Page 15 of Defiant Hearts

“I saw a lean-to you can use for shelter.”

She dropped her stare to the food and said nothing.

After she’d devoured most of the jerky, she sealed the bag and set it aside. She picked up the ration he’d given her and squinted at the label in the dark. “Bacon and eggs?”

“Isn’t half bad,” he said with a quirk of his lips.

She stared at him for a heartbeat before she stuffed it in her daypack. Her lips tightened across her teeth as she stood, and he saw pain flash across her face. He wondered if he let her walk away if he’d ever see her again. But he had to hope she didn’t go far.

“If you stay close, I’ll keep an eye out for you too.”

She cast him a short glance and vanished into the trees.

He stood there for a while, listening to her walk in the direction of the lean-to. After a bit, he heard nothing but the sounds of the mountain. His mind was flipping through too many scenarios to count, all of them possible.

The moon rose higher over the ridge, spreading more light on the ground where he sat. Before he’d made up his mind to follow her, he was on his feet and moving.

He heard the rustling noise first. Then a low tapping noise he couldn’t make out.

As he spotted the branches formed into a shelter, he realized what he was hearing—chattering teeth.

He closed the distance in a few short strides and saw her lying on her side, knees drawn up to her chest. She lifted a hand to her brow. Even in the thin light, he could see it was shaking.

More alarming, she didn’t seem to hear him approach even though he hadn’t been quiet about it. He reached out and rested the back of his hand against her cheek. She issued a cry and batted his hand away.

“A bag of beef jerky doesn’t buy you the right to touch me,” she snarled.

He yanked his hand back but not because of her comment. Heat radiated off her skin as if she’d been standing too close to a fire.

“You’re burning up.”

She let her head loll back, eyes fixed on nothing.

Panic swept through him. “I have to get you out of here. You have a fever. I’m getting you off this mountain. Now.”

“I thought you were in training.” Her voice was reedy and unsteady as she shivered.

“What good is training if I don’t rescue the person right in front of me?”

“I don’t want to go.”

“You’re going if you want to live.”

He didn’t wait for her to argue further. He returned to camp and shook Bradley awake, ignoring the man’s groggy swearing.

“Your turn for fire watch.”

Bradley squinted up at him. “You didn’t take the full shift. I just fell asleep.”

“You’re taking it now. Get up.” The authority in his voice roused his teammate.

Wyatt rushed to his own gear. He unbuckled his pack and pulled out the map and all of the food he’d brought. He left it by everyone’s gear and stood.

“Where the hell are you going?” Bradley threw him a look, awake enough to be suspicious. “You’re quitting? Rhodes, if you’re quitting—”

“I’m not quitting.”

“Then what—”