“Yeah. We both should.” Bash wasn’t going to take his own armor off, but he was used to getting as much rest as he could, even in uncomfortable situations. So he moved back to the wall, taking a seat on the floor. “I don’t mind being your pillow, if you’d like.”
Sean’s answering smile was warm. “I’d like it very much.”
He sat down, then stretched out and laid down so he could rest his head on Bash’s thigh. With a quiet sigh, he draped his arm across Bash’s legs and relaxed. Bash shifted slightly and then he stroked Sean’s hair gently. “You’re safe,” he said. “You can sleep. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I know,” Sean murmured. “I trust you.”
The words struck Bash, stealing his breath. He knew Sean meant it, and he wondered if Sean realized what a gift he was offering. Trust was a rare and precious thing, especially among two people who were practically strangers, but Bash would make sure he never did anything to violate Sean’s trust in him. Desperate, life-or-death situations had a way of forging bonds between people.
Sean was different from anyone Bash had ever known, and he hoped that if they got out of this, he’d have a chance to get to know Sean better. Much better. Hopefully Sean wouldn’t change his mind and decide to put all reminders of his captivity in Akkadia behind him — including the man who’d rescued him from it.
8
The first thing Sean noticed when he woke up was the silence, an oppressive sort of quiet that felt like pressure in his ears, dense and disturbing. He lay still for several moments, only the sound of his own breathing proving he’d not suddenly been struck completely deaf. After the howling of the wind, which had even wrapped itself around his dreams, it seemed portentous, perhaps even ominous.
The second thing wasn’t only ominous, it was alarming. He was alone.
His heart hammered in his chest as he sat up and looked around to make certain he hadn’t missed Bash curled up elsewhere in the room, but his mysterious rescuer was nowhere to be seen. He rose to his feet and hurried to the door so he could open it and peer out into the darkness of the desert night.
He must have slept away the entire day, because the sky showed no hint of twilight, lit only by stars and the faint crescent of the moon a few degrees above the western horizon. There was just a hint of a breeze, and no sign at all of Bash, other than footprints in the sand that extended farther than Sean could see.
“He left me!” Dumbfounded, Sean leaned against the doorframe, unable to believe that Bash would have abandoned him completely, after all that they’d been through and the things Bash had said to him that morning. “He drove off, and…”
Even as he said the words, Sean frowned. The pickup truck wasn’t standing in front of the door, but he didn’t see any tire tracks in the sand. Stepping outside, he noticed a large, lumpy pile of sand against one corner of the building. The black tire sticking up from one section told a grim tale of what must have happened. The wind had picked up the empty truck and thrown it against their shelter before burying it with the shifting sands.
“It’s a goner, I’m afraid.”
Bash’s voice came from close to his ear, and Sean whirled around to find Bash had somehow moved up beside him so silently, he’d never even noticed his approach.
“Gah! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
To his annoyance, Bash grinned. “Did you miss me?”
Drawing in a deep breath, Sean did his best to look disdainful, which wasn’t easy when his knees felt weak with relief. “I barely noticed you were gone.”
“Liar,” Bash replied with a heated look before glancing back at the truck. “I think that big thud we heard last night was the truck being tossed against the building. I should have thought to put it behind the shed out of the wind, but things were a little hectic.”
Sean frowned thoughtfully. “Can we dig it out and flip it back over or something? Or is there another vehicle we could steal?”
“What a larcenous suggestion, your majesty.” Bash ran a hand through his hair, but he didn’t seem concerned. “The truck is a lost cause. I poked around, and the impact must have knocked the fuel hose loose, because the sand is soaked with gas. Even if we could get it upright, it wouldn’t run for long.”
“So what do we do?” Sean tried hard to hold on to hope, but he felt it slipping through his fingers like the grains of sand surrounding them.
“I’ve already scouted out the installation, and this place seems to be unmanned. There are three other buildings like this one, but no vehicles.” Unbelievably, Bash grinned again. “But we got lucky on one thing. I guess the workers here realize they might get stranded, so one shed has a small fridge with food in it, and there’s even a bathroom. I came back to grab you. We’ll eat, then start walking.”
The thought of food made Sean’s stomach rumble. It had been over twenty-four hours since he’d last had anything to eat, but he couldn’t ignore Bash’s breezy pronouncement about leaving.
“You can’t be serious!” He stared at Bash in dismay. “You think we’re going to walk off into the desert? With no map, no compass, and no idea how far it is to help? Are you crazy? Do you want to die?”
“Not particularly,” Bash drawled. “Trust me, I know what I’m doing, but I suppose I can leave you here, if you’d prefer. I’m sure some workers will show up in a day or two to check the place over. Of course, that might mean you’ll be walking right back into your grandfather’s clutches.”
Biting his lip, Sean weighed the choices. There was no telling if or when someone would show up, and he had to admit that so far, Bash had done a remarkable job of keeping them both alive despite everything they’d been through. Bash might be insane, but he was also a survivor.
Sighing heavily, Sean bowed to the inevitable with a silent admission that he didn’t want Bash to leave him. “Fine, I must be as crazy as you are, but I’ll walk off into the desert with you. Anything is better than going back to my grandfather, even death from heatstroke.”
“That’s the spirit!” Bash seemed impressed, and he clapped Sean on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s eat quickly and get going.”
“All right. Let me get my jacket and the body armor.”
