The Alchemy of Desire (12 page)

“Good night, Oni.” The tension seeped out of his muscles, replaced by something that warmed him from his core. He’d been given a second chance with her, and he was bound and determined to make the most of it.

Chapter Thirteen

The harsh dissonance that could only be Jim’s snoring echoed through the room when Oni opened her eyes. But as the rest of her senses sharpened, she realized it wasn’t the noise that had had pulled her from her slumber. It was something squeezing her hand.

Her eyes adjusted to the semidarkness and she stared at Diah sleeping across from her. Or, to be more accurate, at the hand that covered hers. He shifted in his sleep and squeezed her hand again. The edges of his mouth rose. She wondered if he was aware of what he was doing or if he was just dreaming and had stumbled across her body in the process.

She didn’t pull away, even though her mind was yelling at her to do so. Part of her wanted to enjoy the simple pleasure of him holding her hand, as silly as it sounded. Yes, there were times when her body burned for him. Last night, she’d almost pulled him into the tub with her, she wanted him so badly. But then there were other almost innocent gestures like this that warmed her heart.

Why are you doing this to yourself? You know you’re only going to get hurt in the end.

Oni bit her bottom lip and tried to withdraw her hand, but he held on to it tighter. She was a fool to believe anything more than a sexual relationship could come from this. He only needed her to find the White Buffalo. Once he got what he wanted, he’d go back East and marry some proper little white woman and have a litter of darling redheaded children. A stab of jealousy caught her right between the ribs as she pictured their happy little white family.

But more importantly, would he still feel the same for her if he knew all her secrets? He already had trouble accepting that she’d stolen from him. What if he knew about the man she’d murdered or the people she’d abandoned on the plain when she sensed a demon approaching? And then there was the shifting. Stars above, he’d probably have her locked away if she told him about that. Or maybe have himself locked up for hallucinating if she showed him.

A series of snorts followed by a yawn signaled that Jim was waking up. As much as she hated it, she pried her hand free from Diah’s. Just before her fingertips cleared his, he opened his eyes. For a moment, neither one of them moved. Then he lifted her fingers to his lips before releasing them.

What kind of sweet torture is this?

“Everybody up,” Jim shouted. “I can’t get breakfast started with all you folks taking up my floor.”

Diah grinned at her like they had just shared a secret. “All right, Jim, we’re moving.”

They stood and folded the blankets and furs as Jim stepped around them and revived the fire in the stove. The clanging of pots and pans was enough to wake the dead. Cager sat at the table and grumbled every time a loud noise prevented him from falling back asleep.

Once Jim got the coffee started, he tucked his thumbs into his suspenders “We’re getting low on meat again, so I’m taking Oni hunting with me. You boys can do whatever you want.”

“I don’t mind coming along.” Diah tucked away the last of the bedding.

“Nope, I just want the two of us out today.”

Oni tensed. If Jim wanted her alone, that usually meant she was in some kind of trouble.

She waited until they rode a few hundred yards from the dugout before she asked him what she’d done now.

“Just wanted some alone time with my favorite niece.”

“Drop the act, Jim. I’m your only niece.”

He chuckled. “You’ve always been blunt, Oni, just like your daddy. Perhaps that’s why we’ve always gotten along.”

“But I take it there’s something you wanted to talk to me about that you didn’t feel comfortable saying in front of the Reynolds brothers.”

“Just a few things.”

She gulped. “Such as?”

“First off, are you really going to lead them to the White Buffalo and let them kill it?”

“They seem pretty determined to get it.”

“But have you explained the legends to them? I don’t think they know what they’re messing with.”

“Maybe I’ll tell them.”

“There’s no maybe about it. I’ve grown quite fond of them boys over the last week, and I’d hate anything bad to happen to them, especially Big Red. Speaking of which…” He turned to her and waited for her say something.

“What about Diah?”

“I was hoping you’d tell me so I wouldn’t have to weasel it out of you.”

Don’t let on how much you like him,
her mind cautioned. “He’s a good man. Cager, on the other hand—”

“We ain’t talking about Cager—we’re talking about his brother.”

“Jim, he’s a nice guy—a real gentleman, even—but he’s just a client and nothing more. When it’s all said and done, he’ll go home and I’ll be a few hundred dollars richer.”

Jim squinted at her. “There’s more to it than that. You don’t normally let your clients kiss you the way he did last night. Or if you do, you should be charging them a helluva lot more. If you were my daughter, I would have had a shotgun pointed at his back and a come-to-Jesus talk with him after what I saw. But, seeing as you’re a grown woman, I kept quiet then. I ain’t keeping quiet now. What’s going on between you two?”

Oni closed her eyes and tried to collect her thoughts. How could she answer this question when she was so unsure of things? “I think we’re both attracted to each other, but that’s all.”

“Quit lying to yourself. I think that boy’s falling in love with you, and I bet your heart’s doing its own little bit of fluttering for him as well.”

“It’s more difficult than that. I mean, why would he want a shape-shifting half-breed like me?”

“You can’t always use that as an excuse to push people away.”

“Think about it, Jim. I’m not normal. I’m one of those people feared by the tribe and hated by the white man. How do you think he’d react if I sprouted fur in front of him?”

“It didn’t bother me none when I saw you shift.”

“That’s only because you’d seen my mother do it before.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. Her uncle had been living on the plains too long and had lost touch with the real world. “I just don’t think he’ll handle it well, that’s all.”

“You’re dismissing him before you even give him a chance. I think he’s a bigger man than you’re giving him credit for. And I think you know it too, or else you wouldn’t be making so many excuses.”

She sighed. If she was blunt, then Jim was stubborn. “If you say so.”

“Of course I say so ’cause you know I’m dead on about you two.”

Oni kept her mouth shut after that. She knew she couldn’t change his mind, and their talking was probably scaring away any game. Once they lapsed into silence, they easily shot enough rabbits within a few hours to feed them for the next two or three days and were back to the dugout by midday.

“Diah, come help me dress these jackrabbits,” Jim hollered as they dismounted. “Oni, get the stove warmed up and see what else you can make to go with these.”

She brushed against Diah in the doorway and exchanged a smile with him. Maybe Jim knew more about him than she did. Her thoughts turned to ways to test him to see how he would handle the truth.

As she bustled around the room, Cager sat the table and toyed with his wand. “I hate being laid up with this shoulder.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“If it was healed, we could be back on the trail of the White Buffalo.”

Perhaps it was a good thing they weren’t hunting the White Buffalo. “You’re a Wielder—heal yourself.”

He leaned on the table and gripped the gun-shaped wand. “You know it doesn’t work like that.”

“Then why are you griping to me?”

“Because you’re a Wielder too.”

She banged the skillet against the stovetop. “Cager, I tried it already and I failed. I’ve never been good at healing.”

“How many times have you tried to heal someone?”

“Counting you?”

He nodded.

“Three times.”

He laughed and twirled his gun around his finger. “You’re still a pup.”

She cringed at the word
pup
and wondered if he knew about her ability to shift. She wouldn’t be surprised if he did. Cager seemed much worldlier than his brother. “I hope that thing isn’t loaded.”

“It’s a wand, Oni, not a real gun.” But he placed it on the table and watched her mix batter for cornbread. “I’d be willing to let you have another crack at it if it meant I could get out of this sling faster.”

She poured the batter into the cast-iron skillet and shoved it in the oven. “You think I can do it?”

“Maybe, if I walk you through it.” He kicked back the chair next to him and waited for her to sit. “What kind of training have you received in magic?”

“Very little,” she admitted. “The Lakota use a different type of magic. I was taught a few basics that they considered useful, but that was it. The rest I learned from watching others after I left the tribe.”

“May I take a look at your wand?” He held out his hand and she gave him her dagger. He held it up to the sunlight. “This looks to be nearly a century old.”

“Older. It was originally designed for my great-great-grandfather back in the Old World. I inherited it when my father died.”

He returned the dagger to her. “He was a Wielder too?”

“So I’m told. I don’t remember him.”

Cager rubbed his chin. Even though the sun had been out for hours, he looked like he was still trying to wake up. “Well, I’m not much of a teacher, but let’s get this lesson underway so I can move my arm without pain. Maybe I can actually get a good night’s sleep for once.”

He started to unbutton his shirt. “The trick to healing is that you have to picture each layer of the wound closing in your mind. I think what happened with my shoulder is that you just wanted to stop the bleeding, which you did. You just never got to the next step.”

“Part of it was Diah’s fault.”

“Yeah, I already lectured him about that.”

“So I just have to imagine the skin closing, and your wound will heal?”

“Don’t forget the bones and muscles.”

She stared at her wand and then at the bandages around his shoulder. “You really want me to try again?”

“I don’t have many other options.”

She stood and moved closer to him. “Promise you won’t scream like a little girl this time?”

“I can’t make any guarantees there. Force-healing is almost more painful than the injury, but it’s over quickly.”

“I suppose I’ll give it another shot if it means you’ll quit whining so much.”

“That’s a good girl.”

She removed the bandages. The wound was an ugly, red, puckered eyesore. The skin around it felt warm and swollen under her fingers. When she pressed on it, pus oozed between the stitches. “It’s infected.”

He nodded and she realized his eyes were glazed from fever, not sleepiness. “Now you know why I want you to heal it.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

“It didn’t really get this bad until this morning.”

Oni sighed and pressed the blade of her dagger against the wound.

“Start with the bone and work your way up to the skin. And take your time—it’s going to be a bit more difficult with the infection.”

“Now you tell me.”

Cager grabbed her wrist. His eyes pleaded with her. “I’m trusting you to do this, Oni.”

“Never thought you’d be at the mercy of a half-breed, huh?”

He gave a sharp, short laugh and released her. His hands gripped the table until his knuckles turned white. “Get it over with, will you?”

Oni took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She imagined the shattered bone and called on the magic inside her. She pictured it flowing from her to his wound. The bone fragments glued back together and Cager hissed. She focused on the layers of white pus smeared between the muscle fibers. The magic wiped them away and began to darn the muscle together like repairing a hole in a sock. With each inch of healing, she moved closer and closer to the surface, pushing the infection out. By the time she got to the skin, the scream he’d been holding back finally broke free. But she was done.

Exhaustion hit her like tidal wave and she fell forward.

Cager caught her in his arms. His eyes danced in merriment, no longer dull with pain and fever. “I knew you could do it,” he said just before he kissed her mouth.

Her skin crawled from his touch. She pressed her palms into his chest to push him away, but the healing had left her too weak to put up much of a fight.

“Now it’s my turn to be interrupting something,” Diah said behind them.

Terror locked her bones when she heard the cold voice. Diah stood in the doorway wearing an expression so dark, it chilled her very soul.

“It’s not what it looks like.” Cager shoved her from his lap. She fell to the floor with a thud.

Diah clenched his fists and took a step forward. His cheeks turned from florid to splotchy as he stared at his brother and Oni. “Funny, I think it’s exactly what it looks like.” Then, without another word, he spun on his heels and left.

A sharp pain stabbed her chest. She needed to explain to him that she wanted nothing to do with his brother, that the kiss was against her will.

She started after him, but Cager grabbed her by the waist. “Let him cool down first, Oni. You don’t know what he’s like when he’s angry.” A crash came from the barn as if to prove his point.

Please don’t let me have to heal any more broken bones today.
She tried to break free, but Cager held on.

“You don’t know what I’m like when I’m angry.” She pointed her wand at him.

He lifted his palms in the air and backed away. “I was only trying to thank you for healing me.”

“Perhaps I should give you a fresh wound to replace the one I just healed.”

“That won’t be necessary. My mistake.”

She wanted him to hurt as much as she was hurting right now. She lowered the dagger and slapped his face as hard as she could with her other hand.

Cager’s wide-eyed shock made it look like this was the first time a woman had ever struck him before, although she was sure it wasn’t. His fingers brushed the handprint forming on his cheek. Then his features twisted into a scowl. “Why, you little—”

She lifted the dagger again. Stars above, she was eager to fight with him. She had borne enough of his insults.