Lindsay Buroker - Hunted

Cedar must have sensed her intent for he wasthe one to lean close. She almost grinned when that beard stubblerasped against her jaw, but then his lips pressed against hers, andshe forgot about that earlier conversation. The chilly Yukonevening grew warm. She was vaguely aware of releasing his hand andsliding her arm around him, twining her fingers into the soft,thick hair on the back of his head. The closeness of theirbodies.

Too soon, he broke the kiss. His callousedhand came up to cup her jaw, and he stroked her cheek with histhumb. Another night, the touch seemed to promise, when we’re noton the ground, in a camp full of strangers, with a mission toaccomplish. And, as close as they were, she had no troublebelieving his interest now.

“Milos,” Cedar murmured.

“What?”

“My name.”

Oh! The M on his Winchester. “That doesn’tsound so bad,” she said.

“Milos Kartes. I got close to Cudgel inDenver, and he framed me for an ugly series of murders. There maybe a Pinkerton detective after me. I figured it wisest to go backto my childhood nickname.”

“Ah.” So, someone was hunting him as well.Although it was criminals who sought her, while the law stalkedhim. If she continued to work with him, could that mean trouble forher someday? Did it matter, given all the trouble already courtingher? Once she had her airship, she could evade those who huntedher. No need to stay in any one port for long, not when she had aworld to see. Maybe Cedar would even want to come along. “Thank youfor trusting me with your name. Though I must admit, yourreluctance to share it had me hoping for somethingembarrassing.”

A long moment passed, as if he wereconsidering something. Finally, he said, “My middle name isKallisto.”

“That’s…pretty.”

“Oh, very pretty. It was my Greekgrandmother’s name.”

“Grand mother ?”

“Yes, my mama had been saving it for when shehad a girl. After only boys, she decided to pass it on to heryoungest. Me. Apparently it means most beautiful.”

Kali did not manage to keep from laughing,though she stifled it quickly. The last thing she wanted was toruin things by offending him.

“My Han name is Tsul Gah,” she said, feelingthe need to match his honesty. “Small rabbit. My mother thought Iwas going to be a precious little daughter, not a troublemaker whodisassembled the chief’s dog sled to make skis out of the runners.When I went to live with my father, he just called me, “girl,” so Idecided to pick my own name, a white name. The only white women inMoose Hollow were prostitutes. Kali was the middle name of one whowas decent to me. I later learned it was a Hindi name that meansblack. Guess I wasn’t meant to be white.”

He did not speak for a long moment, and shewondered if she should have kept the information to herself. Theexplanation for his middle name was cute and endearing. Herexplanation was… Well, it certainly made her childhood seempathetic.

“Did you ever know happiness growing up?”Cedar asked.

“Making things made me happy. Being good at making things. If you’re good at something you liketo do, it gives you the self-assurance and confidence to deal withthe world’s disappointments.” Mostly.

“Then I’m glad you had that.”

He kissed her again, though it had thebrevity of a goodnight kiss. She forgave him for not offering morewhen he slid his arms around her and snuggled against her back.

“I like Milos,” Kali said. “May I useit?”

“Yes.”

“What about Kallisto?”

“Not unless you want me to use your pliers topull your tongue out through your nostrils.”

She smirked. “Do you always threaten womenafter you kiss them?”

“You didn’t think I was a nice boy, didyou?”

Kali woke to something pressing against hermouth. Her first thought was of Cedar giving her a kiss, but thatfantasy evaporated quickly. The pressure was too hard. It smotheredher nose as well as her mouth and cut off her air. Someone’s hand.She tried to unleash her teeth, to gnash down on it. The gripmerely tightened.

She tried to sit up, but failed to rise aninch. Hands forced her shoulders down, and something across herlegs pinned them to the ground.

Darkness still blanketed the forest, but shefigured out what was going on. Cedar had gone to investigate theother camp, and Sebastian was taking the moment to truss her upfor…whatever stupid plan he had now.

She writhed and bucked in the blankets,though only to disguise her real goal: she found the two smoke nutsin her pockets and yanked them free.

“Hurry, pick her up,” Sebastianwhispered.

Trying to be quiet was he? He must fear Cedarwould hear and return. Good.

Now if Cedar’s fancy blanket weren’tconstricting her almost as much as her assailants, she might beable to do something. The men-at least four of them-hefted her intothe air with the Euklisia Rug still tangled about her. She grippeda smoke nut in each hand, thumbs poised to press up on the triggertabs.

“In the tent?” a man with a guttural accentrasped.

They started moving her, stumbling over therocky ground as they went. Maybe they would be more distractednow.

“No, we don’t want her lover to be able toget to her,” Sebastian said. “We need to-argh!”

Kali grinned fiercely as she bit down on hishand, glad he was the one who’d sport tooth marks. He snarled andlet go.

“Cedar!” she bellowed.

One of the hands gripping her shoulder let goto reach for her mouth. The maneuver dipped her down, so her headalmost cracked against the rocks.

Sensing she had her moment, Kali yanked herarms from beneath the blanket, flicked a trigger tab, and droppedone of the smoke nuts. She twisted and used her free hand to grabthe closest thing to her face. A belt. Perfect.

Something slammed into her back. She almostdropped her second smoke nut, but she managed to yank on the beltand stuff the device down the owner’s trousers.

Unfortunately, she was as close to the smokeweapons as the men. Kali burrowed back into the cocoon of blankets,squeezed her eyes shut, and dug for the knife at her belt.

“What did she-”

“Damn it, move!” Sebastian yelled. “It’s oneof her things!”

Whoever held her legs dropped them. Kalithrashed, though she made sure not to leave the padded shelter ofthe blankets. The last man with a grip on her lost it, and she hitthe ground, a hard nodule gouging into her side. She rolled away,not wanting to smother her own artillery.

She did not hear the click that heralded therelease of the metallic shards, but yelps of pain told the story.Though she was rolling away as fast as she could, severalprojectiles struck the side of her blanket. A couple burrowedthrough the material and her clothing, slicing into her skin. Itwas not as bad as it would have been if she had no padding though,and she scampered out of the blankets without permanent damage.

Smoke from the weapon stung her eyes. In thedarkness, she struggled to see what was happening, but angry shoutsof “It got me!” and “Get it out!” told her where people were.Agonized screams came from the man who had taken the projectile inthe pants. Given these thugs’ goals, she could feel littleremorse.

Kali patted about, looking for her rifle.They must have taken it. She could not find her packsack-her tools! — either. Damn Sebastian. He must have moved all herbelongings first. Damn her heavy sleep too.

Knowing the smoke nuts would not buy herindefinite time, she scrambled away from the camp. All the firesalong the shoreline had gone out, and clouds hid the stars and themoon. Only the sound of the river helped her navigate. Though shewas on the wrong side of the waterway, she headed in the directionof the Wilder camp, hoping Cedar had heard the commotion and wascoming to help.