Asher Converse's Arc

Chapter 25 of 30

The ward was set. The stone in Asher's pocket would tell him when an enemy crossed. But knowing was not stopping, and Asher still needed men who would hold when the trouble came. That meant he needed to know his men. He watched JD work the door and wondered how far he could trust him. JD stood by the front bells, arms crossed, green shirt open at the chest. He was the tracker Chalam had brought in, the man hunting whoever stole his brother's bracelet. That thief wanted the same floor Asher was guarding. So JD was here, useful and dangerous both. Asher caught JD looking at him across the room. Not once. Twice. Asher walked over. "You keep watching me," he said. "I do," JD said. He didn't look away. "Why?" "Because you're worth watching." JD's mouth moved, close to a smile. "You want a straight answer. That's mine." Asher leaned on the doorframe. He was good at this. He knew what his open collar did, what the gold chain at his throat did. He let JD look. "You read thoughts," Asher said. "So you already know I noticed." "I don't have to read you," JD said. "You want me to look. You're standing so I do." That landed. Asher smiled but held his ground. JD stepped closer. He put one hand flat on the doorframe, near Asher's shoulder, and let his eyes move down and back up. He was trying to pull something loose in Asher, some heat, some want. Asher felt it start. His pulse ticked up. JD was good at this too. "You're good," Asher said. "Better than Tucker." JD's hand didn't move. "But?" "But I don't mix this with the work. Not now. Not with what's coming." Asher stepped back from the frame. The space opened between them. "I needed to know something first. Whether you'd push when I said no." JD watched him a moment. Then he dropped his hand and stood straight. "I don't push," he said. "When it's no, it's no." "Good," Asher said. "Then you're the man I hoped." He grinned. JD nodded once, done with the subject. He turned back to the door and the bells. He'd offered himself, been refused, and taken it clean. That was the answer Asher wanted. He'd tested the tracker and found a man who held. Asher went back behind the bar. He had a fighter he could trust at the door now, tested with something harder than a blade. The floor was hidden. The ward was set. And his crew was one man stronger. What he still lacked was any sign of when the enemy would come.