Page 23 of Bound in Ashes

Mine.

And I’d almost lost her today.

I huffed out hard, rubbing my chest absently as I gripped the sturdy porch rail.

Told myself I’d done what I’d promised.

Gotten her to her home.

Tried to pretend that it actually mattered.

But it didn’t.

Because through all the shit, through everything, there was one north star.

Mine.

I sprinted up the porch stairs and went into the house.

Found Levi in the kitchen, coffee in hand, Asia standing across from him.

But he was focused on me.

His eyes gave nothing away, and at the same time, told me everything.

He held my gaze a second longer, then looked at Asia. “Give me a few minutes. Then we need to talk.”

FOUR

Asia

“So tell me about this place,” Jack said a few minutes later.

We were back outside on the porch waiting for Uncle Levi.

I looked at him, seeing the complete focus on his face. And despite everything, I felt safe.

Because this was Jack, doing what he’d done since the moment I met him.

Keeping me alive, niceties be damned.

A good reminder, because we were actually still trying to stay alive, and whatever emotional firestorm I found myself in was beside the point.

“The property is a hundred fifty acres, most of it forest or raw farmland. We have the main house, a couple of dormitories and outbuildings. Last time I was here, he had a couple of tractors, seven horses, some livestock—but that looks to have changed,” I said, my gaze sweeping the farm, cataloging the differences.

“What about the town?”

“Forty-five hundred people or so. As you can see, Sheriff Hayes is unofficially in charge. Even though there’s a mayor—or at least there was before—that’s more of a show position. They had some problems with meth and pills a few years back, but that seemed to have calmed down,” I said.

“Anything else?” he said.

He stared at me intently, and I decided what to say.

“Hayes is set in his ways, not exactly what I’d call a creative thinker, but I don’t think he’ll be a problem.”

“This place, though…” he said.

He was clearly considering something, and I looked at him, trying to determine what.