I rub my chin and stand up, turning to face Meg, who is on the other side of the roaring river.
“Call it in. Not one of ours.”
She nods, leaves the water containers, and races back up the track to my pack and the phone I’ve got stashed. I don’t touch the body at all, but I wander around it, checking the area to see if there is anything else. There are no tracks and nothing else that belongs to a human. The river dumped him here, and that’s all the clues we’re going to find.
I hear a splash, and when I look up, Rory and Dakota are wading their way towards me, while Vale and Cyn grab the water and carry them back up the trail. I frown and watch them, definitely not looking at how their clothes cling to their bodies.
“So, dead guy?” Dakota asks with a damn charming smile.
It seems so out of place and strange that I don’t answer him.
Rory crouches where he can see the body. “Hmm.”
“Hmm?” What is he, a mortician?
“He’s not from the camp.”
“I know!” I snap, irritated by his inane comment.
Dakota sidles up, putting me on edge. I try desperately to ignore that I’m standing here in a bra and exercise shorts. I feel practically naked, and the way he looks at me intensifies that feeling to uncomfortable levels.
Green, limp dicks. They all have green, limp dicks.
“You, back up,” I bark out.
He pulls out a flask and holds it out. “Meg sent an IV.”
I snatch it and sip warily, expecting coffee. It’s not coffee. I choke at the burn and pull away, screwing the lid on and passing it back with a shudder that I feel to my toes.
“You should not have that!” I snarl, flustered. “She should know better!”
Dakota flutters his thick lashes and shrugs his shoulders. He’s too damn pretty for this early in the morning.
I groan and turn away, only to come face-to-face with Rory, who is standing right behind me. His piercing green eyes search mine for a moment. I’m not sure what he sees, but it seems to satisfy him. I try to ignore the way his eyes dip down my body and bounce slowly back up. It’s like he’s stroked me from chest to toe.
With a seething look, I step around him and sit down on a rock where I can work on manifesting them gone. The forest is thick on this side of the riverand leads to some really pretty places, but it’s somewhere that’s special for Dad and I. None of our camps have guided them into those areas. It’s too wild, too dangerous.
It’s where Dad brought me after that fateful couple of months when I felt my life implode. He taught me how to survive off the land, how to find my balance, how to be me without them. He taught me how to find my potential and become a creature that survives off my own pain.
How ironic is it that I’m standing here at the edge of it with them?
I take a moment and let the strength of the land infuse me, and when I turn back, Vale and Cyn are wading across with my pack.
As soon as he gets onto dry land, I grab my bag and pull out a jacket.
Dakota leans down and kisses my head before I can even register that he’s that close. What. The. Hell?
“Hey!” I snarl.
“You are so cute when you’re mad.”
If looks could kill, he’d be as dead as the guy in the sleeping bag.
My tense, stony silence keeps the four of them at bay until Meg and Desi, with the rest of the group, appear on the other side of the river.
“We have a problem, Boss!” Desi shouts.
“What now?” I grumble.
