Deadlands Hunt (3 page)

"I hope you mean the inn, and not the whole," the burly one replied, studying her over the edge of his stein. The other simply gazed her way. Amethyst discovered it was difficult to meet their pale golden eyes while nodding a response.

"Yes, the inn. They've quite a treasure in their cook, don't you think?"
What am I doing? Talking about food when I've something so much more important to discuss?
"May I speak with you?"

They exchanged a look then the other spoke. "Isn't that what you're doing?"

"Yes, but I mean...I require some aid in a matter. An important matter." Rising, Amethyst walked to their table and sat down before she lost her nerve. Setting both her wine glass and purse down, she forced herself to look up at them. "My sister is lost."

"My name's Chase, this is Curtis, and you are?"

Amethyst blushed. Talking to strange men was not something she'd often done. Talking to shape shifters was something she'd never done and here she'd immediately forgotten her manners. "My apologies. Miss Amethyst Larkspur. Very pleased to meet you, sirs."

"Likewise, I'm sure," the one named Curtis drawled while setting his stein down. "How the hell did you manage to lose something like a sister?"

"Curtis, language." Chase frowned.

"Sorry, ma’am."

"She married a man who was bent on establishing a new town across the border." Amethyst paused, but neither said anything. "He'd created this new religion and wanted a place to practice it where he and his followers wouldn't be persecuted for their beliefs. They left along with two hundred others. Adersol was the last place she posted a letter from. It said that they'd decided not to go further than a two day ride from here, but I've not received another letter since."

Curtis smiled, able to appreciate a woman who could sum things up nice and neat.

"How long ago did you receive that last letter?" Chase asked. "And you're sure they crossed the border from Adersol?"

"Seven weeks ago, and yes, I've made inquiries since arriving. They came through and were last seen crossing the border. I've questioned the hunters who venture across, but none have seen a sign of the wagon train." Amethyst felt as though a great weight lifted from her now that she'd begun speaking to them.

"I hate to be the one to say it, but..." Chase was interrupted.

"I know there's little chance she's still alive, sir. But I have to be certain. Pearl's the only family I have left." Amethyst swallowed hard. "If she's still alive."

"Wait a minute. Did you and those three come here thinking you'd go traipsing across the border to play trackers?" Curtis scowled. "Don't you city folk have any sense?"

"I'd planned to hire guides, but none of those who hunt the Deadlands have been agreeable," Amethyst admitted, dropping her gaze to the wine glass.

"With good reason. The Deadlands are no place for humans, especially not for women." Chase frowned. "We'll ride out tomorrow and see what we can find."

"You will?" Hope flashed through her. "What time should we be ready?"

"Lady, didn't you just hear what he said? You're not going. Not you, not your friends," Curtis growled, but felt a twinge of surprise when her chin turned stubborn.

"I'm willing to pay a large sum to have my sister found, dead or alive. But not unless I'm along to see that the job is done well."

"We already draw pay as border patrol and I didn't say our services were for hire," Chase pointed out. Blue eyes speared him as she frowned.

"I have to go along. She's my sister. What if you do find her alive? She'll need me." The frown reversed, becoming a small, determined smile. "We can simply follow you at a distance, you know. If you refuse to take us along, that's exactly what we'll do."

Chase had seen that look before, on his mother's face when she was bound and determined to have her way over something. It was a look you'd never find crossing a man's face, because men understood logic. Women made up their own to suit whatever situation was at hand.

As far as he knew, no male had ever successfully won against female logic. They knew the two greatest weaknesses males had. So men who thought they'd won such battles often found themselves eating their own cooking and sleeping alone. At least until they admitted they were wrong and apologized.

Sighing, Chase realized that her threat wasn’t an empty one. "Fine, as long as we understand that once we cross the border, I'm in charge."

She was a gracious winner, immediately smiling. "Absolutely, Mr. Chase. Thank you."

Chase kept from frowning with an effort. Werens always used first names as a sign of respect. Humans piled titles and honorifics in front of them, only using first names for kin, friends or those they considered their equal. He put up with the 'my lords' from the tradesmen because they used such address for all their customers. He wasn't going to put up with disrespect from her. "It's just Chase."

An impressive stare off sparked. Curtis watched in fascination as blue met and matched pale gold, forgetting the stein paused an inch from his lips. Who would blink first? What excuse would she make for not using their names?

Without blinking she replied, "Then you must call me Amy, Chase."

"I like Amethyst better." Werens also considered it disrespectful to shorten names.

"As you wish." They stared at each other for a few seconds longer before both blinked. Curtis buried his grin in beer. "When shall we leave then?"

"We'll need to get supplies. Do you have horses yet?"

"Yes, I purchased five our first day in town." She waited.

Chase nodded. "Then after breakfast tomorrow, we'll gather everything we'll need, get a good night's sleep and leave early the following morning."

"Why can't we leave tomorrow?" Her chin began to show signs of returning to stubborn.

"You don't rush preparations for going into the Deadlands, Amethyst. They were named that for a reason, and by Werens long before humans arrived." Chase seriously doubted a day was going to make a difference in what they'd find.

"Very well. I'll see you at breakfast." She rose and smiled. "Good night, gentlemen."

Waiting until she was out of earshot, Curtis said, "She's going to be trouble."

"Yeah." Chase grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. "We have Kyle on our side though."

*

Upstairs, Amethyst discovered her companions had chosen more than a single brandy, from the looks of them. Sally sat in a chair rapidly fanning her face. Her cheeks were bright pink as she giggled over something said before the red head entered the room.

"You're all going to have dreadful headaches tomorrow, and we've errands to take care of," she informed them. "I've found guides for us."

Peter blinked owlishly from the settee he lay sprawled upon. "Those, um, Weren fellows?"

"Yes."

"Absolutely not!" Brian rose from his seat.

Amethyst raised an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"

He drew himself up, a stern expression appearing on his face. "As you very well should. Werens aren't the type a well-bred young lady such as you should ever speak with, much less plan to go off gallivanting among."

Amethyst's mouth dropped open in shock. Quickly closing it, she glared. "Galliva...what on earth? This isn't some pleasure ride, Brian. My sister is missing. Missing! I shall accept whatever help there is, regardless of who or what is offering it, in order to find her."

He hurried over to attempt guiding her to a chair. "You've been under a great deal of stress, Amy. You're obviously not thinking clearly."

"Would you just," there was a brief struggle before she freed her arm from his grasp. "Let go! Really, Brian."

"Amy, listen..."

"No! You listen. All of you." She liberally spread a narrow-eyed glare around. "The Weren are far better suited to this expedition than we are. We would be lucky to survive a single day out there. Do you know how to find water? Or what signs to watch for to keep from being surprised by an orcish ambush? No, you don't! Nor do I!"

"But Werens do," Peter remarked, still blinking. "I think it's a wonderful idea, Amy."

Calming down, Amethyst smiled at him. "Thank you, Peter."

"But," Sally whimpered. "They're quite scary. And they're very large, don't you think?"

Closing her eyes, Amethyst slowly counted to ten. Reaching it, she re-opened them and smiled gently at her friend. "In the present matter, quite scary and very large are
good
things to have on our side, dear."

Sally brightened. "Oh, well, that's all right then."

"Excellent. Come on, Sally, let's get you tucked in, shall we?" Amethyst walked to the chair and helped the blond to her feet. Brian was still in place when they began to leave the room, so Amethyst paused to state one more thing. "If you aren't pleased with my arrangements, you're more than welcome to wait here in Adersol, or to return home."

He gaped. "I will do neither. You need Peter and me to protect you from them!"

Unable to restrain herself, Amethyst loosed a most unladylike snort of derision. "I doubt it.
They
behaved like gentlemen when we spoke downstairs."

With that, she hustled a wobbling Sally out of the drawing room and down the hallway to their shared room.

"Bit headstrong, our Amy," Peter commented. "Some say it's the red hair, you know."

"Well, she'll need us keeping an eye on things," Brian responded, shoulders drooping slightly. "Come on, Peter. We'll need to be alert in the morning."

"Not sure my legs want to work at the moment." Peter yawned. Sighing, Brian went to lever his friend up from the settee.

*

Bran aimed a final smile inside the dimly lit room before closing the door. Pausing, he counted the doors opposite before approaching one and hesitantly tapping on it. "Kyle? You in there? We have to get back."

Faint giggling was the only response. Bran bent to sniff the doorknob. Catching his pack mate's scent on it, he straightened and knocked louder. "Come on, Kyle! I know you're in there."

There was more giggling, followed by a soft gasp. Grinning, Bran pressed his ear to the door to listen. Another gasp, a soft murmur of Kestran and then...a loud, heavy thump on the door, directly opposite where his ear rested. "Ow!"

Jerking the door open, Kyle mimed shooting a pistol. "Gotcha, you little pervert."

"That wasn't nice," Bran complained, rubbing his reddened ear.

"Neither is eavesdropping," was the response. "Though that whimpering you were doing was mighty interesting."

The younger Weren blushed. "You could hear that?"

"Yeah. And the whining." Kyle hooked an arm around Bran's neck to scrub a careless hand over his hair while the younger man twisted in his grip. "Just what exactly was she doing to you?"

Bran decided kissing and telling might not be a wise idea where Kyle was concerned. "Hey, if we hurry, we might get back before Curtis is asleep."

Grinning lazily, Kyle released him. "Keep your damn ol' secrets then. Let's go."

Once outside, they discovered the drizzle had finally let up. The street was completely deserted; not even a stray cat or dog to be seen rummaging around. Walking down the wooden walk, Bran decided now was as good a chance as any to ask a question that had been bothering him. "Hey, Kyle?"

"What, kid?"

"How come Chase never visits any ladies like we do?"

Kyle grabbed his wrist, pulling the younger Weren to a stop. "You are so lucky you asked me. I know all about it."

"Yeah? So what happened?" Bran waited, looking expectant.

After scanning the street and testing the breeze for scents, Kyle grimaced. "Well, see, Chase was gone on this one girl. Had it real bad for her and made an offer. Only she wasn't feeling the need for the whole settling down thing just yet. Or that's what she told him when she turned him down."

The Weren took another slow scan of the street. "Not a month after that, she upped and accepted an offer from another man, one of the Talon clan. Plumb broke Chase's heart into bits. So he signed up for patrol duty and dragged me and Curtis out here with him."

"Oh." Bran felt sympathy for his pack leader. "That's sad."

"Yeah, well, Delphine was always a bitch, but you couldn't tell Chase that. Not unless you wanted one of his deluxe thrashings." Kyle shook his head. "That's why earlier, I was a little surprised about him warning me off the red head."

"Guess it's too bad he’s not interested in her, huh?" Bran asked when they began walking again, but the only answer was a shrug. Once they'd crossed to the walk in front of the general store, the younger Weren asked, "Think we could do anything to help?"

Kyle snorted. "Curtis and I had this plan one night, back on our first trip through Hondo. Hondo's okay, we usually get a place to stay there. So anyway, we got Chase drunk and carried him back to the hotel, where we had this Kestran whore waiting in his room."

"What happened?"

"He sent her packing and came howling after us." Kyle laughed, remembering. "Chased us damn near five miles before he passed out and shifted back. We had to drag him back to town and sneak his naked ass up to the room."