Page 30 of Bound in Ashes

I remembered the promise I’d made to him.

The one I’d never broken.

Wondered how the fuck I would make myself leave.

FIVE

Asia

“I thought I was a hard worker,” Jack muttered.

He was talking to me, but looking at Uncle Levi, who was hoisting a roll of barbed wire.

“You are, but Uncle Levi has the market cornered,” I said.

“Yeah. Hasn’t stopped for a second,” Jack said.

“You haven’t either,” I said to Jack.

It was true, other than the two times I caught him reading the complete history of modern art under a dim flashlight, he hadn’t slowed for more than a second these last few days.

Didn’t look any worse for the wear, though.

“Whatever.” He waved me off and looked toward Miles. “So what do you think we should do with the barbed wire?”

Miles looked uncertain for a moment, then spoke.

“Well, maybe we could use it to set traps?” he said.

He scanned the field, clearly taking a moment to gather his thoughts.

“And what’ll that do?” Jack asked.

“That way, nothing can get to us without us noticing,” Miles said.

Jack nodded. “Not bad. Come on with me so we can figure out where to put them,” he said.

Watching them walk off together hit me in a place I couldn’t name.

On the surface, it was lovely. Miles had taken to Jack like a duck to water, and Jack felt the same, even if he’d never admit it. Their bond was pure in a way that nothing else was anymore.

But seeing them, Jack’s broad-shouldered silhouette next to Miles’s lanky frame, made me ache. Because that same scene would play out again when Jack found his brother.

When Jack was gone.

I swallowed and tore my gaze away, forcing my mind to focus on work.

In the three days since we had been here, we’d done the same thing every single day.

With the help of the few farmhands who’d stuck around, Jack had set about the task of fortifying the farm.

He’d been maniacal about it, insistent in a way that was almost scary.

But it didn’t keep me from staring at the way his muscles bunched under his T-shirt every time he moved. Didn’t stem that nagging ache that grew impossible to ignore.

It had been two days since he touched me.

I told myself I understood.