“Guys, get a room,” Justin chided.
They finally pulled back at arm’s length. Suddenly self-conscious of her gritty appearance, she attempted to smooth over her wild unbraided hair at the mercy of the wind. “Why on earth are you here?” Zac delved into her soul—searching her heart as if verifying there was room for him in her life.
“I can’t believe it myself.” He finally stopped prodding her soul. “Once I realized you had crossed the border, I decided traveling by horse was my best option. I went back to the ranch to buy a couple of horses. That’s when Old man Stanwyck shanghaied me. Blackmailed me into guiding his family to Idaho. Fooled him. Caught a break a few days ago and escaped.”
Dean extended his hand for a shake. “Zac, how the hell are ya?”
Before Zac could say a word, Twila squeezed between Scarlett and Zac. “What took you so long?”
“Did you ride through that sandstorm?” Luther asked.
Zac nodded. “Talk about trippy.” He turned back to his horse. “My stallion—”
“His name is Onyx,” Twila corrected.
“Onyx runs like the wind.” Zac let out a heart-melting grin and swung Twila in the air, sending the sand flying off his clothes.
Twila wrinkled her nose when Zac set her down. “Someone needs a shower.”
“There’s no time for that.” Zac’s tone turned grave. “Just before the hellacious sandstorm, I reconned two hordes. X-strains.”
Ella gasped.
“Did they spot you?” Dean asked hurriedly.
“Oh yeah.” Zac made a feeble attempt to brush off his clothes. “With any luck, the sandstorm threw them off my scent.”
“Not for long . . .” Justin’s words sent tendrils of fear strangling her root chakra.
“Precisely.” Zac’s cocky-calmness eroded. Scarlett recognized the apprehension in his unspoken words.
“Hey, Ella and Mindy,” Zac finally acknowledged. “Are the babies”—he hesitated—“all right?” He seemed to regret asking as he eyed the men, bracing for the news.
Ella and Mindy lifted their ponchos to reveal sleepy babies.
Zac’s eyes sparked with affection. For a minute, Scarlett thought a tear might escape. He glanced into the sun and then shaded his eyes quickly as if blaming it for his watery eyes.
“Bro, I gotta ask. How in the hell did you find us—way out here?” Luther asked.
“Honestly, Onyx seemed to know the way.”
Onyx whinnied on cue. Scarlett and Twila nuzzled the black stallion. Thank you for bringing Zac to me, Scarlett whispered internally.
Luther shook his head like a flea-bitten dog. “Those things are searching for you. I know it.” He scanned the horizon. “I hear the maddening Hunger’s Howl in my head.”
“You and your special powers,” Zac razzed.
Scarlett wanted to laugh. She found the men’s ongoing banter negating their spiritual gifts rather amusing. Even now, despite the unexplainable incidents they had witnessed, Luther fought his innate abilities whereas Zac just went with it.
“We have to go!” Twila’s deadpan tone left Scarlett cold.
“We’ll be safe in the caboose. Right?” Ella’s lovely brown eyes pleaded.
“Like, we don’t have enough food to wait out a horde,” Justin reminded.
Zac seemed to lose interest in their conversation and strode past the train.
“Gals, pack up and wait in the caboose,” a crutchless Dean quickly ordered as he hobbled after Zac.
Thank you, Silver Lady. Whatever scheme her spirit guide had conjured—it seemed to be working. They had a chance!
Chapter 40
Zac Padilla trotted to the wagon-train graveyard. He had relied on it often during his cross-country trips, scavenging it for parts. If he could find a wagon with a durable undercarriage, then he could piecemeal the rest of it.
A compelling urgency had him realizing they were down to the wire. Unless that sandstorm had blown the X-strains off his scent. Regardless, he was obstinate as ever, relying on mind over matter, which he had learned was the power of manifestation. He wasn’t throwing in the towel. Not after finding Scarlett.
Scarlett’s haggard friends didn’t have much pep left. Although Luther kept his pace, Dean struggled to keep up. Actually, Zac was surprised Dean was still alive and kicking. They don’t make men like him anymore, Zac mused. Most seniors would have succumbed right about the time the dead had spontaneously reanimated.
Zac scanned the rusted iron wheels, yokes, bows, and various hardware protruding from the waves of sand. Damn, no sign of his custom-made wagons. That would have been the bomb. No one said this was going to be easy.
“A wagon!” Luther’s eyes lit up in recognition.
“That’s right,” Zac said with more conviction than he felt. For reassurance, he looked back for a much-needed glance at Scarlett to make sure he wasn’t dreaming their reunion. He caught her smiling. His heart fluttered to his throat. Man, don’t lose the objective.
“Bingo!” Zac pointed. He shook the undercarriage of an old prairie schooner wagon. “The running gear’s operational.” For how long? He didn’t know where they were going. It was definitely too shoddy for river-crossings. But at this point, they only needed to get to a stronghold they could defend.
“The axles look decent.” Dean dusted off a yoke partially hidden in the sand. “Reckon I can figure how to hitch the wagon and horses. Got plenty of experience in that.”
“And the missing wheel?” Luther retorted, already pillaging through a stack of metal and wooden wheels.
Zac studied the mountains beckoning to him. “Hell, anything with the same diameter, metal or wooden. As long as the hub fits. And the spokes are intact, I’ll take it.” But that was pushing it.
Dean caught his gaze. “In case this helps. We’ve got another good thirty miles to go.” He head-jerked toward the mountains.
“I had a feeling that’s where you were headed.” Zac’s dreams had whispered of a secluded paradise in the mountains somewhere in the state once known as New Mexico.
Scarlett brushed up beside him. His body tingled
