Sacrifice of Passion (Deadly Legends) by Melissa Bourbon Ramirez Page A
Authors: Melissa Bourbon Ramirez
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out a rumble, and she wondered when the storm was going to unleash itself fully on San Julio.
A movement by the barn caught her eye. She focused. Ash blond hair. Hunched shoulders. Alan. Had he seen her come from the barn? Was that why she’d felt that creeping sensation? She blinked, but he was gone. God, maybe she really was going crazy.
But a sense of foreboding wormed its way into her and she remembered Esperanza’s warning. Be careful, or you will die .
“Be careful of what?” she said aloud, her voice echoing in the empty bedroom. What was it the curandera had said was after her? Something strange. Doc Clinton had also mentioned it recently. Chuca-something. No. Chupacabra? That was it.
Last night, the cloud of alcohol had let her allow the woman to wander off after her bizarre proclamation. But now Delaney wanted answers. How the curandera had known Delaney was coming home. What the woman was sorry for. And what Delaney was supposed to be careful of. What could be so dangerous? This chupacabra person? Or was it an animal? Why did the old woman think it was after her? Or was she just plain nuts?
She headed to the bathroom and quickly showered. Back in her room, she dressed in jeans and a scoop-necked eyelet shirt, and then reached into the closet to grab a green vest shoved on the shelf. Something flashed, and her breath caught as she spotted the silver bracelet Vic had given her on her eighteenth birthday. She pulled it from the shelf, turning the cool metal over in her hand. For his rodeo champ, he’d said after she’d swept the barrel racing events at the county rodeo.
She’d thrown it onto the shelf in a fit of anger after seeing him with Sheila. Then she’d grabbed her already packed suitcase, made up a story so her parents would let her go, and caught the first bus for Austin.
Almost reluctantly, she clasped the bracelet on her wrist, the weight of it heavy on her arm. Somehow wearing the bracelet made her feel closer to Vic, like he was actually with her. And, right or wrong, she liked the sensation. The idea of it. Maybe she could hold on to one good memory from their past together. The thought comforted her—for a moment.
As she finished getting ready for work and drove to the vet clinic, reality set back in. She couldn’t say if it was her longing for Vic, residual uneasiness from waking in the stables, or the unnerving feeling that she was being watched that was bringing her down again, making her nerves jangle with apprehension.
Or maybe it was the curandera’s warning lingering in her head.
Determined, Delaney forced them all away. She refused to give in to the fear creeping through her veins, threatening to take hold.
There was nothing to be afraid of. Seriously.
Nothing bad was going to happen.
…
Delaney arrived at the vet clinic by seven-thirty, showing up just in time to take a desperate call from Jasper.
“I was headed to San Antonio for a stock auction and my truck broke down,” he said, his voice tight and tense. “Chris just called to say the mare’s ready to foal, but he had to take off for work. I tried getting ahold of my uncle to watch over her, but he’s not picking up, and I’m stuck on I-35 for a couple more hours at least.”
A belt tightened around her heart. “Doc Clinton’s not here. He’s out on a call.” The mare would probably be fine birthing her foal on her own, but someone really should be there—just in case.
“You go, Delaney. You know horses.”
She’d seen two foals born in her life—from a distance—and still regretted missing her own mare foaling. This felt like a second chance. She called Doc Clinton to get his okay, and minutes later she was in her Jeep, barreling over country roads toward Jasper’s ranch.
As she drove up the long dirt road that led to the barn, a thrill shot through her. She passed the tired, pre-fabricated house Jasper and Chris had inherited when they’d come of age, and parked in front of the stable.
She
A movement by the barn caught her eye. She focused. Ash blond hair. Hunched shoulders. Alan. Had he seen her come from the barn? Was that why she’d felt that creeping sensation? She blinked, but he was gone. God, maybe she really was going crazy.
But a sense of foreboding wormed its way into her and she remembered Esperanza’s warning. Be careful, or you will die .
“Be careful of what?” she said aloud, her voice echoing in the empty bedroom. What was it the curandera had said was after her? Something strange. Doc Clinton had also mentioned it recently. Chuca-something. No. Chupacabra? That was it.
Last night, the cloud of alcohol had let her allow the woman to wander off after her bizarre proclamation. But now Delaney wanted answers. How the curandera had known Delaney was coming home. What the woman was sorry for. And what Delaney was supposed to be careful of. What could be so dangerous? This chupacabra person? Or was it an animal? Why did the old woman think it was after her? Or was she just plain nuts?
She headed to the bathroom and quickly showered. Back in her room, she dressed in jeans and a scoop-necked eyelet shirt, and then reached into the closet to grab a green vest shoved on the shelf. Something flashed, and her breath caught as she spotted the silver bracelet Vic had given her on her eighteenth birthday. She pulled it from the shelf, turning the cool metal over in her hand. For his rodeo champ, he’d said after she’d swept the barrel racing events at the county rodeo.
She’d thrown it onto the shelf in a fit of anger after seeing him with Sheila. Then she’d grabbed her already packed suitcase, made up a story so her parents would let her go, and caught the first bus for Austin.
Almost reluctantly, she clasped the bracelet on her wrist, the weight of it heavy on her arm. Somehow wearing the bracelet made her feel closer to Vic, like he was actually with her. And, right or wrong, she liked the sensation. The idea of it. Maybe she could hold on to one good memory from their past together. The thought comforted her—for a moment.
As she finished getting ready for work and drove to the vet clinic, reality set back in. She couldn’t say if it was her longing for Vic, residual uneasiness from waking in the stables, or the unnerving feeling that she was being watched that was bringing her down again, making her nerves jangle with apprehension.
Or maybe it was the curandera’s warning lingering in her head.
Determined, Delaney forced them all away. She refused to give in to the fear creeping through her veins, threatening to take hold.
There was nothing to be afraid of. Seriously.
Nothing bad was going to happen.
…
Delaney arrived at the vet clinic by seven-thirty, showing up just in time to take a desperate call from Jasper.
“I was headed to San Antonio for a stock auction and my truck broke down,” he said, his voice tight and tense. “Chris just called to say the mare’s ready to foal, but he had to take off for work. I tried getting ahold of my uncle to watch over her, but he’s not picking up, and I’m stuck on I-35 for a couple more hours at least.”
A belt tightened around her heart. “Doc Clinton’s not here. He’s out on a call.” The mare would probably be fine birthing her foal on her own, but someone really should be there—just in case.
“You go, Delaney. You know horses.”
She’d seen two foals born in her life—from a distance—and still regretted missing her own mare foaling. This felt like a second chance. She called Doc Clinton to get his okay, and minutes later she was in her Jeep, barreling over country roads toward Jasper’s ranch.
As she drove up the long dirt road that led to the barn, a thrill shot through her. She passed the tired, pre-fabricated house Jasper and Chris had inherited when they’d come of age, and parked in front of the stable.
She
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