Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

L uckily Cal's shirt buttons hadn't been ripped off while they forced the shirt open, so he was able to shield everyone else from the glowing monstrosity on his chest. Outside, the people of Stallion Ridge were escaping to their safe havens that weren't quite ready. Most of the businesses still needed their windows blocked, and Cal had been charged to help with the Thompson's store. Now there was no time. At least their sign was still up.

Gunner was in place on top of a building, rifle in hand and perched low. Sky's large wings spread out as he stood proudly atop the building across from Gunner's north of the town. With his bow in hand, Cal knew the man wasn't going to kill anyone but would help disarm and contain. Cody had his aim on the ground floor near the saloon, using barrels as a shield. Mack stood with Cal, hand resting on his pistol, calm as ever. When Jesse came up to his side and passed him his rifle, the steady drumbeat of his heart spiked.

It was the final showdown. The last thing standing in the way of their future together.

Future. Together. Cal had to bite his cheek to keep from grinning like a fool instead of keeping his serious composure. Nothing like the threat of getting gunned down in the street to make a man sentimental.

"You ready?" Cal glanced Jesse's way. Sun was hitting Jesse's eyes just right, causing the whiskey color to shine a deep amber. Dirty blond hair moved slightly in the wind, peeking out from his hat, a couple shades lighter than the growth of beard across his jaw.

Handsome. Beautiful. And right at his side.

"Yeah," Jesse said calmly. "I'm ready, Sheriff."

"Still time to run." Jack moved in beside Mack, smugly giving them a halfhearted side glance. The bruise from Cal's hoof was still a proud purple splotch on his jaw, but Jack wore it like it was a proud battle wound.

"Nah." Jesse tossed Cal the cheeky smirk he had grown to love. "I'm right where I wanna be."

"I'd kiss you, but I think it would ruin the air of authority," Cal rumbled.

"Might throw them off. They ride in seeing us sucking face, and they'd run for the hills."

"You're making me want to run for the hills," Jack spat, shivering.

"Alright, everyone. Get into character." Mack rallied them back into focus as the bandits in question finally made their way into view. There were only three of them, all on horseback, in various shades of black-and-gray clothing. Their faces were hard, glaring forward with meaning and bent on taking what they thought was theirs. Their eyes skated over the other men standing at the town's entrance but were downright burning into Jesse when they landed on him. Slowly, each of them came to a stop a couple yards away, dismounting their horses and finishing the distance on foot.

"This is your only chance to end this peacefully," Cal called out, holding his rifle in both hands but not aiming yet. He'd give them a chance to see reason, to realize they were outnumbered and knocking on death's door. Stallion Ridge had never had a shootout, nothing bloodier than an occasional bar fight. This was beyond his level of violence tenfold.

Silence greeted them in response. One of the men, a tall, spidery-looking fellow with greasy black hair skirting out from under a dark hat, spit to the side as he glared daggers at Jesse.

"Never pegged you as a rat. Stupid, sure. But not a rat." His voice was raspy and grating, full of hatred as he spoke to Jesse.

"You murdered four people, Jeb. I wasn't going to take the fall for that. I didn't want anyone to die."

"Didn't have a problem with it when the money was flowing."

"You know that ain't true. When I asked why you shot that lady, you told me to keep my trap shut or join her. Those were innocent people!" Jesse yelled back. "I ain't got no problem stealing from the fat cats, but I sure as hell ain't hanging for your evil deeds."

"Evil deeds?" Jeb cackled a laugh. "Boy, after you rolled over for the law, they came and killed most of my crew. We're all that's left. Just us. That blood is on your hands." He pointed a finger at Jesse, his voice icy cold.

"That's what happens when you try and use a school house as a shield, you cowardly shits," Jack shot back. "Don't act like you were innocent in this. I've been getting reports of your movement. You fled to a school when my officers were hot on your heels and tried to hide in it for protection. Luckily, it was Sunday." Jack laughed at the bandits. "I agree Jesse's stupid, but y'all are idiots too."

Jesse tossed him a glare but refocused on Jeb and the others. Jack had failed to mention any of this to Cal, which wasn't shocking. They hadn't exactly spoken to one another since the fight, but it didn't surprise him that Jack had been keeping tabs on the inbound threat. From the lack of law following them into town, Cal wagered to guess the bandits shook the badges on their tail and left them chasing ghosts.

So much for backup.

"Like I said before," Cal spoke up again. "This is your only chance to end this peacefully. Lay down your weapons. You're outnumbered."

Jeb roamed his eyes over the men, then out in the town were Sky had his stance tall and proud and the other two men pointing their iron at them from a distance.

"Outnumbered." Jeb slowly grinned, the smile nothing but evil and malicious. "Hardly."

Cal tightened the grip around his rifle as the trio moved, their forms shifting into something long, terrifying, and primal. Fabric ripped away from their legs as they fused together, slithering out into a long, mighty serpent body while their torsos retained their humanoid shape but gained a bit more muscle mass. Their Lamia forms were big, powerful, and ominous against the backdrop of the dusk sky, like three images of death coiling to strike.

"What the fuck is happening?" Jack snapped quickly. "I thought you said they were human!"

"I thought they were!" Jesse yelled back, taking aim.

"None of these bullets are silver," Cal growled, glancing back at Mack. "Go."

Mack was off like a shot, darting back toward the jailhouse where the ammo was stashed. His movement set off the attack. Each of the Lamia ahead of them launched forward after their selected targets. Without silver bullets and the correct wards, they had enough fire and magic power to keep themselves mildly defended, but not for long. One of the lackeys Jeb brought along was tackled by a raging Minotaur before it could get much further, while the other was crawling up the buildings most likely heading for the Native threat.

Jeb went right for Jesse.

Cal's human form was frustratingly slow. Out of instinct, he tried to shift to gain his speed back, only to feel that side of himself raging against an internal cage. A sharp pain akin to snorting a flask of acid whirled in his head almost caused him to stumble, but he fought through the pain to get to his outlaw. Shots were being fired around him, the lead bullets striking the scaly flesh of their foes and bruising them at best.

Jesse darted to the side once Jeb launched at him, jumping through an open window into Thompson's abandoned shop. The couple had run like instructed at the sight of the bandits, barring the doors but not bothering to lock up the windows before they fled to their home away from town. Jeb slammed through the window after him, glass shattering, but his frame was too big for the narrow opening. Cal stopped and took aim, hitting Jeb in the back and causing him to flinch in pain, but it didn't deter him. He wanted to get his hands on Jesse and rip him to shreds, and a little lead bullet wasn't going to stop him. Inside, Jesse's gunshots and curses could be heard as he tried his best to defend himself against the monster trying to claw through the weakening wooden window.

Cal threw his useless gun down and grabbed Jeb's long tail, gripping it with both hands as he started to try and pull him away from the window. Up his tail and fading into his human skin was the iconic, bold, gray-lined, black diamond shapes Cal knew from the native snake population, The scales around the diamonds were sandy color, from his hips down to the fat, rattle tip of his tail.

Venomous.

Deadly.

A bite from them would kill a man within hours after a slow, terrible, cruel agony. A new thread of fear pricked at his spine as he realized what he was seeing, what was currently trying to reach Jesse.

Behind him, Jack could be heard screaming and fighting, Cody was yelling, and the smell of gunpowder was everywhere. Without the strength of his Centaur half, tugging on his tail didn't do much besides get him thrown off comically fast. The whine and crunch of the failing wood around the store tightened the knot in Cal's stomach as Jeb pushed farther in through the window, one shoulder breaching it. A flash of silver whizzed by his head before an arrow pierced through Jeb's tail at the tip, nailing it to the ground. Before the man could even scream in pain, two more joined it, pinning the beast in place.

Cal staggered back and craned his head around to see Sky had flown from his perch and was circling around to help Jack. The Lamia that had gone after him was currently trying to free itself from a similar situation with an arrow through his shoulder against a building roof.

Mack was running toward them with ammo, throwing boxes to Gunner and Cody as well as silver-lined slaver cuffs and collars. Cal spun around back toward Thompson's store to see Jeb pulling himself free of the window, his amber eyes blown wide in anger right at him.

Cal snatched up his gun and fired a shot at the Lamia's face to further piss him off. As the Lamia raged, punching the side of the store with the side of his fist in pain, the heavy metal sign above the door snapped free and came thundering down.

The sign was just heavy enough to daze Jeb as it connected to his temple, sending the man careening to the side in pain and holding his skull.

That stupid sign saved his ass. He needed to somehow remember to buy them a new one after this.

"Jesse! Run!" Cal yelled, keeping his useless gun trained on the downed Lamia as Jesse sprung from the damaged window and bolted for safety. Jeb roared, swiping at him and missing, tugging at his tail to try and rip free. Mack was rushing to them, tossing them life-saving bullets and tools when Jack bellowed in pain.

The Lamia he had been fighting managed to wrap his long tail around him in a python hold, squeezing him tight as he wrestled with Sky to keep a slaver collar away from his neck. If Sky could snap the thing in place, it would force the man to downshift back to his less deadly human form. Sky jerked back, narrowly missing the set of dripping fangs that sprang from the Lamia's jaw as the man opened his mouth impossibly wide. Two, thin daggers unfolded from the roof of his mouth, aimed for anything he could strike.

Again, Cal tried to shift, tried to fall into a gallop to rush to Jack and Sky's aid and kick the shit out of the snake trying to kill them, but his human legs just weren't that fast. Jesse's human speed, however, was lightning quick.

Jesse jumped on the back of the Lamia like he was a goddamn rodeo rider, hooking his rifle into the gaping mouth of the snake from behind while holding each end of the gun. The bandit bit down on the gun, poison leaking from the fangs bared as the metal pressed into the snowy pink gums. Jack screamed again as the tail tightened its hold, and Sky leapt into action. Seeing the opening for what it was, once the Lamia's fangs were occupied, he got in close and snapped the collar into place. The forced shift was hard to watch, but the tail fell away and released Jack as the man shrank down, naked and harmless.

Jesse rushed to Jack and helped the man to his feet, checking him for injuries and broken bones.

"NO!" Mack screamed in pure alarm from Cal's side, causing him to whirl around to see what was causing the panic in his friend's voice. Cody was turning to defend himself, his gun halfway aimed when Jeb was on him, his reach longer than Cody had realized even with the tail still impaled to the dirt.

Time slowed down into a haunting dream, Cal's body moving toward Cody, the dull ache of not being able to shift pulsing through his head as he tried yet again. Cody's big blue eyes widened in fear. His mouth opened slightly in alarm as Jeb's mouth opened wide and bore his fangs, his hands outstretched in a display that almost looked like a deep embrace. As his long arms wrapped around Cody's smaller frame, Cal could see in horrid detail the fangs biting through the meat of the young man's shoulder.

Cal's throat was sore from screaming, which he apparently was. He ran full force toward the kid that had put his life in his hands, trusted him to keep him safe, and train him to become part of the law. Part of something good and honorable. Part of Cal's team.

He's just a kid.

He's just a kid.

Cal wrapped his arms around Jeb's neck and squeezed, trying with every ounce of strength he had to pry the goddamn monster off Cody. Cody was gasping, clawing at Jeb's face. Punching and fighting but growing sickeningly pale. Pulling, pushing against anything he could gain purchase with, Cal fought and screamed until pain like searing hot knives bore into his neck.

Behind him, the Lamia that had been pinned to the building from Sky's arrows had shaken loose and was now wrapping himself around Cal like Jack had been grabbed, but this one had its goddamn fangs in his muscle. A blast of ice so cold it made Cal's throat close snaked through him as the venom pumped into his veins, biting and slicing its way through his bloodstream.

The world had gone silent. The screams of his men, the gasps of Cody, all fell away as his heartbeat swelled in his ears. The rapid, wet pumping noise clouding his hearing was deafening, his body going so cold it felt like his organs were shrinking.

I'm dying. I'm going to die.

Cody, I've failed you.

West, I've failed you.

Jesse… I love you…

A hot, wet splatter covered his face, and the weight around him slipped away. Cal took a sharp breath as the world spun, his heart hammering and his muscles slowly remembering how to work. The Lamia that had him was missing half his head, lying dead and bleeding in the dirt. Gunner lowered his gun and caught Cal by the arm to steady him.

This time he hadn't missed.

Cal gasped again, turning quickly to try and find Cody. Sky, Jack, and Mack had Jeb on the ground, shifted down with a slaver collar and cuffed. Beaten bloody, but alive. Cody was writhing on the ground, bleeding, screaming in pain and holding his neck. Running to him, Cal clumsily ripped his shirt off to press the cloth against his wound to stop the bleeding, screaming for Gunner to go get Elliot. Cody was red-faced, veins sticking out in his neck from pain and poison.

Another wave of dizziness attacked him, almost causing him to pitch forward, but he caught himself. The pain in his neck started to ebb, but in its place, he could feel a small vibration. Alarmed, Cal touched the spot where the odd sensation was coming from to realize it was the necklace Jesse had given him creating the quickening buzz. With a small pop, the metal charm evaporated into dust, floating away from his chest.

His wound was gone, as was the dizziness and pain. He was healed. The charm had worked.

Elliot rushed to Cody's side and pushed Cal out of the way, begging to work to try and stabilize the poor boy. Cody wasn't screaming anymore but was choking on foam, causing Elliot to roll him onto his side to let him cough it free of his throat.

A scream. Another blood-freezing scream came from behind him. Cal turned just in time to see Jesse drop to the ground, bleeding from his neck. Confused and terrified, Cal scurried to reach him and looked over his wound in horror. Two holes bled from the meaty part between neck and shoulder, the wound eerily similar to the Lamia bite. How? Every Lamia was either cuffed or dead, but Jesse's wound was oozing like it was fresh.

"Wh— what the fuck happened ?" Cal screamed, clamping his hand over the wound.

Jesse's face was growing crimson like Cody's had, veins starting to bulge. It didn't make sense. How had he been bitten? Realization dawned on him, moving at the pace of a perfect crack forming through the center of his heart.

"The ward. It displaced my bite to you," Cal whispered, the reality seizing his breath.

Jesse screamed through his teeth as another wave of bone-crushing pain laced through him, his blood pouring over Cal's fingers as he tried to keep pressure on the wound.

"Why? Why the fuck would you do that?" Cal yelled at him, guilt and grief drowning him as he watched the man he loved dying in front of him. "Why the hell would you do that!"

Jesse gasped through his teeth and swallowed, forcing his eyes open through the pain to look up at Cal. Even red-rimmed and blurred with pain, they were still the warm color of whiskey.

"I-I love you," Jesse whispered. "Hycall. Cal. Sheriff." A weak smile.

"Don't you fucking dare." Cal sobbed, tears blurring his vision as he shook his head. "Don't you dare leave me, you son of a bitch!"

Jesse tried to say something but started choking on thick foam bubbling up from his throat, his body arching into spasms. Cal scooped him up into his arms and ran for Elliot's building, screaming that his body refused to budge from the maim, moving painfully too slow. Mack was carrying Cody in, laying him on a bed, the kid in a similar state as Jesse.

"Tell me what to do," Cal was saying, tears streaming down his face as the two men he failed slowly started to drift toward death.

"We need antivenom if they're going to survive," Elliot said. "I can keep them alive for a little while, but if we don't get that…" He shook his head.

"Can you make it?" Any other circumstance and he would have hated the tremor in his voice.

"Yes, I can," said Elliot, his voice laced with hesitation.

"What do you need?" He dashed at his cheeks with the back of his hand, standing up to let Mack take over dressing Jesse's wound.

"Venom from the Lamia." Elliot didn't glance up as he injected medicine into the men to try and stabilize them. It helped with the seizures, but both men were now unconscious and drenched in sweat from a fever.

"How the hell we gonna get that?" Mack asked as he glanced up from where he was putting gauze over Jesse's wound. "Not like those pricks are gonna offer it up!"

"They will," Cal growled, a numb rage settling over his soul. He would deliver what was needed even if he had to tear them apart piece by piece. "How much do you need?"

Elliot stood and handed Cal a palm-sized vial. "Fill that up. I don't need much, but I want to make sure we have plenty just in case."

If someone said anything to Cal after that, he didn't hear it. Turning on his heel, he marched through the doors and aimed himself directly where he needed to go. There was no way in hell he was going to fail those men. Cody would wake up and get his deputy badge, or Cal was going to die trying.

Jesse was going to listen while Cal screamed at him until he couldn't anymore about being a goddamn fool.

And then kiss him like there was no tomorrow.

Heads turned to him as he shoved his way into the saloon, hell-bent and focused, scanning the area for his target. Gibson tilted his head toward the back rooms, keeping out of Cal's way as he marched back there quickly. Seb was sitting with his knees drawn up in a spare bedroom, his back against the wall and his head down on his knees. At the sound of Cal's unmistakable footsteps, the man drew up tighter and hugged his knees.

"Seb. I need your help."

"Cal… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry," he whispered, his voice like broken glass scattered on the floor. The sound was heartbreaking, but Cal didn't have time to try and piece him back together .

Kneeling in front of the man, Cal took a calming breath to keep from coming undone himself.

"Cody and Jesse are dying."

Seb's eyes lifted at that, red-rimmed from tears and heavy with shame. "Dying…?"

"Yes. The bandits were Lamia. Rattlesnake Lamia. Both of them were bitten."

"Oh my god…"

"I need you to help me get venom from Jeb. We need it to save them."

Seb swallowed, his face paling. "Please don't make me, Cal… please…"

Despite the events of the day and the burning maim still marring his chest, Cal felt a stab of sympathy for the broken man. Asking an Enforcer to do their evil work had to be soul-crushing for him, but Cal was left with no other options. Backed against the wall and time not on his side, Cal had to push to make Seb face his darker side again.

"I would never ask you to do this if it wasn't important." When the man tried to bury his head again, Cal put his heavy hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "Seb… Jesse is my happy ending, and he's dying."

The sadness that ached in Seb's eyes could fill a lifetime.

"Please. Please help me," Cal whispered.

"Okay." Seb's words were barely a whisper. "I'll help you."