Blaze of Glory (3 page)

Half the outsiders turned and aimed at him, not looking as though they cared he was the law.
In fact, they seemed awfully eager for the chance to take out a lawman.

Eli laughed. “Way to go, jackass.”

The girl in the blue dress stood tall. “You won’t take me alive.”

“Lynn?” Cole asked, his brown eyes widening.
“Don’t
you dare draw their fire
.
”

Lynn.

Jonathan
committed the name to memory. The outsiders didn’t seem to notice the man’s slip. They kept their weapons trained on the girl. She glared at them
as if daring them to kill her
. “Go ahead! Shoot! I’m sick of being hunted by you!
Kill me and claim the fame. Do it!
”

Parker dodged forward, rushing past any and all
that
stood between h
im
and the woman
named
Lynn. He shoved his body in front of hers
in a protective manner
and glared at the men. “You’ll not harm her.
She’s under my protection now.
”

Eli let out a low whistle. “Never did I see that coming.
Saw-bones
is a born skirt
-
chaser. Think he might have
T
he
F
ever or something?
He’s always doctorin’ folks with w
eir
d a
il
ments.
”

Well
, if
The Fever
included an uncontrollable urge to protect
a
woman
,
then his brother most certainly had caught it. He could only hope Parker’s case was curable.
Jonathan
knew his own case wasn’t.
Molly had infected him long ago and he knew he’d never get her out of his veins. It wasn’t like he hadn’t tried.
His exploits of the female persuasion were legendary
—
so was the fact he refused to commit.

“Are you stupid?” Lynn asked, giving Parker a good shove.
At five
-
eight, she was tall by female standards but short compared the MacSweeny boys. Still, she mana
ged to get Parker to budge ever
so slightly, shocking
Jonathan
.
“Move
! T
hey’ll gun you down to get to me.”

“Then so be it.”

Jonathan
shook his head. Parker was bound to get himself killed without some serious intervention. “Parker, get her
and
your ass out of there. We’ll take care of our guests.
We’ll even be sweet enough to give ‘em that
welcome
speech you had worked out.
”

“Parker?” the girl asked. She glanced
at
Jonathan
and Eli
and
her eyes widened. “That means one of you is
Jonathan
.
”

The feel of a cold, hard barrel pressed against the back of
Jonathan
’s head. Cursing himself for letting his guard down, he put his hands up as his attacker shoved harder with the gun.

“Lookie, boys,
we
got us a sheriff. He’s got to bring a good amount of coinage, don’t ya think?”

There was a flash of black. A blur. Several shots. Screams.
Jonathan
caught movement out of the corner of his eye and realized someone had shot the man who had him at gunpoint.

Molly fired off two more
rounds
, taking down t
wo
more
outlaws
before racing full
-
speed
at
the crowd. She launched herself high into
the
air, spun several times, firing as she went
,
and
grinned
when her feet hit
the
ground. Several more outlaws dropped along with her, only they didn’t land on their feet or have a pulse anymore.

Dead tends to do that to a person.

She smiled as she stood tall next to Lynnette.
The man with her looked like a giant protective cowboy. In fact, that’s
exactly
what he was. As he glanced at her, she noticed his silver eyes. Those belonged to just one man.
“Hi, Parker
MacSweeny
.”

The six
-
foot
-
five ox of a man nodded. “Hi there.”

Lynnette arched a brow, clearly amused
by the man and if Molly didn’t know better, she’d have said her friend appeared interested in
him
.

Parker did a double
-
take, his eyes wide as they raked over her. “Molly?
” He glanced behind him at
Lynnette
before staring back at her.
“
M
olly? You’re in…leather and…and
you’re armed.”

Grinning, Molly reached down and grabbed hold of the stan
dard
-
issue Special Marshal fire
arm in her side holster. She handed it to Lynnette
butt
-
first
. “Next time you try to commit
suicide
to get them off my trail, make damn sure I’m not standing close enough to hear
and
stop it
or I might kill you myself.
”

It made little sense but it was all Molly had at the moment.

Lynnette glanced away. “I-I thought if I came in your place they’d kill me, think it was y
ou and stop hunting you.
I’m not like you.
No one will miss me, Molly.”

Parker rounded on her, his face lit with fury. “You will not talk like that again, woman. Understood?”

Lynnette
’s mouth opened, her brow furrowed and she shook her head. No sound came out.

Molly smiled. Trust Parker to render her friend speechless. “I’d miss you, Lynn. Cole would miss you and I’m thinking
—
”
S
he glanced at Parker
.
“
—
others would too, sweetie. I appreciate
the
gesture but getting yourself killed on account of me isn’t what I want. I want you safe and happy.
Now, let’s kick some bad guy ass.”

Parker’s eyes widened. “Molly?”

Removing her hat, Molly let her long braid fall free as she handed
the hat
to Parker. “Hold this and stand
real
still.”

“Huh?”

She shook her head as she glanced at Lynnette. “He’s a
MacSweeny boy. He can’t help but get in the way. It’s something in their genetic makeup. They need to play the hero. There are a whole lot of them. I stopped trying to keep count. And before you ask, yes, they all look this good. I think it’s to tempt the women. Like walking sin.” She licked her lower lip. “
Mmm
, and they can tempt an angel. Just know if you run across one, they will undoubtedly be underfoot thinking they’re helping out.”

Parker huffed. “I am not underfoot. I am—”

“What do you propose we do?” Lynnette asked, smiling as she cut Parker off in mid-sentence.

The outlaws picked then to resume their attack. Lynnette swept Parker’s feet out from under him and rode his body to the ground as she fired at the enemy. Molly joined in, firing with one hand and grabbing hold of her whip with the other. She lashed out with it, disarming two men in the process. Something yanked it free of her hand but she didn’t stop to see what. She kept going, doing everything in her power to keep Parker and Lynnette safe.

One of the outlaws bent down. His eyes swirled to the color of brandy wine and incisors that rivaled a rabid wolf’s appeared in place of his normal teeth. She knew the breed. She’d been chasing this group of outlaws long enough to know a thing or two about them. The man didn’t carry a wolf in him. He had the DNA of a coyote. Molly tipped her head and laughed. “Interesting. You hoping to scare me or make me wish I’d brought a lead?”

Growling, the were-coyote lunged at her.

Oh, this is almost too easy.

She spun in a circle, allowing momentum to build as she went. The half-man half-beast rushed at her. She swung out and caught him in the chin. He lurched back and snarled at her.

“You will die a horrible death, bitch!”

Molly grinned. “At the hands of a soaked were-coyote?” A snort broke free of her. “You’re so drunk I’m in danger of having a hangover just standing close to you.”

He growled again, apparently thinking that would finally do her in. He couldn’t have been more wrong. Putting her hands up, Molly motioned for him to attack. “Come and get it, if you think you’re man enough.”

Familiar energy prickled over her skin, caressing her in places she didn’t want to concentrate on at the moment. Moisture pooled between her legs as she drew in a deep breath. Glancing around, she looked for the source of the power.

The unseen force slid over her breasts, causing her nipples to peak and her body to tingle. Molly swayed slightly and suddenly felt as though very large, very male hands were running over her body, cupping her sex. A tiny moan escaped her lips and the power around her seemed to take on a smug vibe.

Yep, definitely male.

“Molly, watch out!” Cole yelled a second too late.

The were-coyote slammed into her, knocking the wind from her lungs. She rolled with it as bullets whizzed past her head. She knew it wasn’t her people shooting at them. It was the other outlaws. They didn’t care if they killed one of their own just so long as she died in the process.

The were-coyote pinned her to the ground and raised his arm. Claws glistened in the sunlight and Molly closed her eyes, preparing for death. Something struck the were-coyote from the side, sending him to the ground. More shots went off.

Rolling to her side, Molly froze as she stared at the form of a large man lying on top of the were-coyote. Her gut clenched when she spotted the waves of jet-black hair spilling out and around him. Hair that black, that silky, that perfect had to belong to a member of the MacSweeny family. Suddenly, she knew whose power she’d felt running over her. Her gut clenched.

“No.”

Crawling quickly, she touched the man’s shoulder. “God, no. Don’t be who I think you are. Please.” She rolled him off the shifter, not paying any attention to the were-coyote itself. As Molly’s gaze ran over the squared, strong face of the man before her, she gasped. The minute a pair of golden eyes looked up at her, she covered her mouth and shook her head. “Jonathan.”

A slow, pained smile came to his ruggedly handsome face. “Hey, Molls. I thought I’d come crash those wedding plans your daddy has for you.”

Wedding plans?

She stared down at the man who had been her childhood sweetheart, her best friend growing up, her everything. Blood seeped freely from several chest wounds and for a moment, Molly forgot how to breathe.

He reached for her. “Molls, don’t cry.”

I do not cry.

As he touched her
cheek,
she realized she was indeed crying.
His hand was rough, callused
,
but she didn’t care. Turning her head a bit, Molly planted a tiny kiss on his palm before slipping her hand over his and holding it to her.

“Jon, I’m so sorry.” She looked up to find that the other outlaws had scurried away.

Cowards.

Her ga
ze fell upon another tall, dark-
haired man.
He had MacSweeny written all over him as well.
As his unnaturally colored lavender eyes wandered in her
direction,
she began to shake. “Eli, get Doc Bak
e
nston!
Jonathan
’s been shot!
”

“I can’t, Molly. Doc’s dead. Been dead for about six years now. But
you don’t have
to worry about Jon. He’ll be just
—
”

Rage tore through her. She glared at the thing that had
caused
Jonathan
to be shot
. Cole had the
were-coyote,
who had taken human form again
,
held at gunpoint. Molly’s hands shook with fury. “You fucking bastard!
My
Jonathan
was hurt because of you!
”

“Molly!” Eli said, no doubt shocked by her language
—
that or her claim on
Jonathan
. She didn’t really care.

Glancing down at
Jonathan
, she took a deep breath in. “Do you still carry weapons in the same places?”

His brow furrowed as he nodded. Running her hand down the length of his jean
-
covered leg, Molly found a hunting knife in his boot and pulled it out. She raked it over her palm, cutting it
deep and wide
.
Jonathan
gasped. She ignored him as she put her bloody hand to
one of
his chest wound
s
.

Closing her eyes, Molly focused on her power.
The magik she’d been born possessing but taught to be ashamed of.
Taught to hide.
The magik she’d even hidden from
Jonathan
. Cole and
Lynnette
knew about it. So did her
u
ncle. But her father had been the one to insist she never use it. Good thing she wasn’t a daddy’s girl. Her magik
buzzed
around her, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end.

“I bind you to me,
Jonathan
Thomas
MacSweeny. Should you try to cross over, my spirit will follow yours. As it once was written, so it shall be,” she whispered, repeating words he’d spoken to her when she was but sixteen years old. The words had forged a one-sided bond, locking her spirit to his as she had been on death’s doorstep ten years ago, when Jonathan had refused to let her die. He’d gone so far as to scare her into believing if she gave in to death, he’d follow her. It worked. Hopefully, the reverse would work as well. Should Jonathan choose not to fight, Molly was more than willing to back up her claim. She would die with him. It didn’t matter if a hundred years passed between seeing him, she would always love Jonathan.

Now, as the threads of magik, earth, spirit and the unknown began to weave what once was a one-sided bond into two, Jonathan shook his head frantically. “No, Molls. No. If I—”

“If you die, you stubborn jerk, you will take me with you. Use the strength I’ve given you to fight or tell me if you’re planning on giving up now. I want enough time to kill the bastard who did this to you, Jonathan.” Fearing she’d lose her nerve, Molly did the one thing she’d wanted to do since she’d met Jonathan MacSweeny—she kissed him.

It was chaste, yet full of more passion than most kisses she’d had. As she drew back, Molly brushed Jonathan’s hair away from his tanned face. “My apologies to your wife. I just had to…well, I just had to. I can’t offer anything more. I’ll be right back.”

She stood quickly and found Cole staring at her with wide eyes. “You just kissed that guy.”

“I didn’t fall on him and fuck the living hell out of him. I didn’t even use my tongue.” Molly snorted. “Why am I explaining this to you?”

“Because,” Cole said with a sexy smile, “I’m your
fiancé
and I’m loving the fact you’ve got no problem talking about fucking the living hell out of someone while in public. Mmm.”

Arching a brow, Molly ignored Cole’s comment and focused on the outlaw before him. “You are a dead man.”

The man laughed. “You can’t touch me. Law says you gotta take me in for a hearing now,
Magikal
Marshal
Molly
.”

She cringed, hating the name they’d given her. As the man glanced at Jonathan, a huge smile spread over his face. “He’s gonna die and I’m gonna spend the rest of my nights knowin’ I killed the great huntress’ mate.”

“Her mate?” Cole asked, giving the guy a good, hard shove. “I’m tempted to kill you for her.”

The man sneered and Molly rolled her eyes. “Jonathan is a lot of things but he’s not my mate. And—” She raised her weapon, aiming at his head. “—you aren’t going to see a trial. Your life ends here and now.”

His eyes widened. So did Cole’s. “Y-You can’t shoot me in cold blood. You’ll hang.”

“Like I give a shit if I hang. I’m as good as dead as it is, asshole. Jon has a chest full of bullets in him and I fully intend to follow him when he goes. To see you die, I’ll wrap the noose around my own neck.”

“Molly,” Lynnette said, her voice low, peaceful, the model of serenity. “Calm down, honey. The man’s right. We need to take him before a judge. He surrendered to Cole that means he gets a trial. Doing anything else would make you no better than them and you don’t want that.”