Page 62 of Last Ride of the Umbra Fae

“Always so swift.”Ma chuckled.“But you have flown too far from where you need to be. It is not your time.”

I tried to speak, but words here were sent with emotions. I nodded as she stroked my long, dark hair and took my face in her hands, wiping away my tears with her thumbs.

“It is not your time,”she whispered again, taking me in her arms, but I felt her slipping out of reach. Looking past her, my chest nearly cracked once more as I sucked in a shaky breath. Pa’s silhouette, an Umbra in a waning light as he tipped his hat one last time and turned with Ma following after.

Desert Rose…

“Desert Rose…”

My eyes fluttered open to find Ryder caught in the sun’s rays, light filtering through his hair as he looked down.

He helped me sit up and handed me a flask of water. Still stunned, I splashed it over my face as I reeled over what had happened. Looking around, we were sitting by the fountain. The birds were chirping somewhere hidden within the trees. The weather was a touch of a warm spring.

“What happened?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I woke up and found you lying beside me.”

He took my chin in his hand, overcome by emotions as he shook his head.

“Desert Rose, you scared the shit out of me.” He gave me a bruising kiss, one that seemed to be the beginning of a salve that would heal my new inner wounds.

He pulled away and looked at me again, probably wondering how we could have survived as he enveloped me in an embrace. We stayed this way for quite some time.

“I’m surprised you’re still here,” I finally said.

“You can run me into the ground, and I’ll still be dumb enough to be here at the end of it.”

I laughed, resting my head against his hardened chest. I didn’t know what would happen after this, but I remembered the ring that hung around his neck. Somewhere between then and now, I had fallen for this foolish cowboy. As I took it in my hand and studied the small circle that resembled a half-lit moon, I realized something fierce.

“You are mine, cowboy. There isn’t anyone in any realm that could take you away from me.”

A warm chuckle hummed in his chest.

“Damn them all to hells if they tried,” I said.

He leaned forward and cupped my cheek, dragging the pad of his thumb against my mouth as he flashed a pearly smile. “Damn them all to hells.”

Looking past Ryder, I saw his stallion with the chest full of tonic—the last card Pa had played—strapped to its side. I smiled faintly.

Arching a brow, Ryder seemed to notice.

“Whatever challenges come our way, we will manage it,” he said.

A warmth bloomed, knowing Pa was finally with the woman he loved. I’d have to think about that whenever I felt myself slipping into the dark.

Besides, a new vendetta was on the rise.

I’d let the bird live for now, let him get a taste of what freedom felt like while I enjoyed some of my own.

But when he woke to the sound of a hammer cocking back, he’d meet his fate. It would take one bullet to kill, two because I was a spiteful bitch. I knew my path.

May the ancestors send whatever darkness or light we need to guide us.

The End

35

Raven

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