“An hour ago. The kid and I were patrolling maybe a hundred feet in when we heard the shots. We’d been close to town up until then. So, no, Edwin and Felicity didn’t come back, presuming that’s what you’re asking.”
“It is, thanks.”
I don’t ask whether there’s a chance Edwin left the path for a bit of hunting. He was an old man with a very long walk ahead of him. He wasn’t adding any extra activity to his day.
So now, on top of everything else, we had two people lost in the forest.
Except there was zero chance they actually were lost. Even if they stepped off the path for a rest, they’d find their way back to it easily.
They’ve been taken. I don’t say that. I just exchange a look with Dalton and then turn to the men.
“We’ll help you find them,” I say. “Storm here is trained for tracking. While we are busy handling the hostile problem, we recognize that this is an emergency, and so we’ll divert our resources temporarily. As a gesture of goodwill between our communities.”
“We still need one of your people to come with us,” Leon says.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Dalton explodes. “Really? Are we back to this?”
“If it was your wife missing, Eric, and we promised to help, you’d want some assurance of that.”
“No, actually, I wouldn’t. I’d appreciate the offer, but I’d understand you don’t owe me shit.”
“You do owe us. Edwin and Felicity were taken because of you. Because of the trouble you’ve stirred up with the hostiles.”
“I didn’t drag Edwin’s wrinkled ass—”
Moses cuts him off. “You are wrong, Eric, when you say you wouldn’t require assurances if the situation were reversed. If it was the best way to get your wife back, our promises would not be enough.”
Dalton starts to argue, but Moses shakes his head. “Whoever we take will be treated as an honored guest. We promise that.”
“The more time we argue, the colder the trail gets,” Anders says. “Casey needs to work with Storm, and Eric’s our human tracker. So…” He turns to the men. “You get me.”
Their gazes slide up and down him, taking in his height and the size of his biceps.
“I … believe we can come to another arrangement,” Moses murmurs.
Anders chuckles, but Dalton only advances on Moses. “You’re right. We can. And that other arrangement is that you turn around and go look for your leader and hope—just hope—that we don’t say ‘fuck you’ and continue investigating our case, leaving your leader and your daughter in the goddamn forest.”
“Take me,” Sebastian says.
Dalton spins on him. “No. Just no. Stop this shit. First him”—a finger jab Anders’s way—“and now you. We are the ones in charge here. We have the guns. We have the dog. They don’t have jack shit, and they need to remember that.”
“But I’d like to go with them,” Sebastian says softly. “As their guest. Think of me that way. Not a hostage you need to worry about, but a line of communication between the communities as they sort this out. I’ll take Casey’s dirt bike if she’ll let me. I can ferry messages back and forth. And…” A sheepish look Moses’s way. “It’s a chance to get to know Felicity’s people. As her friend.”
“What?” Angus squawks. “You are wooing her.” He spins on Moses. “You see that, don’t you? He wants you to get to know him better so he can ask for Felicity’s hand.”
Sebastian shrugs. “I’m not looking for a wife. I just want to get to know her family.”
It’s impossible to fake a blush. That’s a physiological reaction no one can force. But there are ways to emulate the same look without the actual coloring, and Sebastian does an Oscar-worthy job of it. His eyes drop, his gaze slipping just a bit to the side.
It’s not just that. His brows lower, and his expression would do a blushing maiden proud, demure and just a little coquettish. His stance, though, is far from maidenly. He holds himself straight and tall, head turned to his best advantage, muscles flexed.
Sebastian’s appearance is so average that, on a college campus, he’d be one of those guys whose name you never remember. Blandly innocuous. But he’s pleasant-looking, with a lean build that’s been putting on muscle since he arrived in Rockton. The outdoors agrees with him, too; he’s like a plant kept indoors far too long, bursting into glowing good health in the sun and fresh air.
That’s what he’s putting on display here. Youth and health. A young bull in the cattle market. Healthy and strong. No signs of deformity or breeding issues. Good, viable stock. Because that’s how Moses is looking at him, and Sebastian knows it. A potential suitor for his daughter. A potential mate for his daughter.
If the settlements have one problem, it’s a lack of external bloodlines. That’s the reason Edwin finally relented when Sidra brought Baptiste home. He might not like her husband being from the other settlement, but at least there was no question of inbre
eding. That’s what Moses is thinking here. A healthy, strong, intelligent young man who cannot possibly be related to his daughter.