Chapter Eight

Outside the perimeter fence, a small herd of escapees grazed.

Fury braked the conveyance, and he and Steel jumped out to survey the damage. Flattened, shattered rails lay in the grass, leaving a gaping hole in the barrier through which the animals had gotten out. “They trampled the hell out of the fence. It’s like they did it on purpose. Like they knocked it down and stomped on it.”

“With all six legs,” Steel agreed. “This is no quick fix. We’re going to have to rebuild.”

“That’s why we brought the plasticene.”

“I’d hate for you to miss your wedding this afternoon.”

That would make one of them. If he could, he’d postpone his fate. “Let’s clean up the mess and herd the hornigers inside. Hopefully, they won’t sneak out before we close the gap.” He picked up a broken rail and tossed it into the open wagon bed. When transporting passengers, the rear of the conveyance was enclosed with a transparency. Work vehicles were left open.

Steel hauled an armload to the wagon. “We got the answer to your question.”

“What question is that?”

“Whether hornigers have tits.” He motioned with his head at a cow nursing a newborn calf.

Fury chuckled. “Teats anyway. Mama’s not going to be happy with us. Baby looks brand new. Couple of hours old.”

“Let’s hope they run in the right direction, and we don’t lose any,” Steel commented.

“Yeah, we could have used two vehicles for this.”

Fury tossed the last of the broken fencing into the bed. “You want to ride shotgun? I’ll drive. I’ll give them a wide berth, get them used to the vehicle, gradually close in, and with any luck, they’ll shift this way and won’t scatter.” Hornigers were unpredictable.

“Worth a try.” Steel hopped into the rear and grabbed the roll bar.

Fury got behind the wheel and drove through the gap. He hugged the fence line for a short distance before veering away to creep behind the herd. A couple of animals glanced their way but then returned to grazing. He drove past the herd and then hooked a U- turn, drawing closer. Another pass and reverse, and the herd shifted toward the enclosure.

“It’s working,” Steel called in a hush.

Little by little, he nudged the herd. A few strays sprinted away at one point, but he guided them into the fold. When the entire group congregated by the gap, he backed away then pointed the vehicle at the beasts. “Hang on for sudden braking.”

“Got it,” Steel replied.

Gunning it, he drove the conveyance directly at the herd.

“Hi-ya! Hi-ya!” Steel shouted.

The hornigers eyed the approaching wagon with mild curiosity.

Shit, it’s not working. At the last second before he had to hit the brakes, the animals stampeded into the enclosure.

“It worked!” Steel cheered.

“Like a charm.” He grinned, drove inside the fence line, and parked the vehicle so it blocked the gap. “Let’s get this fixed.”

They jumped out and unloaded the plasticine rail sections. “Keep an eye on Mama,” Steel advised. “She’s pissed.” The horniger cow eyed them vengefully as her frightened calf bleated. “I have no desire to get gored again.” He’d come between a horniger and her calf, and she’d skewered him like a shish kebab.

“I have no desire to experience it for the first time,” Fury agreed.

After pounding three new posts into the hardened ground and setting them with a fast-drying cement compound, they connected short strips into rails.

“You and Honoria talk about having kids?” Fury asked.

“We discussed it to the extent that I told her I didn’t know if it was possible for a cyborg to sire children.”

“Dr. Twygg could tell you if you’re fertile. There’s probably a scan for that.” He smirked.

“He’d love it. I don’t think he bought our argument that humans heal exceptionally fast. He’s been after me to come in for further tests since the goring.”

“We can’t risk that.”

“Fuck, no,” Steel said. “You gonna tell Verity you’re a cyborg?”

“We’re trying to keep it secret, remember?”

“Not from our wives.”

“Tell the devoted mother who’d do anything to protect her child she married an assassin? ”

“Who better to protect her and her child than an assassin? She couldn’t get a better bodyguard.”

True. If he’d been on Earth, he would have settled the Dorn problem permanently. “She won’t see it that way. She’d perceive me as a threat.”

“Honoria accepted it.”

Fury fumbled with the rail section he carried. “Accepted it? Hey, I was there. She freaked. She ran from you, and you got gored by a horniger—which almost exposed our secret.”

“She accepts it now. Take it from an old married guy—it’s not a good idea to keep secrets from your wife.”

Old married guy? How could Steel say that with a straight face? He’d been married less than a month. “She’s not my wife yet. And if we don’t hurry and finish this fence, she’s not going to be.”

Thankfully, Steel knew when to shut up. As they worked in silence, Fury’s thoughts turned to the imminent wedding. This should have been the happiest day of his life, but the situation wasn’t how he’d envisioned it. He’d never anticipated there could be a third party involved. He resigned himself to a year in limbo, but he still resented it. This wasn’t what he’d signed up for. He craved the love he’d never had. His whole life, he’d been under Solutions’ control, denied the rights afforded to every human. Even friendships were discouraged, Solutions often pitted one cyborg against another. Until meeting Steel, he’d never had a friend. No one had cared if he lived or died. He was a piece of equipment, a capital asset on Solutions’ balance sheet.

Truth? Matrimony scared him. He had no experience in forming relationships or engaging with a woman who wasn’t a target or an informant or a quick fuck. He’d brazened his way this far, but now that the wedding loomed, he questioned his ability to handle it. Adding a kid to the mix complicated it more. Marriage itself was out of his wheelhouse, but parenting a child? Assassins killed people; they didn’t nurture them. He could no more be a dad than Dusty could be a real cowboy.

They’d finished connecting all the panels and began attaching rails to the posts, Steel lifting them up while Fury secured them. “Am I selfish to wish I had my wife all to myself?” he said, revealing only one of his concerns. He couldn’t admit to Steel he was scared.

“Yes,” Steel said.

“Fuck you. ”

“But you’re not wrong. I understand your feelings. I resisted getting married; I didn’t want a wife. But maybe Cosmic Mates doesn’t give us what we want but what we need.”

“You think I need a ready-made family?”

Steel shrugged. “Apparently Cosmic Mates does. Maybe you should give it a try.”

“I promised her I wouldn’t send her back.” Wasn’t that a try?

“Give it a try with an open mind. Give your marriage a chance.”

Could he do that? What if he started fresh with no expectations? In truth, he hadn’t known what to expect, only that he somehow hadn’t gotten it. He saw how Verity protected her son; it spoke to her great capacity to love. Did she have room in her heart for one more? And what if she did? Could he even handle it? What if she decided he was unlovable?

Maybe it would be good to have the kid around as a buffer. Maybe he might even become fond of the boy. Stranger things had happened.

* * * *

Fury pounded on the fence rail. “Solid as a rock. Let’s see them bust through that.” Rebuilding the fence hadn’t taken nearly as long as he’d thought .

They tossed the leftover parts into the wagon bed and climbed into the cab. “We have plenty of time to get back before the ceremony,” he said, not dreading it as much as he had. Maybe everything would turn out for the best. He knew dozens of ways to kill people, but his experience of life was limited. How could he know what he wanted when he didn’t know what the possibilities were?

And if the marriage didn’t work out, he could fall back on the escape clause. With his freedom secured, he would have a lifetime to explore his options. What was a year compared to the rest of life? And maybe it would be one of the best years.

Up ahead, the horniger herd had split into two, a group on either side of their vehicle. Peering left, Fury eyed the mama and the calf. “We need to tell Dusty about the newborn.” Haven collected the young animals in hopes they’d be easier to domesticate than adults.

“Yeah, he might send us back to drive them into the inner paddock—watch out!”

The five beasts on the right thundered toward the other group—charging in front of the conveyance.

Fury slammed on the brakes and jerked the steering wheel, to avoid running into them. He heard a snap , and the vehicle lurched and stopped. The hornigers passed safely and joined the others.

The vehicle wasn’t moving. “Did you hear a pop?”

“I’ll take a look.” Steel got out and peered underneath the conveyance. “Fuck.”

“How bad is it?”

“We’re hung up on a rock.”

Fury slid out. “Let’s lift it off.” One cyborg could do it. Two was easy-peasy.

“Won’t help. We broke an axle,” Steel said.

“Shit. Call Dusty to send another conveyance for us.”

Steel whipped out his multi-communication device. He frowned.

“What now?”

“No signal.”

No way would he get back in time for the wedding. He’d gotten a reprieve. Strangely enough, he felt more disappointed than relieved.