Bounty Hunters and Black Magic

by Kristen Banet

  Bounty Hunters and Black Magic

  Witch of the Wild West

  Kristen Banet

  Contents

  1. Adalyn

  2. Adalyn

  3. Adalyn

  4. Adalyn

  5. Maxwell

  6. Adalyn

  7. Adalyn

  8. Remy

  9. Adalyn

  10. Easton

  11. Adalyn

  12. Adalyn

  13. Valen

  14. Adalyn

  15. Adalyn

  16. Easton

  17. Adalyn

  18. Maxwell

  19. Adalyn

  20. Valen

  21. Adalyn

  22. Remy

  23. Adalyn

  24. Maxwell

  25. Adalyn

  26. Adalyn

  27. Adalyn

  28. Adalyn

  29. Tobias

  Dear Reader,

  About the Author

  Also by Kristen Banet

  Copyright © 2019 by Kristen Banet

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Created with Vellum

  1

  Adalyn

  Adalyn reloaded her rifle with a small spell, causing the gun to glow beautifully as she tried to ignore the man tied to the tree behind her. She needed to stop toying with him and end this, but she hoped to get information out of him. She took aim near his feet again with her bolt action rifle and fired, making him jump and scream. Then her spell activated, causing the gun to glow and reload again.

  “Stop shooting at me!” he screamed.

  She’d known the outlaw wouldn’t appreciate her little game, but she didn’t think it was so bad. It wasn’t like she was shooting him. Yet. Hell, she hadn’t actually shot him yet, only at him.

  “Calm down!” she ordered, turning around. The outlaw glared at her, but went quiet. “Good. Now, I’ve brought you out here today because…” She looked at the stars overhead and grinned. “One year ago someone killed my husband. You probably heard about it, didn’t you? Redstone? Man in charge?” She lowered her gun, letting him feel safe.

  “The sheriff of Redstone. Beelzebub killed him. Yeah, I heard about it,” he answered. “Didn’t know he was your husband. The Lovett witch. Should have fucking known. Only witch within a hundred damned miles of here.”

  “Mmmm.” She took aim at his feet and fired again, making him scramble and try to pull his feet back, screaming again. She hit the dirt an inch away from his boot on purpose. She just liked making him dance. It was humorous. Not like shooting him was that big of a deal—it wasn’t like he could die.

  “You’re some crazy little bitch, you know that?” he yelled.

  “And you’re incredibly stupid, but you know the saying. Admitting you have a problem is only half the battle.”

  “My boys are going to get you for this.” His eyes turned red as he snarled at her.

  It wasn’t impressive, and she gave a dramatic eye roll in return. Red eyes? Please. Everyone and their fucking momma could turn their eyes red these days.

  “Will they? Do they even know you’re here?” She was grinning as he struggled against the ropes. “No answer? I guess they don’t.” She stepped closer to him, still smiling. “Now, do you have information on Beelzebub for me or not?”

  “If you let me go, I’ll tell you everything,” he said quickly.

  She knew better than that. After years of being a sheriff’s wife, she’d heard all the tricks demons tried to pull to get out of things. If she let him out of the ropes now, he’d either attack her or try to run, and she’d have to haul him back to her pentagram. It was a banishing spell, not a trap spell. She hadn’t yet figured out how to combine the two spells into one.

  “No. When you’re done talking to me, I’m sending you home, big boy. Now, get talking.” She took aim again, this time intending to shoot him. She kept her sights trained on an area she knew he would miss.

  “He disappeared after that. Ain’t nobody knows where he is. Nobody. Not even a lot of his gang. He took some bad injuries and went to lick his wounds. That good enough for you? Can I go now?”

  “I mean, I really need to test this spell, and you haven’t had any information for me that I didn’t already know so…” She shook her head. “Sorry. As a witch, I can’t just let you leave.”

  “Wait! Please!” His eyes were wide as he began to beg for mercy.

  Adalyn didn’t have any. His kind shouldn’t be walking on this plane of existence, and they both knew it.

  She knelt and whispered a small incantation, one she shouldn’t know. The pentagram she’d drawn in blood began to glow a sinister red right underneath the outlaw. There was a rush of power from it that made her nearly horny. It felt so good. Like she was a goddess for a moment and nothing could stop her. Exhilarating and terrible. The best drug she could have imagined.

  Why does black magic have to feel so good? I see why people become addicted to it.

  “Time for you to go home, outlaw,” she said as the portal opened and the man screamed. The smell of sulfur filled the air, making her want to gag. Hands dragged him under, back to Hell where he belonged. Gruesome demon hands. That wasn’t something Adalyn had been expecting.

  Whatever works, I guess. Hell is, well, Hell.

  “Well, the spell works, that’s for sure. Good. Problems…” She pulled out a small journal from the pack on her waist as she mumbled, then began to write down her observations of the spell. “I need to draw the pentagram beforehand and then get the demon into it. This one was easy to trick, but they won’t all be so stupid. I mean, who really thinks a witch will make a deal with a demon near a full moon? Then I need to find a way to keep him in the pentagram. Knocking them out and tying them to something is risky and a pain.”

  The pentagram was finally dying down, the glow fading. Once it was gone, she walked over to it, ignoring the ropes still around the trunk of the tree. She kicked the dirt, destroying the pentagram. Then she kicked it more, hoping there was no evidence of her blood left over.

  She couldn’t have anyone knowing she did this. Not the way she had, anyway. Blood pentagrams? Those were black magic, and if anyone knew she had done that, then she would be in some serious shit.

  No, I definitely can’t have that. Not with my plans.

  Last, she picked up the items she’d taken off the demon—the pocket watch everyone knew him for, and other knick-knacks. Those would have to be enough for the claim on the two-hundred-dollar bounty.

  Adalyn didn’t exactly leave a body to show them.

  “What do you mean you aren’t going to pay me?” she demanded, glaring at the banker who had funded the bounty. “I sent him back to Hell!”

  “I’m sorry, Miss…”

  “Mrs. Lovett,” she snapped. “Adalyn Lovett, the witch of Redstone.” She made sure her title was very clear to the asshole in front of her. Who did he think she was? Was there another blue-green-eyed, black-haired, curvy witch roaming these parts? And she shouldn’t need to use her name for a bounty turn in. This is outrageous.

  “Oh! I’m sorry, Mrs. Lovett.” The banker began to fumble around, and a perverse sense of happiness went through her.

  I
thought so, jackass.

  “But I can’t pay you the full amount without anything more than a pocket watch. I am willing to give you half the bounty, since I would never question…”

  “You mean like you’re questioning me right now by only giving me half the bounty? Do you think I’m stupid?” She narrowed her eyes at him, insulted by the banker. “Are you serious?”

  “Please, ma’am. My boss would fire me. This is the best I can do.”

  Gods, he sounds so desperate.

  “Fine.” She extended a hand and waited. Months of research into the spell, weeks of planning and contacting the demon through back channels to convince him to visit, and she was only going to walk away with half the bounty.

  At least it was something. It would help for a couple of months, give her a little breathing room for her to continue her plans. Feed for the mares, some treats to keep the stallion happy, and food for her table. It would have to work. All of those things mattered more than her pride, at the end of the day.

  Finally, the cash was counted and placed into the palm of her hand. She pulled it close to her face, recounted, and grinned at the banker.

  “Thank you, sir. It’s been a pleasure doing business with you.” She didn’t have it in her to stop the acidic sarcasm.

  “Certainly, Mrs. Lovett.” The banker waved at her nervously, but didn’t escort her to the door. It was because she was a loud witch that caused trouble, and she knew it. That was fine. She didn’t use their bank for her business anyways, preferring the one in Redstone.

  Adalyn wasn’t in Redstone, though. She was a three day ride from home, which meant no one was going to make the man have any manners. Nor was she going to be able to deposit the cash, which she was now carrying too much of. At least she had her rifle on her, just in case.

  When she was outside, she went directly for her stallion, a gorgeous black horse that she knew had more than a touch of Nightmare in him. She’d named him Dark Prince when he was a young colt and so far, he hadn’t proven her wrong. He was a stuck-up, regal piece of shit that she loved more than nearly anything else in the world. She was also the only person who could ride him.

  “We’ll be home soon enough,” she whispered to him, rubbing his nose just the way he liked it. In response, she got a very undignified snort. “Don’t have an attitude with me. We’re doing this for William and Redstone. They need us to do this for them.”

  He tossed his head, showing off that attitude she knew he had. He was tired of being away from his mares for so long. She needed to get her boy home before he mounted a poor unknown mare in the street and she got thrown out of town.

  I get it, boy. Getting laid is important for mental health. There are going to be regrettable nights in my future just to deal with that very problem.

  She smoothed out his mane, trying to calm him down, then secured her pack to his saddle. It was dawn. If they got moving soon, they would be able to make good distance on the first day of the trip.

  “Adalyn?” a smooth, masculine voice said her name and she spun to look, causing her skirts to tangle up in her legs. A strong hand caught her elbow before she tumbled into the dirt at her horse’s feet.

  Looking up, she saw the man who spooked her and then saved her from herself. Her heart immediately picked up its pace.

  “Tobias, how are you?” Adalyn asked, trying to hide the nerves she felt. He wasn’t supposed to be here. Not at all. This wasn’t good. She hoped he wasn’t there looking for her.

  “I’m passing through on the way to visit an old friend. I left a note at your home to say I was going to miss our weekly meet-up to tend the garden, but you weren’t there either.” He smiled brightly at her and she let herself enjoy that for a moment.

  Tobias was a gorgeous man, half-Indian, but she didn’t know his tribe. He was just stunning in his uniqueness. His long hair was always tied back and had an auburn hue to it that she never saw on other natives. His eyes were a clear, bright hazel that screamed the earth, and all its power.

  He even had one skill most men didn’t: he knew how to dress himself to look good, in those jeans that always made his ass look sinful and the cowboy boots that didn’t look outrageous and overly expensive for no reason. No, his boots said he worked. She always loved a man who knew how to work.

  One day, Adalyn knew he was going to find some very lucky woman and make her very happy. Not her, for a lot of reasons, but one mattered more than most. He was Adalyn’s late husband’s best friend. Hell, he was her best friend and they ran a business together.

  “I’ve been running around on business. You know, time for me to reclaim my life. Can’t hide out in the house for the rest of my life.” She had for a year, or so everyone thought. Grieving widow? She certainly was one, but that wasn’t all she was. She had too much fire to let it destroy her. “It was a spur of the moment trip. I’m sorry for not telling you.”

  Liar, liar, pants on fire. I’m going to go to Hell for keeping this from him.

  It wasn’t spur of the moment at all. She had planned it for a long time, but she hadn’t wanted to tell anyone in Redstone what she was up to. They would have all tried to convince her that she was crazy.

  They would be kind of right, but Adalyn didn’t let that weigh her down.

  “I’m glad to see you out and about. And not wearing black. The blue looks good on you.” He had such a kind smile. Once, she’d been enamoured by it, but marriage and life came first. She was a loyal woman, of course. She had to admit, on the other hand, the smile was a bit swoon-worthy. She revisited an earlier thought. He was really going to make some woman very happy one day. “I’ll see you when I get back. We can get the business back up and moving. Working on potions without you has been a lonely thing.”

  “Of course! You know you’re always welcome in the Lovett home, too. Come visit me.” Adalyn patted his upper arm, grinning. He waved, even giving a little bow, and walked away. She watched him go, trying to keep her eyes on his back and not that ass she knew was formed by the hands of the gods themselves. Probably a female god, considering how absolutely wonderful it was.

  The moment he was out of sight, she wiped her forehead, thanking the gods that he hadn’t asked what sort of business she’d been up to. She’d have to tell him eventually what she was up to, since secrets never stayed secret long in Redstone, but not yet.

  When he comes back, I’ll tell him.

  Yeah, that would work. That would give her time to prepare for the argument about the intelligence of her decision to get revenge on the Archdemon who nearly destroyed the town a year before and killed her husband. As long as she didn’t forget her most important point, it would be fine: this would help the town stay safe. Redstone was vulnerable, and she was working to correct that.

  First, though, she was going to go home and take a long, hot bath. Over three weeks out on this little mission, and she was tired of feeling dirty. Only three more days’ ride. She got on her stallion and clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth. She didn’t need to hold the reins at a slow pace since her stallion knew exactly how to behave in town and how to get them out of it without incident. When they were out of town though? She grabbed on and he broke out in the most exhilarating ride she’d had since before her husband was killed.

  Wasn’t that a depressing thought?

  She needed to get laid, but most of the attractive men she knew were ones she lived next to, friends of hers and once, her husband’s. She needed to find a stranger if she ever wanted to fill the empty side of her bed.

  They went at a full gallop for most of the morning, her Dark Prince needing to stretch his legs. He loved a long, hard run. His penchant for running himself so hard would turn the three-day ride back to Redstone into a two-day ride. She would have slowed him down, but she knew better. The Nightmare in him let him go faster for much longer than other horses. That bit of magic in him gave him the power to really do whatever he pleased, and Adalyn never had the time to give him the sort of run he wanted eve
ry day. This was a run he needed.

  When she forced him to stop at a stream for a drink, she thought about what she was really doing.

  She was sneaking around, capturing and banishing demons behind her friends’ backs. Tobias was just the first close call. Valen would be furious. Those two were thick as thieves, though she never figured out how they got to be friends. Madam would tell her to hurry up and get a new husband instead of getting herself killed.

  Nope. I absolutely can’t tell any of my friends about this. They’ll kill me. Maybe I can distract them with Mission Get Adalyn Lovett Laid instead.

  2

  Adalyn

  Adalyn was right. It only took two full days ride to get back to Redstone on the fastest route, thanks to Dark Prince. She knew it was because he wanted to go home to his girls, and she couldn’t blame him. She owned three gorgeous mares that Dark Prince was viciously protective of. They never gave her any young, something she considered might be his bloodline’s fault, but he tried. She’d long considered finding a mare that was part Nightmare as well to see if that would help, but life kept getting in her way.

  She had to ride through town to get to her house, but it was late, and she wasn’t in the mood to stop and talk to anyone. The saloon sounded wild, and she just didn’t have the energy to stop in.

  Adalyn lived on the outside of town, able to look down on Redstone from her hilly piece of land. She had three hills and a field between them. On one hill, the house, a modest three-bedroom home made of the red earth and stones of the area, with a little shed sitting next to it. On the northern hill, his grave, overlooking the field where the horses ran. In the field, a small barn for the horses when the weather got bad. There was nothing on the third hill. She kept it all fenced in so the horses had space to run without running off completely. And that was her little plot in the wide world of the frontier.