Wish Upon a Cowboy (34 page)

"She's leaving," he said bitterly, suddenly sure of it. He slammed the hammer onto the nail head.

"Who?" Elias asked. "Hannah?"

"Who the hell else would I be talking about?" Jonas glanced at him and briefly he envied his old friend's renewed romance with Eudora. Elias looked twenty years younger and Jonas had a feeling the couple would be married before he and Hannah were. The curl of envy twisting in his gut shamed him.

"That's nonsense, Mac. Hell, her and Eudora's planning your wedding."

A wedding that would never happen, he told himself, silently mourning. Damn it, she was still trying to step aside so he could marry a blasted witch. Wasn't one damned witch in a marriage enough?

"Why would she leave?" the older man asked.

Jonas looked at him. Hell, maybe Elias could find an answer to the situation. Briefly, he explained Hannah's determination to marry him off to some other witch.

Elias frowned and shook his head. "Don't make sense. Eudora herself told the girl that you two were meant."

"Eudora lied to her before," Jonas pointed out.

Instantly defensive, Elias said, "She explained all that."

"I'm just saying that Hannah might figure Eudora's lying about this, too."

"Well, she ain't."

"It doesn't matter to me if she is or not," Jonas said flatly. "I don't care if we're meant or not. I know Hannah's the woman I want. And to hell with all this witchcraft horseshit."

"Then tell her so."

"You think I haven't?" He tossed the hammer to the ground and stalked off a few paces. Frustration brewed in the pit of his stomach and absently he noted the distant roll of thunder, but he didn't care. "That woman is as hardheaded as they come."

And she was determined to leave him, for his own good.

Half turning, he looked at his old friend through eyes filled with misery. "She's going to leave me Elias. First chance she gets."

The older man walked toward him and laid a hand on his shoulder.

Jonas shifted his gaze to the far mountains. "I can feel it in her. She's waiting until this warlock business is finished. Then she's gonna run."

"And you'll find her."

Jonas laughed shortly. "You looked for Eudora for years and didn't find her."

Elias slapped him on the back. "But witchcraft hid her from me. Hannah won't be able to hide from the Mackenzie."

A single, fragile thread of hope unwound inside him and for the first time in days, Jonas's heart stopped aching. It was true, he thought. Witchcraft could turn out to be his strongest ally.

"You'll find her, wherever she goes," Elias told him gently. "And you'll bring her home."

Jonas smiled thoughtfully, turned to speak, and was stopped by a distant shout.

"Boss!"

Both men turned to watch Stretch Jones, riding his horse at a hard gallop, head straight for them. Practically standing up in the stirrups, he was waving his hat over his head like a wild man.

"Now, what d'ya suppose has got him so worked up?"

Jonas didn't answer. Staring hard at the approaching cowboy, he felt a strong sense of danger crowding in around him. A chill snaked along his spine and lifted the small hairs at the back of his neck. Whatever it was that had Stretch in such an uproar couldn't be good news.

Shifting his gaze slightly, Jonas looked in the direction of the ranch and squinted, deliberately blurring his vision slightly as he had to see the magic surrounding Eudora.

But what he saw now was different. Different enough to stagger him and shatter what was left of that small bud of hope.

His breath hitched hard in his chest. His throat tightened and an invisible fist closed around his heart. Every instinct he possessed kicked into life, and unconsciously he stood up straighter, moving his right hand to rest atop the butt of his pistol.

Darkness hovered in the air over the ranch house. As he watched that blackness spread, like a spill of ink across a blue tablecloth, snaking out arms as if dragging itself across the sky. Alive and moving, the shadows shifted in a wind he couldn't feel, then dipped toward the house and the women Jonas knew were inside.

His dreams hadn't prepared him enough, he thought as the darkness seemed to hover around him, prodding him, goading him.

Fury roared through him and he stamped it down into a tiny corner of his heart. He'd need to keep calm, he told himself. Steady. If there was danger, he'd face it. But, he thought, it had better keep well away from Hannah or there would be hell to pay.

The darkness continued to grow even as it thickened, blackened, writhing in fits and starts like a soul caught in the torments of damnation.

He couldn't tear his gaze away from it.

It beckoned him even as it warned him off.

"Jonas!" Elias shouted, giving him a shove that shattered his attention.

He saw the flash of fear in Elias's eyes and wished he could say something to ease it. But he had a feeling that things were about to get a whole lot worse.

Jonas turned to face the incoming rider.

Stretch's horse reared to a stop and the winded cowboy leaped down, gasping for breath. Around great gulps of air, he managed to say. "The corral… ground… opened up…"

"What?" Elias gave him a shake, impatient to hear what the man had to say.

Jonas waited, too. Like a mounted cavalryman waiting for the sound of the bugle sending him into a charge.

The cowboy shook his head, drew one long, deep breath, and said, "The ground in the corral. It just… kind of broke open. Took down one or two horses before we could get the others out."

"Earthquake?" Elias said, disbelief coloring his voice. "I seen a couple in California, but never out here."

Jonas half turned and looked again toward the blackness now sliding down to cover the ranch like an evil blanket.

"It was no earthquake," he said stiffly, already moving toward his mount.

"Then what?" Stretch shook his head. "Damnedest thing I ever saw. That hole looks deep enough to reach into hell."

"It probably does," Jonas muttered, snatching at the reins and swinging into the saddle.

It had finally come. The day he'd been dreading and anticipating. And though he doubted he had the strength to win, he knew he had to try. He had to keep Hannah safe.

"Mac?" Elias walked to him and laid one hand on his horse's bridle. "What is it? What's happening?"

Jaw tight, eyes grim, Jonas looked down at him and said simply, "Wolcott's here."

*  *  *

The screams from the horses drew Hannah out of the kitchen, still clutching her dish towel. Racing across the yard, Eudora hot on her heels, Hannah stopped at the fence and stared into a yawning chasm that had opened in the middle of the paddock.

Frantic animals fought to escape the still-growing slash in the ground and two of the men skirted the lip of the gash in their attempt to save the remaining horses.

"Get back, ma'am," Billy shouted above the screaming animals. Hannah took a half step back from the fence, but kept her horrified gaze on the yawning gap in the earth.

"What in heaven… ?"

She'd never seen anything like it. Oh, she'd heard of earthquakes, but if the earth had shaken badly enough to cause this, surely they would have felt it in the house, too.

"May the gods help us," Eudora muttered as she came up behind her. Then, grabbing her arm and spinning her around, she gave Hannah a mighty shove toward the house. "Get inside. Now."

"Eudora," she said, staggering slightly to regain her balance. "I have to help."

"There's nothing you can do," her aunt said, gaze lifting to the dark, encroaching clouds overhead.

Hannah looked up, too, and gasped at the storm tossed sky. Dusky, wind-driven clouds covered the sun and instantly the ranch yard was plunged into an eerie twilight that seemed more like evening than late morning. She shivered and turned in place, letting her gaze sweep across the familiar landscape until finally it came to rest on Eudora's tight features.

The tear in the ground. The black clouds blotting out the sun. This was no earthquake or an ordinary shift in the weather.

This was the beginning of what she'd been dreading for weeks.

"It's Blake Wolcott, isn't it?" she whispered, feeling the bottom drop out of her stomach.

Her aunt nodded and closed her eyes, apparently trying to feel his presence. "He's here."

Jonas.

Oh, God, where was he? Had Wolcott already found him out on the range? Was the battle over and Jonas dead? Even as that fear reared up, she told herself desperately it wasn't true. If he was gone, she'd feel it. Know it, deep inside her.

Jonas was still alive. And she would do whatever she had to, to ensure he stayed that way.

"Where?" she demanded.

"Close," Eudora whispered, swaying slightly.

"Closer than you might think, Eudora," the warlock said as he stepped out from behind a corner of the barn.

Hannah gasped and grabbed hold of her aunt to steady her as they turned to look at him.

Smiling broadly, Blake Wolcott strolled across the yard toward them. Hannah looked into his sharp blue eyes and felt a quiver of apprehension shake her to her soul. Power seemed to ripple from the man. Arrogant in his own confidence, he walked with a swagger that invited a challenge.

One of the cowboys shouted at him. Wolcott waved a hand and the men in the corral—along with the surviving horses—dropped where they stood.

Fear clutched at Hannah's throat as she stared helplessly at the fallen men. This was all her fault. She never should have come here. My God, how could she have been so willing to throw Jonas into a pitched battle with a warlock like Wolcott?

"You killed them," Hannah yelled, outraged enough to momentarily forget the danger surrounding the man.

"Not yet," Blake said as he stopped just a foot or two away from her. "They'll wake in a few hours, unless I change my mind. For now. I simply wanted no distractions." He turned to look at the older woman. "Eudora," he said, eyes narrowing. "You've caused me quite a bit of trouble."

"Do forgive me," the woman said, not a trace of an apology in her voice.

Smiling tightly, Blake looked at her and told himself there would be plenty of time later to take his revenge on the woman who had tried to thwart him. It was enough for the moment to simply let her know that her plan had failed.

"I know now why you came to this godforsaken place," he said quietly. "Why you sent Hannah here."

"Is that right?"

"Oh, yes," he said, beginning to enjoy himself. "I've known for days." His eyes narrowed as he watched her for signs of worry. "You've found another warlock."

Hannah inhaled sharply and he whipped her a glance.

"Who is he?" he asked.

"Don't you know?" The older woman smiled.

He bit back the frustration he'd felt since first sensing the presence of another warlock. He didn't have any idea who he would be facing. But, though the level of power emanating from this place was higher than he'd expected, he didn't doubt for a moment that he would be victorious.

"It doesn't really matter, Eudora," he said, enjoying shattering the old witch's hopes. "Whoever he is, he isn't strong enough to defeat me."

"I wouldn't count on that, Blake," she said.

Was she so sure, then? Who could it be?

"There doesn't have to be a fight," Hannah interrupted, forcing herself to take a step closer to the man she loathed.

He gave her his full attention.

"Hannah…"

She ignored her aunt and looked up into icy blue eyes. "There's no reason we have to wait for the Solstice to be married, Blake."

"Hannah!" Eudora's voice sharpened.

"We can leave now," Hannah went on, determined to get Wolcott away from the ranch before Jonas returned. She wouldn't risk his life. Even if she couldn't be with him, at least she would know that he was alive. And safe.

"That's very touching, my dear," the warlock said and ran the tips of his fingers along her jaw.

Hannah shivered.

He saw it and stiffened before pushing her away from him. "But even if we married, I wouldn't leave this place until dealing with the warlock. I won't have a challenger for my place at the head of the Guild."

"But when we're married," Hannah said, shuddering slightly, "you'll have the strength of the Lowells to draw on. There won't be a need to fight anyone for control. It will be yours. By right."

But he wasn't listening. His gaze swept over her, narrowed slightly, then repeated the long, searching look. His lips twisted and he took a step back from her. "There'll be no marriage between us."

"But Blake –"

You're not a witch!" he cried, fury coloring his voice. "I can't imagine how I missed seeing the truth all this time. Ah… " He paused and flicked a glance at Eudora. "Another of your games?"

"Hannah," her aunt said, stepping in front of her, "stop. Say nothing else."

"No. I can still be a help to you, Blake," Hannah argued, panic nipping at the edges of her soul. If he didn't want her, she would have no way to bargain for Jonas's safety. She felt her last chance slipping from her as she yelled. "I'm still a Lowell."

He stared at her for a long minute and Hannah watched his features darken.

"You're nothing!" he shouted suddenly and shoved Eudora to the ground as he advanced on Hannah. Eyes blazing, hands fisted, he walked toward her and she instinctively backed away from the fury on his face. "Nothing!" he shouted again, and a cold, strong wind rose up, buffeting her, pushing her closer to him. "Without the witchcraft, you have nothing to offer me! Do you think I wanted you?"

The wind whipped her hair across her eyes and Hannah clawed at it, desperately trying to clear her vision.

"Power, that's what I wanted," he said, his voice rising to be heard above the keening of the wind. Grabbing hold of her shoulders, he shook her fiercely.

Hannah cried out from the blast of cold driving from his hands into the heart of her. Then he tossed her to the ground and loomed over her, glaring down into her eyes.

"The power and strength of the Lowells." The wind lifted his dark brown hair and tugged at the edges of his coat until the material stood out from his sides and he looked like some evil winged creature about to take flight.