Page 102 of Bound in Ashes

It fell in a clump and Jack moved, easily dispatching the other two.

Miles didn’t even have a chance to pull his knife.

And I was glad for it.

Glad for Jack.

“You good, kid?”

Miles nodded. “Yeah. I—I forgot to draw, and…I’m sorry.”

“Don’t sweat it. You’re alive. That’s what counts.” Jack slapped him on the shoulder and Miles winced but then smiled.

And then Jack looked at me. “Where is he?”

That ease of moments ago was gone. Now, his teeth were clenched, the vein in his forehead throbbing.

“I left him in the back,” I said.

Together, we looked, finding the back room empty.

But the parking lot wasn’t.

Travis was in the driver’s seat of the truck, clearly searching the console for keys.

When he saw us, his eyes widened, but then he smiled.

“Oh, thank God,” Travis babbled. “There were too many of them! I tried to… I went to get it so you guys could get out.”

Jack walked toward. Travis backed up, his hands raised.

“Jack, listen, I⁠—”

Jack grabbed Travis by the throat.

He didn’t punch him. He just slammed him backward against the side of the truck. The metal buckled under the impact.

“Sorry, man. I panicked!” Travis choked out, his face turning purple.

He leaned in close, his face inches from Travis’s. “You left a woman and a kid to die, you piece of shit!”

“I didn’t… I didn’t mean…”

Jack slammed him against the truck again. Travis’s head cracked against the window.

“Listen to me,” Jack said.

He released the pressure on Travis’s throat just enough for him to wheeze, then cocked his head toward Miles.

“That kid likes you. It’s the only reason you’re still breathing.”

Jack released him. Travis slid down the side of the truck, gasping for air, clutching his neck.

Jack stood over him, the sun casting a long shadow that swallowed Travis whole. His chest heaved and his fists were clenched,

Jack looked at me then, waiting.

Weighing.