High Noon - Casey Bond Page 0,2

I murmured into her hair.

She sobered and pulled her head back to look me over, and in the tears still pooling in her eyes, I saw fear. I knew what she was about to ask before she asked it. “What year is it?”

I swallowed, hoping she didn’t see my wince.

“I know I’m not home, Enoch.”

I shook my head. “It’s eighteen-sixty-eight.”

Laying on the ground, she started to sob, her muscles turning to liquid. The only thing she wanted was to go home. She’d made that abundantly clear when she jumped from my brother’s roof in seventeen-seventy-seven, holding Titus’s hand.

Hotah finally caught up with us, skidding to a stop a few feet away. He stared at Eve warily, his wide eyes taking in her glowing suit. When Eve saw Hotah, she wiped her tears. I helped her sit up.

“Eve, this is my friend Hotah. Hotah, this is Eve.” Eve assessed the hides he wore, his moccasin shoes, the feathers braided into his hair on either side, and gave him a genuine smile.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Hotah,” she told him. “I’m sorry I’m an emotional mess.”

He turned toward me, awe painting his features as a smile stretched slowly over his face. “Your heart?”

I nodded. Yes. She was my heart.

“What’s that mean?” Eve asked.

“I told him how I feel about you.”

“I left you,” she whispered. “I thought you’d be mad.”

I let out a half-laugh, bracing my hands on my thighs. “Oh, I was furious for a decade, at least. But you are and will always be my heart, Eve. Never question that.”

Hotah shook his head. “When you said she fell from the heavens, I thought you were telling a joke.”

I held tight to her hand, erasing Titus’s scent from her skin.

Hotah crouched down. I followed his gaze behind Eve, where Kohana stood at the top of a knoll. Kohana raised his hand to his mouth and gave a shrill whistle. In response, Hotah let out a curse, grumbling, “He calls me to him like I am his pet.”

“Who is that?” Eve asked, looking up at Kohana.

“My brother,” Hotah replied.

She leaned in to me. “Is his brother as friendly as yours?”

“Somewhat friendlier,” I answered.

Kohana was complicated. He was stoic and serious, a fierce warrior like Asa. But he was loyal, while my brother could not be relied upon. For a long time, through countless centuries, I refused to see the truth. But it took him trying to ruin what Eve and I had to actually wake me up. He would never forgive me – never forget what I’d done – and would never listen to my side of the story. Did I kill the woman he loved? Yes. But she was deceitful. He brought her to meet me, and during their stay, she slipped into my bedroom one night and threw herself at me. In killing her, I’d done him a favor – one he hadn’t and never would appreciate.

Kohana had been looking out for us. Even in a land as vast as this, there were tensions. Plenty of blood soaked the earth in these parts.

“I’ll go talk to him,” Hotah volunteered.

“Do you think he saw her?” I asked, referring to Eve’s fall from the sky.

“I’m not sure, but he certainly heard your screams.”

The dust cloud that had enshrouded us was almost gone. Some of it settled back onto the plain, while the wind dragged the rest away. In the center of this vast plain, in a place I least expected, was Eve. I couldn’t help but stare in wonder, unable to let go of her.

She felt the same as she had in every year we’d met. Her eyes latched onto mine hungrily; her hands clutched my biceps. The feeling I got in her presence returned; it was like what had been empty in me was now full. For a long moment I basked in the feeling, pulling her close and holding her tight.

As the brightness of the sky faded and began to darken, Hotah quickly made his way up the slope to his brother, who stood a few inches taller and was broader across the chest. Their hair fell over their shoulders like a shiny, dark curtain. Each bore many scars, shallow and deep, but they were both strong. Warriors. While Hotah had become one of my closest friends in the past year, Kohana barely tolerated me.

As the two spoke in their native tongue, a wrinkle formed between Eve’s brows. “I can hear their voices but have no idea what language they’re