Page 56 of Ash Fall

"And if he doesn't make it up to you, don't worry." I give Gage a slow smirk. "The rest of us will pick up his slack."

His blue eyes lock onto mine and go hard, possessive irritation rolling through them so clearly that he might as well announce it out loud. Gage turns on one heel and stalks toward the barn without another word.

Luna watches him go, then whips back toward me with her mouth hanging open.

"You... I..."

I lift my eyebrows as she points at me with several threats fighting for first place behind her teeth, gives up on all of them, and spins away. Her frilly socks flash above her work boots as she marches in the exact opposite direction Gage went, moving fast enough that her babydoll dress bounces around her thighs.

They go in two different directions, which is exactly what I expected. Both of them are still firmly in the avoidance phase of what I’ve decided is going to be our reality.

Elenor is still chuckling beside me. She pats my arm as we watch Luna retreat.

"Keep it up, darling, and your sister won't be the only girl to come around to your way of thinking."

I watch Gage disappear into the barn, then Luna vanishes around the side of the motorhome and a slow smile spreads across my face.

"That's what I'm counting on."

Chapter 23 - Torrin

I check the road again even though there is nothing new to see. Empty gravel stretches between the farm and the county road. I make myself stop looking at my watch, because I already know exactly how long it has been since I last checked.

We’re ready to go. Everything Anders wants from the house, barns, and equipment sheds is packed into whatever space we could find. All that's left is getting the livestock loaded once the neighbors arrive to help, then we can finally get moving.

Anders finally pulls his truck back into the yard and backs up to the livestock trailer. He was only gone half an hour helping his neighbors secure the last of their things, but I spent most of it watching the road for him anyway, ready to get moving.

"They're right behind me," he tells Gage as he climbs down. "Shouldn't be more than ten or fifteen minutes."

Ten or fifteen minutes shouldn't bother me this much, but it does.

I want to get to the mine and see exactly what we're working with. There's sleeping space to sort out, vehicles to get under cover, and a hell of a lot of work before that place will be habitable. I've been moving for days now and waiting to move for days before that. Driving, fighting, searching, packing, loading, making one decision after another while the world finds new and creative ways to end around us, and I'm fucking tired of being in transit.

I need somewhere to stop long enough to catch my breath and figure out what the hell normal is supposed to be now. Even if normal means sleeping inside an abandoned coal mine while a broken moon hangs over a planet full of erupting volcanoes.

Mostly, though, I want time with Luna. Real time. Not five minutes stolen while we're loading a truck, and not just her hand in mine while I drive. I want enough time to figure out what has changed between us since I came home. Every time she looks at me and then looks away a little too fast, I feel it.

Unfortunately, judging by the mood around here, I'm not the only one trying to figure that shit out. Gage stalks past me with a toolbox and drops it into the back storage compartment of the motorhome hard enough to make the whole door rattle. I watch him slam the compartment shut.

"You good?"

"Fine."

Yeah, right. I've known Gage for years now, and the man rarely gets pissed off. When he does, there's usually a damn good reason for it. He can be worried, stressed, bossy, overprotective, and occasionally so fucking stubborn that I want to hit him with something. But genuinely foul tempered is rare, and he's been in a shitty mood for almost an hour.

My eyes shift across the yard and find the most likely source leaning against the Jeep, looking smug. It isn't his normal smug either. Jules wakes up every morning convinced the rest of us should be grateful he has chosen to share a planet with us, so a certain level of arrogance is his natural state. Right now, though, he looks especially pleased with himself, and every time Gage sees his face, another muscle in his jaw starts twitching.

I walk over and stop beside him. "What did you do?"

Jules slides his sunglasses down his nose enough to look at me over them. "You'll need to narrow that question considerably."

"Whatever has Gage two minutes away from burying you under the barn."

His mouth curves, which is answer enough on its own. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Bullshit."

"Well, Tor, maybe he's struggling with the emotional weight of civilization ending."