A Fistful of Dreams Read online

“I—I don’t know what words she keeps bottled up inside. Kid swears she spoke when he met her, and Cody says the same, but since arriving at the ranch—not a word passes her lips. She is quiet as a mouse, yet she helps, and Scarlett told me she’s heard her sing to the babies. Only when she’s alone or thinks she is…” Stress tensed his lungs and his breath came in hard puffs, as though he fought to speak.

  “You hoped she would speak in her dreams. Does she?”

  “Not exactly. She sings and she has the most amazing voice.” Sparks danced up from the fire, the crackling flames licking up the fresh dry wood and releasing the scent of cedar and wood smoke. “I have never heard anything like it. It’s beautiful and haunting and uplifting and tragic.”

  His father said nothing and Buck dragged his attention away from the ascending flames. A troubled expression twisted Quanto’s features.

  “What?” The longer he spent at the fireside, the easier his mood became and the anger knotting his belly relaxed.

  “Is she Fevered, Buck?”

  He opened his mouth to deny it immediately, but caution stilled his tongue. They saw no evidence of special abilities, but not everyone possessed a visible ability. Buck’s own was easily hidden, as were Jimmy’s, and Noah’s—only their actions betrayed them. “She didn’t get ill.”

  “My point exactly.”

  No. The fact she didn’t succumb to the fever or even get ill didn’t mean anything. “Many on the ranch didn’t sicken. As far as we could tell, it began in Dorado itself and only those who came into direct contact…”

  “Of course. But did she not look after the other woman—the mother of Scarlett’s son?”

  Antonia.

  Buck sighed. He’d nearly forgotten about her. They all had, really. So many dead to mourn and she was still something of a stranger to them. Her accusation, that Kid was the father of her unborn child, brought strife to the ranch. Her death was unfortunate, but her babe survived. Scarlett and Sam adopted her son to bring up with their Molly. He didn’t much think of little Cobb as Antonia’s child.

  None of them did.

  “But neither Sam nor Micah sickened—nor Jed. And they all had contact with her as well, to a point. Micah’s lady did—”

  “She was a target, from what you have all been able to put together.” Quanto sighed. “Check the girl. If she is Fevered, it would explain the allure.”

  “You think I would only be attracted to her because of some ability?” It hardly seemed a fair accusation, or one that spoke highly of Buck.

  “You barely know her. She does not speak, which means you do not have conversations, and your expression becomes nearly entranced when you speak of her singing in dreams.” Quanto laid out the information as though dealing cards. “Your desire to hear her sing drives you to act against your conscience and with spite toward one who has done you no injury.”

  “I—” But the world shifted sideways and Buck jerked awake. Jason Kane stared down at him with a hard-eyed expression.

  “We need to talk.”

  Jason eased back a step. Buck glared up at him, expression erupting from consternation in slumber to cool fury awake. Scarlett’s brother shot up from the bunk and balanced on his bare feet, one fist around the same knife he’d lunged at Jason with in the dream. Holding his hands up, the Kane brother took another step back. He wasn’t a brawler like Sam or Micah, and he wasn’t much of a scrapper like Kid. Those talents skipped him, but he had his own abilities and the knowledge of how to use them.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” He kept his voice steady and his manner calm. As disconcerting as his presence likely was to Buck, he didn’t mean him any harm.

  Unlike his brothers, Jason hadn’t spent much time with Scarlett’s family. He’d avoided them initially, particularly after the revelation about their abilities—which hit too close to home for him. He would have thought Kid would do the same, but where intellect most often drove Jason, passion drove his younger brother.

  “Why are you here?” Hostility edged the growl in Buck’s voice, and the low burning kerosene lamp left his face hidden in shadows.

  “Like I said, we need to talk. I’m going to back out onto the porch and let you calm down.” The small cabin had been co-opted by Scarlett’s brothers and expanded—well, partially expanded. The work they’d put into it halted with the outbreak and the attacks. Since then, the only work getting done on the ranch was what absolutely needed done. The half-finished interior spoke to that.

  True to his word, Jason backed up to the door and onto the porch, pulling it closed behind him. Not even the wood separating them let him relax. He wanted his mental shields good and tight. The wind raced around the building and sent a chill up his back.

  He practiced this speech in his head twice in as many days, but Buck was not his first choice—especially not given the active level of dislike in the man’s manner. The door opened behind him, but Jason refused to turn. Trust began somewhere—Sam trusted Scarlett’s brothers.

  Well, not all of them. The two he liked least weren’t on the ranch, and the eldest Kane brother was a solid judge of character.

  Buck cleared his throat. “It’s cold out here and there’s a fire inside.”

  “True, but the cold keeps a mind focused and sharp.” It neared midnight and the swish of wind was all that stirred the quiet. Not even the horses in the stalls of the lean-to barn made more than a faint whuffling in their sleep.

  “Okay.” Buck appeared next to him and Jason jerked.

  He moved as silently as the mist and the faint smile around his mouth told Jason he knew it, too.

  “I’ll repeat my earlier question—what do you want?”

  “Not the most polite soul, are you?” Jason preferred to deal with men head on, but he avoided locking gazes. In intense situations, the insights into their minds could become a floodgate.

  “You show up at my cabin, in the middle of the night, standing over me—and you’re worried about my politeness?” Dry humor crackled beneath the irritation ruffling the Indian’s tone.

  “You make a fair point.” Planting his hands on the railing, Jason studied the darkened landscape. “I could have waited till morning, but—in fairness—you attacked me first.”

  The wind lashed at them again and the frigid chill soothed him. Buck shuddered and tightened his jacket. “It was a dream—”

  “And if you kill me in a dream, I die in real life. I’m thinking it’s not an unfair assumption to say you tried to draw first blood.” He might not spend much time with her family, but he paid attention to the information his brothers gathered. Quanto told Sam about dying in dreams during a dreamwalk when they met.

  Jason wouldn’t mind meeting the older Indian—a journey for another day, however.

  Buck didn’t respond, but tight lines whitened around the edges of his mouth.

  “It’s okay, you don’t have to admit it or apologize.” He could afford to be generous. “We both know you went for me and we both know you would have killed me.”

  “So you were in her dream…” Buck turned toward him.

  “No, I was in her mind when you were in her dream.” He prepared himself for the violence of the reaction and the dreamwalker didn’t disappoint. Gripping Jason’s lapel, the walker drove him back against the wall.

  “You leave her alone.”

  “I’m not going to hurt her.” He remained calm. “But she might be a threat to us.”

  “She wouldn’t hurt anyone.” The wild conviction brooked no arguments. The man was well and truly invested in the mute girl.

  “Not on purpose, but we both know you don’t have to have bad intentions to make something happen.” Jason covered the clenched fists with his hands. “Let me go.”

  Buck stumbled backwards and blew out a breath. He blinked and gave Jason a harder look. He was quick. It didn’t take him long to figure it out. “You’re not actually here.”

  “Nope. I’m at the house.”

  “But you
—” Buck turned to where Jason’s horse should have been, but it evaporated. The key to a good mental illusion was belief. Jason knew exactly how to arrive at the little house so he made sure all the elements came into play. “What the hell are you doing in my head?”

  “Making a point.” He smoothed down his jacket and met the Indian’s gaze squarely. “We do have a lot to talk about, the young lady at the house being a primary subject. But I want it clear—you go for me again, I will defend myself. You need to sleep to use your ability…I don’t.”

  He let go of Buck’s mind and rushed back to himself. Jason opened his eyes to the bedroom he grew up in. He sat in this same room the first time he discovered that once he touched a mind, he could return to it. Fishing the watch out of his jacket pocket, he checked the time. The next move would be up to the dreamwalker. He wouldn’t head for the house until dawn. He’d want his brothers with him.

  A shushing of footsteps whispered up the hall underscored by the soft sound of a baby’s cry. Scarlett was up. So was Delilah. He could make out the former’s voice, telling the other girl to go back to bed. Delilah, of course, said nothing. Clicking the watch closed, he considered getting some sleep, but noise erupted outside—horses thundering into the yard carrying unfamiliar minds.

  Hell. Minds winked awake around him. Micah and Kid were up. Sam rode a circuit tonight, with Jimmy. The others were out with the stable boys—where Buck should have been. His father would need him downstairs.

  The Army was here.

  Chapter 2

  “Micah, see to garrisoning the colonel’s men.” Jed waved his second son out the door. “Kid, head down to the barn to help stable the horses. Scarlett, take my granddaughter back upstairs and get some sleep.”

  “You worry more than Sam.” But the firestarter pressed a kiss to Jed’s cheek and walked up the stairs, Molly gurgling happily in her arms. Jason waited for any instructions, but the colonel waved him over and he followed the two men into Jed’s study.

  “I wasn’t expecting you for another week, Miles.” The senior Kane opened the liquor cabinet and removed a bottle. He filled three glasses and handed them around. The Colonel removed his blue hat and set it aside before accepting the drink and taking a chair opposite Jed’s usual seat. Jason remained standing.

  “Considering the rumors beginning to circulate about the outbreak, I thought it better to be on site. Men tend to mind their tongues when a senior officer can hear them.” The Colonel glanced at him, but Jason merely smiled and made a show of sipping his whiskey though he did little more than let the alcohol brush his lips.

  He didn’t tend to do well with it.

  Sons weren’t usually invited to private drinks with his father’s oldest friends. Not unless the men had questions for him. Tiredness nagged at him, but he pushed it aside. If the older men planned to stay up much longer, he would have to brew some of the chicory coffee.

  “Sit down, Jason, and stop lurking there like you’re in trouble.” Jed stretched his legs. “We discussed this before, Miles. The fort is a good idea and I will support its construction, but I don’t want your regiment riding all over the Flying K.”

  “They need a warm bed for the night. I’ll roust them to building their new barracks over the next couple of days and you’ll have your property back, Jed.” If he was put off by Jed’s attitude, the colonel didn’t show it. “But I will need to talk to Jason and Mrs. Miller.”

  “Mrs. Kane.” Jed corrected.

  “I thought you said she was married to one of those behind the outbreak.” Miles frowned.

  “She was, but she married Micah a week ago Saturday.” Satisfaction stretched through Jed’s words. Any conversation the colonel wanted to have with Jo would be done under strict supervision of her new family. Jason didn’t smile, but when the letter arrived from the colonel, his father took Micah aside for a quiet word. They rode together to San Antonio for a civil ceremony. A larger wedding would take place in the spring, but for now, Josephine Kane would have the full weight of the Kane family behind her.

  “You realize I wanted to ask her about the men he worked with and what, if anything, she knows about their accomplices.” Impatience crept through Miles’ voice.

  “Then it won’t be a problem, will it?” Jed wore satisfaction well and, although his tone suggested mild conceit, Jason knew his father was far from certain. In all their dealings with the colonel, they often held the upper hand. The threat posed by Miller’s gang of thugs and the outbreak highlighted a very substantial fear in the non-Fevered…one with a possibly terrific backlash if they did not manage it properly.

  Miles shook his head slowly. “Jed, we’re too old to play games. If you and your sons want to sit in on the questioning, I’m not trying to hide anything from you.”

  Jason sighed. Those words were a mistake.

  “Excellent,” Jed rubbed a palm against the arm of the chair and leaned forward, locking gazes with the colonel. “Then you can explain why you used my son to investigate this group in the first place.”

  No, his father was most certainly not over Jason’s confession about why Jo came to the ranch or how he encountered her in the first place.

  Kid kept his focus on the horses, methodically stripping their tack, rubbing them down, and tucking them into the stalls in the largest of the three barns on the property. Thirty men arrived with the colonel—and forty horses, including those hitched to wagons. Most of the stalls already boasted fresh water buckets, hay, and feed. The stalls stood ready for any occupants, at any time, and they knew the regiment was on its way, even if they made better time than expected.

  He stored the tack and flipped the saddle blankets to let them dry, but he wasn’t repairing their gear. His father said get the animals settled. Two hours of sweaty labor in the middle of the night didn’t improve his disposition. A sense of Micah drifting up to the barn calmed him down though. His brother hadn’t wanted to square the men away any more than Kid wanted to throw on warm coats and bundle out into the chill for the horses—but they wanted less to be at the house with the colonel.

  And their secrets.

  “Good to go?” Micah caught the last saddle and Kid turned to the horse, scraping off the sweat with one cloth and rubbing the gelding down with another. The animal was too tired to much enjoy the attention, but leaned into the brush all the same.

  “Almost. Thought you’d be done with the troops faster.” He wasn’t quite complaining and the flash of guilt from Micah had him regretting his tone.

  “I wanted to check on Jo.” His brother didn’t need to explain checking on his wife—or he shouldn’t need to.

  “She okay?” Another unnecessary question, but it helped put Kid’s thoughts in order. If she wasn’t okay, Micah would have stayed with her.

  “She’s fine. Nervous as hell, but the kids keep her busy. Cody and Mariska came in closer when they caught the scent of the soldiers. They are staying with her.” Micah moved on to the next stall. Tension rippled through him. He didn’t like being away from his wife. He didn’t like her afraid, but they had to maintain their authority and the only way to do it was to be seen.

  Closing his eyes, Kid reached out to Micah and let some of the tension knotting his shoulders and stiffening his spine bleed into him. If he concentrated on rubbing down the horse’s back, slow, rhythmic petting motions, it kept him grounded. His brother’s affections for his wife mired him deep in the concern for her peace of mind—particularly after the torture she underwent married to Harrison, a bastard with Kid’s abilities.

  Breathe… “Cody won’t let anything happen to her, you know.” The youngest Kane didn’t need to pretend conviction in the utter simplicity of the fact. The wolf brother was fierce in the protection of his family, a family he included Josephine Kane within. Once, Kid would have put it down to her condition—she was one of the Fevered, surviving against all odds from an illness that killed adults and waking with the power to communicate with animals. Unlike so many of her brethre
n—Kid included—her gift was a passive one. But her value was not in her power, but in her calm manner, her gift for teaching and Micah’s love for her.

  “I know.” Relief rippled through Micah’s voice. “And having them there makes her feel better. The children like the wolves, too—even when they aren’t wolves.” Laughter lightened his tone and he stomped on to the next stall.

  Guilt and discomfort burrowed into the back of Kid’s head. He flexed his fingers where they stiffened. Agitation flowed down the link, irritation at the circumstances, worry for the future and discomfort with being separated from his new bride, even for something as trivial as chores. He combed through the morass tangling the surface of Micah’s mood and weeded out the worst of it.

  “Kid, stop.” The words jerked him around. Micah braced one arm against the stall door. No recrimination muddied the emotional water between them, only love, acceptance, and a hint of exasperation. “Thank you for trying to make me feel better, but we talked about this. Stop.”

  He considered denying it, but his brother’s patient expression stilled the lie. “You’re upset.”

  “I am. And it’s okay.” A smile eased Micah’s expression. “Caring hurts sometimes. You worry about those closest to you. But I trust Cody. Granted, I wasn’t their biggest fan and yes, they do make me uneasy. But I’ve seen him with Jo and with you and with the others. He won’t let anything happen. More important, I trust Jo.”

  Every word Micah spoke echoed in his emotional state, ripples stirring his disposition with honesty. His worry abated and his confidence asserted itself. Other shadings of love, affection, and even a little lust drifted under it all, but faith—faith burned brightest.

  “Okay.” Kid withdrew the mental touch, pulling back into himself. It wasn’t hard to disentangle from his brother; he’d only been scraping the surface of his discomfort. “I wanted—”

  “To make it easier for me. We’re good, Kid.” Micah walked into the stall and put a hand on his shoulder, the familiar squeeze of strength. “But you can’t take away the pain because it bothers you. Harrison took away the right for others to feel what they felt. He put his own emotional stamp on them. Isn’t that what you said when you removed his command?”