The Gunslinger's Gift (10 page)

“Sophia,”
James interjected.

Alexander
nodded. “We’re getting her back.”

“Damn
right we are,” James agreed in that same, dead tone. And William H. Bonney
would never, ever rise again.
I’m coming
for you, Sophia. Hold on.
He sent the thought out and could only hope that
she heard him.

* * *
*

Sophia
woke up in a massive bed. She frowned. The bed was wrong. It smelled wrong and
felt wrong too. She moved her hand to rub her aching temples and jerked at the
bonds holding her. “What in the heck?” She studied her wrists for several
minutes. She felt all sorts of out of it, her thoughts were a little foggy, and
she couldn’t understand what was going on.

She was
like that for all of two minutes before the full impact of what was happening
hit her, hard. “Holy crap.” She tugged at her wrists once more. The bonds grew
tighter. She needed to get free. She twisted and looked down her body at the
ties that held her ankles trapped as well. “Oh, for the love of Pete!” She
moved as best she could, trying to get her mouth and teeth to the silk that
bound her wrists.

She
sobbed when she wasn’t able to reach. She twisted and screamed, “Let me go!”
Then, she bit back tears. She was not going to give whoever had her the
pleasure of seeing her cry. “You freaking monsters!” She reached for nature,
but failed. She was inside a place that had absolutely no nature inside of it,
not even a potted plant.
How odd is that?

“Show
yourself, you freaking coward!”

The
clicking of a tongue was the only warning she had that she wasn’t alone any
longer. “Such language from such a pretty face.” She couldn’t figure out where
the voice was coming from. Everything seemed a little muffled to her. “Does
James like the fact you’re as foul mouthed as some of the Guardians that reside
there? I bet he does. He probably likes to share you with them and really get
that foulness stirred right up. I know how deviant and disgusting they are, the
things they all seem to like. Sharing women would definitely be the least of
their sins.”

“Who
are you?” she asked, with a frown, and then snorted. “Seriously? Are you
kidding me right now? Have you fallen and hit your head to make yourself
stupid? You really don’t know James at all, do you?” She sighed and rolled her
eyes.

Leaning
back, she looked up at the ceiling. That’s when it hit her. She knew that
voice.
Crap. I’m in so much trouble
.
“Billy?” she whispered and lifted her head again to look at him. “For someone
that was a friend of James’s, you
really
don’t know him very well, do you?”

“Ah, so
he has spoken of me. I’m so glad. I truly hate having to introduce myself.” As
he stepped from the shadows, she saw the maniacal smirk on his face, the
deadened eyes, and the fact that his hands were resting on the butts of his
guns. “So, tell me, Sophia Duffy.” His grin got bigger and a lot meaner.
“Whatever did dear, old Wild Bill have to say about little, old me?”

“He
isn’t the one that told me about you.” She felt sick. She had always felt the
camaraderie that James had for Billy, so now to see how monstrous this man was…
It would kill her poor Guardian. “How could you do this? How could you possibly
turn away from your family, friends, and the life that could have been for you?
Why?”

“Why
not?” he asked in return. “Do you truly think that Mercury gives a damn about
any of the Guardians? We were nothing more than his tools, honed through the fires
of hell and reborn to throw at the Monsters. If one of us perished, another
would rise. But Mercury’s finally running out of medallions and true heroes. I
saw the winning team—all it takes is a moment to truly see what will come—and
knew that I wasn’t on the right side of this battle. So, I chose the victors,
and for my loyalty, I will be rewarded. Do you want to know how, sweet little
Sophia?”

“They’ll
kill you quickly?” She felt ill. It must be morning, because she was ready to
toss her cookies, again. “I need to go to the bathroom.” He was a madman. “I’m
feeling sick and need to potty.

“I
don’t want to know how you think that you’ll be rewarded, because the truth is
that you won’t be. You’re going to die, and that’s really too bad, Billy. You
could have had such a wonderful life. You could have found love and someone
that accepted all that you were. Instead, you gave it all up because you’re a
coward.”

“They
won’t kill me,” he countered, with a smile. “No one can kill me. They can’t get
close enough, never could and never will. My reward, sweet Sophia.” Billy moved
closer to her and ran a finger over her cheek. “Is you. I know how to shatter
the bond you have with James. When I do, you will become mine, you and the
child you carry. Won’t that be fun? Both of us working for the dark. Your
child, a child of the dark. It will be perfectly wonderful.” His grin grew
wider and more crazed.

“Child?
You’re really nuts if you think I’m pregnant.” She jerked from his touch and
tried to move farther away from him. “You’re crazy.” She was shocked, her eyes
wide, tension flooding her body. “And I would never be yours. James is my soul
mate, and I’m his. No matter what you do, I will never, ever be yours. I would
sooner kill you than look at you if I was given to you.”

“Ah,
but there’s the beauty of it all, sweet Sophia. Once you’ve bonded to me, you
won’t care about James anymore. You’ll want him dead, just as I do. We’ll be of
one mind, one purpose. The ruination of this planet for our dark lord to set up
shop through us. It will be bloody fantastic. And I’m a much better lover than
he ever could be. You won’t be left wanting by my hand. Of course, we’ll have
to train you, so that you do things the right way. But what’s a little blood
and pain among lovers, right?” He gripped her jaw hard and squeezed.

A knock
at the door had his head whipping around. “What?” he bellowed.

“Guardians,
sir.”

Billy
slowly turned back to her, his eyes wild and his grin so big it looked more
like a snarl. “Time to kill your lover. Sorry, former lover. I’ll be right
back,” he told her, kissing her hard, biting her lips enough to draw blood.
Leaning away, he licked his lips. “Damn, you are too tasty.”

“You’re
freaking crazy.” She tried to jerk away from him. “He won’t be so easy to
kill.” She was confident that James would come for her. “He’s going to put you
down,” she said, with a nod. “And I’m not your lover. Never will be. I would
rather kill myself first.” She spit at him and whispered, “Monster.”

She
never saw the hand coming, but she definitely felt it. Her head snapped to the
side as he backhanded her. “You will learn, Sophia. You will learn soon enough
that you have no choice. Now, lay there and prepare for what’s to come. I might
even let you enjoy a little of it.” He straightened his holsters and headed for
the door. “I’ll be back soon, sweetheart. Then, we’ll have one hell of a grand
party.” Laughing, he was out the door before she could say anything in return.

Sophia
watched it close and shook her head. She couldn’t think that she was going to
be his. She couldn’t allow herself to believe that James would ever leave her
to this monster. She glanced at the door then the bonds that held her wrist.
She took a deep breath and wiggled again, once more trying to stretch enough to
get her mouth to the knot, forcing her mind away from her stomach that wanted
to empty all its contents and focusing on getting free.

A
tapping noise came from a window. Ignoring it, she kept working. A louder,
harder tap sounded. Turning her head, she blinked when she saw Eric there. He
looked her over and lifted a brow, his face turning turbulent. He put a hand on
the glass then a finger to his lips. With a smirk, he turned slightly and threw
his elbow back, shattering the pane. “You okay, kid?” he asked as he cleaned
the sill of the chunks.

Sophia
nodded and jerked on the bonds. “Please, get me free? Where’s James?” She knew
he was there for her. He would never leave her. “It’s Billy. He’s the one who
took me, and he’s absolutely crazy. Nuttier than a freaking peanut farm,” she
grumbled. “The idiot thinks I’m pregnant.” She snorted. “Please, get me out of
here so that we can destroy the creep and I can go home and puke. Again.”

Hopping
over the windowsill, Eric pulled out a short blade and cut at her bonds with
care. “Uh, the idiot is actually right,” he said, moving to do her feet. “You
are
pregnant. It’s
why
you’ve been throwing up each and every morning like clockwork.
Doc Janet told James before they came after you. He’s kind of scary right now,
kid. I mean, way scary. According to Alex, he’s back in ‘the mode’,” he told
her, using actual finger air quotes.

“What?”
Sophia went dead still. “I’m—?” She turned her head, ready to throw up. “Oh
God, I’m so going to puke.” She bent over the side of the bed and vomited while
Eric worked on her ankles. She couldn’t help herself. When she flopped back on
the mattress, she closed her eyes and panted. “Oh God. Poor James,” she
whispered, and then opened her eyes. “I have to get to him.” She didn’t want to
think about James being in a killing mode. It made her heart hurt too much.

“Here,
rinse your mouth out then let’s get out of here.” He held out a small bottle of
water to her with a sympathetic look on his face. “Sorry, kid, but the only
place you’re going is into one of the trucks. It’s protected, so as long as
you’re in it, no matter what the condition of the vehicle is, nothing Evil can
get to you. You have to think about the baby. Plus, if James finds out that I
let you out onto the killing field, he’d fucking shoot my medallion for kicks.”

“What?”
She shook her head, and when he mentioned the baby, she put her hand to her
belly. “Are you sure? That I’m pregnant?” She couldn’t wrap her mind around
that. “We only had sex twice before I was on birth control. That’s not possible,
right? I mean, the tests can be wrong, can’t they?”

She
felt ill all over again and closed her eyes to fight it. “Crap. Are you sure
that James is okay? You promise me you’ll watch his back? Who else is with him?
Who will keep him from getting hurt?” She had faith in James, but she was
worried that Billy would push the wrong buttons with her man.

“Alexander’s
out there kicking ass and taking lives.” Eric moved to the window and held out
a hand to her. “Come on, kid. Let’s get you tucked away so that I can go and
kill some of these fuckers. Jason should be on the ground by now with a squad
of Marines. Other than that, it’s just us good old boys backing up your man. I
think that’s how he phrased it, sort of. Well, it’s the cleaner version of what
he said.”

A crash
close by had him reaching for her. “We have to go now.” Slipping out the
window, he looked around before turning to haul her through. Setting her on her
feet, he took her hand. “Stay close, move when I do, and be absolutely silent.
Got it?”

Sophia
nodded and licked her lips. “Got it,” she whispered to him and moved so that
she was as close to him as she could get. She ran when he did and stilled when
he did. She didn’t speak, simply moved and prayed.

Once
they made it to the truck, she looked to Eric, “Hasher, is he okay?” She
couldn’t believe that she had only just then thought about him. “I was trying
to stem the blood flow when I was hit on the back of the head. Is he okay?
Please tell me he is.”

“Gaius
got to him. He was still breathing, if barely. Last I heard, he was in surgery.
Been a little busy since then,” Eric told her. Jerking open a door, he pushed
her into the vehicle. Then, he spun, whipping up his sword, and taking the head
off a monster that had come racing at his back. “Get in, buckle up, and do not
come out until we come for you. No matter what. Got it?”

Sophia
nodded and did as he had instructed. She locked the doors, too, simply because
the thing that came at Eric next terrified her. She closed her eyes and
screamed. She couldn’t help herself. She had never seen anything so terrible
before. The exceptionally tall and willowy beast had teeth like a shark and
looked to be covered in oil. It was too much for her. Way too much.

A knock
on the window next to her had her screaming again. “Really?” Eric shouted,
though she only heard it in a muffled sense. “You women are way too sensitive.
Don’t move,” he ordered. With a roar, he raced out straight for another of the
Monsters, this one short, bulky, and built like a tank. A gunshot off to the
side had her attention turning.

James,
it was James, and he looked so very different from the man she knew and loved.

Sophia
stared as he came closer. She struggled to get out of the seat belt then opened
the door. “James,” she whispered and stepped away from the safety of the truck.
She had to touch him, needed to know that he really was there, that she wasn’t
dreaming in that monster’s bed.

Billy
came into view then, but thankfully, he wasn’t looking her way. He was entirely
focused on James. He was speaking, but she couldn’t hear the words over the
roars of the Monsters that were fighting Eric, Alexander, and Jason. The
Marines were laying down serious cover, hacking away at the Monsters with their
highly concentrated gunfire.

James
tucked his revolver away, his hand resting on the butt of the weapon, as he and
Billy faced off. They were talking, and from what she could see of Billy, he
looked to be getting mad, while James only seemed to get colder and more
distant in appearance.