Eddie cracked his knuckles. Eager. Jonah's voice didn't rise. But something cold settled into it. There's nothing lawful about what you did to them.
Briggs's expression soured. So they told you stories. Did they? He leaned forward in the saddle. Eyes narrowing.
Let me tell you what's real. There ain't a jury in this territory that'll take the word of three runaways over men like us. Sona's breath hitched. Kaya's fingers tightened on her belt until her knuckles paled. Nalina stepped half a pace forward.
Positioning herself between her sisters and the men. Her stance low. Knife hidden but ready. Jonah didn't budge. They're safe here.
They're not going with you. Briggs laughed short. Ugly. Safe. You think you can stand alone against eight armed men?
Jonah didn't answer with words. He lifted his rifle not high. Not threatening. But with a steadiness that made the three sisters draw closer. Almost unconsciously.
He aimed at the ground five feet before Briggs's horse and fired a single round. The dirt erupted in a sharp spray. Briggs's horse reared with a shrill cry. Nearly unseating him. The moment shattered like glass.
Men cursed. Horses danced sideways. Dust lifted in choking swirls. But the sisters didn't flinch. Kaya stepped to Jonah's side.
Dragging a coiled rope she and Sona had been practicing with. Her limp made her pace uneven, but her resolve was unwavering. She positioned herself at an angle from Jonas close enough to support him, far enough not to disrupt her balance. The rope hung loose in her hand, but Jonas recognized the intent. She wasn't here to fight.
She was here to stand. Sona darted behind the porch post and lit one of the smoke torches she had prepared from fatwood and dried needles. The plume rose sharply, blowing toward the riders, clouding their depth perception. Nalina used that moment to slip forward like a shadow, putting herself directly between her sisters and the gun barrels. Briggs coughed, squinting through the smoke.
"Enough of this," he growled. He jerked his reins, driving his horse at Jonas again. He never reached him. Kaias rope snapped through the air. The loop caught Briggs's stirrup and wrenched sideways with surprising force.
His horse stumbled, and he lurched forward, grabbing the saddle horn to keep from falling. Pike and Eddie shouted in panic, their horses stamping wildly in the smoke. Mhm. Jonas lifted his rifle again, not to kill, but to warn. "Turn back," he said, his voice steady despite the pounding in his chest.
"You won't get another chance. " Briggs looked around and saw something he hadn't accounted for, three women who refused to run. A farmer who refused to yield. And smoke rising like a veil between his men and their certainty. For the first time, the arrogance drained from his face, replaced by calculation, then by fear. He spat again, but the gesture lacked conviction.
"This ain't over. " He snarled. "Then ride. " Jonah replied. Briggs jerked his reins. His horse reared and spun, nearly colliding with Pike. Eddie was the first to break, galloping away in a panic.
Pike followed, Briggs last, muttering curses swallowed by dust. The valley grew still again. Jonah lowered his rifle slowly. His hands trembled not from fear, but from the weight of what could have happened. Kai stepped closer, chest rising and falling with exertion.
Their eyes met hers, sharp and blazing. His steady and shaken. In the silence, a truth passed between them. They had faced death together and chosen the same ground to stand on. Nalina exhaled, long and low.
The kind of breath a leader releases only when danger truly passes. Sona set the torch aside, wiping soot from her cheek with the back of her hand. None of them spoke. They didn't need to. The dust was still settling when Jonah finally said, quietly, "You're safe here tonight. " And this time, all three sisters believed him.
The dust from Briggs Talbott's retreat had barely settled when Jonah lowered his rifle. His pulse was still thudding, but the fear he expected never fully came. Instead, something steadier spread through him. Something he hadn't felt in years, the certainty that he had protected the right people for the right reasons. Nalina scanned the horizon twice before she finally relaxed her stance.
Her fingers loosened around the handle of her knife. Sona wiped soot from her cheek with the back of her wrist, but her eyes were bright, half defiant, half relieved. Kaia stood closest to Jona, her breath uneven, her rope hanging loosely from her hand. The smoke torch at her feet still smoldered, releasing a faint pine scent into the warm air. Jona caught her looking at him not with gratitude, not exactly, but with a quiet recognition.
She had seen him shaken, steady, hesitant, and courageous in the same span of minutes. And he had seen her injured, limping, yet fierce enough to stand her ground when she could have hidden. "Inside," Jona said softly, not an order, but an invitation. "Let's breathe for a moment. " They followed him in, though none of the sisters took their eyes off the doorway until he shut it. As Jona locked the frame, the familiar scrape of wood against metal seemed to anchor the room.
Kaia sank onto the bench near the table, the adrenaline fading from her limbs. Jona knelt beside her to check her leg, but this time she placed her hand lightly on his forearm before he touched the bandage. Her fingers didn't tighten, they simply rested there, a quiet signal for him to pause. He waited until her breathing steadied, and only then did she let go. He unwrapped the cloth slowly.
The wound had reopened slightly from her earlier movement, but not dangerously. Still, Kaia's jaw tightened when the cool air touched the torn skin. Jona looked up. "Tell me if it's too much. " She nodded once, then added in soft English, "Tell me, too. " It startled him, her asking for mutual honesty, not just endurance. "I will," he said.