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Over my dead fucking body.
It takes every ounce of my willpower not to tell the asshole exactly how I’d make him bleed if he touched her again.
“Don’t worry,” I tell him. “We’ll take care of everything.”
I close the connection before he drives me to say something I shouldn’t. After putting the radio back in its case, I join Cam, who’s packing up camp. He disassembled the tents and packed most of our supplies.
“Did he buy it?” Camden asks.
“I think so.”
I run a hand through my hair, a nervous tic of mine. I need to think about something other than the slimy motherfucker I was just talking to. There are more important things to focus on.
“Where did Brooklyn run off to?” I ask.
“Memphis took her to forage for berries,” Camden says. “She didn’t want to hear Castle’s voice, and she wants to teach him the difference between huckleberries and nightshade.”
“Let’s finish packing, then. I want to get moving as soon as they get back.”
This morning, Camden and Brooklyn pored over his maps, pinpointing the Omega body’s location as best they could. We should be able to reach it by the afternoon.
After a few minutes, Memphis and Brooklyn emerge from the trees. She’s smiling, looking freer and more relaxed than I’ve ever seen her. She’s been lighter since the moment she told us she was ours.
She’s mine.
“Find any berries?” I ask.
She reaches in the small bag she’s carrying and opens her palm to show me wild blackberries, lush and glistening. I can’t help it—I grab her wrist, pulling it toward my mouth so I can eat the berries right out of her hand. She blushes a gorgeous pink, which grows even deeper when I lick across the pulse point at her wrist.
Memphis crosses his arms, glaring at me. “If you want her to hand feed you, we’ll be here all day.”
“Don’t get jealous,” Camden says, patting Memphis’s shoulder. “If Brooklyn’s occupied, I’ll feed you.”
I’m surprised to see Memphis’s cheeks turn pink, too. I’ve been so focused on Brooklyn, I hadn’t noticed the connection building between the two of them.
“We should get walking,” I say, breaking the tension.
Camden and Brooklyn lead the group. Occasionally, she scoffs at the misrepresentation of the land on his map. She knows the forest better than any cartographer by now. The trees along the way are spaced far enough apart that I can walk alongside Memphis behind them.
“What are we going to do when we find her?” Memphis asks me. “How do we pass her off for Brooklyn?”
In front of us, I see Brooklyn slow her pace. I know the conversation is going to upset her—strong as she is, she has a big heart and feels deeply.
“We can talk about this without you, princess,” I say, as kindly as I can. “You don’t have to do this part if you don’t want to.”
“No,” she frowns. “I should be a part of it. I’m part of the team now. I don’t want to be left out, ever.”
“It’s okay,” Camden says, sensing that I’m holding back. “She can handle it.”
Memphis grunts. “So how do we pass off the body as Brooklyn?”
“There are a few things that can identify a body,” I say. “We won’t have to worry about fingerprints or hair if we’re smart. But there’s dental records. We’ll have to take out her teeth.”
Brooklyn bites her lip—she’s clearly uncomfortable. But I force myself to remember that she wanted to be a part of this, and I have to respect what she wants.
“What about medical records?” Camden suggests. “I remember reading about a body that was identified because she had surgery after a broken leg.”
“I’ve never broken a bone,” Brooklyn says, clearly determined to contribute something.
