Page 101 of Hidden Memories

Kat swings down from Fuego. “That was amazing,” she says, smoothing her windswept hair.

“You still got it,” I dismount and walk Chispa over to her.

“So do you,” she says softly, her gaze lingering on mine.

Fuck, is it ten-thirty yet?

We walk our horses over to the fence where the boys are, our gazes connected magnetically. I don’t know if we’re in the present or the past anymore.

But before I can dream about what I’m going to do to this woman later, Owen’s voice cuts through the haze of my thoughts. “Do you guys smell that?”

My first instinct is to brush it off. But then?—

It hits me.

Acrid. Sharp.Wrong.

It’s smoke that doesn’t belong here. The kind that means destruction.

The air shifts, heavy and charged. My gut goes tight. Every muscle locks up.

Kat notices the change in me first. “Santi?”

I’m already moving.

“Stay here,” I say, my tone leaving no room for argument. I swing back onto Chispa, my pulse pounding as I urge him toward the perimeter where in the distance, smoke rises from the edge of our land where the trees are.

The smell grows stronger, the smoke thicker. I roundthe edge of the property searching for the source. Then, I see it—a small pile of brush, smoldering and spitting embers into the dry grass. I leap off Chispa, and at the same time, one of our perimeter security guards appears, running from his vehicle with a fire extinguisher. He douses the flames in white powder before they can spread.

“Well spotted, Damon,” I thank the guard.

How the hell did this happen?

The fire’s out now.

But the real threat is still standing. Red, jagged letters spray-painted across the dirt, stark and ugly against the scorched ground:

I’LL BURN YOU NEXT.

My fists clench, nails biting into my palms. The air around me tightens, shrinking, pressing in like invisible hands closing around my throat.

I scan the tree line, every nerve on high alert. Someone was here. Someone stood right where I’m standing now. And they want me to know it.

“Santi,” Damon’s voice is grim. “This wasn’t random.”

I already know.

This isn’t just a warning.

It’s a promise.

Chapter Twenty-Five

PRESENT

After the fire,Santi called in reinforcements and doubled the guards on duty. It did nothing to settle the unease coiling in my chest.

Before the rhythm of my heart settles again, I’m summoned to the ranch offices the next morning.

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