Page 153 of Burn Bag

“How’s that?” I asked, letting my eyes slip closed for a moment.

But he didn’t answer. I pried my lids open and looked around, but he was nowhere in sight. Great, he abandoned me, too. I was all alone with my thoughts, wishing I could just be back in the air conditioning in my bed.

“No! You can’t make me go in there!”

I jerked upright in bed, sure that I heard Bradley’s voice.

“I won’t— Don’t put me anywhere near a mummy!”

Forgetting about my roiling stomach, I jumped off the cot and ran for the opening, flinging the tent flap aside only to stop in my tracks to see Red and Eli holding Bradley up as he fought them with everything in him.

I raced over to him, cupping his cheeks in my hands as I tried to get him to focus on me. “Bradley! It’s me!”

“Daphne?” he murmured. Then his eyes rolled back and he passed out, collapsing to the ground with hardly any support from his teammates.

“Nice,” I snapped at them.

“What did we do?” Eli asked.

“You brought him out here? What were you thinking?” I yelled.

“We were thinking that if we didn’t get him to you, your housewould be taken over by wild animals,” Red muttered as he bent over and hauled Bradley to his feet. “Help me get him inside.”

Eli took up the other side while I hurried ahead of them and held open the tent flap. As soon as he was on the cot, I grabbed a water bottle and poured some on his face, waking him up instantly.

He jerked upright and looked around wildly. “Where is it? Is it coming?”

“Is what coming?”

He snatched my hand, pulling me closer. “The mummy. Did it escape?”

“Bradley, the mummy is still very safe in his tomb. I promise you, we haven’t unleashed any curses on you.”

“You swear it?” he asked.

“I swear.”

He visibly deflated in front of me, but the relief was short-lived. “Why do you look so pale? Did something happen? Are you okay? Why are you in here? Did you fall and hit your head again?”

“Bradley!” I shouted, stopping his rambling. “I’m fine. I swear.”

“You don’t look fine.” The concern on his face brought a smile to mine.

I grabbed his hand and placed it on my tummy, hoping he understood what I was trying to say.

He looked down, and then back to me warily. “Either you’re trying to tell me you’re having a baby or that a mummy is inside you and I should run. If it’s the second, I’m going to need you to be very clear before I chop your head off. Or do I burn you alive?”

“Christ,” Red muttered as I laughed.

“I believe you’re thinking of a zombie. And I’m not sure if any of those options actually kills a zombie, but I’m pretty sure it won’t kill a mummy.”

“So…you’re not having some weird Mummy transformation. You’re still you.”

“Still me, but plus one,” I grinned. “Plus one very human one,” I repeated for clarification.

“Oh, thank God.” He gripped his chest as he took a sharp breath. “Cuz, I gotta be honest, I wouldn’t hesitate to kill you if you’d been infected with some mummy virus.”

“Good to know,” I nodded. “Now, not that I’m not thrilled to see you, but why are you here?”

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