I couldn't help but shake my head in amazed disbelief. The picture of Rio that Critter was painting was as different from my own version as night is to day. Suddenly, a thought popped into my head. "Critter, were Rio and Ice..."

She looked at me for a long moment. "Are you asking me if they were lovers?"

I nodded.

Her brow furrowed, but after a moment, her expression cleared as understanding dawned. "You're afraid she's jealous, aren't you."

"It would make sense, yes. An ex-lover having to play taxi-driver to the current lover, carting her to hell and back, then being told her skills aren't enough to protect her." I shrugged. "I'd probably be angry too."

"Well, it would make sense, if that were the case. But, as far as I know, it's not. Rio worshipped the ground Ice walked on-hell, we all did-but they weren't an item. Friends, yes. Involved, no."

"Well, I guess that takes us back to square one again," I said, gently hitting the mattress with my hand.

Critter grasped my other hand, threading our fingers together. "Maybe she just has some personal stuff going on right now, Angel. Maybe all this just came at a bad time for her. Maybe after Pony settles things down here, that talk you were thinking about might not be such a bad idea."

"You're right. I just hope I can wait that long."

She laughed. "You've been with Ice for what... seven years now? If there's one thing you have in abundance, Angel, it's patience."

"A virtue that's being sorely tested right about now, let me assure you," I said, scowling.

Laughing again, she rolled over and kissed me soundly on the lips, then jumped up off the bed. "Lemme go see if Pony needs me for anything, then I think it's time to hit the bed. It's been a long day. Night, Angel."

"Night, Critter."

A jaunty wave, and she made for the door.

"Critter?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

A half-cocky smile graced her lips as she sketched a half-bow in my direction. "Anytime, Angel. Anytime."

The next several days passed quickly and without incident as I gradually became accustomed to my new, if temporary, home. I spent most mornings in the kitchen with Corinne, helping to prepare breakfast for the thirty or so women who stayed at the ranch. It was the only real time we had to spend together, so I valued each morning for the chance it gave me to be with her, no matter how briefly.

Critter and Pony were busy as well, reinforcing ranch security with Rio. To her credit, Rio seemed nothing if not extremely dedicated to her job, throwing herself into it one thousand percent of the way and making sure that mistakes like that of a week ago would not be repeated on her watch.

I didn't have the heart to tell her that, where Ice was concerned, those mistakes would always be repeated. Not that it would have mattered, really. She would likely have smacked me senseless if I did.

She seemed a bit calmer with Pony around, though, so I had hope for an eventual reconciliation between us, given the opportunity.

I'd spend a good bit of the daylight hours at the corral, watching the horses, feeding and grooming any that needed it, and generally keeping myself busy and my mind off my absent lover, as best as I was able.

My best was frequently not good enough, and the ache in my chest only got stronger the more time passed without seeing her. I often found myself talking to her, much as one would a deceased loved one, sharing bits of my day with her, and telling her how much I missed her.

An evening ritual had also developed. I'd saddle up my newfound equine friend and set out for the westernmost part of the corral to watch the sun set over the distant mountains. The sight never failed to take my breath away, and it was the one time in the day when I felt closest to Ice.

I shed more than a few tears on those solitary treks, but always returned home feeling better for having gone.

One night, long after the sun had set, I escaped from the too-warm and too-noisy confines of the main house, taking in the cool quiet of the desert and feeling my body calm instantly as the peaceful night drew me in and made me welcome in its darkness.

I headed toward the stables, several carrots in hand, knowing that Cleo's placid, silent company was just what the doctor ordered for me.

As I entered the cool comfort of the stables, taking in the smell of hay and horses with almost absent pleasure, I heard an odd, rhythmic thumping noise which let me know that I wasn't the only two footed animal in the place.

Still, the building was relatively well-lit and the horses seemed unconcerned, so I paid no significant mind to the noises and instead moved to answer the anxious greetings of Cleo, who could smell carrots, it was said, from a continent away. With a head cold. In a hurricane.

As she strained her neck near to breaking in order to quickly lip up the treats I had for her, I couldn't help but laugh at her antics, and give her a fond and happy scratch between the eyes.

When she inhaled what was in my hand, she nudged my chest, whuffling for more. I laughed again, delighted, and as I pushed her insistent nose away, I heard the noises in the rear of the stable stop.

A moment later, a long, wide shadow fell over me.

I looked up to find Rio standing by the open doors, her black eyes glittering with anger, a large knife in her hand.

As I turned to face her, a smirk curled one corner of her upper lip. "Evening, blondie." She gave an exaggerated look around. "Where are your little protectors? Aren't you all joined at the hip or somethin?"

Pulling away from Cleo, I squared myself to face her. "What do you want, Rio." I could feel my body tense, but I fought it, trying to remain as calm as possible.

The knife flashed as she gestured with it. "Your head on a platter would do, for starters."

Though I kept my gaze pinned to her, in the periphery of my vision, I could see several implements that could be used as weapons should I need one in a pinch. That thought calmed me, relaxing my bunched muscles. "Well, you certainly brought the right tool for the job."

She looked down at the knife as if just realizing it was in her hand. After a second, she dropped it to the ground. "I don't think I'll be needing it on the likes of you."

I felt myself shrug. It was amazing how cool and centered I felt. Of course, hearing the low tones of my lover in my thoughts helped immeasurably as well. "Your decision, I guess." As she started to come forward, fists clenched, I held up a hand.

Stunned, she stopped in her tracks and stared at me.

"Before you start rearranging my limbs for me, I have a question."

She squinted at me. "Are you nuts?"

"Maybe. But I still have a question."

She scowled. "What."

"Why?"

"Why what?!"

"Why are you doing this? Why do you hate me so much? I've obviously done something to offend you. I figure if you're going to rip me to shreds, you could at least be nice enough to answer that."

She shook her head, not even considering the question. "You wouldn't understand."

Then she came at me, her arms open wide for a classic bull rush. It was a move I'd seen a hundred times before. I was, I'll admit, a little disappointed at her lack of originality.

I was working under no illusions, however. If she got close enough to get her arms around me, I'd be in for a world of hurt. Someone as big and as angry as Rio could easily kill me, even without meaning to do so. And even if she didn't, I was sure she'd have no qualms about beating me so badly that I'd wind up wishing I was dead.

Waiting until she was almost on me, I simply ducked beneath one of her outstretched arms, darting away and turning just in time to see her narrowly miss the stable wall.

"Try me, Rio," I said as she turned, her face twisted in a snarl of rage. "I might understand better than you think."

"Forget it, blondie." She rushed me again, this time in a more controlled maneuver, then swung one of her long arms out in a wicked cross that would have surely crushed my skull to bits if I hadn't ducked out of the way just in time.

Another punch came, and then another, but somehow I managed to evade them all.

She was strong, and quite obviously skilled, but no match for the woman I had made a habit of sparring with daily. Her swings seemed slow and almost clumsy in comparison to Ice's sinuous fluidity.

Still, I kept my eyes open and my hands poised, ready to try my best to deflect anything I wasn't quick enough to dodge.

Then a huge foot, topped by a tree-trunk sized leg, swung out to connect right at the nerve center of my right thigh. My leg gave out and I went down, quickly rolling away through the straw-strewn floor to evade a flurry of further kicks.

Just as I was about to trap myself in a corner, her foot slipped and she almost went down, her arms pinwheeling wildly for balance. Taking advantage of the opportunity presented, I stopped my roll and jumped back to my feet again, stiffened fingers working desperately to loosen the cramp she'd given me.

The knife glittered up at me through the straw on the floor, but after only a second of consideration, I looked away from that particular temptation. Never again would I go down that road.

Seeing my hesitation, she pounced, easing in and walloping me with a kick to the gut that, though partially blocked, sent me stumbling backwards for several feet while gasping for breath. I hit the wall, then bounced off, managing to evade her wild left to my head as I did so.

When the right followed, as I knew it would, I threw my hands up, catching her at the elbow and using a little move Ice had taught me to spin her away from me and into the wall I had just moved away from.

She hit it with a force to rattle the timbers, then turned, slightly dazed and badly out of breath.

"Talk to me, Rio," I said, circling away from her and back toward the shadowy part of the stables where there was much more room. "Tell me why you're doing this."

Gritting her teeth, she pushed away from the wall, then kicked up the knife which laid at her feet. "Shut up and fight, bitch," she growled, stepping forward and slashing wildly at me.

I danced away. "I am fighting, Rio. I'm fighting to understand why you're doing this." I evaded another slash, then ducked around the corner, using the maneuver to kick out at her as she came around to get me.

While my original goal, the knife in her hand, was missed, I did manage to get her a good on in the gut, which brought me precious seconds to regroup.

"Ice taught you to be an Amazon. Did she also teach you to come after unarmed women for no reason?"

"You don't know anything about what she taught me!"

"Oh, I think I do," I countered, circling. "Because she taught me the same things she taught you."

"You're not an Amazon! You'll never be an Amazon!"

"How can you say that? You don't even know me, Rio."

We continued to circle one another in and out of the shadows, the knife always between us, and my eyes never straying from it.

"Oh, I know all about you, bitch. I know that you're no Amazon. An Amazon doesn't suck the life out of people. An Amazon doesn't make people weak and soft."

"Who have I done this to, Rio?"

"Ice, goddamn it!" she screamed, her face red with rage. "Even you're not that stupid!"

"Maybe I am, because I still don't understand."

"It's all your fault, bitch. It's your fault Cavallo's still alive. It's your fault she got arrested. You made her weak. You made her soft." Each short sentence was punctuated with a thrust of her knife. "The Ice I know wouldn't play house with some blonde snatch and let the cops get the jump on her. The Ice I know would never have let Cavallo go after she had her gun to his head. The Ice I know..."

The click was loud in the echoing confines of the large stable. I froze in place as I saw the glittering silver of a gun materialize out of the shadows and press its malignant barrel against Rio's right temple. "Go ahead and finish what you were saying, Rio." The dark, velvet purr of my lover floated out of the shadows, causing every hair in my body to stand at stiff and almost painful attention as my muscles clenched and unclenched in pure animal reaction to her sudden presence. "The Ice you know... what?"

Rio was as stiff as I'd ever seen another human being. Her eyes were wide and rolling, and the dim lighting of the stables sparkled off the fat beads of sweat forming at her hairline and upper lip. Her mouth opened and closed, but only a strangled wheeze managed to escape. I could literally smell her abject terror, even over the heavy scent of hay and horses.

"Go ahead, Rio. Finish."

Another strangled wheeze was her answer.

A soft, mocking laugh filtered through. "What's the matter, Rio? Cat got your tongue? You seemed just fine a minute ago."

"I...".

"Ice," I said softly, taking a short step forward. Though it might have been insane, I found myself suddenly having a sort of strange sympathy for the woman who'd been trying to murder me just moments before. "Please..."

"Well, since you don't want to talk to me, Rio, maybe I'll talk to you instead, hm?" The gun disappeared back into the shadows where my lover stood, and a black gloved hand grabbed Rio's shirt and turned the terrified woman to face in Ice's direction. "Apparently you've forgotten a few things I've taught you, my friend."

"Ice..." I tried again.

"Rule number one. Never pick up a knife unless you plan on using it on someone." A booted foot slashed out of the darkness and the knife flew from Rio's hand, spinning over my head and landing in a hay bale several feet behind me.

"Rule number two. Never threaten an innocent woman."

Rio's breath exploded from her lungs in an agonized croak as she bent nearly double from the fist Ice drove into her belly.

She was quickly yanked back up once again, however.

"Rule number three." The soft, dark laugh sounded again. "Ah yes. I never mentioned rule number three to you before, did I? No matter. Now's as good a time to learn it as any, right?"

I could see her huge body spasm as she was shaken, hard.

"Rule number three. It's the simplest of them all, really. Touch Angel. You die. Got it?"

Rio was shaken again when she remained silent.