Cowboy from the Future (7 page)

“But,
you’re staying
here
.”  Cade shook his head, like she still didn’t get
it.  “I told you that would cause trouble.  You think women like you come to
this polis every day and move into my tavern?”

“Judging
by your lack of other guests, I’m guessing no.”

“Good
guess.”  He agreed.  “Half this polis thinks you’re up to something shady.  The
other half thinks I’m holding you against your will.  Sheriff Zecker’s with the
first group.  He’s thinking that a lady would die in the snow before she ever slept
one room away from me.”

“When
did I ever claim to be a lady?”

Cade
ignored that.  “He’d have questioned you already, if he was competent or if he
understood a word of your language.  Instead, he’s concocting conspiracy
theories as to where you really come from.  His men are searching the woods,
certain that you wandered away from a secret wagon caravan that’s trying to
encircle this polis…”

Addy
snorted.  “The closest I’ve ever come to a covered wagon is playing
Oregon
Trail
.”

Cade
kept going.  “…Either that or I’ve imported you for some nefarious scheme.”

“See?
 That sounds
way
more promising.”

“It’s
not a joke.  The sheriff doesn’t like you being here.”  Cade insisted bluntly. 
“He’s a mean son of a bitch and he holds grudges.  It would be better if you
found somewhere else to stay, before you get on his permanent bad side.  Trust
me.”

She
did trust him.  …Which was why she wasn’t going anywhere.  “Why doesn’t the
sheriff like you?”  She asked, quietly.  “I’m sorry, but you’re going to have
to explain it, because it’s
not
obvious to me, Cade.”

Deke
said something in their language.

Cade
shook his head.  “That’s ridiculous.  How the hell could she miss it?”

“I
don’t know, but she has.  Watch.”  He turned to arch a brow at Addy.  “What is
Cade?”

She
squinted.  “An asshole?”

“Besides
that.”

“A
big asshole?”

“Besides
that.”

Damn
it, she hated guessing games.  “Ummm….”

“You
must know.”  Cade watched her intently, waiting for her to say whatever it was
he wanted her to say.  “You
must
.”

“Uh…”
 She stared up at his perfect form and tried to think of an adjective besides
“lickable.”  Geez, he was pretty.  Looking at him really did make her a
scatterbrain.  “A
tall
asshole?”

That
clearly wasn’t the description they were looking for.  Cade slapped a palm over
his face and muttered out a stream of oaths.

“See?” 
Deke glanced back at him.  “She has no idea.  You’d better tell her
now
,
before you get any deeper.  And be fucking
soft
about it, so you don’t
scare her away.”  Deke glanced over at Addy with a “remember what we talked
about earlier” glower.  “I’d better be right about you, woman.”  He muttered
and went stalking out of the bar, because the Westins were a “stalking out”
kind of family.

Addy
rolled her eyes.  Deke loved his brother, but he really needed to chill out. 
“Are you
sure
there isn’t any coffee around here?  If we’re going to play
charades next, I’m going to need some fortification.”

Cade
didn’t appreciate that remark.  “Can’t you take this seriously?”  He was
psyching himself up to reveal something horrible.  She could tell.  “I know
it’s difficult for you, but try to focus on what I’m about to say.  It’s
important.
”

Addy
hated to see him so upset.  She was trying to keep her distance from Cade, but
she still sort of…
liked
the guy.  In fact, he was one part of her life
that wasn’t a complete mess.  Without Cade, she’d be in even worse trouble than
she currently was and it was hard to imagine being in even worse trouble than
Addy currently was.  Cade was shielding her from snow, and starvation, and sex
crazed miners.  He was like a superhero, keeping her safe and expecting nothing
in return.

Well,
except maybe the sixty gold pieces that she wouldn’t be paying him.

“Look,
no matter what you have to tell me, I’ve dealt with
way
worse news
lately.”  Addy assured him.  With “Surprise, you’re a victim of time travel!”
as her baseline for bad news, she wasn’t too worried about Cade’s big secret. 
“It’ll be fine.  I promise you.  Just spit it out.”

He
snorted at that, like he didn’t believe her.  “Before you say that, you should
know,” Cade took a deep breath, like he was bracing himself, “my mother was a
Voltyn.”

Addy
blinked.  Whatever she’d been expecting him to reveal, that hadn’t been it. 
“…oh.”  Deke had said that word earlier, but it still meant exactly nothing to
her.  What the hell was a Voltyn, aside from a big robot lion?  “Okay.”

Black
brows drew together, like her blank response confused him.  “I am half
Voltyn.”  Cade prompted.  “That’s why the sheriff hates me and why he’s already
suspicious of you.  The Voltyn are not thought well of in these parts.  Or in
any
parts.”

Addy
had no idea what he was talking about.  “Well, thanks for telling me, but my
parts are fine with Voltron.  I watched the cartoon all the time, as a kid.”

Cade’s
jaw sagged at the breezy words.  “Vol
tyn
.”  He corrected, studying her
with increased frustration.  “There is no such word as Vol
tron
.  It’s Vol
tyn,
for fuck’s sake!  Do you not know what a Voltyn even
is?
  How can
you not know?!”

Why
was he yelling at her? 
She
wasn’t the annoying one in this room.  “Calm
down, alright?  So, I don’t know what a Voltyn is.  Big deal!  You guys don’t
know what coffee is, so we’re even.”  She threw up her hands.  “Christ, if it’s
such a crime, tell me why I should care and I’ll…”

He
cut her off, his gaze going hard.  “Voltyn are not human. 
I
am not
human.”

And
the sad part?  Still, not the weirdest thing she’d heard this week.

“I
know.  You’re an alien, right?”  Addy had suspected as much.  It explained the
supernatural pull she felt towards the guy.  He’d probably ray-gunned her.  He
was probably wearing a holographic mask of masculine perfection over his octopus
face.  Hell, that was probably what happened to Washington’s nose.  Some kind
of
ID4
super-weapon blasted Rushmore during an interstellar battle.

Cade
closed his eyes, as if he was trying to hold back a stream of extraterrestrial
cursing.  “No, I am not an alien.”  He ground the words out from between
clenched teeth.  “I can’t
believe
that I have to explain this to you. 
Do you understand
nothing
of the world, lady?”

“Hey,
I know
real
stuff, okay?  Ask me about last season on
Scandal,
or
the best recipe for peanut butter brownies, or how to choose the perfect logo
for your website.  I just don’t know the social history of the year 2525.”

Cade’s
jaw ticked, and he headed closer to her.  “Before the flash, there was a long
war.  It lasted three hundred years.”  He said in a mocking tone.  “Does this
sound familiar?”

Nope,
but no sense in telling him that.  “Sure.  The huge flash thingy that everyone
obviously knows about.  Umm… When was
that,
again?”

He
hesitated.  “Ten centuries, give or take.  I don’t know exactly.”

So,
a thousand years, plus the three hundred years of war… Addy did some quick
math.  She was marooned in
at
least
3300ish?  No. 
More,
because she didn’t know when that three hundred year war actually
started.
 So maybe closer to fifteen or
sixteen
hundred years in the future.  Christ,
this was
worse
than 2525.

If
she’d been sent --like-- sixteen hundred years into the
past
, she’d been
dealing with the fall of Roman Empire.  This was kind of the equivalent of
being transported backwards to --like-- 400 and something AD.  …And just like
after Rome collapsed it seemed like the world had been plunged into a dark age,
with a huge loss of culture and technology.  Shit.

“Before
the flash, the war was being lost.”  Cade continued, as Addy tried to add up the
mindboggling distances on the timeline.  “The ruling gods decided they needed
better soldiers for their battles and they created them.”  He looked out the
saloon window, towards Rushmore.  “They corralled certain humans --the most
worthy fighters-- and they added things.  And
took
things.  Until those
warriors weren’t human anymore.”

Addy
tried to piece that together.  “The government genetically engineered
soldiers?”  Sadly, the idea wasn’t so farfetched.  “That sucks, but --come on--
it doesn’t make them not human.  It just makes them victims of the
military-industrial complex.  Which I’ve totally picketed against.”

That
was during her “social-activist phase.”  She’d quit because she’d missed
shaving her legs, but Addy still held too many “radical” beliefs for her
father’s liking.

Cade
sank down on the barstool next to her, lost in his own head.  “At first, the
gods were pleased with the Voltyn.  They fought better.  They were bigger and
stronger.  They were not burdened with human emotions.  The gods had made them
harder
,
inside and out.  Commanding.  Cold.  But, they also had
abilities
.  The
gods hadn’t expected that.  They feared the Voltyn might use their powers to
rise up against their masters.”

Addy
got the SyFy channel.  She knew where this was headed.

“The
gods saw the Voltyn were dangerous and they tried to unmake their creations,
but it was too late.”  Cade shrugged.  “The flash killed many on both sides,
but some Voltyn survived.  Over the centuries, many interbred with humans and
created creatures like me.”  He gestured to his otherworldly lavender eyes, not
meeting her gaze.  “Half-breeds.  We have the Voltyn’s powers and lack of
feelings.  Humans do not want us around.  Obviously, we are a stain on their
world.”

Addy
thought about that.  “So… wait.  You’re discriminated against, because your ancestors
were tortured by unethical scientists?  That’s horrible!”

Cade
blinked like he might have misheard her.  “What? 
No
.  Shit.  You are
confused.”

“No,
I’m actually the one
not
confused.  Not about this.  You just said you
were a stain on someone’s world, for crying out loud.  Who told you that? 
Jesus, use your head!  Wherever your great-great-grandparents came from, it’s
as much your world as anyone else’s, now.”

“No. 
You still don’t see.”  He tried again.  “I am… unnatural.”  He seemed to search
for a word she might understand.  “
Weird
.”

“Hey,
America’s
founded
on the principle that everyone gets to be weird.  It’s
what makes us great.  And whatever this place calls itself these days,” she
pointed towards the granite presidents, “
I’m
still standing in America. 
Voltron’s should have the same rights as every other weirdo.  Good people died
so all us weirdoes could be equal.  I don’t know what the hell is going on
around here, but you can’t put up with prejudice, Cade.  Not in any time
period.  It’s not right.”

He
stared at her for a moment, taking in her earnest expression.  “Volt
yn
.” 
He finally corrected in a less irritated voice.  “Gods, Adeline, you are not
seeing…”  He trailed off and sighed.  “This is not about
right.
  Don’t
you understand what will happen if you’re around me?”  He answered that for
her.  “No, of
course
you don’t.  You have lived your life wrapped in
glass, it seems.  Look at your aura.”

“You
can see my aura?”

“Yes. 
All Voltyn can.  It’s part of our powers.  And yours is like nothing I’ve ever
beheld.”

“In
a good way or a bad way?”

“It’s
very… pure.”

Addy
smiled, delighted by that grudging compliment.  “Are you flirting with me?” 
She teased.  It sure sounded like an alien pick up line.

“No,
of course not.”  He muttered uncomfortably and then bottom lined the situation
for her.  “Look, the point is, no respectable human male will ever have you, if
you’re connected to me.”

It
was wrong to snicker, but she’d had very little to laugh at lately and that
antiquated statement was just flat out funny.  “So, I’ve blown my chance to
marry Michael Landon and live in
Little House on the Prairie
?”

“I
don’t know this ‘Landon’ man, but he certainly will not build you
any
size
house, if you stay here much longer.  You will be ostracized from polite
society.  I guarantee it.  Your future will be ruined.”

“Luckily,
I’m way more concerned about the past.”  Addy told him and ignored his baffled
frown.  “Seriously, I don’t care about these stupid,
X-Men
movie
bigotries.  I really,
really
don’t.  I have bigger problems than whether
or not you see auras.”

“Like
what?”  Cade demanded as if he couldn’t imagine anything more pressing than
being a super-solider.