Cowboy from the Future (23 page)

In
fact, it was going to piss him off so badly, she anticipated a lightning storm
of Ben Franklin proportions springing from his hands.  He was a protector by
nature.  Someone helping
him
was totally outside of his experience and
he didn’t much like it.  Cade’s super-solider DNA wouldn’t let him walk away
from this camp without her.  Especially, since these were the bastards who’d
hurt his brother.

“Even
if I agree, Cade might not like this arrangement.”  She hedged, trying to think
of another way to save him from becoming an entrée.

“He’ll
go along with it or we’ll kill him.”  The queen summed up with smug look.  “The
choice is yours, human.  You remain here willingly and he goes free.  Otherwise,
you remain here
un
willingly and he is tomorrow’s dinner.”  She smirked,
her teeth as yellow as her eyes.  “Well, the real question is, how much do you
value your ‘boyfriend’?”

***

“What
the hell is this?”  Cade scowled as the Outlander male dragged him to his feet
and shoved him forward.  He’d been tied on the outskirts of the camp for hours,
his wrists fastened behind his back.  The feeling was gone in his hands, he was
covered in more bruises from the repeated beatings they’d given him, and his
fingers were probably frostbitten from the cold.

None
of it even registered.

“Where’s
Adeline?”  Getting her back was all Cade cared about.  Ever since they’d taken
her into the queen’s tent, he’d been in a panic.  “What are you doing to her?”

He
recognized this clan of Outlanders.  They were the same group who’d held Deke
prisoner, so he knew how vicious they could be.  Gods, he should have killed more
of them the day he came to rescue his brother.  At the time, he’d only been
concerned with getting Deke out, but every single one of them deserved a
painful death.

And
if they harmed Adeline, he would make sure they died fucking
screaming
.

Logically,
Cade realized that Addy was worth far too much for them to injure.  A
beautiful, virginal human needed to
stay
beautiful and virginal to
command a top price.  It only made sense.  Still, “sense” meant very little
when it came to that woman.  How could he be sure Addy was safe, given the
chaos she created just by being herself?  What if the Outlanders lost control
and hurt her?  What if they planned to sell her to someone right away and Cade
wasn’t there to stop the man from raping her?  What if she came up with some
crazed escape plan and got herself shot?

He
couldn’t
stand
that she was alone with these bastards.  Vulnerable and
probably terrified.  Adeline was the only bright part of his life.  If anything
happened to her…

“The
woman is fine. 
More
than fine.”  Quel had the same enraptured look
everyone got when they first met Adeline Mulhaney.  His grayish aura was alive
with excited sparks.  Only Outlanders had gray auras.  It was creepy.  “She
possesses magic like I’ve never seen before and I am a student of the
supernatural.  I doubt we could harm her if we wanted to.  She’s surely
protected.”

“She
is
protected.”  Cade would destroy anyone who touched her and he planned
to start with this asshole.  “Take me to her.”

Quel
seemed oblivious to the danger.  He looked at Cade, both of his eyes bright.  Outlanders
decided ranks based on the number of eyes a person was born with.  Six eyes meant
you were a general.  Four eyes meant you were a soldier.  Two eyes meant you
were a serf.  Quel clearly had bigger plans than servitude for his future and
he was looking for a way out.

Adeline
had just given it to him.

“Do
you know of her home?”  He demanded.  “Of the power that resides in her time? 
How does she harness it?”

Addy
had told them she came from the past?  Cade weighed his response, wondering
what she was up to now.  “I know that she’s valuable. 
Very
valuable.  Harming
her would anger the gods themselves.”

That
response didn’t satisfy the Outlander.  “But how does she travel there? 
Through this place she’s marked?”  He pulled out that priceless guidebook,
pointing to a page that showed a map and jets of water shooting into the sky. 
It had to be Addy’s “geyser.”

Cade
nearly smiled when he saw that she’d drawn a star next to it in the purple nail
paint he’d bought for her.  She’d also written his name in her language, with a
heart swirled around it.  He wasn’t sure what that meant exactly, but he liked
it.

“I
must
see this Apple Store for myself.”  Quel insisted.  “It is
everything I have ever dreamed of finding --someplace of my
own
-- and this
human is the key.”

Cade
had no idea what an Apple Store was and he wasn’t in the mood to speculate
about which powers would sweep Addy back to her own world.  “I don’t give a
shit about your family squabbles.  Just take me to Adeline. 
Now
.”  It
was the last time he planned to ask.

Quel
scowled at that response and gave his head a shake, apparently giving up on
questioning Cade.  “You no longer need to be concerned about her, Voltyn.”  He
led Cade towards the camp.  “The woman had arranged your release.”

Cade
planted his feet into the snow, refusing to move forward.  “You’re letting us
go?”  He said skeptically.  Addy could accomplish the impossible, but not even
she could manage
that
.  What was really happening here?

“We’re
letting
you
go.  You’re leaving the camp and, if you’re smart, you’ll
never come back.  The girl stays with us.”

Cade’s
eyes narrowed at that news.  Fucking hell, this idiocy really was an Adeline
plan from start to finish.  Only she would think it was a good idea.  “I’m not
going
anywhere
without my woman.”

“Yes,
you are.  My mother made a deal with her for your life.”  Quel shrugged.  “It’s
strange how determined she is to keep you safe, given that you’re nothing but a
Voltyn.  Humans are like everybody else in the world.  Maybe worse.  They usually
want to belittle and destroy everyone different than they are.”  He paused.  “Your
woman surprised me.”

“She
does that a lot.”

Quel
grunted.  “She says you’re her ‘boyfriend.’  Insinuated that means the same as
a mate.  Is that true?”

Cade
didn’t recognize the word, but he still knew the answer.  “To me, it’s
exactly
the same.”  He said quietly.

“Well,
I’ve never heard of a human mating with a Voltyn.  At least not openly.  What
makes you so special?”

“Nothing.” 
Addy was the special one.

Quel
gave another grunt.  “
That
part I believe.  You’re a nobody.  All Voltyn
are nobodies.”  He arched a brow.  “I
have
heard of Deke Wes
teeen
,
though.”

“Deke
is my brother.”  Cade agreed, although he had no clue what was going on with
that exaggerated pronunciation of their last name.

“That’s
what I thought.”  Quel said smugly, as if there had been some debate on the
matter.  “That bastard murdered dozens of my kind and your people gave him a
medal for it.”

“It
wasn’t murder.  It was a war that the Outlanders started.  Then your bitch of a
mother took Deke prisoner and tortured him.  You think a medal makes up for
that?”

“He
deserved everything he got!  I knew someone helped him sneak out of that cage,
I just couldn’t figure out who’d be stupid enough to come looking for the crazy
bastard.  It was
you
, wasn’t it?”

Cade
wasn’t going to deny the truth, even if it would piss the Outlanders off.  “I
will always come looking for my family.”

“Very
inspirational.”  Quel mocked.  “No need for such heroics today, though.  You’re
going free.”

Cade
braced himself, already knowing it wasn’t going to be that easy.  “What about
Addy?”

“Oh,
she stays with us.”  Quel reported with a supercilious smirk. “With me.”

If
Cade’s hands had been free, he would’ve slugged the bastard.  “No.”  The single
word was a threat and they both knew it.

“No?” 
Quel echoed incredulously.

“
No
. 
You aren’t keeping my woman.  You’ll have to kill me first.”

Quel
leaned closer to him and lowered his voice.  “I didn’t want to spoil the
surprise, but killing you has been my plan, all along.”  His yellow eyes
glinted.  “Deal or not, I don’t see as I have a choice.  As long as you’re
alive, I
know
you’ll come back for your little human.”

“Yes,
I will.”

“And
I can’t risk you fucking this up for me.  That woman is my path to greatness.  My
guide.  Given to me by the gods to lead me to my destiny.  You want to steal
her away, which means you have to go, Voltyn.”

Alright,
now Cade was getting pissed.  “Adeline Mulhaney is
mine
.”  No Voltyn had
ever claimed a human before, but the words came easily.  From the first moment
he met her, all his instincts had shouted the same thing.

This
girl is supposed to be yours.

The
longer he knew her, the deeper it got.  Adeline told stories to Jacobi, and worried
about Deke’s madness, and smiled at Cade in some magical way that made him just
who he’d always wanted to be.  She stood up against injustice when other people
looked away.  She disrupted everything around her and somehow made it better. 
She was insane.  And took nothing seriously.  And had the cleanest aura he’d
ever seen.  …And when she kissed him, Cade felt every pure, real, sacred
emotion he’d always been told he couldn’t feel.

He
might have to surrender his woman to her perfect fucking home in the perfect
fucking past, but he would
never
hand her over to this son-of-a-bitch
Outlander.

Frozen
or not, Cade’s fingers began to smolder.  Not with the small sparks meant to
signal desire, but with the hot jolts of rage that usually resulted in someone
being fried to cinders.  For once, he didn’t try to pull back on the power.

Quel
didn’t even notice.  “Let’s not make this harder than it has to be.  Just
surrender to the inevitable and save us both some time.”

In
the midst of their arrogant bigotry, everyone forgot that Voltyn were
warriors.  It was why they’d been bred.  And warriors didn’t take kindly to
anyone stealing their mates.

Cade
twisted his hand, burning ropes and snapping them free.  He had the
satisfaction of seeing Quel’s eyes widen in panicked surprise and then the guy
was convulsing as electricity scorched through his body.

Cade’s
powers lashed out, slamming into Quel’s chest and sending him flying.  The
Outlander careened headfirst into a pine tree, blood trickling from his nose. 
He slumped over unconscious, his face pressed into the snow.

That
was easy.

Sometimes
Voltyn powers weren’t so terrible, after all.

Cade
headed over to check Quel’s pulse.  The guy was still alive.  He scowled in
irritation.  Regardless of how big a dick the Outlander was, Cade couldn’t kill
somebody who was passed out.  …But, it was pretty damn tempting.

Cade
sighed.  Maybe Quel would die on his own.  Maybe he would live.  At the moment,
Cade didn’t care which, just so Quel stayed out of the way.  He looked down at
his hands and saw they were brighter than ever.  Hotter.  The glow wasn’t
fading, but was spreading up his arms.

Shit,
was that normal?

Probably
not, but Cade had no idea how to stop it.  Inside his body, there was a buzzing
of unleashed power, looking for an outlet.  He gave his head a sharp shake and
started towards the camp.  Voltyn knew how to focus on objectives and, right
now, all his instincts were screaming at him to find Addy and make sure she was
safe.

Protecting
her was all that mattered.

Electricity
continued to singe the air, igniting the trees and bushes around them.  Flames
leapt twenty feet high.  This whole place and everyone in it was about to burn
to ashes.  Cade should’ve wiped the Outlanders off the face of the world when
they touched his brother.  Taking Adeline hostage and threatening her was just
the last fucking straw.  His powers would let him level the whole camp, so
that’s exactly what he planned to do.

Cade
headed for the makeshift corral where the Outlanders were keeping the horses.  His
gaze swept over the square tents, searching for the queen’s quarters.  “Addy!” 
Damn it, where was she?

As
he walked, dozens of other Outlanders came running towards him, angry and
waving weapons.  Cade slammed the electricity into them, too.  People screamed
in panic.  The fire spread.  Sal-gun blasts were wildly fired through the
smoke.

Cade
kept going.  It took him less than a minute to reach the corral and get the
saddle on Addy’s horse.  He’d always been good with animals and Madonna seemed
happy to see him.  She gave Cade’s shoulder a playful shove of welcome.  He
patted her nose, getting her ready to go.  Recognizing one of the Westins’
supply packs on the ground, he grabbed that, too.  Cade turned to saddle a
horse for himself, but there wasn’t time.