.”

  “Oh, where’s your spirit of adventure, Mr. Whiny-Pants? This is a frigging Wild West jailbreak! We’re like Butch and Sundance here.”

  “I have no idea who that is, but I’m sure they’re dead.” Cade caught up with her and tugging to her a stop, when she would’ve strolled right out the door. “Addy.”

  She looked up at him, surprised by the use of the nickname.

  “I…” Cade trailed off and tried to think of what to say. “I did not mean to… with Hugo, I didn’t intend for…”

  Addy cut him off. “Cade, I don’t care about your powers. I’m not afraid of you. And I still think you’re just as human as everybody else. Satisfied?” She arched a brow. “Don’t even start with that crap, alright?”