Page 38 of Dustwalker

The warmth drained from Lara’s face as she stared at the broken pieces of plastic between Ronin’s fingers. Prickling ice formed in her veins, and her chest grew tight, making it hard to breathe. She understood the lesson now, and it called up dark memories of violence and pain, producing phantom aches in her limbs.

Her breakfast churned in her gut.

She sprinted through the opening into the other room, stumbled around the central counter, and bent over the wash basin. Her stomach heaved, emptying itself. She retched again, but there was nothing left to come up, making it all the more miserable.

Trembling, Lara clutched the countertop.

That fuckingthing!

The bot that still haunted her nightmares had known what it was doing to her. The strength of its grip had been deliberate, every bruise intentional, and the damage to her shoulder had been only a taste of the bastard’s full power. She’d been in pain for weeks because that’s what it had wanted.

Ronin’s boots thumped across the floor. He stopped somewhere behind her.

“Don’t touch me,” she snapped without lifting her head. She spat sour-tasting saliva into the basin.

“Are you ill?”

“I’m fine.” Lip curling at the stench of her own vomit, she turned on the water and washed out the basin.

“Appearances suggest otherwise.” Ronin moved closer and placed a hand on the counter to her right, keeping a few feet between them. “Your face is paler than usual.”

“I said I’m fine.” She cupped her hands beneath the flowing water and rinsed her mouth.

After she spat out of the water, Lara wiped her lips with the back of her hand, shut off the spigot, and straightened, turning to face him. A cramp seized her stomach, but she clenched her jaw and rode it out.

So much for the food I ate.

“Thanks for fixing my boot,” she said quietly.

He maintained his silent stare long enough for her skin to itch beneath it. Gripping the hem of the shirt at her thighs, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other and back again, waiting for him to say something, to sayanything.

But he didn’t.

“I said I was fine, damn it!” She marched back into the main room and snatched up her boots.

“You told me bots always say what they mean. Is it the opposite for humans?”

Lara faced Ronin, holding her boots to her chest. He stood in the entryway between the two rooms, watching her. There should’ve been judgment in his words, but she’d heard only curiosity.

Can’t he at least make it easy to be pissed off at him?

“Don’t you have somewhere to go?” Lara asked as calmly as she could.

The thought of being here alone wasn’t appealing, but she couldn’t take any more reminders of what had happened to her right now. Notwhile she knew those things were all around. Ronin would just keep probing, and it would get her worked up, but damn if she didn’t want to believehis concern. It seemed genuine.

But from a bot, it couldn’tbe…

Could it?

Ronin frowned, brow creasing. “I can wait if you’re unwell.”

“If I have to tell you I’m fine one more time, I’m gonna scream.”

He didn’t respond for a long while. Maybe screaming until her throat was raw would make her feel better…

“I’ll get back as quickly as I can,” he finally said. “Is there anything particular you need, apart from the necessities?”

“If you need something, itisa necessity.” The swelling of pride at her own wit dulled the edge on her mood a little.