Bulletproof Witch: The Delivery of Flesh (Episode 1) by Blair Francis James

Author:Blair, Francis James [Blair, Francis James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lily and Rose Publishing LLC
Published: 2019-01-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

The temperature in the canyon climbed at a lightning pace, the walls so hot Temperance couldn’t rest her hand for more than a brief second. There was no shade to speak of, and they lost as much of their water to foreheads as to parched throats.

It wasn’t long after the bridge that the marshal had his coat and shirt unbuttoned, both stained dark with sweat already. Lalaish had turned as red as a merrybell flower, his once fine suit now little more than a rumpled and soaked rag. Despite his obvious distress he kept his mouth shut, perhaps fearing the marshal more than heatstroke.

Temperance for her part shed her grandfather’s coat, but soon even that proved insufficient. Releasing the top few buttons of her shirt, she caught the slightest hint of a breeze sending shivers of relief coursing through her. She squeezed her eyes shut and allowed herself a moment to enjoy the simple pleasure of it.

Opening them again, she saw Lalaish looking at her. A most noxious leer replaced the scowl he had worn most of the afternoon, and he wiggled his eyebrows as their gazes met. Without breaking eye contact, Temperance snapped the buttons on her shirt back up. The heat settled over her again immediately, but she reasoned that was preferable to giving the sorcerer any kind of satisfaction.

Evening came early to the canyon, and the sight of the sun slipping over the cliff line left Temperance with rather mixed emotions. On the one hand, the heat dissipated almost immediately, but on the other, so did the light.

They came to a shelf in the canyon wall, wide and deep enough for several dozen men. A blackened firepit in the center and the neat pile of timber near the back implied it was a popular rest stop, or had been before the road made this passage obsolete.

Despite the fire and the relative space, they passed their evening meal in quiet. Temperance kept glancing at the marshal, but he seemed to be avoiding her attention. While her worries that he might arrest her had diminished since they left the bridge, everything still felt tense between them. Peter was a man who believed what he believed, she supposed, and at the end of the day he was still a Federation employee.

Evening fell, and Temperance was first on watch again. As the embers of the fire died away, the moonslight replaced them, their blue-green glow lighting up the canyon all the way to its bottom.

She sat near the edge of the path, feet dangling over nothing, wondering if staying awake was even worth the effort. By now, Lalaish’s men should be well on their way around, hoping to cut them off on the open plains. Between the sorcerer’s stalling tactics and his attack earlier today, she gave his men even odds of catching them before they reached Benson .

The hours of nothing allowed her brain to turn on itself, and Temperance considered Astor’s advice once again. She was risking much for so little gain.

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