Dark Warrior: Kid (Dark Cloth Series Book 2)

by Wolfe, Lenore

  Oh, Kat thought, grinning. She should have figured. She went out the window and stood a moment on the edge, then followed him off the roof, but she landed on her horse, tied to the back of the wagon.

  She glanced up at the window, as Shae waved them away. Her movements were quick—telling them to get going—now.

  They slipped down the alley and into the busy street, leaving the magistrate behind to search the rooms above. Kat knew Shae had climbed into the bed, where they would find her. She could only hope they didn’t think she had any connection to them—or found any reason to detain her.

  If all went well—Shae would meet them in the next town.

  Once again, Jake led them through the darkened roads, turning here and there until he had them going down a darkened road. Only the moon provided light, and Kat had the feeling they were going to have to pull off somewhere and wait for the first rays of daylight to light their way.

  Jake seemed to have other plans and kept them on the road. Though the way was slow-going, he eventually led them down the streets of yet another city, by the time the sun rose for them to greet another day.

  Kat worried about Shae, as they set her grandfather up in yet another room and got him comfortable. What had seemed like a good plan at the time, letting Shae remain behind to throw off the magistrate—didn’t feel so great now. Kat paced the floor, no longer convinced they’d leave Shae alone—just because she was an old woman. Instead, Kat suddenly found herself gripped by thoughts of them beating her half to death, in some room somewhere.

  Finally, she approached Jake with the idea of going to rescue her.

  Jake frowned at her, as she told him of her concerns. Kid walked into the room and she explained to Jake, again, this time including Kid.

  Kid frowned at her, much like Jake. “Kitten, we can’t risk your grandfather by going after her,” Kid said, pulling her into his arms and holding her. He tucked her blond curls behind her ear. “She chose to do this. If she’s caught—don’t make her sacrifice be for nothing.” He peered down into her eyes. “She wouldn’t like that.”

  Kat swallowed, then nodded. But she didn’t like it. She didn’t like it at all. Suddenly, she wondered at what she could have been thinking, to go along with such a stupid plan to begin with.

  Jake went out later that afternoon to scout for ways to get her grandfather on the train. Morose, Kat sat next to her grandfather, trying to do the things Shae had been doing for him. But she only had a slight idea of what the old woman had done to help him heal.

  She stared down at him. They needed to get him on the train. They needed to figure this out—now. She couldn’t just keep dragging him all over the country side. He still hadn’t woke—and Kat wasn’t convinced he ever would. He’d die, for sure, if they didn’t get him some place where he could rest—only then could he finally heal.

  Kid came up behind her, massaging her shoulders, and she reached up and covered his hand with hers. She felt bad about her attitude. She’d couldn’t remember a time, when she’d been like this—well—except when they’d kidnapped Kid. She’d always just worked—done her job. She’d been busy staying alive, so long, she couldn’t remember a time when she’d known any other way. She couldn’t remember when she’d had time to worry about her feelings. Feelings got people killed.

  Now—she had all these feelings—and she didn’t know what to do with them. She didn’t even know how to respond to Kid, so she leaned back into his massage, letting his touch take her away from her problems—letting him soothe her. She didn’t know how else to react—but to just let go—to stop trying to be the one in control.

  Kat hadn’t ever known the meaning of the word surrender. But she surrendered now. She surrendered to the feelings Kid invoked in her. She surrendered to the realization that they could only do what they could, to help her grandfather recover. And she surrendered to the fact that they were doing their best to help him escape her uncle—and that’s all they could do.

  Most of all, Kat surrendered to the understanding that she was a woman—had always been a woman—with womanly feelings and emotions. She loved her friends. She loved Kid. And she wanted to survive this with him. She wanted to go home to her ranch—and she wanted to marry the man she loved so much that her heart ached with it.

  Kat sat by her grandfather’s side for most of the night, finally falling asleep in her chair. When she woke, Jake took over, while she and Kid went to scrounge up some breakfast, where they slipped into the hallway and moved out of the building into the bright morning light.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Bad Omen

  Kat learned that they had detained Shae, later that afternoon, through an unexpected source—town gossip. She stared out the window, worried. She hadn’t realized how much she’d come to care for the healer, or how much she’d come to value her healing abilities—until Shae could no longer be with them.

  Guilt sat like a heavy weight in the pit of her stomach as she walked toward the bed where her grandfather lay. She’d been the one to get her involved in this. Her uncle likely only wanted Kat anyway.

  She shook her head at that thought.

  No—that wasn’t true, and she knew it. They wanted her grandfather dead too. Besides, Shae had come to help him because he’d once helped her. Kat couldn’t have stopped her from getting involved in his rescue. Once someone put their all on the line for someone else—that person was probably going to put everything on the line, too, to return the favor.

  Who was she to interfere with such a bond?

  Still, that didn’t stop her from worrying about her new friend. Had they hurt Shae because she refused to tell them what they’d wanted to know? Would they place the old woman in jail? And if they did—what were they capable of doing to her? What was her uncle capable of having them do?

  Kat moved back to the window to look outside.

  She’d have to go on a personal hunt for her uncle, if they did anything to harm Shae, she thought.

  Kid had watched her sulking by the window, until he finally asked Jake to go and try to check on Shae. By this time, Jake agreed, and took off to find out what he could.

  He’d been gone for several hours, but when he finally returned, he had Shae with him. Relief rushed through Kat’s limbs, when she spotted her, leaving her with a sweet weakness, and Kat rushed over to hug her.

  Shae patted her cheek. “They questioned me in the room,” she said, “but they determined that I had nothing to do with whatever you planned. I had told them you had hired me to heal your grandfather, and that was all.” She looked at Kat. “They never took me anywhere.” She smiled and shook her head. “You shouldn’t listen to town gossip.”

  Kat flushed, then grinned. She still felt as though they’d been handed a reprieve—and she didn’t care how annoying she’d been, in making sure Shae had been rescued.

  Shae went to check on her patient, and Kat couldn’t help but be thankful for the break—and to know that her grandfather would get the proper care now. But this time she paid special attention to what Shae did—just in case she were to become responsible for his care again.

  When they’d finished, Kat went to talk to Kid, and Jake, about when they might finally get her grandfather on the train home.

  Kid sat on the rooftop, of the adjacent hotel, cleaning his rifle and watching the street. Kat had spotted him from her grandfather’s bedroom window earlier, while watching for Jake, so she didn’t waste any time meeting him up there now. As it turned out, Jake left too, to do some more scouting, trying to find the train they’d need. But before he took off, he left a couple of guards behind.

  When Kat reached Kid, she sat down, glancing across the way at her grandfather’s room. “Do you know where Jake is scouting, now?” she asked Kid, watching the muscles in his arm flex, as he worked.

  Kid sighted down the gun barrel. “He has an idea of a smaller town, outside some city,” he told her. “He thinks it may be the perfect place to sneak your grandfather on boa
rd.”

  A thrill snaked up Kat’s spine. Within days, they might actually be on their way home. She didn’t want to think about what might happen if her uncle managed to figure out which train they’d snuck onto. But if he did, perhaps she’d get the fight she’d been itching for, after all.

  She wouldn’t mind that.

  She relished the idea of actually doing something, besides sneaking around in the dark. She felt furious that they’d been forced to hide. And she wanted to do something about it. She wanted to meet her uncle, face-to-face. She wanted him to account for all he’d done to her grandfather.

  She came out of her thoughts, only to find that she’d been staring at Kid, watching him move as if mesmerized. And, now, she found him staring back.

  Kat flushed. “Would you stop,” she demanded.

  Kid’s brows shot up, the look in his eyes smoldering. His lips curled, making it difficult for her to think straight. All she could see was his sexy smile.

  “Stop what?” he asked.

  She gave him s baleful glare. “You know what,” she accused.

  Kid smiled, and the look he gave her made her blood heat. She scooted a few inches away. “We can’t do anything on this rooftop, for all the gods to see,” she said, wagging a finger at him. “And we can’t be alone in the room we do have.”

  Kid grinned. “All I wanted to do—was—kiss you,” he said, an innocent look replacing the smoldering one that had lit his eyes, only a moment ago.

  Kat had the strong feeling that hadn’t been what he’d been about to say, but she smiled back at him anyway. “Uh-huh,” she said. “I’m sure that’s what you intended.” She glanced around, anyway. There were waist-high walls all around them, but that didn’t mean she intended to bare herself to the sky above—though she had to admit that the idea did tempt her.

  She glanced up at the blue sky, and when she looked back at Kid, she found him watching her again. She actually blushed, afraid that he could see that he’d tempted her. She had the feeling he knew exactly what she’d been thinking. The worst part about it—she didn’t feel all that appalled at the idea, though she had an idea that she should be. Did that make her a loose woman? she wondered. She didn’t think so. She found what they felt for each other natural—not bad. All she wanted was to be Kid’s wife—be with him every moment she could steal.

  They loved each other. She honestly couldn’t see how anything born out of that love could be bad. She didn’t see that at all—just the opposite.

  Kid grinned at her—and she rewarded him with a dark look, before grinning at him. Then she left to go check on her grandfather. That was a safer bet anyway, considering where her thoughts had been taking her, while in Kid’s presence. He was supposed to be watching for the magistrate anyway—and her uncle’s men.

  At this, Kat’s thoughts returned to her uncle’s treachery.

  She couldn’t imagine the older man putting together such an elaborate plan to bring down his own father. She couldn’t imagine that he had the imagination to have pulled all of this off. He just didn’t seem to have the drive, or ambition, for such a plan—which always brought her back to Ethan. But she couldn’t see him as the mastermind behind any of this either.

  Something about it didn’t make sense—and she found herself no closer to figuring out the riddle than she’d ever been. She found it pulling at something, just out of her grasp, tugging at something illusive—like her gut tried to tell her something. She couldn’t help but feel as though—if she could just get her fingers on the thread—it would unravel the whole mystery. And so she kept tugging, trying to get her mind wrapped around that elusive strand.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  A Dying Man’s Wish

  Kat had been watching her grandfather closely since he’d first begun to show signs of coming to. He’d been out of it for over three weeks now, showing no signs at all of coming around at all, until now, and she waited, now, hoping, talking to spirit, willing him—to come back to them.

  Kat just wanted him to wake up.

  The first week, he’d stayed under, had been the worst. He’d gone through horrible sweats with a lot of vomiting—and spent a lot of time muttering, sometimes even screaming out. She’d thought him in horrible pain—and felt helpless to help him. She never wanted to watch someone go through something like that again. She never wanted to see anyone suffer in such away, ever again.

  She’d spoon fed him broth, worrying that his mind might be gone.

  In that moment, she told herself that if her grandfather would just wake—she’d stay with him. She wouldn’t leave him again.

  She couldn’t.

  Lately, he’d opened his eyes a few times but, as of yet, said nothing at all, just stared. She’d had a doctor look at him, but they had to be careful not to pick one who wouldn’t know who her grandfather really was. As it was, the doctor they choose became distressed, when realizing her grandfather had been poisoned. She’d convinced him that saying anything to the authorities would only put her grandfather in further danger. But to be careful, they’d moved her grandfather, again, anyway.

  They were getting close, now, to getting him onto the train. Jake wanted to be sure they’d do so, without being followed. Yet, only that morning, Jake had spotted someone watching them. Why the magistrate hadn’t descended on them, they couldn’t be sure.

  Perhaps their enemy thought it’d be simpler to just have them killed. Kat nearly smiled at that. If that was truly what he thought—he wasn’t going to find that such a simple task.

  Kat moved to the window, peeking out through the shadows. Deep in thought, she didn’t hear her grandfather speak, though somewhere it did register. When it finally dawned on her what she’d heard—she spun around.

  He was awake.

  “Come here, granddaughter,” he mouthed.

  Kat’s face must have shown her joy because he tried to smile at her.

  “You saved my life,” he said.

  She nodded, choked with tears. For a long moment, she couldn’t speak. “I’m so sorry I had to leave you alone—even for a moment. Whoever’s been poisoning you—nearly killed you before we got you out of there.”

  He waved that away. “You did right,” he said. Then, he closed his eyes and slept. But this time, his sleep looked restful—and Kat finally relaxed for the first time in weeks.

  When he woke again, she was bringing him real soup. He’d lost so much weight, on the broth, he’d withered into bones, and she worried that he’d never be able to walk again. The doctor had showed her how to keep moving him—to try to keep his limbs from seizing up. He’d said that he didn’t know much about it—but he’d read that they needed to keep his arms and legs moving, to try to keep some muscle on them.

  Her grandfather watched her, as she sat down to feed him. “Where are you taking me?” he asked.

  “We’re trying to take you to our ranch out West,” she told him.

  He nodded. “When I’m well—I’m going to bury that man,” he said with more force than she’d thought him capable.

  She grinned at him, then sobered, realizing.

  “Who is he, grandfather? Uncle?”

  He shook his head. “No—granddaughter,” he said. “My son is only controlled by his son.”

  Kat stilled. Ethan?” she thought. “Surely not….”

  He nodded.

  She sputtered. “But he’s too much of an idiot. All he does is preen and flatter people. He could never plan such a daring takeover.

  Her grandfather smiled weakly. “Precisely what he’d have people believe,” he said. “No one would see him coming.”

  Kat’s gaze widened in shock. Never in her wildest dreams would she have imagines that the man waiting in ambush—was nothing but her simple blabbering cousin.

  “When I do return,” her grandfather said. “You must come home with me. I couldn’t bear it—if you didn’t come home with me,” he mumbled as his eyes closed.

  A stone sank in the middle of Kat
’s stomach—a much heavier one lay in her heart—but hadn’t she already accepted the reality of this? She just didn’t know how she’d ever tell Kid of her decision. How could she? Yet, she knew she couldn’t break her grandfather’s heart again. She’d been too young to prevent it the first time—but she was not too young to prevent it now.

  Across the room, Kid had been working to put her pack back together for her. He looked up at her now. She had no doubt that his sharp hearing had picked up what her grandfather had just said to her. And as she looked up—and caught his gaze—she knew that his keen senses knew of her decision.

  She didn’t have to speak it.

  He nodded, then got up, coming across the room. He pulled her to her feet and took her into his powerful embrace. “Then, I will come with you,” he said.

  She shook her head through her tears. “I cannot let you do that to yourself. It would destroy you.”

  He held her fast to him. “I would live no better without you,” he said. “I will come with you—for however long it takes.”

  Sniffing, Kat smiled through her tears. She knew she couldn’t let him do that. But dang if she could bring herself to prevent it.

  When Kid released her, she glanced down at her sleeping grandfather. Her gaze narrowed. She could swear he’d just been watching them. But if he had—he slept now.

  Jake came through the door at that moment, moving faster than she’d ever seen him before. “We have to move him,” he said, not moving from the quiet, deadly tones that were so much a part of him. “Now.”

  Perhaps those words, said that way—the way Jake had of talking—but Kat grabbed their bags, and Jake scooped up her grandfather. They were out the door, where she found that Kid already had the wagon waiting.

  They tore out of there and something told Kat there would be no more hotels—that Jake had one destination in mind. When they reached the woods, outside the small town, they sat quietly, waiting. Kat didn’t have to ask where they sat—or why. She didn’t need Jake to speak, to know what they were waiting for.