Page 34 of Kentucky Nights (Dead Man’s Ranch #1)

“You smell like death.”

“That’s not very nice, Romeo.” I am finally trimming his hooves. I’ve been distracted in the best way. I’m a day behind on chores, and I couldn’t care less. The cattle and Romeo are fine. There’s food. There’s water.

Dru has reminded me that the ranch doesn’t need to be my entire life. Yesterday proved that. I don’t think we left the bedroom. We laughed. We moaned. We napped. We fucked.

Not always in that order.

“I’m not trying to be nice, Kentucky. You smell like you’re dying. Why are you doing this to yourself? Mate her already. You’re already so close. I can smell it on you.”

I pick up his leg, bend his knee, press my thighs together to keep him in place, then snag the hoof pick from my belt.

Romeo is really great about his pedicure.

He never gives me a hard time. He knows it’s what is best for him.

We didn’t think he needed horseshoes at first since he can heal, but we were proved wrong one day when his hoof cracked in half and it wasn’t healing.

I don’t think his healing applies to his hooves. We don’t know why. We have a theory that it’s because of the lack of blood circulation in the hoof itself. We might not ever know why.

Honestly, I think it helps bring purpose to me, and even if he won’t admit it, this basic need brings purpose for Romeo too. It’s hard to find what you have to have in order to survive after having these abilities to heal. This mundane task gives us that piece of humanity again.

“I’m fine, Romeo. You don’t have a thing to worry about. I’ll be okay.” I continue to pick away at the debris stuck in his hooves.

When I’m satisfied, I switch to the trimmer to shorten the hoof itself.

“Of course I worry about you. You’re my best friend. I don’t want you to die. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than here.”

I stop mid-clip, a burning sensation spreads across my chest and makes its damn way to my eyes.

Clearing my throat, I start to clip again. “I won’t be going anywhere. I know it may seem like I am, but I’m not. I have a plan.”

“Care to share?”

“I wanted her to fall in love with me without the idea of knowing I’m fated to her. I don’t want to take her choice. That matters to me. I think the plan is working. She feels the pull, yeah, but it’s more. It’s more natural this way, without the idea of her knowing there’s an entity at play.”

“I admire that, I do, but you need to be realistic. You already smell of death to me, Kentucky. You reek of darkness. Death is near and closer than you think.”

“Okay, fine.” I toss the trimmer down and pick up the rasp, which smooths out the edges of the hoof.

“I’m a little sore. The amount of blood she is giving me is not enough, not without being mated.

I’m tired. My hips ache.” I sigh, dropping his leg to grab a horseshoe from the bin.

I keep it full of premade shoes I’ve made him over the years. They are the perfect fit.

Next, I heat the iron, shoving it into the hearth. I need to get it hot first so Romeo becomes more comfortable with how the shoes fit. Hot shoes help with the durability and fit of the iron itself.

“I knew it.”

“I’ll be fine. And you know, if I’m not, just talk to Lorcan.” I pinch my brows together when I realize how that can’t happen. Lorcan can’t speak to animals. “Somehow.” Snagging the shoe from the pit, Romeo bends his knee to give me access. “You’ll be okay. You’ll find another home.”

“I don’t want another home. Home is the person, not the place.”

I begin to nail the shoe on, doing my best not to shed a tear. He and I have been through the grain over the years. It hasn’t been easy. He’s seen the worst of me. No one else can say that.

“I’ll be okay. I promise.” I set his hoof down. “Want a brushing?”

“Of course, I do. It’s not like I can scratch myself.”

I snort, nodding in agreement. “I guess so.”

Romeo also likes to be pampered. He loves his mane brushed and for his coat to shine. He would love to be massaged every day, be fed his favorite hay, and sleep in a warm barn with a blanket.

He has two out of those three things. I don’t know an animal massage therapist.

“Please talk to her soon.”

“After I’m done here, I’m going to pick some wildflowers and ask her to the rodeo that Lorcan signed us up for. You up for it, Old Man?”

He flicks his tail, excitement brightening the pools of red ink . “Who are you calling old? You’ve got a few years on me.”

“I think it will be nice to finally shake the rust off. After the rodeo, I’ll tell her. If I’m feeling like this, I can’t imagine how she is feeling. For humans, it has to be different. We’ll make it.”

We have to make it. Now that I’ve tasted what life could be like with her, the thought of the need to die fades. I want to try living for all eternity. I also want us to agree that if we both get tired over so many years, we agree to die together, in each other’s arms, staring up at the night sky.

That will be my only request.

“I hope so. Don’t be so stubborn. She’d love you with or without Fate.”

“If Fate didn’t exist, I’d already be dead.” I sweep off the dust on his hide, the deep onyx color coming back to its brilliant shine.

Romeo stays silent for a few minutes. All I hear is the hay between his teeth as he chews.

“She’s right, you know,” he says out of nowhere, flicking his tail to annoy a fly.

“About?”

“Being lonely. I wouldn’t mind some others.”

“You heard that conversation?”

“Yes. I never told you because I knew you didn’t want to be responsible for a lot of things, given your decision on life.”

“I don’t want you to be lonely, Romeo. You should have told me.”

“I had you. That was enough. Things have changed. You are growing a family with Dru now. It made me realize I also want someone. I want a companion.”

“Skew-dang ain’t that cute.”

Romeo and I groan in unison at the sound of Lorcan’s voice.

He always finds the worst time to pop in.

I stop brushing Romeo and turn around, crossing my arms over my chest. “What do you want, Lorcan?”

He’s dressed in the cowboy hat and boots again for some reason. Every step he takes, my annoyance grows.

“I’m here checking on my favorite cowboy.” He stops in front of me, brow bones rising when he inhales. “And he’s dying from the smell of it.” Lorcan waves his hand in front of his nose. “What did I tell you, Kentucky?”

I’m surprised by the venom in his voice. Even Romeo turns his head to stare at the Void. His tail flicks back and forth with anxiety. Romeo might be a vampire, but he is also an animal, and animals always know when a predator is nearby.

Lorcan might be happy-go-lucky, funny, and unserious most of the time, but I’ve never been mistaken about the darkness he holds in. I know he keeps it balled up tight in his chest to not scare anyone. Lorcan described his power to me one day. He said the older the Void, the more powerful they are.

And my reaper friend here is one of the oldest. If he unleashed all the power he had, he could wipe out the entire country’s population.

He disperses into smoke, vanishing before our eyes, before popping in front of me. For the first time since I have known him, he shows his sharp rows of teeth.

He’s furious.

“You don’t have enough time left. You’re going to die. I’m here for you, you know that, right? Has that not sunk into your fucking mind?” He presses a finger against my chest, shoving me so hard, I fly backwards.

The air is knocked out of my lungs as I hit the wall, breaking the old wooden slabs with simply the force in Lorcan’s damn index finger.

“I know you’re here for me. You’re a good friend, Lorcan. I need you both to listen to me?—”

Lorcan morphs into dark spots, drifting through the air. When he is close enough, a weight of dread presses against my chest. It’s as if I’m being drowned in a lake with cement blocks chained to my feet.

“Let me be clearer.” He squats down, fire illuminating his orbital sockets. “I am here for you. Do you get it now? All this time, I’ve been warning you. You’d think you’d be able to read in between the lines.” He flicks the middle of my forehead.

“Ow.” I rub the sting away. “What the hell was that for?”

“I can’t take your soul yet, and it is taking everything I have not to rip your skin from your body from the pure amount of frustration you make me feel.

“I’m Kentucky. I’m a big, bad loner man who doesn’t need anyone or anything.

I’m not even going to tell my mate the truth because she deserves to have control of her own choices.

” Lorcan mocks me in a high-pitched voice, prancing around in the cowboy boots.

The spurs jingle with every step, and it’s hard to keep a straight face given the circumstances.

“What do you mean you’re here for me?” I stand, crack my back, then dust off my jeans. “I’m not dead yet.”

He pauses, stopping next to Romeo. “Do you think I care about the technicalities when it comes to one of my best friends? I had to beg Death to let me be the one to come here so soon. He was going to send another Void because he thought I was too close to your soul. I couldn’t allow someone else to reap my friend.

” He glides across the floor, floating closer to me.

“I can feel the pull of death to you, Kentucky. The tug that pulls at my bones every time a soul calls for me to take them to another place, I feel it from you. ”

He goes to poke me in the chest again, but I take a step away. “No need to throw me like a sack of potatoes. I get the point.”

“Do you? Do you understand what it means for me to be here early? I’m warning you, Kentucky.

By tomorrow morning, you won’t be here. You’ll be lucky to make it through the night by the smell of it.

” The hatred is venom in every word he speaks.

It’s clear he is very upset with me. “Tell her. Now. Or I will.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” I snarl, my hands falling to my sides out of habit to grab my gun for a quick draw.