Page 59 of Body Tox

“Fine, fine,” he said. “I also double park my bike.”

I furrowed my brow. I hadn’t seen any bike or so much as a helmet since meeting him. Then again, I hadn’t seen a damn thing except just him, constantly popping up where he wasn’t welcome.

Had he ever worked for my father? Was he ever really a true bodyguard?

He had to have been because he saved me from that creep in the alley.

“Can you be serious? Ever? I swear,” I rolled my eyes at him. “Just when I think that maybe you’re not so much of a dick, you instantly change my mind right back to the conclusion that you are a twat waffle.”

“I am what I eat?”

I pushed away from him and kept walking, but I could hear his snickering behind me.

It was cold as hell. Fall had swallowed the spring, it seemed, and seasons here were either summer or icy winter.

I pulled my coat onto my shoulders tighter, trying to fight the chill.

The wind kept blowing, and snow was falling on us now. There were no tweets of birds or deer grazing. The warning that ran up my spine chilled any laughter from before. The moaning of the trees was growing louder, and a shadow consumed the blue of the sky.

Most locals were sleeping, and the homeless left to seek refuge from the harsh winds.

The problem with Alaska was it being so cold normally that even a little wind could turn the land into a frost-bitten cake of shit, much less the ferocity that it was blowing now.

“We need to find a shelter!” Asher’s voice drifted through the howling.

I didn’t know how far behind me he was because I could barely see two feet in front of my face. The snow was pouring down now, wrapping me in a white blanketed tornado while the light dimmed in the sky like some black hole was swallowing it.

“There!”

I couldn’t get my bearings. I didn’t know what direction I was even headed in anymore. It felt like I was struggling even to stand upright. I felt a hand on my back, ushering me sideways.

I let Asher be my eyes, shielding my face from the burn of the whipping of the air around us.

It made my cheeks burn.

“Here, put your face on my shoulder. I’ll get us to that gas station there.”

The darkness and warmth that Asher’s shoulder offered made me feel…safe. I let him blindly lead me away from this horrible blizzard. How he could even see…was beyond me.

After a few minutes, I felt a cold glass, and Asher urged me to shove it with him.

With our combined strength, it opened enough for me to see the dimly lit shelter. If I had to guess, it wasn’t a functional gas station and had been abandoned some time ago.

There were broken boards on the windows, and the tiled floor inside was filthy and graffitied.

This was likely some crash pad for stoners or a halfway decent spot for the homeless to rest in. The church was near the edge of town, so this place wasn’t exactly easy to find. I hadn’t come across it when I went to the church all the other times.

We either got turned around in the blizzard, or it had been coated with trees concealing it.

I tried to catch my breath, the screaming winds persistent as they rattled those broken boards and battered the roof and windows of the building.

There were leftover shelving units and a random assortment of condiments, too. Chip bags, candy bars, and canned goods as well. There was no light but for the shadowed windows of the dark sky.

“Are you hungry? We’re going to be here awhile. You get some food, and I’ll check out the bathroom and office.”

Asher sounded so protective and knowledgeable about living like this…it made me wonder how many times he’d needed to do this.

“Echo? You okay?”

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