Page 37 of His to Burn

Those were my priorities.

Problem was, I had to figure out where to look.

I mulled that question until I heard Asia stirring.

She looked clear-eyed.

Refreshed.

The sleep had done her good.

“How long was I out for?” she asked before sitting up and taking another sip of water.

“Not quite two hours,” I responded, not watching her stand and stretch just because of how much I wanted to.

“Well at least it wasn’t long enough for me to think this was all a dream,” she said with that little giggle again.

“Anything happen while I was out?”

She studied the monitors, but she gave no reaction to what she saw.

“Not much. Everything’s been quiet, but the radio went out. It’s only static now. I expect electricity will go next,” I said.

She flinched but then looked at me, her face impassive. “Too bad, but not unexpected.”

“No, I guess not,” I responded.

“So…” she said, turning to face me, her intelligence clear in her gaze.

“So what?” I asked, fully at attention.

She kept her eyes locked on mine, her brow arched.

“I have an idea.”

NINE

Asia

“I’m listening,”Jack said, and I released a breath I didn’t even realize I was holding.

But I didn’t speak, suddenly less confident in my idea than I was seconds before.

And Jackson didn’t make this any easier.

His hard stare pinned me in place. He looked at me, studying me like he was waiting for me to prove I deserved the protection I was too prideful to ask for.

Even more than that, he was assessing me, ready to tell me I was a moron.

Or worse, tell me that I was going to getmyself killed and that I wasn’t worth the risk of saving.

The way he looked at me left me feeling vulnerable, and that was fucking terrifying.

But Kathleen and Levi Griffin didn’t raise no bitch, and now wasn’t the time to pretend they had, not with everything—including my life—on the line.

“Shit’s bad,” I said, stating the obvious, and falling back on my years in the courtroom.

I knew how to lay out an argument and sway people to my side, and something told me I’d need every skill I had with Jackson.