Cowboy from the Future (16 page)

Addy’s
heart flipped, but she wasn’t backing down.  “Well, too bad for Cade, he
doesn’t get a vote.  That’s what happens when you’re a dummy who gets yourself
arrested.”

“I’m
with Adeline.”  Jacobi nodded.  His tears had dried now that they had a (sort
of) plan going.  He was eager to go along with anything that meant action.  “I
don’t care what Cade wants. 
I
want him back.  We have to
do
something.  Even if he kills us later, he’ll be alive to do it.”

“The
vote is two to one, Deke.”  Addy declared victory for her side by pounding a
fist on the tabletop.  “Majority rules and the majority wants to rescue Cade. 
Help us do it right.”

Deke
pinched the bridge of his nose.  “Why the hell did I ever encourage him to keep
you around?”

“Because
you were right about me.  You said it yourself.”

“I
say a lot of shit.”  But he was studying her, weighing her resolve.

Addy
could sense him weakening and went in for the kill.  “Right now, Cade thinks
he’s all alone.”  She didn’t wasn’t to imagine how terrifying it must be for
him, surrounded by monsters who hated him and waiting for death.  The man
always protected the people he loved, but he didn’t expect anyone to come for
him.  “I’m not going to leave him like that.  I don’t think you will, either. 
So, we can keep arguing, but we both know how it will end.  Because you and I want
to do the same thing, Deke.”

“Yeah,
but I’m a lunatic.”  He stared at her for a long minute and then slowly shook
his head.  “You’re even crazier than I am, though, so what the hell.”  He put
the bottle down.  “Give me an hour and I can get us some horses.  Then, if we
don’t die in the first hail of bullets, at least we’ll have a way out of the
polis.”  He paused.  “…That way we can die in the mountains.”

Addy
smiled brilliantly.  “That’s the spirit.”

“We
could create some kind of disruption.”  Jacobi volunteered, all-in on whatever
desperate idea they came up with.  “Then everyone would rush off to investigate
and we could get Cade out in the confusion.  I read that in a story once.  Crooks
stampeded this herd of sanbor straight down the street to distract the sheriff,
while they robbed the bank.”

“We
don’t have a bank or a herd of sanbor.”  Deke reminded him.  “And we’re not
fucking crooks.  Breaking him out of jail is
just
.”

Addy
frowned.  “That’s true.  Still, I like the concept.  We’re not going to be able
to kill a hundred men, so we’re definitely going to need to draw them away from
Cade’s cell.  What would
really
get their attention?”

“A
hanging.”  Deke muttered.  He might be cooperating, but he was still a glass-is-half-empty
guy.

“What
else, smartass?”

“Mudslide. 
Another flash.  An enemy invasion.  Got any of that stuff handy?”

Addy’s
eyes narrowed in thought.  “Enemies of the town?  Okay, are there any other
Voltyn around who might be able to help Cade?”

“There
are some Voltyn in Big Rock.”  Jacobi didn’t sound hopeful about gaining their
assistance, though.

“Big
Rock?”

“Yeah,
you know
Big Rock
.”  Using his foot, he drew a flat topped “U” shape in
the dust on the floor.  “It’s a polis without laws, so the Voltyn like it. 
Everybody’s whose running from something runs there.  According to stories,
there’s a whole outlaw community.”

Addy
studied the rough sketch for a beat.  “Devils Tower?  The weird-shaped mountain
from
Close Encounters?
”  Of course, that massive pillar of stone would
still be used as a landmark in this time period.  It was too big to erode away
and nothing else in the world looked quite like it.  She glanced over at Deke. 
“How far is that from here?”

“Too
far to get to before morning.”

“Are
there are
no
other Voltyn around?  Someone closer?”

“None
that will risk their necks to help us.”

Damn
it.  Addy ran a hand through her hair, trying to think.  What else could create
a disruption?  She couldn’t manufacture a mudslide or set off another atomic
bomb.  That left enemy attack.  So if the Voltyn were out of the running, who
might stage a timely raid…?  “Wait, didn’t you say those mutant cannibal guys
were nearby?”

“Outlanders.” 
Jacobi nodded.  “But they’re not close enough to attack tonight, if that’s what
you’re thinking.”

“How
do you know?”

“When
Outlanders are about to attack you see their fires start in the hills.  They
build torches so they can burn the whole polis, as they rage through.  We
haven’t seen any flames being lit, yet.”

Addy’s
mouth curved.  “But if they
did
attack tonight, everyone would have to
go rushing off to defend the town, right?  It would be
wonderfully
disruptive.”

Jacobi
looked confused by her persistence.  “Sure.  But they’re
not
going to
attack tonight.”

“Oh,
yes they are.”

Deke
snorted in derision.  “What do you want to do, Addy?  Go out there, find the
Outlanders, and request a raid?  I should warn you, they’re not usually so
interested in what humans have to say.”  He held up his severed hand.  “Trust
me.”

It
was sad how life without TV had so severely limited their imaginations. 
Thankfully, Addy had taken almost a full semester of screenwriting 1305, during
her “artistic phase.”  She knew the power of misdirection and repackaged ideas.

“Outlanders
don’t have to raid the town.  The town just has to
think
Outlanders are
raiding.”  She arched a brow, her mind racing.  “We have liquor, matches, and
wood.  How many torches can we put together in an hour?”

The “Wild
West” has quite a reputation for lawlessness thanks to Hollywood and popular
legends.

The truth
is a little different, though.

While there
were some gunfighters and desperados causing trouble, most people were honest
citizens,

who didn’t
tolerate criminals in their towns.  Outlaws were quickly dealt with.

Brown’s
Glampling Tours Official Pocket Guide

“
OUTLANDERS!
”

The
panicked scream had Cade sitting up on his cot and looking out the small window
of his cell.  His body hurt from the beating the sheriff had given him, but he
didn’t even notice the flash of pain as he surged to his feet.

Outlanders
were attacking
tonight? 
That was impossible.  They would’ve seen the
fires by now.

Even
as he thought it, flames started popping up.  One after another, torches were
lit, until the hillside was filled with at least three dozen ominous fires. 
Shit.  Three dozen torches meant four times that many Outlanders.  It was an
even bigger band than usual.  If a group of warriors that massive charged into
Shadow-of-the-Gods, it would be a bloodbath.

Where
the hell was Addy?

Cade
tried to lean forward, so he could spot the saloon through the window, but the
position of the bars wouldn’t let him.  All he could see was the mad retreat of
his lynch mob.  Everyone who’d been gathering for his hanging, raced for their
weapons or for cover.  Cade had the vague thought that this might postpone his
execution.  Not that it really mattered.  He’d rather be dead than locked up in
jail for the rest of his life.  But, he didn’t want to die, yet.

Not
until he made sure Addy was okay.

Son
of a
bitch
, Deke and Jacobi had better be getting her out of the polis. 
If Outlanders got their hands on Adeline, she would be… 

“I’d
like to see the lowly Voltyn scum who’s ruined my good name.”  Addy’s irate
voice said from the outer room.

For
the longest second of his life, Cade stopped breathing.

He
hadn’t thought words could wound him anymore, but hers cut him to the bone. 
His stomach sinking, he turned towards the door.  Adeline hated him just like
everyone else.  She’d seen him use his powers and was repulsed that she’d ever
kissed someone who wasn’t human.  He’d anticipated this, but it still felt like
someone had ripped out his lungs.  He couldn’t die with Addy hating him.  He…
couldn’t.

But,
almost as soon as it began, the hurt faded and sanity returned.

No. 
Cade shook his head, pushing aside his instinctive panic.

No
.

This
wasn’t right.  He
knew
this woman.  Addy wouldn’t say such a thing.  Disruptive
lunatic that she was, she didn’t have it in her to be cruel.  Addy would
never
show up at Cade’s jail cell to taunt him in the last moments before he was
hanged.  The very idea was preposterous.  Adeline told mermaid stories and
wanted equal rights for Voltyn.  She was a lady, in the truest, purest sense of
the word.

She
was lying to the guard… Which meant she was up to something.

Cade
closed his eyes.  Of
course
she was up to something.  She was
always
up to something.  And she’d apparently dragged his brothers into it.  Deke
wouldn’t have let her wade into this mess alone and she was speaking the local
dialect, which meant that Jacobi had probably taught her how to say that
“Voltyn scum” line.

Gods
damn
it.

“Adeline,
get out of here!”  He roared.  “Whatever you are planning, stop it. 
Now
.”

“Oh,
don’t be such a grouch.”  Adeline called back in her own language.  For the
guard’s benefit she used a ridiculously theatrical tone, though, full of scorn
and hatred for his scummy kind.  “You haven’t even seen the best part, yet.”

Cade
groaned as she swept in from the front office.  Pober, the pimple-faced guard,
hurried in after her.  The others had left him behind to watch the jail,
because he was the most inexperienced and they needed the best fighters to hold
off the Outlanders.

What
a
coincidence
that Addy had shown up just when Sheriff Zecker and his
goons went off to face the invasion.  How in the hell had she timed an
Outlander attack?

She
frowned when she saw Cade’s face, taking in the bruises.  “Did the sheriff do
that to you?”  She demanded, furious on his behalf.  “Damn it, he shouldn’t be
allowed to get away with that, Cade.  We should sue him or something.”

“Do
not
go near Zecker.  I mean it.  The man is a sadist and there have been
enough catastrophes for one day.”

“Whose
fault is that, Electro?”

Cade
had no idea what that meant or what she was plotting.  How could he?  He was
fucking
sane
.  Addy’s plans were always crazy, all the more so because
they usually
worked
.  Gods, only this woman could make an impending
execution seem like a peaceful break.  “What are you doing here, Adeline?”

“I’ve
come to save you.  What do you think?”

Pober
was still speaking in the normal tongue.  He hurriedly assured Addy that he
sympathized with her desire to see Cade punished for his heinous crimes, but
that this wasn’t the time to worry about the prisoner.

Adeline
glanced up at the kid.  “I’m sorry, but I don’t know
what
you’re
saying.”  She told him apologetically.  “Can you just shut up, so I can talk to
Cade?”  Dressed in her pink coat, her red-gold hair shining, she looked like an
angel.  A miracle.  The most stunning, innocent, refined lady ever to grace
Shadow-of-the-Gods with her harmless presence.

How
could anyone miss that she was up to no good?

Pober
nodded in a fairly typical Addy-trance.  She induced them just by smiling at
some poor sap.  Cade knew that firsthand.  The kid didn’t understand her words
either, but he was clearly captivated by her beauty.  He didn’t even try to
drag her away from Cade’s cell.  He just mindlessly gulped and gestured for her
to follow him back into the office.

Addy
ignored him and moved towards the cell.

Cade
rolled his eyes.  “You’ve come to save me?”  He repeated skeptically.

“Seems
that way.  Although, I shouldn’t
have
to, really. 
You’re
the one
with super powers here.  You should fry these guys and just walk out the door.”

“I
won’t do that.  I won’t be who they think I am.”

“Well,
I
think you’re an idiot.  Whatever, though.  If you’re not going to save
your life, I’ll have to do it for you.”

“You’re
going to break me out and live the rest of your life as a fugitive, then?”  He
scoffed, not believing it for a second.  “Be serious.  Nobody would do
something so stupid.  Not for me.”

The
last part of his words hung in the air between them.

Forest
green eyes met his for a beat.  “You are the least stupid thing I’ve ever done,
cowboy.”  She said seriously.

Cade’s
eyebrows drew together in surprise.  Wait a minute, what was this really
about?  Was she
really
going to…?

He
didn’t know what he expected, but it wasn’t for Addy to attacked Pober.

She
grabbed the boy’s hand and twisted his wrist back.  At the same time, she did
some sweeping move with her foot, knocking his legs out from under him.  Pober
was a head taller than Addy, but he went down like a fallen tree.  It was all
so fast and smooth that Cade didn’t even realize it happened until it was
already over.

“Holy
shit!”

“Yeah,
I took Judo in college.”  She told him calmly.  “I’m not really into fitness,
but I was pretty good at martial arts.  It’s like dancing.”  The teenage guard
let out a terrified squeal, flailing around on the ground as he tried to
escape, but Addy was already on top of him.  “This move isn’t technically
allowed,” her elbow locked around his neck, “but I need him to be out and I
have a feeling you guys don’t care much about competition rules around here.”

Within
a few second, Pober had slumped over unconscious.  The woman hadn’t even broken
a sweat.  “Sorry about that.”  She told her victim, getting to her feet and
dusting off her hands.  “No hard feelings, huh?  Deke voted to shoot you, so I
really did you a favor.”

Cade
tried to process what he’d just seen.  “You defeated him.”  He got out in
shock.  “All by yourself.”

“Yep. 
Your chauvinist brothers each owe me a gold coin, by the way.  They thought
you’d have to help me. You can take it off Brian’s bill.”

Cade
was silent for a long beat.  “You know, if you’d done that trick with
Hugo
,
we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“I
know.  He caught me off guard and I fell down the stairs.  My sensei would’ve
been pissed.  His name was Dylan and he was adorable, by the way.”  She grabbed
the key ring from Pober’s belt.  “Not as adorable as you, but --for a human--
pretty damn cute.”

Cade
shook his head as she unlocked the cell.  “You are the oddest creature I’ve
ever met.”  He murmured, not recognizing the feeling that swept over him.  Everyone
told him that his Voltyn blood didn’t allow emotions, but, around Adeline, all
things were possible.  “Have you really done all this to save me?”  He couldn’t
wrap his head around it.

“No,
I just like beating people up.”  She grinned at him and swung the door open.  “
Yes
,
I’ve done it save you, dummy.  What do you think?”

I
think I am yours, lady
.

“I
think you’re a menace to yourself and others.”

“Yeah,
yeah, you can thank me later.  Right now, we have to get out of here, because
I’m not sure how long my disruption will last.”

Cade
glanced over his shoulder to the Outlanders’ fires.  None of them seemed to
have moved, which belied the idea of an advancing hoard of cannibals.  “There
isn’t an attack coming, is there?”  He guessed, putting the pieces together.

“Not
unless Jacobi’s up in those hills, doing some fast recruiting for our team in
between the lamp lighting.”  She paused to admire her handiwork out the window. 
“Nope, those are thirty-nine handmade tiki-torches.  Just like we had around
the lanai growing up, only a little more rustic.”  She shrugged.  “We had to
rip up a lot of your clothes to make the wick parts, but we’re skipping town
anyway, so you really couldn’t have packed much.”

“Do
I even want to know where we’re going?”

“Camping. 
I decided it was my kind of thing, after all.”  Addy headed back into the
office.  “Come on, we have to meet up with Deke and Jake.”

Cade
dragged Pober into the cell, locking him inside.  When the kid woke up, he
didn’t want him raising any alarms.  “I cannot believe you convinced my
brothers to go along with this scheme, Adeline.  I thought they were smarter
than this.”

“Oh,
where’s your spirit of adventure, Mr. Whiny-Pants?  This is a frigging Wild
West jailbreak!  We’re like Butch and Sundance here.”

“I
have no idea who that is, but I’m sure they’re dead.”  Cade caught up with her
and tugging to her a stop, when she would’ve strolled right out the door. 
“Addy.”

She
looked up at him, surprised by the use of the nickname.

“I…” 
Cade trailed off and tried to think of what to say.  “I did not mean to… with
Hugo, I didn’t intend for…”

Addy
cut him off.  “Cade, I don’t care about your powers.  I’m not afraid of you. 
And I still think you’re just as human as everybody else.  Satisfied?”  She
arched a brow.  “Don’t even start with that crap, alright?”

He
lifted his hand to cup her face and heard that click so loud it was deafening. 
“Alright.”  His thumb brushed over her cheek, marveling at the texture of her
skin.  No one had skin like hers.  Until he met Addy, he would’ve said nothing
could be so soft.

“I’m
sorry that I got you arrested.”  She leaned into his palm.  “I didn’t think
through the ‘kissing you’ part.  That happens a lot.  Not kissing guys, but the
‘not thinking it through before I act’ thing.  My father’s right.  I can be a
scatterbrain.”

He
wasn’t surprised that she regretted kissing him, but it still sent a twinge
through his heart.  The rejection didn’t matter compared to correcting her
faulty vision of herself, though.  “Your father’s
not
right.”  He told
her quietly.  “You are extraordinary, Adeline.  None of this was your fault.”

“Sure
it was.  If I hadn’t come along, you wouldn’t have been arrested.  You were way
better off without me.”

He
hated to even remember what his life had been like before she’d walked in from
the snow.  “No, I wasn’t better off without you, Addy.  Not by a long shot. 
Without you, everything was very, very dark.  Knowing you is like standing in
the sunlight for the first time.”