Skeever didn’t seem to share her concern. He sniffed along and picked his way around cars and other obstacles.
The figure stood motionless at the bottom of the ramp and watched.
As Lynn got closer, more details became distinguishable. The shaft in the person’s hand was definitely a gleaming spear. Their hair was brown and either really short or pulled back into Dani’s usual ponytail. They weren’t very tall, and more than likely, they were female. Once Lynn got close enough to make out the details that mattered, like facial features and clothing, her confidence returned. It was Dani.
What am I going to say? She’d spent a day and a half pushing herself to the top of her abilities to catch up, but she hadn’t thought about what she would do or say when she did. She’d assumed it would work itself out. Dani would be surprised, maybe angry, but most likely also relieved. In the few rare instances Lynn had thought this far ahead, Dani had always reacted to her call.
Skeever reached Dani first. He ran up to her, barked, and jumped.
She pushed him back down and away. Her gaze remained trained on Lynn.
Lynn groped around her mind for something to say, but when she was only a few feet away, nothing had come to her other than “hi.” She came to a halt.
Dani’s expression was flat. Her jaw was set, her gaze sharp. At least she looked unharmed, just a little dirtier than the last time Lynn had seen her.
Skeever jumped around Dani. He licked her spear hand to get attention.
Seconds ticked by as Dani ignored him and stared at Lynn. “Hi.”
Lynn frowned. This was not how it was supposed to go. She licked her suddenly dry lips and swallowed. Her brain shut down, but not saying anything wasn’t an option. She scuffed at the sand blown onto the road. “I brought dinner.”
“Great.” Dani’s voice was as flat as her expression. “What are you doing here?”
Lynn lowered her head and shrugged. Her heart rate had spiked, and her hands were clammy. She slid her tomahawk into its loop around her belt before it could send out the wrong signal. “I dunno.” Bullshit! The right answer was: I got lonely and I couldn’t stop thinking about you, but she couldn’t say that. Not when Dani was so antagonistic.
“You don’t know?” Dani drew the words out to make them sound at least twice as long—and spiteful.
“I—”
“Lynn, I swear on my father’s grave that if you give me a reason that’s all about you right now, I’ll gut you.”
Lynn looked up to check Dani’s eyes for intent and realized Dani wasn’t joking or exaggerating. She considered and closed her mouth.
Dani huffed. “Thought so.” She shook her head, turned, and walked off.
Skeever hurried after her. He tried to force himself between her legs and almost made her trip.
She still ignored him.
Lynn stood frozen, mind racing. Now what?
Dani kept walking.
When the distance between them passed twenty feet, Lynn managed to snap herself out of her thoughts of failure. She hurried forward. Her calves cramped and forced her to slow. “Dani!” She closed the distance with difficulty and fell in line next to her. “Please stop.”
“Why?” Dani looked stoically ahead of her.
“I-I still think it’s a bad idea to dig up his body. I still think it’ll get you killed. But I don’t want you to get killed. You’re the first person in forever that I—I—” She faltered.
“Selfish.” Dani almost snorted the word. She glanced aside. “You don’t want to see me killed because… why? Because you’d miss me? Who cares, Lynn? Who cares who you’ll miss once they’re dead. You should have come with me just because you don’t want to see me die—see anyone die, for that matter. You’re here because you’ve realized you’d apparently miss me if I died, and that’s…” She waved her free hand as if she were tossing something away. “…useless to me.”
Lynn’s cheeks grew hot while the rest of her went cold. “I’m s—”
“Sorry? Yeah, I don’t care.” Dani bit out the words with the sharpness of goose teeth. They cut just as deeply, too.
Lynn ran a shaky hand through her hair and took out her tomahawk again. They were traveling now. Even though her insides were squirming and her thoughts swam, she tried to be mindful of the world around her. The eight-lane road offered plenty of vantage to calm her worries, though. Except for some kind of ungulate in the distance, the world was void of visible life.
Skeever whined again and fell in line beside Dani, head down, either feeling the tension or missing the love.
Lynn felt bad for him. She took a deep breath. “I’m used to being alone.” When no reply came, she continued. “My mom died when I was very young, my dad died when I was six, and every other person I’ve ever loved died before I was twelve. I promised myself I wouldn’t care about anyone ever again. And I haven’t. I’ve always kept myself away from people and never put myself in a position where I had to rely on someone. I… made sure I could make it on my own, no matter what.” She glanced to the side.
Dani stared ahead, but she appeared to be listening.
Tendrils of hope wrapped around Lynn’s heart. She pushed on. “I shouldn’t have left. I should have realized it was a terrible thing to do. I still don’t want to dig up a corpse and walk around with it—because I want to live, and I want you and Skeever to live—but I should have stayed with you and tried to convince you not to go through with it.” She took a deep breath. “I know you’re not used to being out here, and I—I thought maybe you’d died already, and then I thought of you dying at all, and I… I realized I’d made a mistake. And you’re right, I should have felt that way because of you, not because of me, but I’m just… just not used to thinking that way. It’s been a very long time since I… well, since I thought about anyone but myself.”
Dani glanced at her for only a second.
Lynn’s heart fluttered like a bird taking to the sky. That’s something. She had to keep talking. If she kept talking, Dani would listen, and she wouldn’t leave. “Please, don’t go through with it.” She hated to beg, but the situation warranted it. “Please, just turn around and come with me. I know I haven’t given you a lot of reasons to trust me, but at least you’d be alive. Please?” She resisted the urge to reach out and take Dani’s arm.
“I can’t.” Dani ran her hand over her tied-back hair. “I’m not like you, Lynn. I can’t just… not care about other people. They’re my family, and they want their family back—I want my family back. We’ve been over this.” She sounded tired now. “Besides, it was you who got me into this mess in the first place. You volunteered me, remember?”
Lynn flinched. “Yeah. I didn’t know you then.”
“Selfish.” Dani’s lip curled up almost imperceptibly. “You should have let them all come, then we’d have been safe—or at least much safer. But you wanted only me to go with you because you had no intention of ever going through with it, did you?”
Lynn took a deep breath, then shook her head.
“Thought so. Kate warned me about that too. She wanted to let the group follow us at a distance, so when you ditched me or tried to hurt me, they could catch up and force you to lead them to Richard’s body.”
Lynn’s head shot up. “What? Kate wanted to—?” She looked behind her on instinct.
“I told her not to. I didn’t want to put more people at risk. I always knew you would ditch me, but I know what I can do. I am strong, and I am a good hunter. I can make it home with Richard’s body—I know I can. And I told Kate that, too.”
“I-I thought she’d made you go?” Lynn’s head was reeling.