Read Online The Ruination of Essie Sparks (Wild Western Rogues Series, Book 2) by Barbara Ankrum - Free Book Online Page B

her as soon as possible. Somewhere safe. God knows where that would be.
    Billings, perhaps. Or some other nearby town.
    But that kind of future looked a long way off right now. And the distinct possibility existed that neither one of them would make it that far.
    He tugged her along back to their spot on the riverbank where Náhkohe waited and tied her to a tree, away from the dangers of the water, then dropped to his knees, suddenly finding it impossible to stand. Feeling a wave of nausea roll over him, he retched into the river once, twice, before collapsing back against the boulder.
    * * *
    Only then did Essie notice that his bronze skin had gone pale and he looked terribly unwell. Pulling her from the river had spent the last of his strength. For which, she supposed, she should have been more grateful. But she was still too mad at him.
    Leaning her forehead against the aspen sapling he'd tied her hands around, she said, "How long do you think you can go on this way? With that bullet in your leg? You need rest and a doctor."
    " They won't rest," he said with a tip of his head in the direction of the men chasing them. "And I don't see a doctor anywhere, do you?" He surprised her by passing her the water skin to let her drink next. As she'd just drunk her fill of the river, she handed it back to him. He didn't drink. Instead, he slammed his eyes shut and leaned back against the rocks.
    Essie rubbed her damp mouth against the shoulder of his shirt. His scent lingered on it and it was, surprisingly, not unpleasant. So he had saved her life. And perhaps spent the last of his strength doing it. It was his fault she'd nearly drowned in the first place. What was she doing trekking across these mountains like a barefoot goat? She belonged in her world of sensible expectations and consequences she could anticipate.
    She held her hand out. "Give me your knife. I'll take the bullet out." For the briefest of moments, those steely gray his flicked up to hers. He seemed to actually consider her offer, whether out of desperation or, more unlikely, hope, she couldn't tell. She could not read the man, which was probably just as well because she had no desire to understand him. Or, worse, to care about him.
    He laughed. The sound was peculiarly without humor. "I give you my knife so you can finish what the bullet didn't?"
    Essie snorted and looked away. Of course she wouldn't have killed him. She was not a murderer, no matter the circumstances. Unlike... possibly, some people she knew. But, heaven help her, the chance to make him pay, in some small measure—with the sharp tip of his knife—for all the torment he'd put her through since the day began wouldn't break her heart, either.
    Ugh. That she'd even contemplated such vulgar anticipation shocked her almost as much as finding herself tied to a tree in the middle of the Montana wilderness. It was all his fault. He had brought her to such low imaginings.
    " Séaa... " he murmured with a condescending grin."I came a little too close to the mark there, didn't I? What say you? Surprised you're only human, Essie Sparks?"
    Ooh! How she hated him!
    She leaned forward, leveling a look at him that made her feelings plain. "Do you know what I say? I say that you'll die here from stubbornness. From thinking you can somehow keep me as your hostage when I'm no good to you at all! They could care less about me. It's you they're after. Because they won't let some... some misguided—" She faltered, searching for the proper word.
    "Half-breed?" he supplied, eyes closed.
    She made a frustrated noise. "Some misguided renegade best them by taking what they think belongs to them. And I say that if you don't take that bullet out and stop bleeding, you won't have to worry about saving your leg." She leaned her head on the sapling between her arms. " I say with my hands tied here we will both die in this godforsaken place, sooner rather than later."
    With surprising effort, he had rolled a look at her,