The Quick and the Undead: Volume 1 (Tombstone, Texas)

by Kimberly Raye

  They all wanted their very own piece of the ranch, a chance to turn back the hands of time and do what they were meant to do before circumstance snatched them away from their lives and took away their choices. Ethan wanted to raise horses. Likewise for Luke. Seth wanted to try his luck with cattle instead of cards, to see if he was half the rancher his father had once been. Rhett and Clay wanted to help him. Tag, himself, was content serving as the front man for the town. He liked playing mayor and putting all that charm to good use. And he liked fighting with Belle who was enjoying being her own boss for the first time in a very long time. Together, the two of them could easily keep Tombstone in the green while the others lived out their dreams on the surrounding land.

  Settled. Normal. Safe. For the first time in a long time.

  And Boone? Even he had a piece of land nearby with his name on it. Not that he had any intention of settling down and planting roots, becoming the weak and broken man his father had once been.

  A man unable to rock the boat and fight for what he believed in. A man unwilling to stand up for his own son.

  No, Boone could never be content to settle down in one spot. Not now. Not ever.

  “We can’t rule out the possibility that Ike attacked Kit,” Rhett added. Rhett had dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and the hard eyes of a trained killer. He was just that. The fastest shot among the bunch, and the most knowledgeable when it came to firearms. Which made him the perfect guy to run the local gunsmith shop. “But I can’t see why he would come back after all this time. And why just to target Maddie?”

  “Maddie isn’t the only target,” Boone said. “Just the first.” He remembered the dream with Kit, heard the cold, oddly familiar voice.

  “Where’s Madeline? She’s the one I want first.”

  “Why would Ike want to hurt Maddie at all? He always liked her best,” Belle added. “She was always his favorite.”

  “Was not,” Maddie said. “I just didn’t break his balls constantly like you. You were always giving him shit.”

  “I give everybody shit.”

  “Amen,” Tag said.

  “Can we get back on track?” Boone asked. “We know Maddie was the first target, which means there will be others.”

  “That’s right,” Tag said. “Everyone here is at risk. We should all stay alert and report anything odd directly to Boone. He’ll try to put together the clues and figure this thing out. In the meantime, Maddie will keep feeding Kit until she makes a complete recovery. Then we’ll erase her memory and she’ll be as good as new. Until then, we’ve got her over at the infirmary in a private room under sedation. Clay’s keeping an eye on her right now. He’ll stay close in case this vampire realizes she’s still alive and tries to finish her off before going after Maddie again. She did see his face, after all.”

  “What about the other employees? What will we tell them?”

  “That she had a little work accident. She’s on the mend, but still too weak for visitors. Doc can collect any flowers and cards for her and pass them on.”

  “And how’s the doc dealing with all of this?”

  “He’s not saying much. But then, that’s why we picked him. He takes patient confidentiality very seriously, which is why Seth came out to him in the first place and brought him on board here. We need a good human to keep an eye on things during the day.”

  Actually, they needed several. They’d brought three humans—Doc, Kit, and Sarah Chantilly, the general manager—into the fold several months ago when they’d decided to turn Tombstone into more than just the occasional hideout, and they were still on the lookout for one more to look after marketing. Right now, however, just Doc, Kit, and Sarah knew the truth, and they knew the Ten. And for a lofty paycheck, they protected them. Though Boone knew that Sarah’s motivation went beyond just the money. She was sweet on Rhett, though she would never admit it. Rhett liked tall, svelte blondes and Sarah was a short brunette who liked cupcakes. She wasn’t his type, and so she kept her distance and settled for being just his friend.

  For now.

  Boone had a hunch that one day Rhett would get wind of Sarah’s crush and then things would get really interesting.

  “What about the guest who was involved? That vacation blogger?”

  “No serious injuries,” Boone told them. “She’s still in shock, but that will pass, and then I hope she can give us a description. At least we’ll know if it’s Ike. In the meantime, she’ll stay at the cave.”

  “You took her to the cave? Your cave?” Belle wasn’t the only one surprised. More than one vampire cast him a questioning glance because they knew what the place meant to him.

  It represented Boone’s solitude. His salvation.

  It was the one thing that had saved him from true death when Ike had been busy scouting out his next victim. While the others knew of its existence, they didn’t know the location. Nor would they ask. They each had their own secrets, and the cave was Boone’s.

  He shrugged. “It’s the safest place for her.” Not that Riley cared about her safety at the moment.

  She was more concerned with the past; with the damned claustrophobia that haunted her because of her asshole of an ex. Boone had seen the truth in her eyes, the anxiety and the fear.

  A wave of guilt rolled through him, but he shook it away. Better for her to be afraid than dead. That’s what would surely happen if she stayed in town, or any other public place. It was all about keeping her safe long enough to catch whoever was after them. Then she would be out of danger. He would erase her memory and send her on her way.

  That was his plan. The best plan.

  She needed to forget him, his true nature, and all the craziness of last night, including the hot, steamy sex.

  There was no being selective when it came to wiping a person’s memory. It was all or nothing, and given the turn of events and all that Riley knew, it was better that she forget the town and its sheriff.

  If only the notion didn’t bother him so damned much.

  “So what’s the plan?” The question came from the vampire sitting at the far end. Luke Ketchum had sun-streaked brown hair and a tanned complexion that said he loved horses every bit as much as Rhett. Luke had spent every waking moment in the saddle back in the day. The best rider of the bunch, he was a genius with horses, which was why he’d taken over the livery stable in town and now supervised the riding lessons for all of the guests. “Are we going to take shifts standing guard?”

  Boone nodded. “Tag will be up first come tonight. He’ll make extra rounds through town and see that all of the guests are okay while everyone else goes about their business. We’ll have a different person in charge the next night, and so on. In the meantime, I’ll check all the motels on the nearby interstate as well as any other possibilities, and try to establish some sort of perimeter. I’ll search all the known hiding places within that space and ride out to the old ranch house to see if I can find any evidence of another vampire. He has to be sleeping somewhere during the day. In the meantime, Tag keeps watch over the town, and Belle keeps watch over Maddie.”

  “Babysit Maddie,” Belle remarked. “Lucky me. Now can we wrap this up? It’s almost sunup and I need my beauty sleep.”

  “Sleep? That’s all you’re worried about?” Maddie turned an astonished gaze on the brothel owner. “Kit almost died tonight.”

  “So there’s a crazy after us? It’s not the first time, and it probably won’t be the last. I don’t see why we have to make a huge deal and institute the whole buddy system.”

  “Because someone almost died,” Maddie said, “that’s why.”

  “So? We actually did die, and we don’t go around holding hands.”

  “Ladies, ladies,” Tag interrupted. “No catfights tonight. We all need to be on the same page during this crisis. Caution is the key word.
We have to have each other’s backs.”

  “I can take care of myself,” Maddie chimed in. “I don’t need her.”

  “Sure you can, cupcake,” Belle said.

  “This isn’t just about us,” Boone said. “He tried to kill our humans, which makes him that much more dangerous. He obviously isn’t worried about casualties of war. He’s not keeping a low profile, but we are. Which is why we’re going to be extra vigilant and make sure our guests are safe. We’ll do that, while you”—his gaze zeroed in on Belle—“stay with Maddie. If he wants her first, he’ll be back.” Boone’s gaze traveled around the table. “And we’ll be waiting.”

  OF ALL THE MAGAZINES in the world, Boone had left her four issues of Cosmo.

  Not that Riley disliked the magazine, but after what she’d gone through last night, she wasn’t particularly keen on reading about How to Have the Perfect Orgasm or Twenty Positions to Make Your G-Spot Go W-O-W.

  Sex was the last thing she wanted to think about.

  Kit had almost died last night, and she’d witnessed it. And now she was stuck in a cave carved into the side of a mountain, a prisoner until Boone decided to let her loose.

  She needed to get out of here.

  She certainly didn’t need tips on how to lure her dream man into bed.

  Been there, done that. Over.

  She ignored the crazy thought. Boone wasn’t her dream man. He was the stuff of nightmares. Her biggest fear, come to life.

  That’s what she told herself all morning and the better part of the afternoon as she paced the length of the cave, searching every nook and cranny for a way out.

  She had to forget the tender way he’d touched her during sex and the concern in his gaze when he’d found her in the alley.

  She had to remember the truth.

  That’s where she’d made her mistake with Phil. She’d refused to see his true nature because she’d wanted so much to hold onto her dream. And while she no longer fantasized about finding the perfect man and settling down, she still entertained the idea of snagging the perfect fantasy man and having hot, wild, sex.

  Boone was her most erotic dream come to life, and so she didn’t want to see that he was every bit as dangerous as her ex. She wanted to hold onto the fantasy.

  To live it.

  Done.

  She wasn’t having sex with him again, nor was she turning a blind eye to the fact that he was right there at the top of the alpha male food chain—a vampire who was both dangerous and lethal. No way was she going to forget that. Ever.

  Even if he did show up later that evening with a dozen chocolate glazed donuts.

  “I thought Tombstone didn’t have a donut shop.”

  “We don’t.” He shrugged. “I picked these up over in Hamilton. It’s about forty-five minutes east of town. I’ve been asking around, hoping someone might have noticed someone new to the area. Folks around here always notice a strange face. Our vampire has to be sleeping during the day, which means he’s staying close by somewhere. Maybe in one of the motels out on the Interstate. I stopped off to ask around here and there. The donut shop was on the way to a truck stop farther out. Here.” He shoved the box at her. “Take them.”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  Her traitorous stomach grumbled and she cleared her throat to mask the sound. She wasn’t showing him any weakness. No chink in the armor. “You really think bringing me a few donuts is going to make up for the fact that I’m trapped in a cave?”

  A grin tugged at his sensuous lips. “I was hoping.”

  “You’re holding me here against my will,” she argued. “That’s not all right, and a few donuts won’t make it better. I don’t want to be here.” She couldn’t be here. Despite the cave’s massive size, she’d spent the entire day feeling as if the walls were closing in on her. She’d done her best to focus on the tragedy the night before. Unfortunately, remembering the tragedy stirred memories of the night as a whole and she found herself thinking about Boone. And sex.

  The best sex she’d had in a long, long time.

  The best sex ever, as a matter of fact.

  Which made the situation that much more trying. Because all she could think about was how much she wanted to do it again.

  The truth vibrated through her, along with the fierce attraction that flowed between them. He was everything she didn’t want to want in a man—strong, forceful, commanding—and so she found herself wanting him that much more.

  “I know it sucks being here.” His deep voice pushed into her thoughts. “I wish this hadn’t happened, but it has and so we’re stuck.”

  “You mean I’m stuck.”

  “Just know that you’re safe and everything will be okay. I won’t let anything happen to you.” The words hung between them for a long moment before he seemed to realize what he’d said. Or rather, what he hadn’t said. “You’re a guest,” he added. “I’m responsible for all of my guests.”

  “Do you really think that psycho will come after me specifically?”

  He arched an eyebrow. “You saw him. Eye-to-eye. Nose-to-nose.” His gaze held hers. “Do you really think he won’t?”

  She wanted to tell him he was overreacting. But she couldn’t. She’d seen pure evil in the vampire’s eyes, a delight in death that had chilled her to the very core. He would come after her, all right. And he would make her pay for interrupting his fun.

  Still . . . “I can’t just sit here while you track down this creep. What if it takes more than a day or two? I only gave my assistant enough blog material to last until the end of the week. Once Sunday rolls around, I have to post.” And once she was sitting at the Starbucks at DFW Airport, a latte in one hand and a ticket to her next destination in the other, she’d do just that.

  “You can write it here and I’ll see that it gets posted.”

  “I can’t do that. I need to be posting about this place, what’s going on, what the attractions are.” She shook her head. “I can’t still be here.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because.”

  “Because why?”

  Because of him.

  Phil.

  The name popped into her head and she forced it aside. At one time, he’d been the motivation for the delay in her posts. But three years later, it was just a matter of schedule. Habit. Logically, she knew he wasn’t still a viable threat.

  If only her chest didn’t tighten anyway.

  “He can’t hurt you anymore.” Boone’s deep voice slid into her ears, reminding her that he knew everything there was to know about her ex.

  About her.

  The realization sent a burst of warmth through her, followed by a thread of annoyance because he had no right prying into her thoughts. “Yes, I started the delayed posts because of a certain rat bastard, but that’s not why I do it now. It’s just my system. And it works. And I have no intention of messing with a good thing. I won’t post from here.” She eyed him. “Not that I could, even if I wanted to. You don’t have Internet.”

  “We don’t have Internet available to the guests. That doesn’t mean we don’t have Internet, period. We have all the modern conveniences it takes to run a successful business. You can post first thing Sunday.”

  “But my flight leaves on Sunday.”

  He didn’t comment because he didn’t have to. He held all the power and he knew it. And if he didn’t want her to make that flight, she wouldn’t.

  Worse, she knew it.

  She blinked against a rush of hot tears. She wasn’t going to cry. Or beg. Or plead.

  She held tight to her courage and determination. She would be on that flight out of Texas come the end of the week. Even if she had to claw a hole through the wall of this very cave to do it. “What can I do to speed this up?”

  “Give me a
description. Write down everything you can remember. The way he dressed. Any distinguishable facial features.”

  “You mean besides glowing red eyes and fangs?”

  “Smart ass,” he murmured. He unearthed a notebook and pen from one of the saddlebags he’d brought in with him. “Just write it all down and we’ll go from there.”

  She took the pen and paper with trembling hands.

  “He’ll show up again,” he added, “and we’ll catch him. Then you’ll be able to go back to your life and all of this will be forgotten.”

  Because he was going to make her forget.

  She knew it, even though he didn’t say the words, and the truth irritated her that much more. Not because she wanted to remember him. No, it was about power. He held all the cards and she had no say in how they were dealt. That’s what really bothered her.

  It certainly wasn’t the notion of forgetting the best night of sex she’d ever had. With the sexiest man alive.

  That wasn’t it. No sirree.

  She spent the next fifteen minutes making a list of everything she could think of while Boone unpacked the rest of the saddlebags he’d filled with more supplies. Two more blankets. Another pillow. A box of granola bars. A few containers with actual food from the hotel. Several bottled waters. More magazines.

  Could her day get any worse?

  She handed the list over to him. His hand brushed hers and lingered. “Listen, I’m sorry about this—”

  “Don’t you have a killer to catch?” She didn’t want to hear his apology or see the sincerity in his gaze or feel the chemistry that made her want to rip off her clothes and jump him right then and there, even if he was holding her against her will.

  Talk about being a poster child for Stockholm Syndrome.

  He’d snatched her away from her life, and now he held her freedom in his hands. So what if he actually had a legitimate reason? It didn’t change the fact that, for the second time in her life, Riley Davenport found herself at the mercy of a domineering, controlling, know-it-all man. And damned if she was going to make it easy on him.