Page 42 of His to Burn

“Good girl,” I growled again, just to feel her tremble.

I stepped back, leaving her shaking andwide-eyed, the promise of what to come hanging between us like a grenade.

We locked eyes, and the thunderous shock almost rocked me.

I didn’t understand thisthingbetween us.

Didn’t understand the effect this woman had on me.

I told myself it was just a trauma response, that my psyche was fixated on her instead of the shitshow outside because she was safer.

But looking at Asia didn’t feel safer.

It left me raw, making me feel something much too much like weakness.

I should have hated that.

I didn’t.

And I definitely didn’t hate when she smiled at me.

No, I didn’t hate that at all.

She tilted her head, considering what to say next. “You really like my plan?”

I sensed her trepidation and reluctance to tell me about her plan, but she’d shared it anyway. Pushed her fear aside and did what needed to be done. If nothing else, she had guts.

“Wouldn’t have agreed if I didn’t,” I said.

She rolled her eyes. “You could just say ‘Yes, Asia, I like your plan.’”

“I could,” I said as I walked through the suite again, mulling the plan over as I did.

Sure, protocol said to try to get away from population centers, but the first thing I learned as a soldier was that protocol went out of the window when confronted by facts on the ground.

And the facts were: we were currently stuck inside a courthouse, couldn’t access transportation, and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon.

“How far away does Judge Hanlon live?” I asked.

“Seven miles,” she said.

I scoffed. “Or, in Atlanta miles, like a hundred?”

She laughed then, the sound joyful, almost girlish.

“Yeah, you figured us out. Or maybe an apocalypse was the thing that could finally fix Atlanta traffic,” she said. She frowned, but immediately refocused. “It’s not a far distance, at least by car, and the terrain is pretty even. Some hills, which can’t be avoided in NorthGeorgia, but nothing like a mountain. The problem is?—”

“Cover,” I said, cutting her off.

I could tell she searched for the right word, and I supplied it.

Cover would be critical, but it was the one thing I wasn’t sure about.

“You know how to get there, right?”

She nodded.

“Good. Draw me a map,” I said.