Free Blood Blade Sisters Series by Michelle McLean Page B

Leo stopped trying to force his company on her. But he couldn’t forget about the nights they’d spent wrapped in each other’s arms.
    In an effort to keep his mind and body busy, he threw himself into the chores that needed doing around the ranch, making sure that he collapsed into bed each night too exhausted to do anything but sleep. It was working for the moment, but he didn’t know how much longer he could keep it up.
    One night, a few weeks after he and Cilla had returned, Leo woke around midnight. He lay still for a moment, trying to pinpoint what had disturbed him. A rustling noise, followed by the creak of a wagon and the muffled stomping of horse hooves filtered in through the closed window.
    He got up and went to look outside. The scene in the courtyard below had him diving for his clothes. All three sisters, along with Miguel and Carmen, were loading something into the wagon. Something heavy. Something he could only conclude they didn’t want him to see since they were doing it in the dead of night.
    He pulled on his boots and strapped on his gun as fast as he could. Still, by the time he made it downstairs and out the back door, the wagon had already left, leaving Brynne, Carmen, and Miguel whispering quietly on the porch.
    Leo waited impatiently for them to disperse. Brynne disappeared back inside and Miguel and Carmen went into their little cottage behind the main house before he snuck into the barn and saddled his own horse. He set out after the wagon, following them around the back of the property where they’d disappeared into a small copse of trees. He slowed his horse, picking his way carefully through the woods, keeping an eye out for any sign of Cilla. Nothing. He reined in, listening carefully. A faint whinny sounded from the direction of the hills and he turned his horse to follow it.
    After several minutes he came upon an old mine. The horse and wagon waited just outside the entrance. Leo tied his horse to a tree out of sight of the entrance and crept closer. He stepped inside and listened again while he waited for his eyes to adjust to the dim lantern light filtering from ahead. Two voices, barely audible. He went deeper inside, ducking to keep from bashing his head against the low beams supporting the ceiling.
    He paused once again to listen when he came to a fork in the tunnels. A lantern had been left outside the tunnels, but gave him no clue about which one the girls might have gone down. He went inside the left shaft a few feet. His fingers trailed along the damp, dirt wall. Nothing. The air felt thick and stale sliding into his lungs. A few loose rocks rained down on him and he backed out and tried the right side. After a couple feet there was a bend in the tunnel. He leaned forward, craning his neck around the corner. A weak light shone at the end of the shaft. Cilla’s voice echoed up to him, answered by a fainter one. Had to be Lucy.
    He crept in farther. The end of the tunnel opened into a wider chamber dimly lit by a few flickering torches. An old mine cart sat just in front of the entrance and he crouched behind it, peeking over the top. Another light flared as Cilla lit a lantern.
    “Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this today,” Lucy said. “Now that Frank is back in town and prowling around and Leo up at the house…”
    “Normally I’d agree with you, but these supplies won’t keep forever and neither will the folks needing them. It’s already been too long since our last run.”
    Lucy sat with her back to the dirt wall, examining a gun. Cilla was loading saddlebags with what looked like supplies—lumpy bags of foodstuffs, bundles of herbs, and various other pouches that could be anything.
    Leo leaned forward, trying to get a closer look at what they were doing, but doing so bumped the cart he was hiding behind. The cart squealed forward a few rusty inches. He muttered a curse as the girls froze. Cilla went for her gun.
    “It’s just me,” Leo said, walking into the