Warrior's Embrace (68 page)

Kate could picture Eagle, as formidable and
unmovable as Arbuckle Mountain. But Mick Malone was neither
impressed nor intimidated.

“You’ll think Tribal Lands when I get through
with you. I’ll have the feds down here so fast it’ll make your head
swim. When they get through investigating the fire at my daughter’s
clinic, we’ll see who has power.”

There was the sound of footsteps as Eagle
crossed the room, probably showing her father the door. Then a long
silence, and Mick’s parting shot.

“You haven’t heard the last of me.”

Only when the door slammed did Kate realize
she’d been gripping her arms so hard, she’d made red marks.

“Kate.” She hadn’t even heard his approach,
and yet there was Eagle, standing just inches away from her, on the
other side of the glass shower door. Kate squeezed her hands
together to keep from putting them on the glass like a child would
on a shop window holding a great confection.

“I’m sorry, Kate.”

She could withstand his coldness, but his
kindness was killing her.

“Don’t take my decision to stay here
personally.”

“I don’t.”

“And don’t think I’m going to make it easy
for you ...because I’m not.”

“I’d be disappointed if you did,
Wictonaye
.”

Was the slip accidental or deliberate? Her
breathing fogged up the shower door, but still she could see him,
too close, too tempting. The humming sound she used to make when
she was curved into him on summer evenings under the stars started
low in her throat, and she clamped her hand over her mouth.

What kind of woman was she? Wanting her best
friend’s fiancé only hours after Deborah’s death?

Eagle’s house was sprawling, most certainly
with two baths and probably three. Why had she barreled down the
hall to his?

“Kate, are you all right?”

What if she weren’t? Would he come inside the
shower and help her fog up the glass door?

“Uhm-mmm.”

“When you’ve finished your bath, I’ll take
you home to get some of your things, and I’ll go with you on your
house calls.”

“All right.”

He stood on the other side of the glass door
for a small eternity; then he left. It must have been five minutes
after he left before Kate had recovered enough to turn on the
shower.

o0o

The horses’ hooves sank deep into the snow as
they struggled up the mountainside, single file. Only the
life-and-death struggle of two children could have forced Eagle to
take Kate on such a journey.

He glanced behind to see how she was making
the trip. She gave him a thumbs-up sign, but he could see the
tension in her face and knew she must be remembering what had
happened the last time she’d braved the mountain.

There was a certain waiting stillness upon
the land, as if someone, somewhere, watched every move they made. A
raven rose suddenly from its nest, sounding alarms, and Eagle
glanced upward.

Did a shadow move, or was it his imagination?
If he hadn’t had Kate with him, he’d have investigated, but his
primary purpose was to deliver her safely to the sick children.

When they entered the woods, he again was
convinced that he was being watched. Strange that he wasn’t picking
up a sense of evil, but a sense that whoever was out there belonged
to the land in the way that his ancestors had.

Eagle scanned the woods, but not so much as
the movement of a leaf betrayed the watcher.

Charleston, South Carolina

For the first time in years, Martha stood up
to her husband.

“I want to know about my daughter,” she
said.

“She’s living with a savage. What more do you
want to know, Martha?”

“How was she? Did she look all right? What
did she say?”

Mick crushed his cigar in the ashtray and sat
down in his chair with the newspaper. As far as he was concerned,
the conversation was over.

Martha walked over to his chair and stood,
waiting for him to notice her.

“Dammit, woman. What do you want? Can’t you
see I’m busy?”

“You’ve seen Katie Elizabeth for the first
time in five years, and all you can say is ‘She’s living with a
savage.’ I never considered you heartless, Mick Malone, but I’m
beginning to think that’s exactly what you are. A heartless ...son
of a you-know-what.”

“Martha, I do believe you came close to
cussing me.” Mick almost grinned.

“I do believe I did.”

Martha could hardly believe what she’d done.
Flushed with success and newfound courage, she took the paper from
his hand.

“Now,” she said. “Tell me what you said to my
daughter and what she said to you. I want to know the truth.”

Mick seemed to grow smaller as he scooted
down in his chair.

“The truth is ugly, Martha.”

“Yes, Mick. Sometimes it is.” She sat on the
footstool beside the chair and took his hand. “Tell me about
Katie.”

o0o

Witch Dance

Anna had grown to hate her husband.
Almost.

Looking at him now, sitting at the head of
the dinner table, she could pretend for a little while that
everything was normal, that they still shared the same goals, the
same bed.

“This roast beef is delicious, Anna,” Dovie
said.

“Thank you.” Anna had no appetite for roast
beef. Even the smell of it made her sick.

She felt Cole’s eyes or, her, and when she
looked at him, he smiled.

Don’t give me false hope
, she wanted
to scream. She’d invited his family over, hoping that their
presence would restore some sense of balance and normality.

Cole’s smile dashed all her plans. For a
moment it was sincere, intimate,
real
. And then it became
something else, something she didn’t even want to think about.

“Eagle flaunts the pale-faced doctor,” he
said.

“I know of this.” Winston had aged terribly
in the past few months. Except for his piercing eyes and the deep
voice, there were no signs of the powerful, robust man Anna had
known.

“She lives with him,” Dovie said.

“He protects her,” Winston said. “Nothing
more.”

“Black Elk sent tribal police to do that,”
Dovie protested. “They are all around Eagle’s ranch. Why can’t they
do their job at Dr. Malone’s house?”

Anna wanted to throw dishes at her husband
for bringing this contention to their family meal. Instead, she
spooned in a mouthful of potatoes and tried to swallow them without
gagging.

“She’ll turn him away from everything he
believes in,” Cole said.

Clint shoved back his chair and ran from the
room. Dovie started crying.

“Now look what you’ve done.” Anna’s rage and
frustration boiled over. “If anyone is destroying this family, it’s
you.”

Cole’s face was thunderous as he stalked out
of the room.

“We will all survive this trying time.”
Winston helped Dovie into her coat then put his arms around Anna.
“You’re strong, my daughter. I’m proud of you.”

She stood in the doorway until they were
safely in their car, then she went into the bathroom she shared
with her husband and lost her dinner.

Cole didn’t even bother to ask why she was
sick.

o0o

The long white limousine slid through the
night as silently as a shadow. Behind its tinted windows Melissa
stared at the cottage and the charred ruins of the clinic.

“Stop here,” she told the driver.

As she stared into the darkness, the old rage
built in her. Clayton had lived there ...with another woman.
Melissa flattened her palms against the glass and imagined how it
must have been, the two of them sharing meals that Clayton had
cooked and laughing together ...laughing at her.

“You won’t win this time.”

At her signal, the chauffeur carried her back
to her apartment in Ada. Inside, she dropped her purse somewhere in
the vicinity of the entry hall and slid one arm out of her mink
coat so that it trailed along behind her to the bathroom.

“Hurry, hurry,” she whispered to herself.
“He’ll be here soon.”

Her hands shook as she untangled herself from
her coat, then reached into the back of the linen closet to take
out her supplies. When all the pots of paint were spread upon the
vanity, she stripped off her clothes and stood naked in front of
the mirror.

She dipped her finger into a paint pot, then
drew careful circles around her breasts.

“
Ni’tak intaha
,” she whispered. “The
days appointed are finished.”

She dipped her fingers again then raked them
down her body from breastbone to pelvic bone. Her pupils dilated at
the sight of so much red. Like blood.

Clayton would be proud of her. At the thought
of her lover, Melissa became almost frantic in her haste. Soon he’d
be with her and they would lie together on the silk sheets sealed
at the hips, sealed so tightly that nothing could tear them
apart.

The blue slash she painted across her cheeks
wavered off course, and the yellow she put on her lips got out of
line, but that didn’t matter now. Nothing mattered except being
ready for Clayton.

When she’d finished painting herself, she
selected a knife from the kitchen and lay down upon the bed. “Soon,
my darling,” she whispered.

She heard his key in the lock and his
footsteps as he came into her bedroom. She turned herself so that
the bedside light could show her handiwork.

“My God,” he whispered.

“Do you love me?” she asked.

He came to her swiftly, and knelt beside the
bed.

“You know I do.” He bent over her hand and
pressed it to his lips. “I love you, Melissa. I
really
love you.”

“Will you do anything for me, Clayton?”

His beautiful skin glistened in the lamplight
as he stared at her.

“Will you?” she whispered.

He touched her breasts and his fingers came
away red.

“Anything, my love.”

Smiling, she put the knife in his hands.

o0o

Every movement Kate made vibrated through him
like a bowstring turned loose after the arrow has been launched.
Eagle’s house had become a mine field. If he turned his head too
quickly, he would catch her watching him in ways that set him
aflame. If he wandered through the house in the middle of the
night, he would glimpse her, struck with the same wanderlust,
standing at the window with the moon washing her skin silver.

Now, sitting across the table from her, he
was surprised to see that look on her face again. He lifted his
coffee cup ...carefully, as he did everything these days.

Kate picked up her cup with equal care.

“I’m going to the barn to check on Mahli,”
she said. “She hasn’t looked good since . . .” Her voice trailed
away.

“I’ll go with you.”

“I’m afraid she won’t be with me much longer.
I’d like to spend some time with her.” Their eyes met. “Alone.”

“After I check the barn, I’ll leave you. One
of the guards can escort you back to the house.”

They walked side by side to the barn, not
touching. The night was cold and clear, with stars shining down on
the snow and reflecting their light in patches that looked like
celestial stepping-stones.

Only a fool would try to penetrate the wall
of guards around the governor’s house on such a night.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Kate looked up at
the sky.

“Yes.” Her face and hair were surrounded by a
nimbus.

Waka ahina uno, iskunosi Wictonaye.
Waka.

As if she’d read his thoughts, she turned to
him.

“We can never go back,” she whispered.

“No. Never.”

Silently, he held the barn door open. She
went straight to the stall and stood with Mahli between them while
he checked for signs of intruders. Nothing was out of place. The
sweet smell of hay and the rich smell of loamy earth lulled and
soothed, just as the stars had done.

“You’re safe, Kate. Just call one of the
guards when you’re ready to come back.”

“Yes, Governor.” She saluted, then came out
of the stall and curtsied. “Anything you say, Governor.”

The irony of her submissive attitude made
them both laugh, and the laughter somehow saved them. When he went
back to his house, Eagle’s spirits were almost light.

He got a file folder and sat in a chair by
the window, facing the barn. At his request, Martin Black Elk
furnished him with copies of every report regarding Kate’s case.
The latest was on Melissa Sayers Colbert, widow of suicide victim
Dr. Clayton Colbert, with addresses in Boston and Ada,
Oklahoma—socialite, heiress, and recently a patient at a mental
institution.

A memory stirred in the back of his mind, a
memory of the look on Clayton Colbert’s face when Eagle had
welcomed Kate to Witch Dance with a bouquet of Indian paintbrush.
It had been the look of a man desperately, hopelessly, in love.

Revenge was a powerful motivation.

Suddenly the back of his neck prickled, and
he turned slowly to the window. A curl of smoke rose from the barn,
and the acrid smell of burning filled the air.

Paper scattered to the floor as he raced from
the room.

“Kate!” he yelled. There was no answer except
the crackle of flame shooting toward the sky

Eagle almost stumbled over the bodies of the
tribal policemen he’d left guarding the door. Kneeling quickly, he
felt their pulse, then burst through the barn door.

Smoke billowed around him.

“
Kate
!”

“Over here.” She was struggling to lead Mahli
and Heloa through the flames. The black stallion reared, and his
hooves smashed against the ground, cutting deep grooves.

“Let him go, Kate! He’ll kill you.”

“He’ll burn, Eagle. They’ll all burn.”

Kate’s voice had the high, bright edge of
hysteria. Eagle had a flashback of Deborah lying in a pool of blood
amid the blazing clinic.