Page 43 of Kentucky Nights (Dead Man’s Ranch #1)

Kentucky stares at his empty hands as the wind carries away his only child. What I love most about Kentucky is how honorable he is. He could have done a lot worse to Louisville, yet even through his anger for revenge for what Louisville had done, he stayed with his son until the end.

Now that the bond is complete, his every emotion courses through me, and he is devastated.

“I didn’t know,” he whispers, looking up at me with bloodshot eyes and my blood still lingering on his lips. “I promise, I didn’t know.”

I kneel next to him, forcing him to look at me by palming his jaw. “I know you didn’t. I know.”

“I took care of his soul.” Lorcan appears again, freeing the bull that was stuck.

Gunpowder runs away from us, and not in the way that gives him more room to charge.

“The bull will be okay. I’m just sorry you had to go through all that pain, Kentucky.

I’m sorry I couldn’t be here. There were too many souls that needed me. ”

“I understand, Lorcan. I ain’t mad. Is he in Purgatory? My son?”

“He is,” Lorcan replies with a frown. “I’m sorry. He will never be free. His crimes are too severe.”

Kentucky reaches for his hat and begins to put Louisville ashes inside it.

“What are you doing?” Lorcan asks with big, round eyes.

“He deserves to be cared about in death. I couldn’t do that for him in life, but I can do it now.”

I help him, fisting piles of ash until his hat is full. “I love you even more because of this.” I kiss his cheek. “Even after everything he did, you’re showing love.”

“It’s not his fault he turned out the way he did. It’s mine for not being there, and it’s his mother’s. He’s at peace. I know I did the right thing.”

“You did. Rogue vampires never last very long.” Lorcan places a hand on his shoulder, shooting me with a worried expression.

“He wasn’t going to last, Kentucky. Find peace in knowing it was you in the end to give him peace and not The Horsemen—War, Death, Famine, and Conquest with their leader Abaddon.

” His attention redirects toward me. “I don’t know how much you know, but The Horsemen are called The Hell’s Harvesters.

Any paranormal who commits crimes that are deemed unforgivable is typically captured by them.

They travel where they are called. They are on their way here.

I couldn’t…I couldn’t get all the souls by myself.

I have to go back.” Lorcan coughs to clear the emotion in his throat.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m sorry for your loss, Kentucky, but the world is a better place without him. I know how much you wanted kids.”

“I’m sorry for what he did,” Kentucky sighs, wiping his cheeks with the back of his hand. “I need to get to Romeo. He turned him to stone with Stone Snakes. Can you reverse it, Lorcan? I need my fucking horse. Please,” he essentially begs.

Lorcan’s eyes turn downward, his brows pinching together in sorrow.

“I’m sorry, Kentucky. The only way for someone to come back from Cemetery Ophids is if their Beloved finds them.

In Purgatory, there’s an entire forest of statues that will never meet their mates.

We call it The Cemetery. I’m sorry for both your losses. ”

Kentucky hands me his hat and, without a word, begins to walk away. His clothes are drenched in blood, his wounds faint as if he wasn’t just bored by a bull, and that isn’t what weighs him down the most.

It’s heartache.

I place a hand against my chest and take a deep breath when the pain seems to buzz inside me.

“You’ll always feel what he feels. That won’t change. Go. He needs you more than ever. I need to go. Abaddon is calling me.”

“Be safe.” I throw my arms around his neck to hug him.

“Look after my friend for me. He feels deeply. I’m not sure how long it will take for him to come back from this. Congratulations, by the way.”

“On completing our bond? Finally, right? Just in time.” I’m careful when I take a step back with Kentucky’s hat. I don’t want to lose one single ash of the son he never knew about.

“My god, he really knows fucking nothing, doesn’t he?” Lorcan rubs his temples. “He makes my head hurt so much. You’re pregnant, Dru. It’s early. You wouldn’t be able to tell. He should have noticed a change in your smell.”

“But…” I press my hand against my stomach in disbelief. “I’m on my period.”

“And? You met a vampire. Do you really think that matters?”

“But Daphne…”

“Daphne was a Dimseer. The moment she decided to be with Kentucky, not only did she sacrifice herself to a half-life, but also the ability to have children. Dimseer children cannot be born to anyone else except another Dimseer. It’s how their power is so strong,” he explains.

“I’ll leave it up to you to tell him the truth.

He doesn’t know any of that. Daphne didn’t want him to.

For good reason. Kentucky is hard on himself, and he was struggling with life up until he met you. ”

I don’t like hiding anything from Kentucky.

That’s something I’ll really need to think about.

I’ll tell him the truth, but I won’t right now.

We are still strengthening our bond, and I don’t want anything to jeopardize that.

I’m jealous Daphne got to love him first, and I want my own time to build our trust and truths before spilling hers.

He tilts his head to the side and rolls his eyes. “I’m coming! No need for the sass, Abaddon,” he yells. “I need to go. Holler if you need me.”

He’s gone in the midst of smoke.

I’m standing alone in the arena where this was supposed to be a fun night, where Kentucky got to bring home a trophy. Instead, I’m holding the ashes of his dead son while pregnant with his child. Would he even want another child after what has happened today?

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt? I felt it. You’re uneasy. You’re sad. Talk to me, Dru.” Kentucky is at my side in the blink of an eye, his tear-stained face red and blotchy.

“Is it true about Romeo?”

“It is, but I’ll figure that out. Since Louisville is dead, I can hear the animals at the stock farm again.

They’ve been talking about a kill pen near here where the owner takes their animals if they don’t win.

I’m going to start there. I’m going to buy every single horse at every single kill pen.

If that doesn’t work, I’ll adopt from every shelter.

I’ll find his mate. He has been loyal and by my side.

I won’t fail him now.” His hand fits with mine like a missing puzzle piece.

“Talk to me, Darlin’. Besides what happened tonight, what’s wrong?

I feel it.” He brings the top of my hand to his soft lip to place a kiss.

“It’s just a long night. Let’s go home and get Romeo set up in his stall where he will be safe.” I begin to walk away when Kentucky snags my waist and pulls me close.

My back is against his chest, a place that envelopes me in comfort.

“You just lied to me. I’ll let it slide since the night has been so heavy. I feel your emotions. They are all over the place. Talk to me, Darlin’.”

“I’m fine. I promise. Let’s go home.”

“You just lied to me again.”

In one swoop, I’m at the truck, the passenger side door open, and I’m tucked into the seat with Kentucky bracketing me in with his arms.

“I’m sorry about everything tonight. The way we had to finish our bond?—”

I silence him with a finger over his lips.

“I’m happy. I don’t care how we had to complete the bond.

I’m glad I was able to get through to that stubborn head of yours.

Plus, you can always make it up to me with a special date, and we can recreate what you had in mind.

Saving our lives tonight doesn’t seem like a bad way to complete the mating, right? ”

“I waited too long. None of this would have happened if I had been honest with you. How long have you known that you’ve been my mate?”

“A few days. Lorcan told me because he knew how hard-headed you are.”

He stares into the ashes in his hat, a heavy sigh drifting the ashes in a circle. “If I had listened, maybe I could have saved my kid.”

“Don’t go down that road, Kentucky. You’ll torture yourself with thoughts like that. Louisville was a terrible person. I’m sorry he was your son. I’ll never forgive him for what he did to me.”

“I won’t either. I just hate that something that was a part of me could ever think of hurting you. I can’t help but think of what could have been.”

“You gave him more grace in the end than he would have ever given anybody. Don’t be hard on yourself.

It isn’t your fault you were not around.

It was your maker’s. Louisville made his own choices, and he could have chosen differently.

This is his fate due to his own wicked deeds.

Stop punishing yourself for something you had no control over. ” I kiss the middle of his forehead.

I debate on telling him the truth. The words are on the tip of my tongue, and yet I can’t seem to speak them.

I’m nervous. I think he needs more time.

Too much has happened tonight. He went from thinking he couldn’t have children, to having a maniac son, to killing him, to being with him in his final moments.

If I say I’m pregnant right now, would he be happy, or would it feel like a burden?

“I’m not going to bring his ashes into the house. He won’t ever step foot inside our home. I’ll bury him somewhere on the property. I don’t see his wickedness fading in Purgatory.”

“Good.” I run my fingers through his hair. “Wicked deeds belong in wicked places.”