“If we are, I’ll make sure he regrets opening them,” Blaze replied, clenching his jaw.
She smiled faintly. “You got a way with words, Buckeye. Shame you can’t talk bullets outta flying.”
He managed a dry smile in return. “Never had that gift.”
The night air grew cold as they rode, their breath fogging. Somewhere behind them, coyotes howled among the rocks. Blaze didn’t look back. He didn’t need to. The dead man’s story, the map, and the thought of Rachel waiting were enough to drive him forward.
After an hour, Graycloud reined in, nodding toward a cluster of boulders.
“We can make camp here,” he said. “Windbreak’s good. What do you think, Blaze?”
His asking Blaze for affirmation surprised him. Suddenly, it felt like it was Blaze leading Graycloud and Marisol...like he was the older one.
In response, he simply nodded.
They dismounted in silence, the scrape of metal and saddle leather filling the dark. Blaze crouched near a small fire Marisol built, staring into the flames. The map sat unfolded beside him, glowing orange in the flicker.
It didn’t take long for Blaze to realize that Marisol was watching him.
“You’re thinkin’ about that mark again,” she said.
“I’m thinking about what waits there,” Blaze replied.
Graycloud added a branch to the fire. “You believe it’s gold?”
“I believe it’s more than that,” Blaze said. “Wilder’s gathering men, not miners. That ain’t for digging. That’s for war.”
“War against who?” Marisol asked, frowning. “The law doesn’t ride out here no more.”
Blaze’s eyes lifted to hers. “Against me. Us.”
“You wounded him deep enough he’ll want to end it clean,” Graycloud added.
“There’s nothing clean about Wilder,” Blaze said.
Marisol poked at the fire with a stick. “So what’s the plan once we get there? Sneak in? Wait him out?”
“Neither,” Blaze said. “We watch first. Count how many men he’s got, what he’s building...Then we strike when he least expects.”
Graycloud’s expression didn’t change. “That will take patience.”
“I’ve got plenty,” Blaze said.
Marisol leaned back against her saddle. “Since when?”
He shot her a look, but she smiled faintly.
The fire crackled. The desert wind whispered through the rocks. Thunder rolled somewhere in the distance. A storm was building over the mountains. Blaze stared at the peaks, their shapes black against the faint starlight.
“Mount Grayback,” he said quietly. “That’s where it ends.”
Graycloud followed his gaze. “Then that’s where we’ll bury him.”
“You really think it’ll end there?” Marisol asked. “It’s been going on for so long.”
Blaze’s jaw set. “One way or another, it must end.”
The flames reflected in his eyes. He could almost see Wilder waiting in that dark mine, the gold glinting like the devil’s lure. And through it all, Rachel’s face—innocent, frightened, maybe watching the same sky miles away.
