“My my my, what have we here?” she says, conversationally.
The men turn to look at me and sneer.
“Fuck off, halfblood,” one of them says.
I glare at him.
“No.” I look back up at Melisa. “What is happening here?”
“We’re just chatting,” she starts.
“You do realize that you will die tonight if your work is not done,” I say to the other men. “Leave her be.”
One of the men grins. “If it’s my last day, it will have been worth it for a minute between the fine lady’s thighs.”
White hot rage flashes through my veins.
“Get back to work, or I’ll call for the foreman,” I say through gritted teeth.
The men grow hostile. “You would deny us a moment of pleasure on our last day?”
“It’s not your last day yet. Get back to work.”
“Fucking bastard,” one of them hisses. “You probably don’t even know the touch of a woman!”
I frown. “And you’d be right. Now leave.”
This time, they do.
It takes everything in my soul not to turn and look at Melisa, to savor her scent.
“Ra’Sa…” her voice says, gentle and sweet.
I keep walking. No more playing with fire today.
When I approach my team, Abet is still working.
“I’m back,” I say irritatedly.
Abet looks up at me, lips pursed. “Took you long enough. Ready to work?"
I give a noncommittal grunt and step into my position. Emilio starts counting our turns.
"Uno!"?3
I give the most rigid chop I can muster, and the angle of the blade lands nicely. The cut is far deeper than Abet’s. His eyes widen, and he looks at me, missing his turn.
“Whoa there, easy on your back,” Abet says.
When it’s my turn again, I slam my ax into the wood. On and on we go, but the time it takes to slice to the tree is much shorter than the day before.
When the wood starts to splinter, Abet yells, and we run from the tree. Those weightless moments before the trunk’s thunderous landing, capable of killing, are exhilarating.
"Let's get started on the next. We can carry when the sun starts to drop through the sky,” I tell my team.
A sheen of sweat coats my body, and I remove most of the layers before I harness myself to the tree and follow Nicolás up.
The second tree comes down faster than the first.