Page 10 of Ruin

He couldn’t quite bring himself to say the words, but she understood. To his immense relief, she shook her head.

“No. He bought that first male to breed with me. He wanted to sell humans as slaves. He bought other males after that first one, but they all died.”

Being an assassin for as long as he had meant he was damn good at reading people. Lira was doing a commendable job of maintaining an even expression, but something about her body language had suspicion flickering to life.

“Died how?”

Green eyes flashed up to his, round pupils dilating tellingly. “Different ways.”

“Lira, you know what I am. I’m not gonna condemn you for doing what you needed to do.”

She narrowed her eyes skeptically, warily. “Even if not all of those men were mean? Even if they were slaves too and didn’t have a choice?”

“Even if.”

She stared at him for a long moment, searching for some sign he was lying. He wasn’t.

Eventually, she whispered, “Yes, I killed them.”

“Okay.”

When he didn’t say anything else, she blinked and relaxed, those plush lips tipping up in a relieved smile. “That’s all?”

“Mmhm.”

“You don’t think I’m a bad person?”

He tilted his head. “Doyouthink you’re a bad person?”

“Sometimes,” she whispered. “Some of those men I killed were nice. But I knew what Vargot would make them do, and I didn’t want to do that. I worked hard to make myself useful to Vargot in other ways, and eventually, he stopped talking about breeding me.”

“Did you enjoy killin’ ‘em?”

“Not the nice ones,” she murmured, tracing a circle on the table with a fingertip.

His lips twitched. “Seems like you were just doin’ what you had to do. Doesn’t sound like you’re a bad person. You said you made yourself useful in other ways. How?”

She shrugged, making the tunic slide farther down her slim shoulder. “Vargot liked to gamble and I’m good at counting, so I’d count flips during the games to help him win. I also made sure his business associates didn’t short him.”

He’d known she had a sharp mind. “Impressive.”

The high points of her pale cheeks turned the same pink as her lips. “Thank you.”

They fell quiet as she finished her food, surprising him that she was able to empty her plate, despite her small size and the amount of food he’d given her. Almost as soon as she swallowed the last bite, her eyelids began to droop.

“C’mon. Time to sleep.”

“It’s safe?”

“Mm. I’ve got sensors in an’ around the building. No one will get close without me knowin’.”

“Okay,” she mumbled, rising unsteadily to her feet and shuffling toward the pallet on the floor.

Standing, he redirected her with a hand on her back. “Ah-ah. Bed’s yours.”

She craned her head back to peer up at him wide-eyed. Seeing the argument on the tip of her tongue, he shook his head.

“No arguin’. After the shit you’ve been through, givin’ you the bed is the least I can do.”

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