Page 35 of Kentucky Nights (Dead Man’s Ranch #1)

“You’d be surprised at the lengths I’ll go to make sure my friends stay alive. You’ve come so far. Don’t you care at all about that? You now want to live forever, and you’re leaving it up to the last second? How is that fair to her? You aren’t being the man I know you to be. You’re being a coward.”

Romeo blows out a loud snort, pawing at the ground. He’s agitated. He won’t be able to keep it managed without being set free to run.

“I’m being a coward? How is giving my mate the choice that I didn’t have a cowardly thing to do? If anything, I’m thoughtful. I’m being a good man and a good mate.”

“Coward!” His yell brings force from the pits of Hell, shaking the barn and ground we’re standing on.

Romeo raises on his hind legs, neighing from being scared and confused.

“It’s okay. You’re okay. Lorcan might be a dick, but he won’t let anything happen to you.” I pat Romeo’s neck, stroking the sweat-soaked hide. He is beyond stressed. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Coward,” Lorcan repeats. “You’re already letting something happen to him.

You . I think you’re using your mate as an excuse.

I think there’s a part of you that still wishes for death, that thinks you’d be doing Dru a favor by not allowing you two to live.

Maybe you’ve even thought about my offer?

I can make sure she is in a new dimension with a mate who won’t be terrified of living.

Is that it, Kentucky? Scared of a little life? ”

I know what he is trying to do. He’s taunting me, trying to get me to react. I won’t let his attempt work.

“She is very pretty. Have you noticed how the sun glistens off the apples of her cheeks? I mean, it would be hard to see, considering it’s always so cloudy here.

If you blink, you’d miss it. She glows, doesn’t she?

Imagine her with someone who would appreciate that.

Another man having his hands on her body, claiming her as his. He wouldn’t be afraid to bite.”

I curl my fist into a tight ball, my breathing turning rough and ragged as the images of her with another assault my mind. Her laughter, gasps, moans, orgasms—they all belong to me.

“Imagine her begging for someone else’s bite,” Lorcan cackles, showing the cruelest part of himself. “I’m sure in another life, her mate would be more appreciative.”

Flexing my fingers out, my claws unsheathe, my fangs lengthen, my eyes flip crimson, and I launch myself at Lorcan. I use every bit of speed and strength I have to take him by surprise.

He can anticipate my every move. Lorcan dodges left, missing the swipe of my claws through the air. I pretend to repeat the same move, only I lift my other arm, trapping him against the wall by his cervical spine.

“You might have more power than me, but you will not win against a vampire whom you have threatened. You will not take my beloved away from me. She is mine. She will have my mark. And it might not be happening in the fucking way everyone else wants because I give a fuck about what she wants.” I lift him off the ground, debating on snapping his neck.

It’s not like I can kill him. Only a reaper can kill another reaper.

“I plan on telling her everything after the rodeo tonight. I do not appreciate being spoken to like a child. I am over one hundred and fifty years old, do not patronize me with your fucking lectures!” I shout so loud, my own voice changes to the monstrous depths.

“I will respect her choice until the very last fucking second of my life. Do you understand that? You can go tell Death that I won’t be needing your assistance. My soul will not be getting reaped.”

“You have that much faith in her?”

I lean in close enough to smell Hell’s smoke on his breath.

“Yes,” I clip. “I have more faith in her than I do in myself. If that isn’t enough for you.

Get the fuck off my ranch and don’t bother coming back.

” Using my speed, I have the hammer clicked back on my gun, the barrel pressing under his chin.

“You might not be able to die, but finding every piece of your fucking skull would take an awfully long time, don’t you think? ”

Fire ignites behind the lifeless sockets, he used to call eyes. “You make a good point,” he concedes, tapping my hand. “You can let me go. I’ll back off.”

I give him a once-over, growling to show I’m not ready to forgive him yet. I don’t set him on the ground.

I drop him.

And I pull the trigger.

The bullet pierces the floorboard. A hole signifying how his skull could look if I didn’t have mercy.

“Don’t ever mistake my kindness as weakness again, Lorcan. I won’t be so kind next time.” I spin the gun around my finger and tuck it in my holster.

The blaze diminishes and leaves an abyss of swirling darkness in the sockets. “Noted, Kentucky.” He begins to walk away, stopping behind Romeo. “Don’t make me come back here tomorrow. Please. I do not wish to see a friend die.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Romeo blows a raspberry and kicks his back leg out, landing his hoof in the middle of Lorcan’s torso.

“Skew-dang!” His head tumbles from his body first, followed by a few ribs soaring through the air.

One slings by my head with a comical whoosh, piercing the barn wall.

His leg flies a few feet, and the kittens pounce on it immediately.

“Oh my god, get them away from my body! This…this is abuse. Torture, even. I’d go as far as to say cannibalism.

Get my bones! Don’t let their nasty little teeth ruin my structure.

Do you know how much milk I drank as a human for these bones?

Unbelievable. You creatures don’t appreciate science!

” He is beside himself, scurrying to gather every piece of himself.

There’s always one thing I can count on when it comes to Lorcan—his theatrics. Sighing, I tug the bone from the wall and toss it to him.

“Romeo, I think you owe Lorcan an apology.”

“Yeah, Romeo,” Lorcan mocks like a child. “I think I’m owed one too.”

“No.”

I clear my throat and lean in, whispering, “You should apologize. That was pretty mean. I didn’t shoot him to avoid this mess.”

“He deserved it. I won’t apologize. He needs to apologize. Tell him I’ll do it again, too.”

“Romeo isn’t going to apologize. He thinks you’re the one in the wrong.”

“I’m sorry. Is that better? Jeez. It’s not like I removed your hooves.

” He twists his head back on, moaning when it snaps into place.

“That’s better.” Placing all his bones back into his body is like a puzzle.

Seems he has done this more than once, considering how he knows where all the ribs need to be placed.

“Are we done? I have a woman waiting for me to ask her to the rodeo tonight.”

Lorcan brightens, forgetting the spat we just had. “You’re going? Phew.” He wipes his hand across his forehead, swiping away fake sweat. “I have a few hundred bucks placed on you to win. I lose every year since you never go. Barrel racing? Bronco riding? Bulls, maybe?”

“Depends, what did you sign me up for?”

He laughs, but it’s the kind of humor that’s full of nerves. “All…of…them?”

“Damn you, Lorcan. You’re going to get me killed. I haven’t ridden a bull in—" I try to think of the time and year, but I can’t. It’s been too long. I sigh, shaking my head, “—I’m going to withdraw from bronco riding. I’m not getting on another horse that isn’t Romeo.”

“But I’ll?—”

I arch my brow at him, daring him to continue that sentence.

“I understand.”

“Good.”

Romeo tugs on the rope, keeping him tied to the post. He’s tired of standing here listening to Lorcan and me bicker.

“Alright. Alright. Keep your shoes on.” I unravel the knot, unhook the rope from his halter. “Go on.” I slap his side, and he neighs, bolting out of the barn in a blur.

He must be hungry.

I hold out my hand to Lorcan to help him up. “Come on. I have a mate to swoon. Get off your ass.”

He slaps his palm into mine and jumps to his feet with the smile on his face that I prefer to see.

I don’t like my friend mad at me. It doesn’t sit right.

Life is hard enough doing it alone. Then, there are some people who refuse to leave you to that loneliness, wanting to prove to you that there’s someone who cares about your existence. A friend like that is hard to find.

Having Dru, Lorcan, and Romeo, I’m realizing my loneliness was a disease. I was dying from it, a sickness that always lingered and weighed me down until getting out of bed every morning felt like a chore.

My loneliness had turned into depression.

Even with Lorcan and Romeo, I don’t think anyone could have saved me. No one could have changed my mind about dying.

Until Dru.

She is the answer to my disease. The cure.

My mate breathed life back into me. I owe her whatever she wants. Whenever she wants. However she wants.

“Skew-dang.” He waves his fingers at me. “Tootles, Darlin’.”

I groan, reaching to take the damn hat off because the attire is getting to his head. He fucking giggles before disappearing, leaving me in an empty barn, and doing my best to ignore the smell of a rotting corpse.

Only paranormals can smell it. Dru won’t be able to tell.

I stroll outside the barn, staring at all the land that goes on for hundreds of acres.

Dru’s idea whirls around in my mind as I take in all the pastures.

I realize she’s right. There’s so much land here that can be put to good use.

I really have been waiting to die if I haven’t been utilizing my ranch properly.

Only focusing on the cattle side of the business, I’ve made great money. I’m a millionaire. If I wanted, I could hang up my hat and call it a day. I can’t turn my back on this ranch. It’s the one thing that has kept me going for over a century.

If anything, I need to stop neglecting it and breathe life into it like Dru did with me. It’s time for a change.

Horses. Cattle. Chickens. Dogs. Whatever she wants. I’m ready for the quiet not to be so loud.

I hop over the pasture’s gate, waving to the cows chewing on the grass.