Free The Slayer by Theresa Meyers

boots kicking up a small cloud of pale dust. The sun was fully risen now, a brilliant ball of white light in a blue sky, but the air wasn’t hot. Not yet.
    Just in front of Marley’s place sat Tempus, his brother Colt’s mechanical horse. It looked like some bizarre frozen beast, the black-and-white cowhide covering over its copper body both protecting it from the elements and making it eerily realistic. Only the solid silver eyes and brass hooves completely gave it away. Why had Colt left it here? He never went anywhere without Tempus, unless something drastic had happened.
    The door of Marley’s home swung open and out came a man a full foot shorter than Winn, his brown eyes magnified into outlandish proportions by the elaborate brass goggles on his face. No one knew for sure exactly how old Marley was, but his hair was tufts of white cotton surrounding his head. Yet, his brows were still as dark as his eyes, and his face didn’t have a wrinkle on it.
    There were rumors among the Hunters in the Western territories that things had gone bad during one of Marley’s experiments, and that had brought on the change in his hair color. But Marley’s past didn’t matter much to Winn. Hands down, nobody, but nobody could outmatch Marley for a mind and sheer ingenuity.
    â€œWinchester!” He wiped his hands on his stained leather apron and approached Winn hand outstretched, a large smile on his face. “To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing two of you Jacksons in one week?”
    â€œFamily business.” Winn took Marley’s hand and gave it a proper shake.
    Marley’s dark brows rose above the level of his goggles. “My word, does that mean you’ve begun hunting again?”
    â€œNot exactly. I’m trying to help out Colt.”
    Marley lifted the goggles away from his eyes, perching them on his forehead so that he looked like a demented double-horned unicorn. “So, you two have patched things up, as they say?”
    â€œClose enough.” Winn glanced at the dirigible hanging overhead. “I’ve got a job to do. Was Balmora able to help Colt decode that slip of paper he found in Pa’s box?”
    Marley nodded, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction. “She did an exemplary job unraveling that code.”
    â€œWell, what did it say?”
    â€œThe inscription said something regarding needing the entire Book to seal the Gates, and then there was a riddle: At the height of the mountains, where legends are reborn from the ashes, is the eye through which we must pass to sew the tapestry of our Chosen destiny.”
    â€œWhat the hell is that supposed to mean?”
    â€œI really don’t know. Colt couldn’t make sense of it either. He’s taken it to Remington in Tombstone to see if perhaps your brother can understand the instructions your father left.”
    Winn hitched his thumb at Tempus. “So why’d he leave his horse? He don’t go anywhere without that thing.”
    â€œHe left Tempus at the train station with the request that I ship it back to you in Bodie for safekeeping until he returned. He thought the train would be a faster means to reach Remington.”
    â€œSo now it’s a race?”
    Marley’s face turned deadly serious. “A race of great significance. If my calculations are correct, we have only until the next new moon before there will be an attempt made to open the Gates of Nyx permanently, and Colt agrees, which makes time of the essence.”
    â€œDamn,” Winn growled, swiping his Stetson off his head and plowing his fingers through his hair. His gut twisted into a Gordian knot just thinking of the odds stacked against them. “Three weeks?”
    Marley nodded. “You might want to stop there if you can and find out what they’ve discovered. Your brothers may need your assistance. And you could deliver Tempus back to Colt.”
    Winn swore under his breath. “You think