The Devil's Daughter

• CHAPTER ONE
  
• CHAPTER TWO
  
• CHAPTER THREE
  
• CHAPTER FOUR
  
• CHAPTER FIVE
  
• CHAPTER SIX
  
• CHAPTER SEVEN
  
• CHAPTER EIGHT
  
• CHAPTER NINE
  
• CHAPTER TEN
  
• CHAPTER ELEVEN
  
• CHAPTER TWELVE
  
• CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  
• CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  
• CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  
• CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  
• CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  
• CHAPTER EIGHTTEEN
  
• CHAPTER NINETEEN
  
• CHAPTER TWENTY
  
• CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  
• CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  
• CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  
• EPILOGUE
  

Redemption, Texas

Summer 1881

“I want
him
.” Lucy pointed her long slender finger at the quiet man near the back of the restaurant; the tall one with the dark eyes and the wavy hair that begged to be touched.

Oh yes, he’d do quite nicely.

“I. . .wha--?” The fat lady in charge of the auction whirled around. “Who. . .? Where did you come from?”

“Lucy Firr,” Lucy answered without taking her eyes off her man. “And I’ll take him.”

Necks stretched and craned as twenty or more men twisted in their seats to get a look at the man she wanted; the man with the long, unwavering stare, the man she’d chosen to be her savior – or her accomplice, depending on how you chose to look at it.

He didn’t move a muscle, didn’t nod in agreement or even acknowledge he was the topic of conversation. He just stared back at her with those too-dark-to-read eyes.

The fat lady sputtered, gaped, then stammered, “Y-you mean Mr. Caine?”

Lucy smiled and nodded toward the back of the room again. That was exactly who she meant.

Jedidiah Caine
.

“Yes, him,” she repeated.

Why did the fat lady keep staring that way – as if Lucy had suddenly sprouted horns?

Had she sprouted horns?

With calmness she didn’t feel, Lucy fingered her hair back from her face, carefully probing for any unusual bumps.

Nothing.

Finally, the woman turned and stretched on tiptoe to see over the crowd, then teetered back on her heels. She fidgeted with her high lace collar, tucked the coin box tightly beneath her elbow and turned her wary gray eyes on Lucy.

The other women up for bid at the wife auction sought out Lucy’s man, too, then bowed their heads in a circle as furious whispers buzzed among them. Each woman wore her hair pulled back in a tight knot or braid at the back of her head, with not a single bow or earbob in sight.

Lucy shuddered. How could any self-respecting woman, mortal or not, allow such dresses – if that’s what you could call those horrid garments - touch their skin? To make matters worse, each dress was exactly the same as the others; plain cotton frocks buttoned neck to waist, with plain straight skirts.

No imagination whatsoever.

These poor women didn’t have a prayer. Then again, neither did Lucy, but that was an entirely different story.

She smoothed the deep green silk of her skirt and tossed her long glossy black hair over her shoulders. The small restaurant-turned-auction-house was near to bursting with the crowd of men, but there were only four women on the auction block. Five if Lucy included herself, which she didn’t. She was not up for auction. She was here for one man – and one man only.

The only man who stood between her and the baby she needed.

Mr. Jedidiah Caine wanted her. He
needed
someone else, but he
wanted
her. There was no doubt what was going on inside that gorgeous head of his; inner turmoil stewed beneath his frown and clouded his already dark eyes. He was going to be difficult, no question, but she’d overpower him soon enough. If she didn’t, she would have to stand before her father empty-handed, and she could not let that happen. Again. The consequences would be far too severe this time.

Whether Jed Caine knew it or not, he was going to help Lucy avoid eternal damnation. He’d be sacrificing his own soul, but he didn’t need to know that. Not yet, anyway.

The heavy stench of the unbathed crowd, mixed with cheap cigars and manure covered boots, fogged the air. Yet even with the space of the room separating them, Lucy knew her man wouldn’t stink. There was something about him, something about the way he stood there, so quiet, so sure of himself.

Lucy bit back her laughter. His lust would be easy enough to work with on its own, but he was obviously a proud man, too. This was going to be easier than she’d hoped. Was it possible her father had finally underestimated her abilities?

Grumblings between the men started low, then grew louder. Coffee cups rattled on the tables, and a few men motioned toward the door, but not a single person left.

Lust seeped from them like gaping wounds. It was in the way they ogled her, the way they curled their lips and nodded toward her as they muttered among themselves.

But
his
want burned hotter than the rest. It smoldered in those dark eyes, in the firm set of his jaw and in his deepening frown. Oh, he wanted her all right, but he certainly wasn’t going to admit it. And he certainly wasn’t happy about it.

“Yes,” Lucy purred. “He’ll do just fine.”

The woman in charge cleared her throat and adjusted her wire-framed glasses. “I’m sorry, Miss Firr, but that’s not how the wife auction works.” She indicated the room full of men, each one raking Lucy with shameless lust-filled gazes. “The gentlemen decide which woman is suitable and then the bidding starts. Highest bidder wins.” Her thin lips curled into a nervous smile. “The women don’t get to choose.”

Lucy seared the fat lady with a glare but refrained from commenting on the woman’s easy use of the word ‘gentlemen.’

“What if I don’t want the man who buys me?” Lucy wrinkled her nose as the man closest to her spat a wad of tobacco juice toward a nearby bucket and missed. It splatted against the plank floor and spread out in a tiny dark puddle where many others had obviously landed before it.

Again, the fat lady smiled in that nervous way as she took a step closer. A sour waft of body odor hit Lucy’s nose as the woman stopped in front of her. “It doesn’t matter what
you
want. So long as your guardian approves, the match is made.”

An odd aura surrounded the woman. Lucy was unable to define it, but whatever it was, it troubled the woman’s soul something awful.

Lucy shook it off and focused her attention back on the group at hand. She was surrounded by souls in various stages of decay, yet the only one that mattered was
his
.

His clean, honorable yet proud soul. She would use that honor and pride to get past him. If she worked it right, he wouldn’t even know what she’d done until it was too late. By the time he realized, she’d have secured his soul and his sister-in-law, Maggie’s. Individually, neither meant anything to Lucy, but together, they stood as protectors over the one soul she desperately needed; Maggie’s baby. The second it was born, Lucy would claim its soul and secure her freedom.

The baby was key to everything. Without its soul, nothing else mattered.

Lucy held her gaze on her man, but spoke to the fat lady. “I will choose who I leave with, and the money he pays, instead of going to me, will go directly to. . .” she hesitated a second, knowing she had to choose her words carefully. After all, guilt was a great motivator with these God-fearing conscience-bearing humans. It would only guilt them more if she designated the church as the beneficiary, but she’d never give them or their God that satisfaction. “The school.”

Another rising murmur, this time accompanied by a few more tobacco spits from several of the men and more whispering by the women. The fat lady’s eyes bulged with excitement.

“New books,” she breathed. “Oh my.”

“Furthermore,” Lucy continued. “I’ll only have
him
.” She pointed at her man again. “If he doesn’t want me, I’ll simply be on my way.”

Again, every head swiveled in his direction, waiting. Lucy waited, too. If she walked out of this auction now, she’d forfeit her only chance of succeeding; her only chance of retrieving the one soul she most desperately needed.

“This is highly irregular,” the woman muttered, but she, too, stood waiting for the man to speak.

Every passing second deepened Lucy’s doubts and deepened her man’s frown.

An icy chill shot through her. Her man needed a woman, but surely he couldn’t want one of these others instead of her.

That was ridiculous. They were as homely as hedgehogs and there must have been month-old corpses that smelled better.

Lucy gave herself a hard mental shake and refocused on Mr. Jedidiah Caine. She knew two things about this man and two things only.

The first was that if it wasn’t for his brother’s “disappearance,” he wouldn’t even be at the auction, bidding on a wife he didn’t want. And the second was that he’d never let his own desires get in the way of what his family needed.

“Mr. Caine?” the woman finally said, her voice wavering. “Will you have Miss Firr as your wife?”

Amid heated murmurs and pointing fingers, he finally stepped through the crowd, weaving his way toward the front of the room. His gaze never left Lucy’s, even as he bobbed a quick nod at the fat lady.

A hush fell over the room as everyone strained to hear.

Mr. Caine spoke quietly, his voice deep and sure. “You’re a beautiful woman, Miss Firr. But you already know that, don’t you?”

Lucy smiled. Of course she knew it – temptation would be one of her strongest weapons.

Strangely, he didn’t smile back. His dark eyes never wavered from hers as he spoke. “Given the number of honest men here today, I appreciate your interest in me.”

Yes! This was going to be easier than--

“And though it pains me to say it,” he continued, “I’ve no need for a beautiful woman. I’m not even looking for a wife.”

Shocked silence hung in the air. He must be toying with her. Every man wanted a beautiful woman – the proof sat all around them. What made Jed Caine think he was any different?

Humiliation wasn’t new to Lucy, but she’d never gotten used to it – and when it came from the likes of a mere mortal. . .

She swallowed her anger and forced a seductive smile.

“You have no need of a wife, you say.” She coyly tipped her head a little to the right. “Yet here you are at a wife auction.”

Her facial muscles pinched against the smile, but she held it in place as Mr. Caine explained what she already knew.

“I need to hire a woman to help my brother’s wife. I need someone who’s not afraid to get dirty, who’ll work hard, and who doesn’t mind living without frills.” Color crept up his neck and over his face. His lips curled upward in an awkward, uncomfortable smile. “If you don’t mind my saying so, Miss Firr, you sure don’t look the type to collect chips for the fire.”

Snorts and chuckles filled the room, followed by giggles and twitters from the other women. Lucy silenced their taunts with a blistering glare. These people had no idea who they were dealing with; she was here to win, and whether he liked it or not, Jed Caine was going to help her do just that.