When Lightning Strikes

She landed face-first in the mud, felt the cold ooze splatter her face as Captain floundered in the mire, grunting, wheezing, trying to get back onto his feet. The acrid smell of gunpowder chased away the sweet fragrance of the rain. All Lainie could smell now was wet earth and sweat and sulfur.

And blood.

She saw the dark smear of red that stained the Appa-loosa's huge flank. The animal gave one last, shuddering breath and collapsed.

She stared at the horse for a heartbeat, unable to comprehend, and then, in a flash, it came to her.

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"Oh, my God" she screamed in a panic. All at once she knew what was happening, knew why it was happening. She clutched Killian's sleeve and yanked hard. "Where are we?"

"Bloody Gorge." He inched forward on his elbows and peered over the dead horse's swelling stomach, using the now silent animal as a barrier between them and the snipers.

The world fell away from her for a second. Bloody Gorge. What the hell were they doing here?

Viloula's prophecy came crashing back to her. There will be a death.

"Killian!" a male voice yelled, echoing above the driving rain. "Surrender or we'll shoot you."

Lainie slogged through the mud and plastered herself alongside him. Taking Killian's face in her wet, dirty hands, she forced him to look at her. "You have to get out of here. That's Joe Martin."

"I'm not leaving you. We're gonna make it to the Rock."

Lainie shook her head. Tears scalded her eyes and fell down her cheeks, mingling with the cold rain. "You don't understand. This is? Oh, God ..." For a second she couldn't talk, couldn't move, couldn't do anything except look into Killian's eyes and feel a drenching, desperate sense of regret.

"What, Lainie, for Christ's sake?"

She shook him hard, glared up at him through the stinging veil of tears. "This is where you die, damn it. Get the hell out of here."

She saw the dawning realization in his eyes, the understanding. "Bloody Gorge," he said softly. "Yeah, I remember you saying that now...."

"Now you remember," she said hysterically. "Couldn't you have remembered yesterday?"

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"There's no other way to the Rock. This is it." He frowned suddenly. "How did Joe Martin know I'd be here?"

"Mose," she said without hesitation. "He sent Joe Martin to kill you at Bloody Gorge. After your . . . death, Mose takes your place with the outlaws."

"Bastard," he hissed.

"Come on out, Killian. Don't make me kill the lady, too."

Killian shot a glance at the horizon. He couldn't see the sun, but knew it was fading fast. "We've got to make a run for it. Now."

She grabbed his chin, forced him to look at her. "Not you. No way."

He clutched her by the shoulders and drew her close, giving her a hard shake. "We're in this together, damn it."

"But you die here, Killian." She was screaming now, screaming and crying, and she didn't care.

He gave her a hard, desperate kiss. "Don't you get it?" he whispered against her lips, his voice a thread of sound above the thumping of the rain on their bodies. "I'm dead either way. Now, get your beautiful ass up to a crawl. I'm heading for the Rock, and I'll get you there if I have to drag you."

He maneuvered onto his hands and knees and peered over the spotted swell of the horse's hindquarters. Lainie followed, keeping close. In the distance, not more than one hundred feet away, she saw the shadowy outline of three men on horseback.

She glanced to the west again, saw the sun. They had mere minutes left.

He slipped his hand in hers. She felt the solid, comforting squeeze of his fingers. "On the count of three