Page 21 of Property of Mako
Copper was last. He was the chestnut stallion I’d gotten from a small breeding facility. Their barn had caught fire, and several of the horses had perished. He’d gotten loose and was missing in the swamps for months. By the time he was reported by a gator hunter, he was in bad shape, and no one could get near him.
“He’s quite beautiful,” I heard Calix say from the edge of the arena.
Copper spooked and bolted to the side for a moment before I got him under control. He eyed Calix warily as his nostrils flared and he snorted and huffed.
“Sorry, I didn’t know he was so skittish,” Calix apologized, actually appearing sheepish.
“He’s come a long way, but yeah. It took me about six weeks of patience before I could even touch him, really. He’d been badly traumatized by a fire in his barn. That night, he escaped, but he had burns on his legs that healed badly, and he was practically skin and bones when I got him. He’d been roaming in the swamps for months. It was heartbreaking. The owners were going to put him down, and I offered to take him. They signed him over to me. He’s the only papered horse here.” I chuckled softly so as not to startle Copper too much.
Calix stood at the edge of the arena with his arms resting on the top rail. He was so damn good-looking it should be a crime. I had to keep reminding myself that he was a lethal monster. I’d seen him violently obliterate three other vampires like it was nothing. Doing my best to ignore him, I clucked my tongue and squeezed my legs to drive Copper forward.
“I’m eight hundred and ninety-seven,” he announced as I passed for the third or fourth time.
Shocked, I drew back on the reins and spun Copper to face him. The poor stallion tossed his head and danced side to side. My mouth had to have been flopping open and shut like a fish.
The corner of his mouth lifted in the most actual smile I’d ever seen on him.
“Don’t you still have stalls to clean?” I huffed.
“Done.”
“What?” There was no way he was done with all of them.
“I didn’t stutter.”
“Well… thank you,” I begrudgingly offered.
He lifted his chin.
“So what, you're just staying here watching me? For what?” I demanded, and he looked away. At first, I didn’t think he was going to answer me.
“They know you are snooping around. I have reason to believe that they are going to come after you,” he finally replied.
I laughed in disbelief. “Me? Why? I haven’t found out anything. I’m not exactly a young girl either. I don’t fit the profile.”
“You’re thirty, Lyra. You were fourteen when Lily was born. You’re not ancient, and you’re a beautiful woman. Trust me when I say they wouldn’t need much more reason than that to take you.”
My cheeks burned at the compliment, and I forced a laugh to hide my discomfort. He didn’t so much as crack a grin. I also wanted to ask him how he knew so much about me, but I didn’t. Though the strange ability I’d always had to read people and “speak” to animals was screaming at me. There was something he wasn’t saying. “What aren't you telling me?”
“Nothing. I don’t know more than I’ve told you.” He boldly stared at me as if daring me to call him out.
Yet I also somehow knew if I did, he wouldn’t give me an inch.
For the rest of the day, we surprisingly worked silently but comfortably together. I had to force myself to stay busy, or I would drive myself crazy with worry about Lily. With the back of my gloved hand, I wiped the sweat from my brow. We’d been repairing a section of the fence I’d been meaning to get to for over a year.
“You need to go inside and eat something for lunch,” he insisted from his crouched position.
“I’m not hungry.”
“You’re a liar,” he shot back with an actual chuckle as he set the fencing pliers down and stood up. “I can hear your stomach growling.”
I gasped in affront as I pressed my palm to my stomach.
“Come on, I’ll take you to get something if you don’t want to make it. But I’ll need your keys unless you want to ride my bike,” he said.
“You would let me ride on your bike?” I asked, surprised.
He cocked a single elegant brow. “Normally, no. I never let anyone ride it. But since you insisted on staying here, then yes.”
