Beautiful Death (Bella Morté Trilogy Book 1) by L. Dee Walker Page B

about a little scratch or somethin’ much worse?”
    “It’s a deep scratch. There’s already pus leakin’ out. It’s really horrible.”
    Montana nodded. “Is she contagious?”
    “If she sneezed or coughed, I wouldn’t feel comfortable rulin’ it out.”
    Cringing, Trevor covered his nose with his shirt, glancing over at her. “Well, that’s encouragin’. How do we stop breathin’?”
    Candice pulled his shirt back down, hissing at him. “Don’t make it obvious!”
    Shocked, Brandon turned to Sophia. “Are ya sayin’ she might turn into one of those things?”
    She nodded. “I’m afraid so. I think she’s--”
    “Infected. I get it. That would totally suck.”
    Candice rubbed his arm sympathetically. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were close with her.”
    “That’s the one girl I really wanted to hook up with.” He cringed as the rub turned into a hit. “Ow! What?”
    “I’m really sorry for your loss.” Rolling her eyes, she turned back to Montana.
    “Why does this always happen to the hot ones?”
    She turned back to stare at him once more. “As opposed to the ugly ones? It would be okay if she weren't pretty?”
    “That’s not what I meant.”
    Montana smirked at Brandon before turning back to Sophia. “What should we do with ‘er?”
    “I’m not sure until we find out. We can’t risk what might happen to everyone on the chance of what she may or may not have, but I’m pretty sure she’s got.”
    Brandon smiled. “Pretty sure’s a far cry from definite.”
    Sophia stared at him. “I’m about ninety-percent sure.”
    “So yeah. You’re not that sure about it. She still has a chance.”
    Nudging Brandon, Candice shushed him. “She’s got the sickness, okay? Drop it.”
    Glaring at her, he grumbled, “At least it’s not a hundred-percent.”
    Sophia turned back to Montana. “Is ‘ere some place we could put ‘er where I could observe? Do you guys have a jail here for unruly campers?”
    Shaking his head, he snickered. “No, we just called the cops an’ they put ‘em in jail.”
    “So ya don’t have any rooms here that could hold ‘er?”
    “Hmm, what about the freezer downstairs? We could always move the food. There’s a lock on the door so she can’t get out.”
    Looking from Erica back to Montana, Trevor shook his head. “I would suggest ya think of another place. It’s too cold. Even for the Ice Princess.”
    Stirring her coffee, Sophia shrugged. “Well, I guess we can watch ‘er. If she changes, we’ll deal with it then.”
    Furrowing his brows, Montana shook his head. “So, you’re tellin’ us, we need to watch ‘er. If she does change, we need to get ‘er in the freezer? Wow, that’s a tall order. I mean outside was one thing, but now you’re lookin’ at a tight, closed-in area.”
    Furrowing his brows, Justice looked around the room. “Yeah, that’s not happenin’, Doc. I watched the smallest girl in the campground rip a guy’s leg off like it was nothin’. I used to have to help ‘er get across the cable. She wasn’t heavy enough to go all the way. Why couldn’t we put ‘er in there now? We could watch ‘er from the safety of another room.”
    Trevor adamantly shook his head. “Unless your goal is to kill ‘er, we can’t use the freezer. It’s cold in there. Too cold for a human.”
    “Naw. We could turn the temperature down.”
    “Even if ya turned it all the way down, she’d still die. Trust me. I got stuck in ‘ere for about ten minutes. I almost died.”
    Nibbling on the inside of his lip, Montana looked from one to the other. “What about the storage room?”
    Sophia looked at him. “What kinda place is it?”
    “It’s a very sturdy door ‘at requires a code to unlock an’ open. The only way in or out is through the door.”
    “Is there a window?”
    “Yeah, but there’s only one in the door.”
    “Are ya sure she can’t get out?”
    He shook his head. “Not even. It’s small. Once she’s locked in