He reined in behind her.
"Just... stay," she demanded. Drat. Her voice was shaking.
He looked curious.
She didn't have time for explanations, and she didn't want him to be curious.
She slipped off of the gelding's back and put the horse between herself and Adam, hoping he couldn't see the way her hands were shaking or see the lie on her face.
"I have... I need a few moments to myself. For womanly reasons," she blurted.
Of all the things she could've said! But that excuse would've curbed the curiosity out of her brothers.
"Do you—"
"No!" She pushed away from the horse as the tingling sensation at the back of her neck grew worse.
She didn't have long now. She needed...
She slipped through the trees, once stopping to brace herself against a sapling. She bent and picked up a thick twig from the ground. Kept walking. A few more paces.
She could feel the weakness taking over her limbs—
There.
Behind the copse of trees the plains spread out before her. A stone had been laid there by the hand of God maybe, but it was big enough that it should hide her completely, even if Adam came looking for her. The seizures usually only lasted a couple of minutes.
She lay in the grass, hating this. Hating herself. She put the twig between her teeth and bit down, knowing that it would be better to bite down on it rather than on her tongue or lip.
Her eyes remained open to the expanse of blue sky above as the seizure took over her body. Her limbs shook, her torso, even her head beat down against the grassy earth.
Don't let Adam seek her out.
Don't let him see.
Something was amiss.Adam shifted in his saddle, unsure whether he should follow Breanna or leave her be.
Womanly reasons, she'd said. But her eyes had cut down and to the right, a sign she might be lying. He'd read the sign before when hunting down a story for his father.
What if she needed help? He'd been on edge all day, knowing Scar-face was still in the race, somewhere out there.
He'd seen the man ahead of them earlier, crossing the horizon, but it didn't mean he wouldn't double back. He seemed to have some sort of vendetta against Breanna. Personal or just trying to win, Adam didn't know.
He kicked his leg over the saddle and got his boots on the ground.
Go after her? Or stay and wait?
"Breanna?" he called out.
The copse of trees wasn't large. Not a forest by any means. He could see through it to the other side, blue sky and more grass.
But he couldn't see her.
"Breanna. Answer me, darling."
If he'd hoped to get a rise out of her, the endearment hadn't done it. She gave no response.
Where had she gone? She couldn't have just disappeared.
