Page 21

“Slow down. One question at a time.” I shortened my stride as we reached a patch of loose stones, giving her time to pick her way across them.

“I have no idea what it was, but it shouldn’t be out here,” I said.

I checked behind us again. Nothing moved on the road, but I couldn’t see far into the brush. Whoever had put the device there could still be nearby. Or watching through another drone while I looked for a male hiding behind a tree.

We scouted this area regularly. I should have noticed something. Unless it had been put there since the last time one of us came through, and I didn’t much like that possibility either.

“Okay, that’s one answer. Ish.” Teresa stepped around a rut and came back to my side. “Do you think it’s related to the drone?” she repeated.

“It could be.”

Teresa frowned. “Could it be what’s making the goats sick?”

“I don’t know,” I said. She frowned harder, and I wished I’d had time to get a better look before I crushed the damned thing.

“We found it right where one died,” she reminded me, gesturing back toward the clearing.

“I know.” I looked up, searching for the black shape of another drone. “We’ll have to⁠—”

My hoof slipped off a stone. I caught myself against a tree, and the bark scraped my shoulder through a hole in my shirt.

Pain burned across my skin. I pulled away from the trunk and looked down at the scorched cloth.

“Are you all right?” Teresa asked. Her gaze followed mine to the tear in my shirt. “Those lasers looked intense.”

“I’m fine.” I straightened and turned back toward the road.

“The hell you are. Let me see.” She stepped in front of me and reached for my sleeve. I lifted my arm, testing it while she bent to look beneath the torn cloth. Moving it hurt, but I could still use it.

I lowered my arm before she could pull the sleeve farther back. The truck was close enough to see through the trees.

“I won’t die before we make it back home. Someone can see to it there,” I told her.

“I’m a medical professional. Let me be the judge of that.” Teresa hadn’t moved out of my path. She held out her hand for my arm again.

“For animals,” I pointed out.

Her gaze flicked up to my horns. “Would it be rude if I mentioned you have hooves and horns?”

I laughed, then wished I hadn’t. The burn pulled when I moved, and she caught me pressing my arm against my side.

Her smile faded. “Rauf.”

“The truck’s close.” I nodded down the road, and she finally stepped aside.

I started walking before she could argue. I kept my arm still and watched the road.

Teresa stayed on my uninjured side. When we reached the truck, she let me put her bag inside but climbed in before I could offer her a hand.

“You can still drive?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said as I lowered myself behind the wheel.

She watched while I shut the door and started the engine. I put both hands on the wheel. My shoulder hurt when I turned it, but I got us onto the road without giving her anything else to object to.

I drove faster than I should have. Every stretch of open ground gave me somewhere to look for trouble, and every bend hid the road ahead. I wanted to be inside our gate with the men close enough to call.

The turn for the farm came up before the road to town. I could have kept going. Instead, I pictured leaving her with Korfas while I came back out here, and took the turn.