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shouting for the others to halt. There was quite the little fracas for a moment or two as all the other horses went berserk. I don't know if Alton had asked them to, or if the mere sight of the normally unflappable Alton going off the deep end was enough to convince the others to spook first and ask questions later, but I believe they all managed to unseat their riders.

"Are you okay?" Alton asked me, sounding worried.

"I heard you scream."

"This asshole landed on my arm," I grumbled.

"Other than that, I'm fine, and so is the baby. How about the others?"

"Pissed off more than anything," Alton reported.

"That man who was with you seems okay."

"Good," I said thankfully . "Now, if you guys will keep on acting crazy for a while, the men will have to stop and let you horses calm down. It might help if some of you run off, too." I wondered if Craynolt and Gerald were back yet. "You haven't seen an otterell and a squirrel, have you?"

"Not recently," Alton replied. "Want me to go look for them?"

"Not now, " I said. "Just keep an eye out and let me know if you see them."

Someone took hold of me then and sat me up-none too gently, either. Removing my gag, he held a cup to my lips.

"It is only water," he said when I seemed reluctant to drink. I recognized his voice. It was Brandon. "I will remove your blindfold," he went on, "but if you make any more trouble, I will have my men slit your friend's throat."

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"You have bewitched the horses, haven't you?"

Brandon hissed.

I shook my head. "I just wanted to rest," I insisted.

"That's all."

"That's all?" he said in a voice dripping with sarcasm. "And I suppose you simply asked them to behave in this fashion?"

"Well, yes," I said lamely. "That's pretty much the way it went. They're tired, too, you know. It didn't take much convincing."

Brandon was right in my face, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "And I'm supposed to believe that?"

I shrugged. "It's the truth, Brandon. I'm not going to lie to you. I won't risk Leo's life for Rafe, or his children-or anyone else, for that matter."

"They are my children!" Brandon seethed. "Even you saw the resemblance!"

"Yeah," I said reluctantly. "I did. So you were Carnita's lover, were you?"

"I should have been her husband," he said, spitting out the words. "She loved me, and we were to marry, but then Rafe made her a better offer."

Ah, yes, the thwarted lover, I thought. Shouldn't be too hard to play on his emotions. "I'm sure he did," I *284 *52*.

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said smoothly. "But, you know, he's a bit angry with her right now. He might let you have her."

"I don't want her," Brandon insisted. "I want my sons."

"Now, be reasonable, Brandon!" I chided him. "Those boys don't know you! To them, you're just some slimy bastard who killed their nurse and kidnapped them!

They have no loyalty to you! You'd have much better luck raising some other children-more of your own, perhaps. You and Carnita could have other children, couldn't you?"

His face was grim, but he was wavering, I could tell.

"She's still very beautiful," I reminded him. "But you've seen her recently, haven't you?"

"Yes," he said bitterly. "I have seen her."

"Spent a little time with her, perhaps?"

He didn't reply, but judging by the look on his face, I'd have to say he had.

"I don't suppose she's pregnant again, is she?"

"I have no way of knowing," Brandon replied stiffly.

"Me, either," I said. "I don't see her much-don't really like her, either. You see, Rafe and I were lovers once, but he was unable to father my child-which is not too surprising since, as you may know, only certain men are capable of impregnating a witch-and he decided that having sons was more important to him than I was, so he cast me off in favor of someone who could give them to him."

Brandon seemed skeptical about this. "Surely, he knew that witches only give birth to daughters?"

he scoffed.

"Yeah, he knew," I said with a weary sigh. "I think *285 *52*.

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I gestured at Leo. "He is."

"Ah, so you are with child now?"

I could have gone either way, here. Brandon might think that, being pregnant, I no longer had a need for Leo, and therefore wouldn't care if he lived or died. I considered using this option, but abandoned it immediately in case Brandon should decide to call my bluff. I was taking no chances with Leo's life.

"Yes, I am," I said grimly. "And, make no mistake, Brandon, if you hurt him, then you'd best kill me, too, because I swear before all the gods this world can muster that I will hunt you down and burn you to ashes where you stand."

I must have sounded pretty serious, because Brandon sat back on his heels, his eyes much wider than they'd been a moment before. "I believe that," he said quietly, then motioned to the men who held Leo. They still held him, but the knife disappeared into a sheath.

"So, what do we do now?" I said briskly, trying not to let my relief show. "Go after them, and possibly end up killing one of the boys? I think that's a bad idea, myself.

Really, Brandon, your best bet is to have other children.

Would it be so difficult? While you've been waiting for Carnita to come to you, haven't you at least looked at another woman?"

I could see he hadn't, and it was paining him to have to admit it. My goodness, he was smitten!

"I think you could get an excellent deal on a slightly used wife if you play your cards right."

"How?" Brandon demanded. "If she hasn't come to me in all these years, why would she come now?"

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I stared at him as though he'd gone mad. "Brandon, if your wife had done to you what Rafe's did to him, and you just found out about it, how would you feel?"

He laughed grimly. "Worse than I did when I found out she'd lied to me," he admitted.

"Right!" I concurred. "So, unless I miss my guess, she might be needing a new home...if he doesn't kill her, that is," I mused.

Brandon's expression grew fierce. "He wouldn't dare!"

"Well, why not? You killed someone to get those boys-or, if not you, personally, at least someone did, but it still amounts to the same thing." I paused there to reflect upon one of the more questionable aspects of our society. "You know, we did a bad thing coming to this world and electing to police ourselves," I said with a rueful smile. "It hasn't worked out so well, has it?"

"Crime is rare here," he reminded me, "-especially murder. We hadn't intended to kill anyone, but it was...

unavoidable."

I thought he should try telling that to those who died, but did my best to soften my retort. "Should have thought about that before you acted, then, shouldn't you?"

"I...regret the deaths," he said slowly. "It was not meant to happen as it did. The woman who was killed- Rafe's servant-was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The man responsible for her death was one of the three that were sent back to slow you down and is now dead himself."

"Convenient, isn't it?" I remarked acidly. "But that still doesn't excuse you, Brandon. You were still the one in charge."

*287 *52*.

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"Those men came after us with swords drawn and engaged us in battle!" I exclaimed. "There was never the slightest hint that they meant to leave us alive."

"They were told only to slow you down," Brandon reiterated. "Those were the orders I gave."

"Slow us down?" I scoffed. "Come on, Brandon!

They were out to kill us! Those may have been the orders you gave, but someone took it upon himself to interpret them rather liberally. We were engaged in a battle for our lives!"

"I am truly sorry for that," he said, and he seemed sincere. "Perhaps if Rafe had not been so quick to anger-"

"Now, don't you go blaming all this on Rafe!" I said, wishing I'd had my hands free so I could have shaken my finger at him. "You took his sons, Brandon, and he wanted them back! Does it surprise you that he was out for your blood? What the devil did you think he would do? Give them to you with his best wishes?"

"No," he replied. "I didn't."

"And if he was conveniently killed in battle," I went on, "no one would ever question your decision to marry his widow and adopt his sons, thereby acquiring his land, now, would they?"

Brandon was looking more uncomfortable by the moment and was undoubtedly regretting the decision to remove my gag. I probably shouldn't have pressed my luck, but I still had one more question I needed to ask.

"So, tell me something, Brandon. Who let you into Rafe's house?"

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When he didn't reply, I came to my own conclusion.

"It was Carnita, wasn't it?"

To his credit, he wouldn't come right out and admit it, but I was sure I was right. Regarding him closely, I decided that he was a remarkably handsome man-in a swarthy, rakish sort of way-and different from Rafe in most respects. It was distinctly possible that Carnita did love Brandon, which might have been why she'd never been able to make Rafe particularly happy.

"Did she at least know why you were there?" I prompted him.

Brandon shook his head and sighed, giving me reason to believe I would now be hearing the truth at last. "I sent her a message that I wanted to see her," he said.

"We arranged a time when the gate would be untended.

She didn't know I was there for the children."

I nodded. "You do still want her, don't you?" When he didn't reply, I went on to suggest, "Why didn't you just take her instead?"

"Because she'd told me she wouldn't stay with me!"

he exclaimed vehemently. "And I begged her, believe me, I begged!"

"So, when you took the boys, did you think she might be the one to follow instead of Rafe, perhaps?" I, for one, couldn't see Carnita doing anything of the kind, but men have some strange ideas sometimes-and women, too. At the very least, taking Brandon as her lover had been foolhardy, but Carnita must have been out of her mind to let Brandon into Rafe's house.

Brandon shook his head. "No, I knew he would come.

I thought perhaps they both would come and I-"

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Cheryl Brooks "-would kill Rafe and then take his wife?" I suggested. "Not a good plan!"