Blood Blade Sisters Series by Michelle McLean

behind them. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the landscape. Her gaze moved to the sky, taking in the vast canopy of stars above her. Her stomach knotted. She hated these robberies. But without the fees in goods, services, and gold that they collected, the town would have gone under long ago.
    Besides, Frank, Jackson, and the rest of his goons were behind most of the townspeople’s stolen items. Well, at least Cilla considered them stolen. When the townsfolk had to hawk their valuables to “pay” the sheriff to protect them, from his own henchmen, no less, she considered that downright thievery. Cilla found a rough sense of pride in thwarting Frank by retrieving the townspeople’s lost treasures, as if it went in some way toward reclaiming some of the Richardson honor Frank had ruthlessly destroyed.
    And right now, one of those drunk thugs who worked for Frank was in possession of a family heirloom, the jeweled dagger their client—and town baker—had brought all the way from Scotland, only to have it stolen during a raid of his property. The baker had paid Blood Blade with flour to get the dagger back for him. And get it back they would.
    Cilla and Lucy waited another hour until the fire had burned to embers, casting a warm glow over the men snoring by its warmth. Once they were certain the men were asleep, the girls tethered their horses to a tree and crept down the hill, surefooted even in the rocky terrain. There was one more crop of rocks before the ground smoothed out into the tree-dotted meadow in which the men camped.
    But before they headed down, Cilla needed to take care of a little problem. She and Lucy ducked behind a large boulder.
    “Move to the end and stay there,” Cilla whispered. Lucy sidled as far from Cilla as she could get while still staying undercover.
    A boot crunched through the rocks and dry twigs. The sound came closer. Closer.
    Cilla’s hand shot out, her gun steady.
    Aimed right at Leo.
    “Lucky catch,” he whispered, putting his hands in the air, showing her they were empty before dropping them to his sides.
    “Hardly,” she whispered back, her voice muffled by the black cloth covering the lower half of her face. “I’ve known you were following us since about three minutes after we left the mine.”
    She backed up a little, motioning with the gun for him to follow. When he was safely hidden behind the boulder with them, she put up her gun and stepped so close to him she could feel the heat from his body soaking into hers.
    Cilla pulled the bandana down from her face. “What are you doing here?”
    Leo leaned forward to whisper, his breath tickling her cheek. “I should ask you the same thing.” He gestured to her dark clothing, the gun at her side, the bandana lying in wait around her neck. “What do you think you are doing?”
    “Nothing you need to concern yourself with. Now get back on your horse and get out of here.” The man was begging for a beating. She might hurt herself giving one to him, but it would be more than worth it.
    “The hell I will. You’re trying to commit suicide!”
    Cilla snorted. “Hardly.”
    Leo continued to glare. She rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t go getting your chaps in a twist. I know what I’m doing. I don’t need you or anyone else sneaking around following me. And you! You left Brynne alone! We were counting on you to keep her safe while we …take care of some business.”
    “Business, huh? Is that what you call it? You’re getting ready to rob those men just like you robbed the coach I was driving.”
    “Just like a dozen other coaches I’ve robbed over the last year. What’s your point? You know who I am, what I do. And why I do it. What are you making such a fuss for? You should have stayed back at the ranch. Out of my way.”
    He crossed his arms, his narrowed eyes resembled a snake with his tail in a kink. Cilla was tempted to check out his hind end for any telltale signs of rattling.
    Leo leaned even closer, forcing Cilla