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“That’s definitely a white tail signature. And more than one.”
They kept moving, drawing closer to the signature.
“This has to end today,” Georgia said so quietly he barely heard her.
Worry shivered through Ash at the chilly calmness in her voice. “How do you plan to make that happen?”
“By using any means necessary.”
“Georgia, I don’t want you making sacrifices. You’re too important to lose.”
“So are these animals.”
“Not as important as you.”
“Some would disagree.”
“Then they’re jerks.”
She kept her gaze fixed ahead. “I know the team don’t think much of me. They won’t care if I don’t make it back, so long as we get the evidence to bring down the Siblet and the white tails are safely retrieved.”
“That’s bull crap! You matter. And you matter to the team. Everyone knows why you’re spiky.”
“I’m spiky?” She looked up and glared at him.
Ash risked being bitten by the banty and rested a hand on her shoulder. “You are, and you know it. That’s not a bad thing. Hell, anyone who’d gone through a capture and torture nightmare would come out with sharp edges. No one holds that against you.”
“Some of them do. And I understand why. I snap and snarl at anyone who gets too close. I’m a bitch.”
“No, you’re not. Well, not most of the time.”
She snorted a laugh.
“And you don’t mean to be a bitch, but your history has changed you and made you scared to get close to anyone. The same goes for me.”
“Is that so? Tell me, Doctor Freud, why do I push away the people I care about?”
“I don’t know who that is, but I can tell you my amateur psych evaluation, if you’ll humor me.”
“Go for it.”
Ash sucked in a breath, checking around to make sure this hellhole wasn’t about to spring a surprise on them. Everything was silent, still, and stank to the stars.
“You don’t want anyone to get close in case something bad happens to you or them.”
Georgia was quiet for a moment. “Maybe that’s true.”
Ash checked the scanner for signs of trouble before turning to Georgia. “Hold up a second. I need you to be clear on this. You’re an asset to the team. You’ve got skills, but it’s more than that. People like you, and they respect you. You went through hell and back and survived. Maybe you came out bruised and bloody, and maybe you needed your head looked at a time or two, but it made you stronger. Everyone wants you on the team.”
“Even though I curse and growl at people like an angry Apexian?”
“I think you’re adorable when you do that.”
“No one thinks I’m adorable. Not even my folks thought that about me.”
“I do. Although you could cut people some slack now and again. Not everyone’s out to get you. And we’re all on the same side.”
The fight seemed to drain out of Georgia, and she leaned into his touch. “You never sugar coat your words with me. You tell me when I’m overstepping and being too spiky.”
“And you sometimes listen when I do that.” He stroked his thumb down the line of her cheekbone. “And just so you know, I care for you. I want you as my partner in everything.”
She nodded but didn’t speak as a cascade of emotions flooded across her face.
“We’ll do this. We’ll win this battle against the Siblet, and no one in our team is sacrificing anything to make that happen. Have you got that, partner?”
Georgia flashed him a heart-stopping smile. “Yeah, I’ve got it. Let’s go do this.”
