Fate & Fortune: Stallion Ridge #6 Read online

  “That is a good piece of iron, Squirt. Better take care of it.”

  “She’s a fine shot,” Victor said with a smile. “She’ll likely be following in your footsteps.”

  “We’ll see if she survives Daddy dealing with the cap gun.” Gunner said, wincing with a smirk as she fired another round off with a squeak of glee. “Sky, have you seen this guy’s card tricks?” Sky shook his head, and Gunner let his daughter down from his arms to go wreak havoc.

  “I don’t think you’d be interested in seeing a magic trick,” Victor surmised as he pulled his mother’s deck of cards from the pocket inside of his jacket. “I believe you’d be more interested in something more intimate.”

  Sky didn’t blink as he watched Victor begin to shuffle the cards, his dark eyes razor sharp and focused. He shifted his gaze from the cards to him. “What would that be?”

  Victor allowed himself to smirk. Who could resist the pull of the unknown? Not even mysterious Skinchangers were immune.

  “I can read your fate.”

  Something dark rolled over the brown eyes that watched him, but his features didn’t change.

  “Fate is a concept people cling to in order to make sense of a world out of their control. There is no such thing as fate, only patterns within storms.” Sky spoke softly, but there was an edge to his words. Victor’s smile grew wider.

  Smart and beautiful.

  “Then watch the storm with me.” Victor motioned to his cards. “We’ll see if there’s a rainbow when it clears.”

  There was a beat of silence before Sky gave a small nod of permission. Victor gave his deck a good shuffle, flipping one card at a time.

  “Centaur,” Victor read as the card was placed on the table. “Always a good start. Honorable, strong, bound to a sense of duty. That one doesn’t seem so surprising, considering where you are.” Sky didn’t comment and watched the next card be placed down.

  A small tug of hesitation made Victor pause for just a moment. The two roses swirling around each other sitting next to the Centaur caused old fissures in his heart to ache.

  “Lovers,” he read after he gathered himself again. “A connection with someone old or new, within the place you call home.”

  Sky’s eyes lifted from the cards, his expression stony as he remained silent. Victor felt the phantom hum of caution resonate through him as he touched the next card, not flipping it down just yet. His nerves were getting the better of him under the intense gaze of this man, like his body was turning into vapor under his scrutiny.

  The tips of his fingers tingled. His stomach began to tighten.

  Gods, he really was infatuated with this stunning man to have him getting the creeps over cards. These small slips of paper were just that, painted pieces of nothing used for entertainment. They weren’t keys into the unknown or anchors for the oracles.

  Victor knew that in his bones. His faith in them being more than just toys died a long time ago.

  So why was he feeling nervous now?

  When the last card touched the table, Victor’s blood ran cold.

  Sky didn’t flinch. As if he had expected to see the grinning skull and raven wings just like Victor had.

  “Death.” Victor swallowed but forced a smile. He couldn’t let Sky see him rattled, nor could he scare off the waiting customers. “You don’t seem surprised, my friend.”

  “I’m not.” Sky reached into his satchel at his hip and took out some coins, placing them within Victor’s tip jar. The sharp metal dancing across the glass normally made his heart shine. Now it seemed loud and harsh.

  “Death doesn’t always mean what you think,” Victor explained as he gathered his cards.

  Sky didn’t answer, only moved back from the table to let the next eager person have their fate told. Victor smiled at the new customer, but lifted his chin to try and call out to Sky before he could slip away.

  The gorgeous mystery with a matching fate had melted into the shadows in a blink of an eye.

  Chapter Four

  Each night Sky relived the same nightmare.

  The scene always started the same. Sky stood on his plateau, gazing down over the town. He knew what was there. He knew what was going to happen next. The winds would carry him down to the town, where he would see his friends preparing for a fight.

  Preparing to die.

  The sun’s warmth was hidden behind thick clouds, casting the world in gray. Shadows danced over the empty road and silent buildings, warping the threat into darkness Sky couldn’t see. Cal and his crew stood their ground on the main road, guns in their hands, determination in their eyes. All of them were there. Sky hated that all of them never got up afterwards.

  It would start with a shout, Cal yelling something Sky could never make out. The crew would scatter as hellfire rained down on them from all directions. It was impossible how the bullets behaved, how they seemed to be guided by a force of malice to do as much damage as possible.

  They would die, in moments. Falling into the dirt. Blood droplets scattered across steps and dimpled into the gravel.

  Sky’s friends, the only he had ever known, butchered.

  Cal was always last. Crawling towards his fallen love, yelling for Sky to run.

  The first night the dream happened, Sky was too horrified to do anything but stare. Eventually, the blackness surrounding the town would swarm in and strike out, jerking him out of his dream in a panicked gasp. The next night, Sky tried to help get his friends to cover. He tried throwing himself in front of the shreds of metal that ripped through their bodies.

  He woke up in the middle of the night, covered in sweat, still yelling for them to get down.

  After that, Sky knew his focus should be on the who or what was killing his friends and not on the carnage. But it was hard. Even hearing them scream for so many nights, it still brought him to tears. It still made him feel hollow and helpless.

  Tonight was no different. The dark clouds descended on the town as Sky tried to fly through it, tried to attack whatever was on the other side. The black clouds smelled like fire, destruction, and death. It stung his lungs, and heat bit at his skin. Ash filled his mouth and lungs, suffocating him.

  He screamed in rage, thrashing out with his knife, wanting—needing to at least draw blood against whatever was coming.

  Because it was coming. Something as unkillable as fire and destruction was coming to Stallion Ridge.

  And it was going to fall.

  Sky sat up from his bed, catching his breath as the morning sun began to peek over the peaceful horizon. No smoke. No fire. No screaming. No death. No storm rolling in to end it all. Just a peaceful, cool wind carrying the smell of blooming flowers and fresh water. A lingering chill from the dream trailed down his spine, causing him to shiver and pull his shoulders up tight.

  Good morning, my friend. Tahl’s voice was soothing as he spoke through the rocks. The ancient being Sky had mentored so many months back had been a welcome friend since he moved into the town. Tahl had taken to the town and its people like a duck to water, wanting to understand them, speak their language, eat their food, and protect them at all cost.

  He especially took to Mack, who had been swept off his feet the moment they met.

  Since the former rock god didn’t sleep, he was usually the first voice Sky heard besides his grumpy layers of sediment that made up their surroundings.

  Good morning, Tahl. Sky rubbed at his eyes and stood, shaking the last bit of dread from his bones.

  I felt movement early this morning. I think the creatures you told Mack about are moving.

  Sky inhaled and flexed, spreading his wings as they formed out of his back. Which direction?

  North, Tahl replied, his tone changing to something more serious when he spoke again. Something’s wrong.

  Sky paused, scanning the horizon towards where he had seen the tracks the day previous. Even with his sharp vision that could see for miles, he wouldn’t be able to see much detail so far up.

 
What’s wrong? Sky asked.

  Organic. Tahl sounded worried. Not the animals. People. They’re being chased.

  Sky snatched his bow and arrows and dove off the plateau, his wings catching the wind and carrying him north. He tucked his wings back to fall faster, expanding them out again after catching speed in order to boost his flight.

  No longer connected to the rocks, Sky couldn’t hear Tahl’s voice anymore. He didn’t have time to discuss details when it came to Tech’ta. They wouldn’t stop until their perceived threat was dead. Distant echoes of gunfire rippled up wind, and the snarling whinnies of the Tech’ta were mixing with terrified screams. Just past the area where Sky had seen the tracks, a small wagon was tipped over onto its side. Four large Tech’ta were circling the object, one limping from a gunshot wound to the leg.

  Sky whistled as he dove down, zooming past the animals to get their attention and try and disperse them. Large jaws snapped up at him as he flew past, their ears perking at his high-pitched sound. He did a slow, wide circle back towards them.

  “Stay in the wagon!” he called out to the people inside. “I’ll chase them off!”

  “Hurry!” a woman yelled inside around the sound of a baby crying. “My wife is hurt!”

  Sky dove down again once he got close enough, whistling and yelling to try and drive them away from the wagon. They swayed a couple steps away, curious about the new threat that was diving at them, but still too focused on the wailing inside the covered object. With a curse, Sky changed course and landed a couple yards away, spreading his wings wide to seem much bigger than he was.

  The Tech’ta were too interested in the promise of food to care about anything in the air, so he needed to be much more accessible. He clicked his tongue and whistled, flapping his wings to be seen. All four giant beasts focused on him, lowering their ears and heads as they slowly fanned out from the wagon. Sky watched them, paying close attention to their formation as they moved.

  Just like with any herd, any pack, there was always an alpha. That’s who Sky needed to find. Tech’ta were no different than their wolf or horse cousins, moving as a unit with a leader spearheading their migration or attack. When one of the Tech’ta moved ahead, slowing its steps to analyze Sky’s threat, it made its status known.

  Sky spread his wings up and out as he watched the alpha carefully approach. They were fast. Very fast. One misstep and Sky would be torn in half, his body returned in pieces to the earth.

  He took a slow breath, eyes sharp, wings ready.

  Sky clicked his tongue again and bent his knees. “Come on.”

  In a blink, the alpha moved, hooves pounding into the ground while the heavy claws sliced into the dirt. The odd gallop was terrifying and spring-loaded, jaws opening wide as it leapt across the ground. Sky pushed off his toes while his wings propelled him up, his legs and hips twisting around to reverse his course, just out of range of the giant maw of teeth. Sky’s hair brushed across the flaring nostrils of the beast’s muzzle, hot, blood-scented air rushing past his face.

  The creature screamed as Sky landed on its back, both fists grabbing the long mane running down its neck. Its giant claws swiped at him but weren’t long enough to reach back over its shoulder blades. Its head thrashed as it tried to angle back and bite, but Sky was far out of reach. He held on with both hands as the creature pushed up with its claws, bucking its hind legs like an angry stallion.

  Its panicked, angry wailing made its herd rush to help, but its kicking kept them at bay. Sky reached back and slapped the Tech’ta’s backside as hard as he could, digging his heels into its side to hold on. With a yelping whinny, the animal took off in a fierce gallop.

  Sky tucked his wings back against himself, keeping his head down while the alpha tore past its herd in a blind panic. The three other Tech’ta rushed after them, their growls and whines gaining on them as their alpha ran for its life. Sky needed to put distance between them and the wagon, so he set his jaw and held on for as long as he could.

  When the snapping jaws of the pursuing Tech’ta caught one of his feathers, he jumped up onto the alpha’s back and pushed off, using the wind rushing past them to carry him away from their wrath. The alpha kept running, two of them following while one circled back towards Sky. He landed hard against the ground, drawing his bow as the animal sprinted towards him.

  The arrow buried itself into the animal’s shoulder, far from anything fatal but wounding it enough to change its mind. Any open wound could be a death sentence for the creature, but at least it had a chance to recover. The sharp pain of the arrow made it scream and cower, changing course to run after its pack mates.

  Once the threat was clearly retreating, Sky shifted down to his human form and ran back towards the wagon.

  “They’re gone,” he announced before he pushed the fallen canvas aside. Inside the tipped wagon, among the scattered trunks of clothing, food, and belongings, two sets of wide eyes and a gun barrel were pointed his way. The woman holding the gun was shaking, her wounded arm bleeding through the bandages wrapped around an angry bite. The other woman was holding the crying Satyr baby, tears running down both of their faces.

  Sky lifted his hands. “I’m not going to hurt you. They’re gone. I’m here to help.”

  “Oh, thank the gods,” the woman holding the baby sobbed. “I thought we were going to die!”

  Her wife lowered the gun, pain wringing her face as she tried to move. Sky reached in and helped the woman with the baby out first before leaning in to help carry the wounded woman out.

  “Why are you out this far?” Sky eased the injured woman to the ground, kneeling to look at the wound.

  “We were travelling to Stallion Ridge, but we got lost,” the woman with the baby explained, bouncing the crying child some. “Th-then those things came out of nowhere and attacked us!”

  Sky took some leaves from his satchel and stuffed them into his mouth to chew on them, waiting for the bitter taste to be coaxed from the pulp. Once he could taste the right mixture, he pulled them from his cheek and smoothed it across the bite.

  “This will fight infection until you can see the doctor,” he explained. “Which way did your horse go?”

  The woman with the baby shook her head, but the injured one pointed.

  “It took off like a shot that way. I don’t think you’re going to find it. Those things probably killed it,” she managed through the pain gripping her words.

  “They don’t eat horses,” Sky explained as he stood. “They recognize them as pack.”

  “Oh, good for the fucking horse,” the injured one snapped. “I’m so happy for it.”

  “Caroline, no need to be so brutish,” her wife scolded.

  “Oh, forgive me, darling. My tone might be a bit brutish while I’m fucking bleeding.” The baby began to wail again, and Caroline exhaled, her voice softening. “Sorry, pumpkin. Don’t cry.”

  Sky flexed his wings loose and took off towards the direction the horse escaped to. The animal had made it decently far but had stopped to nibble on grass just beyond their sightline. The bridle and harness were still attached to it, the straps trailing along behind it as it fed. Sky landed nearby, folding his wings down to not scare it. His clicks and soft whispering helped ease the horse’s nerves, its nose flaring as it took in the Skinchanger’s smell.

  Sky smoothed his hand over the horse’s nose and neck, giving it a pat as he led it back to the toppled carriage. The wagon was damaged but hardly busted beyond use. While Caroline nursed her wounded arm and held the now sleeping baby, Sky and the wife, Lily, righted the wagon and reattached the wheel.

  To make sure the family wouldn’t get lost a second time, Sky escorted them to town by air while their horse pulled them along behind him. Once in town, he made sure to lead them immediately to Elliot’s, where the doctor rushed to help get Caroline inside when he saw her state.

  Sky wasted no time in tracking down either Cal, Mack, or one of the deputies. While the attack hadn’t claimed any lives
, blood being spilled may as well have been a death sentence for the Tech’ta. Now they were no longer a nuisance but a danger. Unfortunately, dangers were always met with rifles when it came to civilized folk.

  While Sky didn’t spot any of the men he was seeking, the familiar, casual stance of Cody’s assassin partner caught his attention. Quellin stood with his weight on one leg, seeming so relaxed and unthreatened by the world around him. While his body language was easy and fluid to most, Sky recognized his posture as a waiting shark ready to strike.

  The deadly Iara was chatting with Victor near the saloon, and that almost swayed Sky from approaching them. It was clear as day that the auburn-haired man was interested in Sky or at least had pretended to be in order to get tips for his tricks. Normally, the attraction would be brushed off, another fleeting glance in his direction from a beautiful stranger. Or, if it seemed worth his time, Sky would allow himself to have a night of connection.

  He was still half human, after all. His desire for intimacy would rumble to life when the fires were stoked properly.

  But Victor was dangerous.

  The cards hadn’t scared him, nor his cheap promise of flashy magic. There was something tugging Sky to him, like an unseen current he couldn’t swim through. Each time he was around him, he felt it in small traces over his skin. When he looked into his copper-plated eyes, it was undeniably alluring.

  And that wasn’t something Sky wanted. Or needed.

  He needed to focus on the Tech’ta and keeping the town safe. And he wanted to be left alone.

  With a deep breath, Sky made his way over to the duo.

  “Quellin,” he called, turning Quellin’s black gaze in his direction.

  “Sky.” The assassin smiled, his teeth white next to his black goatee. “How’s your morning going?”

  “Do you happen to know where Cody or the other deputies are? I really need Gunner if you’ve seen him around.” Sky gave the area another sweep with his eyes, hoping to spot someone.

  “Cody is patrolling the river, but Gunner just left to find a missing child who’s wandered off near Smith’s place. They needed him to see if he could spot the child from the air. Why?” His dark brows lowered in concern. “Everything alright?”