Earlier, they had checked out the progress of the main barn that was being rebuilt after the fire several weeks ago. She was happy to tour anything as long as it bought her freedom from the whirlwind of questions inside the house.
That familiarity they all shared? The Taggarts had grown up rough and tumble, running all over the ranch, raised by loving parents. Mariah and Kevin's childhood was the complete opposite. No play. No learning. Nothing comfortable.
Quit being morose. That's the past. Concentrate on the present.
How about the future?
Damn it.
She shifted her uncomfortable backside on the hard leather saddle. Could she fit into this family? More to the point, did she have any business considering that question? If this relationship with Vaughn continued, then, yes, she wanted to fit in.
For the first time in her life, she truly pictured herself as part of a full family with people whose lives wove together, who supported each other, loved each other, and even argued with each other.
As they reached the wooded National Forest land that bordered the ranch property, Vaughn pulled his horse to a stop with little more than a flick of his wrist. He shifted in the saddle. Damn him in his tight jeans and Stetson. How great would it be if he tipped that hat back and kissed her, right here in the wild outdoors?
Unable to stop the response, she licked her lips.
He reached over and snagged her reins. "Can I talk with you?"
No. "Sure."
Their thighs brushed against each other, but he appeared to ignore the contact as he peered into the trees. The main ranch compound was a mere dot below them in the low, flat area of the property.
"About what happened last night."
Crap. No preamble? The muscles in her stomach tightened. "The fight or the hotel stay?"
He rubbed his chin and didn't make eye contact. "Hotel."
Her heart stopped, then started again, threatening to pound its way out of her chest. "All right."
"So. I'm wondering if that was a mistake." His mouth compressed into a hard line.
The slice of his quiet words went deep, scoring her soul. All those images of fitting in, of belonging, of having a family burst like little stupid bubbles. "You went to a lot of trouble, bringing me out here, to share that conclusion. Seems like a simple text message would have been a lot less effort." Just like that, she began to pull inward. Like she did in that room when she was a teenager. Like she had done when her ex had told her to be less. Like she had done at the Brand house.
Shutting down.
Could she handle rejection from Vaughn? She was about to find out.
Avoidance of pain was probably not the best reason to pursue a relationship with someone. She could do this.
"I want to explain." His low voice whipped away on the wind.
Damn. This was going to hurt like hell.
Chapter 29
Thoughts chased each other through Vaughn's mind. He needed to have this conversation the right way, and he'd already fucked it up right from the beginning, if Mariah's frozen expression was any indication. He wanted a do-over, not just for the conversation but for a lot of crap in his life.
"You're a great woman," he began. Then he mentally face-palmed himself.
"But?" She blinked. "Hey, you can say it. I know how these talks go."
"Damn it. That's not how I meant to say it. It's just... I'm not sure we should be pursuing anything for the future. If there even is a future for us, together."
"All right." Her flat tone almost broke him. Garrison or Kerr would be so much better in this situation. The way she retreated in front of him made him want to wrap her in his arms and never let go.
Where had all of her determined energy gone? He wanted the old Mariah back. The woman who didn't sit with her hands on her lap, staring at the back of the goddamned horse. The woman who had—
His groin tightened. Apparently his cock knew exactly the woman it wanted, too.
He swallowed. "No, you don't get it. I do want us to have a future together. I really want that."
Shaking her head, she murmured, "I don't understand where you're going with this conversation. First we're done, then we have a future. You need to choose."
"You have no idea how much I'm into you, Mariah. If we wouldn't get hypothermia, I'd get us both naked and work you over until we can't tell where one of our bodies starts and the other one stops."
"Wow." The breathiness of her voice flipped his heart over and then stomped on it. "There's still a but in there somewhere."
"Damn." He thumbed his hat up a few inches and peered at her. "I want for you to know some stuff about me first. And my family."
"You're all axe murderers? Run a Ponzi scheme?"
His harsh laugh loosened tight muscles in his chest. "Nope. But there are some things going on."
"Besides the part where you slept with your brother's wife?"
"Possibly slept. And I don't think I truly did, but I can't be sure." He squirmed in the saddle. "Damn it. Anyway, I need to tell you the whole story of my past so you can decide on a future."
She scowled. "So you're already assuming I want to have a future?"
His chest deflated. "Good point. I just assumed, and you know what they say about assuming."
"Sure do. Why don't you start over by being super duper clear?"
Thank God. He collected his pride, wadded it into a virtual ball, and threw it on the snow-covered ground. "Okay, here's what I am saying: I hope that you might one day consider a long-term relationship with a worn-out MMA rancher with a somewhat checkered past."
"You make it sound so enticing." He died while she chewed her lower lip and stared up at the cloudy sky. "Your offer depends. How long are you sticking around?"
"Good question. Honestly, I don't know."
"Even better deal." Only a little twinkle in her green eyes gave away her impish jab. "Fine, I'll consider the new information." Damn, she was good.
"Fair enough. Let's say that one day you want to be in the same zip code as I am. And let's say one day you let me back in your pants." He pressed a fist to the bridge of his nose. "Shit. Forget I said that part."
"Hard to, you know, what with how much fun it is to see you squirming and all."
"Are you making fun of me?"
"It's kind of fun when the mighty Vaughn Taggart flounders."
She thought he was mighty? Well, now, that had some promise.
"Anyway, I have a little mental condition that may impact any relationship."
Her brows drew together. Damn it, with her hair all tucked into the wool beanie, her face was an open book. If he hurt her, he'd know it immediately.
If? He'd already caused her pain.
"Do tell." She pressed her lips into a line.
"Okay, bear with me. It's going to sound strange." At her curt nod, he continued. "Ever since I was a kid, I've had a weird sixth sense about things. Danger, in particular."
"I don't follow."
When the horse jostled under him, he loosened his clenched grip on the reins. "Somehow I can anticipate danger and avoid it."
"I don't understand."
"Not sure how or why, but I can detect danger. Like an odd radar. Something bad comes my way, my brain gets my attention and pushes me out of the way."
"That's kind of weird." She leaned away.
Damn it. "Uh, comes in handy in the MMA fights."
"Sounds like an unfair advantage."
He peered into the woods, searching for any danger. Was that a shadow... or something more? He forced his focus back to Mariah. "Well, yes, it does give me an edge, but that's not the point of the story. In the past week, my power has changed. Instead of protecting myself, my power kind of wants to protect... you."
She tilted her head to the side. "I don't understand."
"Me neither. None of it makes sense. But when Wyatt harassed you in the hospital last week? My power demanded that I go there to keep you safe. When Linc went after you
in the ring last night, the power overtook my conscious decision to protect you."
"That is really strange, Vaughn." She rested her gloved hands on the pommel.
"I agree. Recently, the power has started wanting me to stay close to you. Like it has to cover you, even now. Mentally, I'm having trouble telling where danger to you stops and danger to me starts. Or if it's all just paranoia." He sat up straight, even as his body tried to lean toward her. "It's taking over my brain. I'm worried that I might be losing my mind."
"Literally?"
"Yeah."
"I'm sure there are tests, specialists to check things out." Leave it to her to jump to the medical solution.
"Pretty sure that won't help."
Her fine teeth worried her lower lip. "Should I leave you alone, then? For your own mental health?"
"I don't know the answer to that question. I think that you riding away into the sunset without me might make me go crazy."
"But if I stay, you also might lose your mind? Because of how the power is changing your thoughts?"
"Yeah. Kind of... yeah." Damn it, he wished he had good answers for her.
"Well." She straightened in the saddle. "Then it's a mixed blessing that you plan on leaving soon."
"About that." The thudding in his chest increased. Put everything on the table. "It's crossed my mind to change plans."
"Oh?"
"Yeah."
"Because of… us?"
"That was the major reason. But I also realized that I have been running away from mistakes I made in the past. In doing so, I left my family in the lurch."
"Mistakes?"
"I hadn't told you the whole story before. The story with Garrison's ex-wife."
Her sharp intake of breath hurt him more than getting stabbed with a knife.
"You already mentioned that. How come you don't know for sure if you cheated?" she asked.
He folded a hand into a fist on his knee. "I, uh, had some serious problems with alcohol in the past." The words burned sharper than a swig of whiskey.
"Okay."
Swallowing, he said, "The alcohol... it really messed my life up for years. Messed everything up for other people, too. Tommy Brand has booked me in jail for alcohol-related charges more times than I can remember. I've made bad mistakes. That night with Garrison's wife, I was completely shit-faced. All I know is that we woke up together and... she had pictures that she was going to use to blackmail me."
"What did you do?" Mariah's words puffed out a cloud of cold vapor, and she stared at her gloved hands.
"Turned coward and ran." Kneeing his restless horse back to Mariah, he continued, "In some ways, it was a good decision to leave. I got sober—still am. I ran away from the responsibility of the ranch, not that I was really carrying my own weight. Then the MMA took off and, well, it probably saved my life. In New York, I had no past to explain. I now have a financial career that has started to grow."
"That's a hell of a story."
"The worst part? I was so involved in building my new life, far away from the wide spot in the road that is Copper River that I wasn't here when my family needed me. When Dad had his stroke, I wasn't here. I wasn't here when Garrison's son and girlfriend got kidnapped. I wasn't here to protect Shelby when she got hurt."
"How are these things your fault?"
"I'm the oldest brother. It's always my job to protect them."
"Okay, like how I should have protected my brother back in Utah, and how I failed?"
"How could you have prevented that?"
"Exactly. Now you understand why those things are not your fault." She drew in a lungful of air. "No question, you made some mistakes."
He flinched. The neutral tone hurt more than if she called him a bastard for what he'd done.
"And you should have told me about your past before we..."
"Yeah. I know."
"But the things with your family? Not your fault. The thing with your head? You didn't cause that to happen." She glanced to the sky as a tiny flake melted on her pink nose. "So. Let's see if I have the gist of things. You have psychic powers. Okay, that's weird and I don't understand it. The powers are changing and that scares you. Somehow I'm making it worse." Pursing her lips, she said, "So far so good?"
"Yes," he said miserably.
"And you need to take ownership of the mistakes you've made in the past. And let go of the things that aren't your fault." She pinned him with a bold, emerald stare. "That about it?"
"Sort of."
"Wait. There's more?"
He groaned to himself. He had to tell the whole truth. "The Brand family has it in for the Taggarts. Despite anything we do, this damned feud isn't going to stop."
"You mentioned that before. What's that have to do with you and me?"
"I don't want you caught in the crossfire. They have threatened anyone we... care about."
"Anything else I should know?" Spoken like she had already made her decision but wanted to give him more rope to hang himself with, or throw a few more loops on the noose.
"One more." He grabbed his head and curled forward. "Holy fuck." All around him, sound splintered into pieces.
His power flared into overdrive, shoving itself into a protective bubble around Mariah. She flinched and pulled back. The power came on too fast, too strong. He needed to get her away from here. His head was splitting. Too much power. Too much fear. What the hell?
"What is—Oh my God, what's that?" she whispered.
Chapter 30
Mariah's temples throbbed. She didn't want to look, but curiosity drove her to peek at... whatever it was.
A black creature rose in front of them, not quite walking, not quite floating. It had mass but appeared cloudlike. Snow in its path melted in evaporating clouds of acrid sulfur, burning her nose. Even in the overcast daylight, two red dots, like cigarette butts, glowed brightly from the upper part of the thing.
"My head is going to fucking explode. Shit." Vaughn gritted out the words through his clenched teeth. "I was about to mention that my family is being stalked by whatever the hell this thing is." He fought to keep his whinnying horse under him.
Her own mare wrenched its head back and rolled the one visible eye.
Mariah couldn't stop staring at the creature approaching them. It didn't so much approach as consume more light and space as it grew.
"The time is near." The hot rumble of the voice made the ground tremble right along with Mariah's insides. "The Great One is coming on the day of darkness. The legacy will come to me. Willingly. Soon." A slither of burnt sulfur sliced the air in front of her, and she breathed into the sleeve of her jacket to escape the stench.
With her heart rat-a-tatting a frantic snare rhythm, she clutched the pommel of the saddle. The horse tensed beneath her. Oh, no.
"Might need to take a rain check on the day of darkness and all." Vaughn moved his horse to bump hers toward the ranch house. Her skittish mare didn't do anything except paw at the snow-covered ground and lay its ears flat.
Black, thick smoke stretched out toward them as the creature rumbled, "The legacy will end with you and your family. And I will have my final revenge. You will become the foundation for the new beginning of my reign upon the Earth. And anyone who stands in my way will be destroyed. Anyone the legacy cares for will be destroyed."
What the heck was 'the legacy?' Why was this thing targeting Vaughn's family? Nothing made sense.
And, yes, she would gladly not stand in its way, if only her panicked horse would cooperate.
A sliver of smoke lashed out, fingerlike, and Mariah flinched away. The tendril seared the back of her horse, bringing with it a sharp sizzle and the stench of burnt flesh. The animal kicked and reared.
No matter how hard she gripped the pommel, she was helpless to stop the arc as sky and ground whirled and blended. She came off the back of the horse, hitting the ground in a heap. Pain lanced through her skull. From her sideways, ground-level, head-spinning location, she watched
as Vaughn faced the thing from the back of his own horse, opening his arms like he wanted to give the creature a big, friendly bear hug.
"Get away from her." Vaughn's voice boomed across the field. A weird vacuum sensation pulled air and warmth toward him.
Then, in a pressurized snap, a sensation of threat flew out from him and flung her back several feet. She rolled over the ground, collecting mud and snow on her clothes. Vaughn's dark, lethal glance over his shoulder iced her blood.
He turned back to the creature. "Want more, you bastard?"
What kind of man challenged something like this creature? All Mariah wanted was to recover her y-axis enough to stand up and run the heck away from here.
But, sure enough, another rubbery blast of sheer terror exploded out from him, pushing her away again. What in the world? Was Vaughn truly creating an energy wave? How was that even possible?
The thing reared back and howled, becoming smaller in size. Or moving away. Hard to tell. She didn't care, as long as it left them alone.
"Soon," it howled, receding into the tree line. "Not now, but soon you will all be mine."
"Got it. Penciled in on my day planner," Vaughn growled. "Now go screw yourself."
Finally, the nasty creature faded into the forest.
Vaughn spun his horse around. The tight darkness of his expression relaxed, and his brows furrowed beneath his hat. "Mariah? Sweetheart?" he called. "Are you okay?"
She groaned and pressed her hands flat on the ground, working her way up to all fours and then getting shakily to her feet. The knees of her jeans were damp with the snow and mud ground into the fabric. She didn't care how bad she looked. She just wanted to leave this place. Maybe leave the ranch, too, and go far away. She hadn't signed on for this kind of danger when she considered a future with Vaughn.
Stark, white lines bracketed his eyes. "Grab my hand. Now." He reached out and leaned down, moving his foot from the stirrup so she could step up. He swung her up behind him. "Hold on tight."
Didn't have to tell her twice.
* * *
Vaughn kicked his horse into a full, terror-fueled run back to the ranch, the mare following. Mariah clung to him with a strong grip as his power sparked and flew out from him in waves. Her arms clenched around his midsection and her face that was pressed into his back reassured him. Calmed him.
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