Summon Toren(8)
The insolent look he gave her, gaze trailing over her body, settling pointedly on the features he found lacking in femininity, spoke volumes. "If you stayed in the house where you belong and married like your Pap asked, the basin wouldn't have this trouble."
Oh that bastard. Cold, slow-burning anger flared for an instant in Sam's blood. Joe had quickly learned all her hot spots, and never missed an opportunity to push her buttons, but the usual bullshit hadn't sent her blood pressure into the danger zone. His clear frustration over her “rebellious” behavior confirmed Sam's suspicions that he'd been behind her father's demand she marry, and choice of husband. What possible stake could he have in her relationship status? Without pushing himself as the prospective groom he couldn't hope for material gain. Could he?
One more betrayal among so many shouldn't hurt, but it did. She would love nothing more than to fire Joe and send him on down the road. She'd even done it once. Then her father refused to back her up, undermining any degree of authority she might have possessed over the men. As soon as they saw him make her publicly apologize to Gavin and offer him his job back, she dropped to the bottom of the pecking order on the ranch. Even the adolescent boy who carried firewood and did other menial chores too insignificant for one of the hands to be delegated to had more authority.
And Joe stood there in front of her now, probably aware of every thought running through her mind since he was also part psychic, according to him. Maybe it was time to give him something else to think about.
Sam grinned at him, deliberately exaggerating the expression until she knew it looked unbalanced. "Let me tell you something Josephus, something you would do well to remember. I'm an only child, my father's only legal heir. He isn't getting any younger. In fact, this flu is taking a serious toll. You wouldn't recognize him now." Her conscience pricked a little at even using such a threat, but the narrowing of Joe’s eyes spurred her on. "Who can say how long the old goat has left? And when he's gone, the C-Bar is mine. If you like it here, if you think you might want to stay on whenever I take over, you would do well to remember that maybe very soon, I will have the final say here. Do I make myself clear?"
The insolent half-smile faded and the sexy mouth compressed into a thin line of unexpressed anger. "Crystal clear. But just so you know…" The cocky slow grin returned. “I’m like the son your father never had.”
The brief satisfaction she’d gotten from shaking the bastard's confidence disappeared. The most painful part of that statement was how true it was. Sam wouldn’t be surprised if her father made him heir since he clearly saw her as incapable from the day she was born, no matter how hard she tried to prove the opposite. "Get dressed. We roll in thirty or you’re fired.” She turned for the door. "And just so you know, the line of succession for this land is iron-clad. It goes to the eldest surviving direct descendent of Papa Orrin. When Daddy's gone, that's me." She stalked out, slamming the door behind her.
It was stupid and petty and Sam knew it. The idiot was sick and wouldn’t admit it and taking a sick man out into a blizzard was unthinkable no matter how much she hated him. But there was nothing wrong with making Joe think she would. Letting him know the ranch was hers no matter what was a mistake too. Soon enough he'd figure out the stipulation only applied to the land, not the stock and other assets. Then she'd be screwed six ways from Sunday.
CHAPTER THREE
Kassern clapped Toren on the shoulder. “You understand the ground rules?”
Toren sniffed the air, sampling the corruption. “This place is cursed.”
“I knew I sensed something off,” Dorn muttered.
“Yes,” Kassern agreed. “Not a highly unusual dilemma in this realm.”
True. A huge storm was maybe two hours out, adding to the new concern. He needed to hurry. “I understand the rules.” Impatience swirled the mercury through his veins, pushing hard, insisting he get started. Invisibly hovering above the ground as they discussed the finer points of his role in the mission felt like a massive waste of time.
“If you have any questions, now is the time to ask,” Dorn said. “Once you're on the farm, you’re quarantined for her protection. We’ve added reinforcements to the shield you placed around the perimeter for extra precaution but we can't depend on that to be enough. Such a huge geographical area and so many life forms will stretch even the most impenetrable shield thin. The slightest taste of angelic powers will bring a literal horde of demons right to you. Your woman will be the primary target. And don’t ever forget the demon Kharef marked her and we have no clue how that will affect her should she gain her memory somehow, but we can be sure the demon will do absolutely anything to have her back. And I hope you’re right about appearing to her before your couple kisses.”