Chapter Four

P earl woke up stiff and aching in places she wasn't used to aching in. She was alone on a bed of furs. A rolled-up towel was under her head, and she was covered by a blanket that smelled of Maverick.

Maverick.

Bolting upright, she tried to see anything in the pitch darkness. As the fog of sleep cleared from her mind, reality came crashing back in. She was a Pinkerton, sworn to uphold the law and bring outlaws to justice. And Maverick, for all the glimpses of goodness and honor she'd seen in him, was still a vampire, still a wanted man. Her mission had been clear: convince him to join the Pinkertons and use his supernatural abilities for good or execute him. She had just complicated her own mission.

"Easy," Maverick's tired voice said from across the room. A lantern lit, and the mine cavern brightened enough that she could see him in the corner. "It's mid-morning."

"Shouldn't you be in a coffin or something?" she asked.

He gave a half chuckle. "That's not necessary when you're this deep in the earth." Maverick took a deep breath, as if steeling himself for what he was about to say. "I want to tell you about something that vampires don't talk about. Vampires have a custom, a belief. We call it the mate bond. When a vampire finds their true mate, a connection forms between them. A bond that goes beyond mere physical attraction or emotional attachment."

Pearl's eyes widened as the pieces began to fall into place. The inexplicable draw she felt toward Maverick, the way her heart raced at his touch, the fierce protectiveness that had surged through her when she saw him in danger. "Do you think we're mates?" she asked.

"Maybe. But I don't have a tattoo from it, and neither do you."

"A tattoo?"

"It appears once the mate bond is set."

"I didn't try to make you bond with me. I wasn't sent to seduce you. This isn't part of the Pinkerton deal." Pearl scrambled to find her clothes.

"I had wondered," he said. "Why else send a female Pinkerton after me?"

Pearl had wondered why they had selected her too. "I was the closest," she said, which was the reason she came up with.

She needed to get dressed and get out of here so she could think clearly. Part of her wanted to go over to Maverick and climb on top of him and ride him to another earth-shaking, life-changing orgasm. Surreptitiously, she checked herself for a tattoo. "What's the tattoo look like?"

"It's different for everyone."

Pearl quickly got dressed and realized she had no idea how to get out of the mine from here. "I don't think I should be here right now."

"Aren't you wondering if I'm going to join the Pinkertons?" He stood up and walked over to her.

"Are you?" Her throat was dry. She wasn't ready for his answer, if it meant she'd have to attack him.

"Not yet."

"I took a crossbow bolt for you," Pearl said in exasperation. "How much more trustworthy do I have to be?"

He gave her a grim smile. "It's not you anymore. It's me." Maverick took a deep breath, his eyes shadowed with memory. "When I was still human, I was a lawman."

Pearl scoffed, but then saw he was serious. "Go on."

"I was turned during the Revolutionary War by a British soldier. My first hundred years are a blur, but I did awful things to survive and barely managed to escape and make my way back home. Everyone I ever knew was dead."

"I'm sorry," Pearl said.

"Time marched on without me. I tried to be a part of the community again, start anew as a sheriff. But my fangs are hard to hide when I'm in a fight, and I was kicked out of town."

"That doesn't seem fair."

"It doesn't, and that's why I turned to being an outlaw. I met Clyde, Esmerelda, and Harlan along my way across the states. They became my home and my family. I made them a promise that we'd do one big score and retire to live the good life."

"I can make them the same offer I made you. The Pinkertons needs vampires."

"Why?" Maverick tilted his head at her.

"I haven't been told exactly why yet, but I believe it's along the lines of we need to fight fire with fire or humanity is at risk."

Maverick snorted. "Am I supposed to care about humanity?"

"I think they made the offer because you care about being hunted as an outlaw."

"Fair point. Anyway, I need to do one last job before I join the Pinkertons."

Pearl narrowed her eyes. "What kind of job?"

"My gang and I are tracking a stolen shipment of gold from the US Mint. Most of the outlaws who pulled the job were killed in a shootout, but the gold was never recovered. Rumor has it that the only survivor hid the treasure somewhere in this area before succumbing to his wounds."

Pearl's brow furrowed. "And you think you know where the gold is?"

Maverick nodded. "I have a lead from a dead deputy who had also been looking for the gold."

"Did you kill him?" she blurted out.

He gave her a disappointed look. "No, but he was murdered. I was too late to save him, but I found his notes hidden in the floorboards of the boardinghouse he was staying in. I promised the gold to my gang. Once we have it, I'll go with you to the Pinkertons. But not before."

Pearl's mind raced, torn between her duty and her growing feelings for Maverick. "The gold belongs to the Mint. It needs to be returned."

"No."

She gritted her teeth. "What do you mean no ?"

"The Pinkertons are offering me a pardon, aren't they? For all my crimes, once I join up?" Maverick was unyielding. "This is my last score. My last act as an outlaw. After this, I'm yours."

Pearl's breath caught at the intensity of his words, the unspoken promise in them. She knew she should protest, should insist on doing things by the book. But looking into Maverick's eyes, seeing the flicker of hope beneath the weary resignation, she found herself wavering.

"All right," she said at last. "We'll find the gold, together. But after that, mate bond or no mate bond, you're coming with me."

Maverick's eyes glinted in the lantern light, a hint of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "I'd be glad to."

***

P EARL WENT BACK TO town and retrieved her gear from the boardinghouse and gathered some supplies. She was going to stick to Maverick like glue until he allowed her to bring him back to the Pinkertons. While she was there, she specifically looked up the vampire mating bond information in Sarah's notes. There wasn't much there, but it did confirm what Maverick had told her. And she double-checked again: still no tattoo.

When she got back to the abandoned mine, Maverick had gathered his gang around a weathered wooden table. He'd spread out the murdered deputy's notebook and the various clues he had collected.

"We've got five clues here that could lead us to the hidden gold," he began, his voice low and serious. "We need to split up and follow each lead, see where it takes us."

Clyde, Esmerelda, and Harlan leaned in, their eyes glinting with anticipation and curiosity. Pearl stood beside Maverick, looking at the clues and trying to make any sense out of them.

Maverick tapped a faded map fragment. "Clyde, I want you to take this map and scout out the area it depicts in the mountains. Look for any signs of the stolen gold or a gang's hideout."

Clyde nodded, his fingers tracing the cryptic symbols. "You got it, boss."

Next, Maverick slid the deputy's journal toward Esmerelda. "There's a mention of a 'secret cave' and a 'fallen tree pointing the way' in this entry. I need you to search the surrounding woods for any caves or unusual tree formations."

Esmerelda grinned, her fangs glinting in the lantern light. "Consider it done. I'll sniff out that cave faster than a bloodhound."

Maverick turned to Harlan, holding up a picture of a mining camp. "Harlan, I want you to investigate this abandoned mining camp. See if you can find any other traces of the gang's presence or clues to the gold's whereabouts."

"I'll turn that camp upside down if I have to," Harlan said.

Finally, Maverick gestured to the rough sketch of the rock formations and a Native American petroglyph. "Pearl and I will follow up on these last two clues. We'll search for the three spires and the canyon indicated by the Indian picture. If any of you find something, send up a signal, and we'll come running. And watch your backs out there. We don't know who else might be searching for this gold."