Ellen's Arc

Chapter 23 of 45

Ellen held the ledger and looked down the stairwell. The hotel was hers now, but she could not lock a single door. The pale man was still below with Cade. Their eleven-year quarrel filled the lobby, and until it ended, the building was open to anyone who came looking. She set the book on the sill and started down. She found them in the lobby. The pale man in the black coat stood near the cold hearth. Cade faced him, rifle low, both Colts still holstered. This was Dracula, the man who had chased Cade across the plains, certain Cade killed his seven-year-old daughter. He wanted Cade to hear every detail of what was taken before he finished it. "Sit," Dracula said. His voice was quiet and hard. "You will listen first." "No time," Cade said. He counted the windows without moving his head. Ellen stepped between them. "You want him to hear you," she said to Dracula. "He can't hear anything with Brennan riding the road." Dracula's red eyes moved to her. "That is not my concern." "It is now," Ellen said. "Brennan burned Cade's town. He wants him dead fast. You want him slow. You can't have slow if Brennan gets here first." Glass broke at the front. A rifle round split the doorframe. Marcus Brennan's voice came flat from the road. "Cade. Come out. I'm done circling." Ellen looked at Dracula. "He'll take your revenge from you. Right now, on my doorstep. Help me hold the door, or lose Cade to a stranger." Dracula stood still for a long moment. Then he drew a pistol from his coat and moved to the shattered window. "When Brennan is gone," he said to Cade, "you sit and you listen. That is the price." "Deal," Cade said. They fired together. Cade took the doorway with his rifle. Dracula covered the window. Ellen crouched behind the front desk and worked the second Colt Cade tossed her. Brennan had come alone, banking on a single-minded rush. It broke against three guns. A shape roared overhead. Stark dropped from the dark and hit the road in front of Brennan, armor lit blue. He caught Brennan's rifle and crushed it in one fist. "You're done here," Stark said. He hauled Brennan up and lifted off, boots throwing dust across the road. The plain went quiet. Ellen crossed to the door and shut it. The bar dropped into place. For the first time, every entrance was sealed and the road was empty. Dracula turned to Cade. He holstered his pistol. "Now," he said. Cade set his rifle against the wall and sat. Ellen climbed the stairs to her women. The hotel was locked. It was hers. But she had bought the quiet by promising Cade to a man who wanted him to suffer, and that debt would come due before the day ended.