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Heat courses through my body. I can’t imagine a situation where someone, anyone, could ignore Emily when she needed help. My hand clenches into a fist at my side, and I have to work to uncurl my fingers. “I understand it’s probably difficult to believe us when we say we’ll help you. But it’s true, Em. We work as a team, and you’re part of that team now.”
Her eyes sparkle and she averts her gaze so I won’t see them water. Then she clears her throat and goes back to when she left. “He wouldn’t give me any information, only keep me company. I didn’t need company, though. I needed the information.”
“Yeah, he can be an asshole like that.” If she keeps talking, then maybe everything will be alright. Maybe she won’t be infected. Maybe the scratches aren’t deep enough to pass along the virus. As long as she keeps talking. “Tell me more about what happened.”
She steps into the cool water and I’m only a foot away from her now when she slips on a slick stone. I leap forward and catch her, my arms wrapping around her tiny waist and one of her arms draping around my broad shoulders. I hold her like this for a moment too long before helping her regain her footing. Once she’s standing again, I don’t let her go. I hold on to her hands and walk backward, helping her wade into the stream until she’s no longer on the slippery rocks.
I still hold on to her when she sits down on a large rock, the water coming up only a couple of inches on her. “I’m sorry we’re not telling you where the location is. We wanted to make sure you didn’t run off on your own. Clearly that’s not working.” I smirk.
“Well, I know it’s somewhere to the west.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Eavesdropping, were you?”
“Of course.”
Chuckling, I kneel before her, then lift her foot out of the water and into my lap. My fingers run across the rough scratches on her skin, and I breathe out a sigh of relief. “They’re not deep. You’re lucky.”
“I didn’t even think of checking. I didn’t feel the scratch, only when the hand grabbed me.”
“You should always check. The virus doesn’t transfer only by being bit. If a scratch is deep enough…” I shake my head. “Please check next time. If it happens and it’s caught quick enough, then we can do something about it.”
“Like cut off my leg?”
“If it comes to that, yes. I’d rather have you alive with one leg than dead with two.”
“How can you be sure that would work?”
My voice turns cold when the memories wash over me. The screaming. The crying. The blood. “I’ve seen it.”
“Is that person still alive?”
“One thing about cutting off a limb is that you have to cauterize the wound in time. Not every situation allows easy access to perform that.”
Her gaze is on me. I can feel it. It’s heavy, and it’s burrowing into the top of my head and trying to reach my soul. I clench my jaw but keep my grip on her gentle and hope that she doesn’t ask more questions that I don’t want to answer.
With gentle fingers, I splash some water on her skin and clean the area around the scratches. The area I clean grows bigger as more dirt falls away, and I don’t think I would mind cleaning her up myself if she wants to stay seated.
“I’m really glad you’re not infected,” I say with a whisper, then look up at her and grin. “Because then I’d have to explain to Griffin why I killed you, and he won’t take that well.”
She laughs and pulls her foot back. “Can you still tell him that? I’d like to hide in the bushes or something and see his reaction for myself.”
“Absolutely not. That’s not something we joke about here.”
“You literally just now joked about it,” she points out.
“Doesn’t count.” Buddy plops down on the bank at the edge of the water and watches us. “I’ve noticed the dog has been staying close to you since we brought him here.”
“We have a lot in common. He was rescued from his captors, but I’m still stuck with mine.”
“We’re not your captors.” I stand up.
“You won’t let me leave.”
“It’s more than that.” I move so that I’m standing behind her and then kneel and run my fingers through her hair. Well, I try to, but they’re knotted with dirt. “Have you been rolling around in the mud with Buddy?”
“How else do you bond with a new dog?”
My fingers still in her tangled hair. “Really?”
