The Dark Prince's Prize

Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

Snow was falling again by the time Samara guided the horse into the corral next to the barn. Despite promising herself that she wouldn’t look, the first place her gaze went was to the main house where the new guy had disappeared with Chad. He had been the only thing she could think about all morning while she worked.

Well, the alien and the strange northern light show coming off of him, she thought.

She dismounted and tied the reins of the mare to one of the posts. Chad’s truck was gone. She vaguely wondered if the man had gone with him or if he was still in the house. The thought that he could be inside, watching her, made her nervous.

“Get a grip, Samara,” she scolded herself. “You’ve barely shared six—okay, maybe more—words with him, but that doesn’t mean anything. What you think you saw was just static electricity. Maybe whatever he was wearing had wool or polyester in it or whatever in the hell causes your hair to stick up.”

She continued lecturing herself as she took care of the horses she had brought down from the upper pasture. She brought them inside the barn one at a time, brushed them, fed them, and made sure they were secure. Bear must have taken a few because there were only five including the mare. She would have to call him later to check.

A movement outside drew her attention. She hurried over to the partially open door and peered out. It took her a few seconds to realize the man striding across the yard was Adalard. He glanced in the direction of the barn and stopped. She quickly pulled back so he couldn’t see her.

She heard a low curse, but when she peeked back out, he was gone. Surprised that he could disappear so quickly, she pushed the door open wider and scanned the area, but it was empty.

“What the heck?” she mumbled.

Curious, she stepped out of the barn and closed the door behind her. She walked across the yard, searching the ground for his tracks. They led off into the woods. She bit her bottom lip in indecision, scanning the woods for any sign of him.

“Hey, new guy—Adalard. Are you there?” she called.

She looked at the ground and focused on following the faint traces in the snow. A few yards into the woods the tracks disappeared. For a rock star, he was pretty light on his feet. She turned in a semi-circle, trying to pick up his tracks when the tips of black boots came within her line of vision.

Swallowing, she slowly lifted her eyes to his face. She stumbled back a step and almost fell when she realized how close he was. Her gasp froze in her throat when he wrapped his strong fingers around her wrist and pulled her against him.

“Careful,” he cautioned.

“You’re pretty good at doing that,” she muttered, pulling away from him.

“Good at what?” he asked.

She gave him a rueful grin. “Scaring people,” she replied, stuffing her hands in the pockets of her coat. “I wouldn’t go too far in the woods without a guide or you may be practicing your survival skills a bit sooner than expected. It’s easy to get lost, and there’s a storm front moving through in a couple of hours. You definitely don’t want to get stuck out here without better clothing.”

“You care about what happens to me?” he inquired with a pleased smile.

She laughed and shook her head. “Hell no. I just don’t want to have to pull your dead, frozen a*s out of the woods. I’m part of the volunteer rescue team. Freezing my a*s off to save your dumb butt is not on my list of things to do today,” she said.

His smile turned to a scowl. “I can assure you that I can survive very well without assistance,” he stiffly answered.

“If I had a dollar for every time some know-it-all said that, I’d be rich. Listen, we’re short-handed today. I’ve still got work to do. Did you at least tell Mason or Chad where you were going?” she inquired.

“No,” he replied in a clipped tone.

She pulled her hands out of her pockets. Shaking her head, she bit her tongue against saying anything more caustic. He was a paying client, and she was only the hired help. It wasn’t her place to babysit those that came here. She was positive Chad and Mason would have gone over the rules with him and had him sign the waiver releasing the ranch and all personnel of any responsibility if he decided to do something stupid—like go off into unfamiliar woods right before a snow storm while dressed inappropriately, and without telling anyone.

“Did Mason and Chad go over the rules with you?” she asked in a brisk tone.

“Yes, and as I explained to them, I don’t follow rules,” he announced.

She took a step and patted him on the chest. “Well, that is very selfish of you because while you may not give a s**t about your own life, what you do can endanger others. I’ve fulfilled my responsibility by warning you. Now I’ve got work to do,” she snapped.

He wrapped his fingers around her wrist, stopping her from walking away. Her eyes locked with his. There were flecks of gold mixed in his glowing eyes, and it didn’t look like he was wearing contacts.

She looked down at his hand. His grip was strong, warm, and there was a tingling feeling through her clothing. Biting her lip, she reached out to touch the colors swirling between them.

“What is going on?” she asked, running her fingers through the colors.

“It is—complicated,” he replied in a measured tone.

She gave him a wary look. “Explain ‘complicated’,” she said.

He opened his mouth but closed it again without saying anything. A truck driving by caught her attention. When she looked back, Adalard was gone. She glanced wildly around, searching for him. She turned back to the road when she heard a truck door slam.

“Hey, Samara, you around here?” an all too familiar voice called out.

“Damn-it-all-to-hell! I swear if any of the others got thrown in jail today, they can rot there ‘til next spring,” she growled, clenching her fists.

She exited the edge of the woods in time to see Gary wander into the barn. Cursing under her breath, she jogged across the yard. She untethered the mare she had been riding from the post and led her into the barn.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded.

Gary jumped and twisted around, facing her. She sneered and shook her head when she saw his black eyes, along with a busted nose and lip. He also had a bandage on his forehead that was stained with blood.

“No,” she said, walking by him.

“I didn’t ask for anything,” he defended.

She stopped and looked him up and down before turning and leading the mare into a clean stall. Gary stood in the doorway as she removed the mare’s saddle, blanket, and bridle. Pushing past him, she placed the saddle and blanket on a sawhorse outside of the door before hanging the bridle on a hook. She retrieved a horse brush from the box attached to the wall next to the stall door and walked past him again. With long soothing strokes, she began brushing down the mare.

“Rob said you were going to help,” Gary began.

“I’m not giving you the money. I’ll stop by Pat’s on the way home. I didn’t have time this morning. Unlike some people, I like being on time and keeping my job,” she said.

“You don’t have to—go by Pat’s, I mean. You could give the money to Brit. I know you trust him,” Gary suggested.

“No. I’m not throwing away half of my savings so that you can bully Brit and lose it,” she retorted.

“Half—so you’ve got more,” Gary excitedly commented.

Samara groaned at her slip of the tongue. Her life was going to be a living hell if Mason didn’t agree to let her rent the place above the barn. If Gary didn’t hound her, Rob would. Brit would give her the poor-pitiful-me look and beg her to give up every last penny to shut them up. Jerry would steal the money and blame her for making him do it. It was Jerry that she worried about the most.

She looked over the mare at Gary. “Be careful what you say, Gary. I have no problem telling you to go to hell for what you did and leaving you and the others to deal with whatever fallout comes from last night,” she warned.

“Geez, Sam, I didn’t mean it. I was on a winning streak. I’ve never seen a pot that big before. When that city slicker came in and asked to join, it was like winning the lottery over and over. I was winning—” he explained in an earnest voice.

She paused and shook her head. “You were played, Gary. There is no lottery winning for us. You were set up and you fell for it. Those men played you and you… fell… for… it.” She bit out the last four words in a slow, teeth-clenching growl. “The problem is… you made me a part of it without my permission. I said I’d help you as much as I could, and I will, but this is it. I’m done with all of you. Leave me out of your messes,” she said.

Gary looked down at his feet. “You don’t know what it feels like to always be a failure, Sam. Mom and Dad…,” he muttered.

“Freakin’ hell! Are you listening to yourself? Didn’t you hear a thing I just said? The answer is NO! You are not using Mom and Dad as an excuse. I am not going to allow you to use me anymore. You know what… you can get yourself out of this mess on your own. I rescind my offer. One way or another, I will be out of the house tonight even if I have to sleep in my truck. I AM DONE with all of you. Which one put you up to this?” she demanded.

He looked at her with a pleading expression. “Which one?” she demanded.

He swallowed and shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “Jerry,” he confessed.

She stared at him in disbelief. That wasn’t Jerry’s style. Why would he—her eyes widened with rage as a truly horrible suspicion formed in her mind.

“My truck,” she breathed out as fear tightened her chest.

She ducked under the mare’s head and pushed past her brother. By the time she reached the door of the barn, she was running as fast as she could. She uttered a loud, frustrated cry when she realized that the UTV was still sitting at the upper paddocks. She had ridden the mare here and planned to hike back up or ask Mason for a lift later to retrieve it.

She looked at Gary’s truck with narrowed eyes. She ran to it, yanking at the door. Climbing inside, she breathed a silent prayer of thanks when she saw he had left the key in the ignition. Seconds later, the tires of the truck spun on the loose gravel as she gunned the engine.

“Hey! That’s my truck,” Gary shouted as he ran out of the barn.

Samara was too far gone to care. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and she felt like she was having trouble breathing. If Jerry took her truck, he would find the money box. Those two things were everything that she had.

She wiped the corner of her eye with her sleeve when a tear started to slide down her cheek. She would kill every last one of them. So help her, she would spend the rest of her life in prison, but she would kill every single one of her brothers if they did this to her, starting with Jerry.

She slammed on the brake petal with both feet. The truck slid several feet and fishtailed to a halt in front of the barn. A low, mournful cry of rage filled her until she couldn’t contain it. Pushing open the door, she slid out and looked at the spot where she had left her truck earlier.

Broken glass littered the ground where Jerry had broken one of the windows. Samara sank to the ground, her legs no longer able to hold her. Bending forward, she gasped for breath and choked on her sobs.

“NO! Damn you all to hell! NO!” she cried, wrapping her arms around her waist and rocking back and forth as she felt a mental trap of hopelessness closing around her.