Page 56 of Keeping Sarah

It seemed like he wasn’t lying or trying to deceive me, which made me wonder whether it was true. Rex was smart enough to slip past my bullshit detector, but he seemed to genuinely care about my well-being and I wasn’t sure what to make of that.

When I glanced back at him, his expression was perturbed. “Stop looking at me like that.”

I blinked at him in confusion. “Like what?”

He shifted restlessly on the bed. “Like you’re trying to see the good in me. You’re making me uncomfortable.”

I laughed and set my cup of tea on the dresser. “You’re not one hundred percent evil, Rex.”

“I’m not evil at all,” he insisted. “I’m practical and being practical can require some evil actions.” His voice sounded hollow, like he knew he was lying.

“What is it?” I asked, catching the flash of regret that passed across his features, then was gone just as quickly.

Rex hissed a dismissal. “Nothing.”

“Tell me,” I prodded.

“Gods, you’re stubborn.” He glared at me. “I much prefer conversation with my minions. They don’t question my every expression.”

“That does not sound like a conversation,” I said lightly. “It sounds more like you giving them orders, and them following your commands.”

He nodded. “Yes, precisely why I prefer conversations with my minions.”

I smiled at him. “I’m not your minion.”

“No shit.” He shook his head, and with a deep sigh he admitted, “I think…you might have left something of you in me, too.”

Something in my stomach knotted. “What?”

He stood up and began to pace in front of me as he spoke. “The fights in the arena are the highest grossing industry in Faithless. The first one I watched since you released me and I’ve been back, I…I vomited watching it.” He grimaced at the memory and continued. “So, I’ve downgraded the fights toincapacitationinstead of being to the death. People have started to think my hostage ordeal has made me go soft, but I could not watch those fighters murder each other for money again. It was degrading. And now that people think I’ve gone soft, there is dissension in my ranks.”

He stopped and looked me in the eye. “The last time that happened, Deacon murdered me.”

I put the pieces together—what I knew of his past and of him now—and tried to reckon one with the other. “Is that why you became a bigger bastard on Halla? To make sure no one here tried to murder you?”

He closed his eyes and slowly nodded before meeting my gaze again. “Being murdered is not fun. I recommend avoiding it at all costs.”

I snorted a laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind, thanks.”

“Sarah, this is going to sound ludicrous to you, I’m sure of it, but I need to ask anyway.” He stopped his pacing and looked straight at me, his expression solemn, which wasn’t a normal emotion for him. “Would you let me back in, so that I might find the piece of me I left inside of you, and you can take yours back? The truth is, I need to get my people under control again, and you—"

“Have been awful to everyone.” The proposal made more sense to me than letting some magician keep pushing hisluck with my companions, with no intention of fulfilling any promises.

“If my people keep running wild, then it won’t only be Faithless they destroy,” Rex said, his tone dire. “Eventually, it will be all of Halla.”

I nodded in understanding. “And I need my life back.” I exhaled a deep breath. “Tolkabern is a bastard, by the way."

"I assumed he had something to do with why you were suddenly on my balcony. What did he demand this time? Spinal fluid? Hair from somewhere lower than your head?"

My jaw clenched.Much worse."Deacon and Jac had to fuck in front of him.”

Rex winced. “My boy could not have liked that.”

“Deacon was pragmatic about it, actually,” I said, still unable to believe just how practical he’d been about the situation. “Jumped right in.”

A sly smile curved Rex’s lips. “He never ceases to surprise me.”

“Maybe you could say the same of both of us.” I stood up and walked to him, while bolstering my fortitude for what I needed to do to be normal again, which is all I wanted. “Let’s do this. I’ll take back my remnant, if you’ll take yours back.”

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