He considered one small problem. Dark Prince, her Hell-Touched horse. He threw in one loophole to his ward spell. Animals. Hellhounds, nightmares, and the like. He didn’t like it, but he knew she would be on to him if her horse couldn’t get on or off the property. It left her open to all manner of creatures.
Maxwell had promised William he’d keep her safe and damn it, he would, even if she hated him for it. He blew out the candle on the desk and went to bed. He needed to convince her to trust him again, rely on him to help her.
Easier said than done.
He couldn’t find any sleep. Something about being in the house again, knowing his closest friend wasn’t there anymore. He stared at the ceiling.
He’s gone and he’s not coming back. She’s there across the hall and she hates me.
I deserve it.
He didn’t know how long he lay there, but eventually, he got tired of it. He got into clean clothes and walked out of the bedroom. Then he left the house and went to the hill. They had buried William on his property.
He’d always called this his little piece of heaven. Horses and a wife, a home to call his own, where the Pack couldn’t mess with him for being the Alpha’s wayward son who didn’t want to take over one day. He’d pissed the Pack off by becoming the deputy. Pissed them off more when he became sheriff.
Maxwell stopped in front of the grave and shoved his hands in his pockets. William Charles Lovett. Son. Brother. Husband.
Hero.
“How is anyone supposed to live up to you?” he asked his best friend’s grave. “You used to say that her heart was big enough to love anyone, if they just admitted they loved her first. But there’s no living up to you. And she hates me now anyway. It’s my fault, of course.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “You know, she’s gone and done something crazy. She went out and banished some fucking demon outlaw, like she was a bounty hunter or something. Testing a spell, she told me. So she can protect Redstone.” He started to laugh harder. “Here I am, wondering how the hell I’m ever going to live up to you, and she’s out trying to fill your shoes, not realizing they might be too big for her.”
He stood there awkwardly for a moment after he stopped laughing. He’d made a mess of his first time seeing her in a year. How would you fix this, William?
He considered what he could do. The only idea he had was to make her breakfast. Adalyn loved when someone helped her in the kitchen.
“I’m sorry I haven’t come and talked to you. Now, I need to go make sure your wife doesn’t castrate me in the morning. Rest easy, William.” He touched the top of the grave before walking away.
6
Adalyn
Adalyn woke up the next day with a hangover and an immediate bad mood. She stumbled into her kitchen in a robe, hoping to find anything to drink.
“There’s coffee already made and I raided your icebox for the bacon and eggs.”
She clenched a fist, glaring at the warlock sitting at her round kitchen table. She’d hoped she’d hallucinated him.
“You make awful coffee,” she reminded him. That was a fact. The man only knew how to make coffee that tasted like dirt and piss. “You’ve probably ruined my expensive coffee beans.”
He sighed, taking another bite of those eggs he mentioned. She dished up her own plate, poured some coffee, and sat down across from him.
“What are you planning for today? I’ll escort you.”
“I don’t need an escort.” She took a bite of her food, trying not to sound as pissed off as she was. The food was delicious. His cooking was much better than his coffee. She’d forgotten that. “I never have and I never will.” She took a tentative sip of the coffee and resisted the urge to gag, putting the mug down.
She wasn’t going to tell him her plans, since they were really none of his business. Her potions would be ready now. She just needed to bottle them up and get them to the General Store and Forrest, so she could have a small amount of income coming in again.
She ate quickly, then jumped up and left the kitchen without hearing any more out of him. She got dressed faster than she ate, opting for a pair of jeans and her cowboy boots, along with a simple blouse. She went to her work shed next, pouring the potions into the bottles they needed to be in, and left the house, not even saying goodbye to the marshal.
With a soft whistle, Dark Prince met her in the barn. She saddled him up and together they went into town, hoping she wasn’t followed by Maxwell. She hadn’t even seen his gelding yet, not in town, her barn, or in her field.
She walked into the General Store and stopped at a little display where her potions were normally on sale. She began organizing it and putting them out for sale without saying hello to Forrest.
“Adalyn!” Forrest cheerfully greeted her, walking from around his counter and stopping next to her. “What did you bring?”
“A few bottles of the cold cure. Several to help calm animals during storms, since I know those are always useful. And a few suppressants for the wereanimals, if they’re interested.” Those always flew off the shelves, but she never publicly assumed that the wereanimals wanted them. No matter what, there was always a were who wanted to skip a full or new moon for some reason. It freed up their lives for a little while. “I’ll have more of those in a few days, and more options when Tobias comes back. I know it’s a light haul, but I’m still getting back into the swing of things. Let everyone know I’m open for custom orders as well? Not many, mind you, but a few.” She was going to have a dry spell on her plan to find and banish Beelzebub if she was going to have issues with bounty hunters and the demon gang she’d messed with. That left her even more open to working on her potions business again.
“Amazing. These will all probably sell out by tomorrow.”
“I’m hoping for it. I know people like to have several stocked up, like the calmers.” She finished setting up the display and shook Forrest’s hand. “One dollar for the calmers. Two for the cold cures. Three for the suppressants. You get fifty cents per bottle, like we always have.”
“Well…” Forrest shifted uncomfortably. “I was hoping we could renegotiate.”
Adalyn crossed her arms. He wouldn’t. They had just shaken hands. There was no renegotiating now.
“I was hoping for fifty percent on everything, since you’re using my store. Now, I know William helped us negotiate the first time and you would want to keep that, but I think it’s time we reevaluate-”
He did, the damn greedy piece of horse shit. Keep calm, Adalyn. Don’t lose your temper, girl.
She failed spectacularly, and had to redirect her magic at something. The potions worked. They exploded with the force of her unchanneled wild magic, causing him to jump back like she’d shot him. In an instant, she vanished the liquid and left the glass for him to deal with. She turned on her heel and walked out, leaving the man staring, wide-eyed, at the empty display. Her bad mood was now very bad and she wasn’t in the mood for much else. She was going to go back home, throw Maxwell out and ignore the world.
She was nearly back to Dark Prince when the smooth voice of Easton Black stopped her.
“Well, I never thought I would find temper sexy on a woman, but that was impressive.”
She turned to him, out of patience. “I’m a wild magic witch. Sometimes, things just happen. You should see what I can do to a head.” Her eyes drifted downwards, making her intent clear. She wasn’t afraid to castrate a man in the mood she was in.
“Oh, I bet,” he murmured, stepping closer to her, completely unafraid. “You disappeared in quite a flurry last night. Remy was pretty upset. You left him a little high and dry.”
“Well, I would’ve lessened the blow, but I don’t take too kindly to bounty hunters who don’t tell me who they are.” Really, she had just been a little in shock.
“I did tell you who I was,” he retorted, smiling that small smile. A little calculating, a little taunting, and a whole lot of sexy. “I just didn’t tell you why I was here.”
“Sorry, but you’re not going to find what you’re looking for, Easton. I’m not some helpless little girl who needs the marshal to protect me.” She nodded to the General Store and then back down to his crotch. Just to make sure he knew exactly what she meant.
“And what am I looking for?” he asked, leaning closer to her. She could smell a hint of sulfur all of a sudden and turned again to see Remy on the other side of Dark Prince. Easton was now pressed up against her back. A bad place for her to be, certainly, but unless she wanted to blast them and make real enemies, she had to tolerate it for a moment.
“Rumor has it you kill the competition.”
“Rumors, got to love them.” He sounded amused by what she said. “Are you scared we’re here to off you?”
“I don’t like what you being here means for me,” she answered, turning back to him, so that she didn’t feel so pinned by the glowing orange eyes of the man on the other side of her stallion. The sapphire eyes weren’t much better. Remy had a face that showed what he was thinking and feeling, while Easton, whatever he was, didn’t. His smiles were enigmatic and the tone of his voice sounded like he was covering up what he really felt.
“That…well, I can’t blame you for that. No, witch, we’re not here to kill you. We’re here to collect the bounties on the demons we know are going to show up to try and kill you. We think you should know, since then you could help us…and keep yourself alive easier.”
“Oh, so you’re just opportunistic. Wonderful.” She grabbed Dark Prince’s mane and pulled herself into her saddle. Easton grabbed the reins before she could and held her stallion in place. Dark Prince didn’t even try to get away from him, making her take pause as well from how unusual that was.
“Just wanted you to know. Ain’t no reason to be scared of us. Really, you should help us. We’ll deal with the demons and even give you a cut of the bounty.”
“The marshal will arrest them,” she reminded the bounty hunter. “And while I don’t like him, I do trust him further than I can throw him. Unlike you two.” She yanked the reins from his hand and clicked. Dark Prince jumped out from the middle of the two bounty hunters and began the ride home. She was nearly out of the city when she saw Maxwell riding quietly behind her. “You couldn’t step in there for me? I thought you wanted to protect me, or some foolishly chivalrous thing like that.”
“I knew they weren’t going to kill you on the street in broad daylight. Calm down.”
“Calm down? Calm down? Maxy boy, we both know I ain’t angry yet.” She spun Dark Prince to glare at him, her temper threatening to snap again. This would always be where William would step in, reminding everyone to stay calm and talk it out.
“What did Forrest say?” he asked softly, riding up next to her. “Because I know you aren’t mad at me right now.”
She wasn’t, but she really wanted to be. She wasn’t even mad at the damned bounty hunters, only a little spooked by them. Those men were gorgeous, made her body want things, but probably weren’t good for her health.
Forrest, though. Oh, she wanted to strangle the man at that moment.
“For years, he’s earned fifty cents off my potions. For the cheap ones, it meant I barely made enough to keep making them. For the more expensive ones, I made a much larger profit, and he got his fifty cents per bottle for the space used and it’s pure profit for him.”
“What did he do?”
“He wants a flat fifty percent on everything!” she yelled as they left the town. “Can you believe that? Does he think William is gone so suddenly I’m a fool? That I can be taken advantage of?”
She knew that was exactly what Forrest thought. She didn’t have William there to back her up, he was the man in the negotiations, and of course he knew what was best.
“And if he got a full fifty percent, you would be…”
“Losing money on every potion. The bottles cost a quarter each and I have to order them in bulk. I just blew up twelve of them. That’s an entire shipment. I’ll need to order more soon—and from Forrest.”
“Then there’s ingredients, some that can’t be grown on this terrain.”
“Exactly!”
Thank the gods someone understands!
She stopped talking after that, realizing what Maxwell had just done. He’d gotten her to talk to him about witch and warlock business. He wasn’t an expert in potions, preferring more offensive, incantation magic, but he had the general knowledge. He could whip a couple of things up if he needed to.
It felt normal to have someone to talk to about it.
By the careful and friendly look on his face, that had been his intention. Maxwell was a little cunning when he wanted something, but not devious, not cruel. He wouldn’t do this to fuck her over, but she didn’t really care about his intentions.
“Damn you,” she muttered, glaring at him.
“Adalyn, I never stopped being your friend. I genuinely want to hear about this. Forrest knows better than to stupidly run you out of business. The potions make him money, and he should know better than to try something like that. When Tobias comes back, maybe he could help negotiate something. Or I can before I leave, when this mess is cleaned up.”
She pursed her lips, trying to find anything to say that wouldn’t be completely bitchy.
Nope. Not happening. Maxwell Donahue did not get to come back and pretend like nothing happened. And how dare he think she needed Tobias or him to negotiate for her. She could do something else, even if it meant more work for her.
“I’m going to run it out of the house. I don’t need Forrest. I’ll be fine. If Tobias wants to deal with him, he can, but nothing I make will ever go back in that store.” She tapped her heels to Dark Prince’s side and he picked up the speed, leaving the marshal and his gelding to catch up. She beat him to her barn and was already off her stallion when he rode in. She made herself busy, brushing her boy while he did the same for his gelding.
Not having Forrest made her business much harder. She would need to handle taxes on her own, which would become a pain. Money was going to be tight, as people wouldn’t want to ride out to her home to buy potions unless it was an emergency. She didn’t have the money in savings to just last on her own for a long time, even with her recent deposit from her bounty.
She needed a plan, and some quick cash to build her savings up.
Isn’t that one of the reasons I went after what’s-his-name? A quick load of cash and to test a necessary spell? Two birds with one stone? Bounties are good money…
She had a feeling she knew who to ask, but first, she needed to get Maxwell off her back. She didn’t know how he followed her to town, but he obviously had, and that wasn’t going to work for her.
She had a plan.
“I’ll make us lunch,” she said, walking out once Dark Prince wandered into the field. Maxwell was putting his gelding away in a stall, since it was never a good idea to have a male horse in her field. Dark Prince didn’t tolerate other males around his mares, geldings without their balls or otherwise.
7
Adalyn
Adalyn had been polite all day, like a good, proper woman. She listened to him talk about whatever he’d been working on and fed him at the proper times. He just talked about how he’d been travelling a lot, even visiting his family back East for a couple of months, needing the break from the bleak frontier. She was busy thinking about what she was going to tell those bounty hunters, what they were going to plan.
Finally, Maxwell went to bed after dinner and she moved quickly, calling in her bag and leaving before he even had a chance to know she had any sort of plans.
She didn’t whistle for Dark Prince, walking to him in the field.
“Hey, boy, you okay with some bareback?”
A head bob. She was positive the horse liked being ridden bareback more than with a saddle. She did put on some reins though, needing to maintain some control over her horse. She pulled herself up with his mane and he took off, jumping the fence to head int
o town.
“Saloon,” she told him, and he stopped right in front of it.
Just as she was jumping off, the bounty hunters were walking out. Remy looked delectable in his all black pants, chaps, shirt, boots, and cowboy hat. Easton was, again, a little more colorful, with a white shirt and blue jeans, but he looked no less gorgeous.
These two probably had women panting after them everywhere.
“Well, look at this,” Easton said, shoving his hands in his pockets, his cowboy hat pulled low, giving some mystery to his facial expression. She couldn’t see those sapphire eyes. “Pretty little witch think about what we said? Our offer?”
“I have, but we can’t talk about it here. I don’t need the entire town in my business.”
“Why, because you’re the sheriff’s widow?” Remy asked, walking closer. “We’ve done our homework. A pity a pretty thing like you has nobody.” Something about his face really meant that he was very happy she had nobody. It was that dark way he looked at her, like he was going to eat her.
“A pretty thing like me doesn’t need anybody. I only have ‘em if I want ‘em.” She turned, leading Dark Prince to turn around, blocking Remy’s advance towards her. These boys were going to have to learn real quick that nothing happened to her that she didn’t want.
“So, you never needed the husband, you just loved him that much, huh?” he taunted, following her.
“And to think, I was going to sleep with you,” she mumbled, rolling her eyes. She actually still wanted to. She liked his bad boy shit too much already, and he wasn’t exactly being offensive. Maybe a little too much of a standard man, but that wasn’t a crime. She was surrounded by those.
“My apologies, Mrs. Lovett. I meant no offense,” he growled low, seductively. It sent shivers down her traitorous spine and even made her ache to hear more of it. “Easton? Get the horses?”
Bounty Hunters and Black Magic Page 5