Bad Boy Brody(52)

I’d had enough. Storming past Finn, I grabbed Matthew’s shoulders and pulled him upright. “What happened to her?”

I looked in his eyes, and his own panic had that ice lining my stomach.

I stepped forward so we were almost chest to chest. “TALK! What happened to Morgan?”

Everyone had fallen silent around us, but no one and nothing else mattered but the answer to that question.

Matthew, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly as he stepped backward. Finally. He managed, “Something’s wrong with her. She couldn’t breathe.”

The world went away.

I was only on him.

“Where is she?”

“Shiloh.”

Oh good God, no. I let him go, not caring that he collapsed to the ground. If she was on Shiloh, that meant she was in the mountains. She was out there, and no one could get to her. I had to—there were two horses here for the scene.

“Brody.” Finn tossed me a sweatshirt.

I caught it, taking off in the opposite direction.

They were being taken care of by a handler, who started when she saw me racing toward her. The horses stepped to the side.

“Wha—” Her eyes trailed behind me.

I heard Finn, who was right on my heels, say, “What are you going to do?”

Ignoring him, I focused on the trainer. “Which one is the fastest?”

“What?” Her mouth was gaping open. Her eyes were skirting from Finn to me.

“Brody!”

I ignored him. “Which one?”

She flung one of the leads to me. “Her. She’s the faster one.”

It was a brown mare, and she was watching me, but she wasn’t scared. I ran a hand down her neck, soothing to her at the same time, “Hey, hey. Listen, Horse. I don’t know you that well. You don’t know me, but I need your help.”

“Brody!”

Gayle was joining the fun. I didn’t look for her, but I knew if I had, I would have seen the look of complete disapproval on her face.

“Brody.” Finn tried again. “What are you going to do? You’ll get lost up there.”

Morgan was in trouble. Nothing else mattered.

“Brody.” He grabbed the horse’s bridle as I climbed up on the saddle.

“Let go.” One warning. I’d run him down if I had to. “I mean it, Finn.”

His eyes flared from urgency to me. “You cannot ride.”

“I’ve been riding the last week.”

“Not enough. Not for those mountains. Not for where she went.”

He had a point, but I didn’t care. “It’s Morgan. I’m going.”

“Give us time. We can organize a search party. We’ve done this before. I told Jen to call Abby. She is probably already making phone calls to get people out here.”

I shook my head. “That could take hours.” She might not have hours. She might not even have one hour. “I have to go, Finn!”

He still wouldn’t let go of the bridle. “I’m thinking about you too. It isn’t just Morgan. She’s done this before. She’s probably fine, but you won’t be. You’ll get lost. You’ll get stuck out there for hours.” He nodded to the horse. “This mare isn’t equipped to be out there.”

It was the fastest way to Morgan. That was all I knew.

I pulled on the reins, jerking the horse’s head away from Finn and ripping the bridle free from his grip. Kicking my feet into her side, her rear end came around, knocking Finn to the side.

I twisted around and said, “I don’t care.” Then I leaned forward and kicked my feet into her side again.

I wanted her to run.

As she did, tearing up dirt, Finn yelled behind us. “You’re not going to help her like this!”

Maybe.

Maybe not.

All I knew was that I had to get to her.





Morgan



Shiloh took me to a cliff before dropping her head to graze. There was a small smattering of grass there, but I know she took me there for a reason. It was the highest point we could comfortably get to. I was far away from everything—from the herd, from the humans, from my old life that was trying to pull me back.

I slid off her back and slumped to the ground.

This was what I needed.

Crisp mountain air. My lungs felt as if they were burning, but there was nothing like the feeling of being above it all. I felt close to the sky, and I lay on my back, gasping, dragging in air. I looked up, and it was as if I could reach up and touch a cloud.

I hadn’t had an attack like this since after my mother died. The counselor pushed too hard, asking me to recall details I didn’t want in my head.

Maybe it was because of the attack, or maybe it was because Shiloh brought me to this particular cliff, but I felt her again.

It was as if she were smiling down at me, and maybe because of that, I curled in on myself and slept.

When I woke, it was to the sound of someone calling my name.

“Morgan!”

“Morgan!”

I sat up, squinting a moment. Brody wasn’t near me. I wasn’t in his bed. It took a second before it all rushed back to me.

I felt the winds pick up, shifting from the valley below and blowing harshly against my cheeks. Shiloh lifted her head, her nostrils picking up Brody’s scent.