Page 95 of Dustwalker

“Guess you could say I had shit luck on that one. I’m pretty sure the dust down there sparked the fire. My coat went up immediately, and I stumbled into sheets that were already burning. Got tangled up in it. Tore all that off, but it wasn’t until I tripped over my pack and fell into more sheets that the fire was snuffed out.” He glanced down at his arms and brushed the last bits of his ruined coat’s sleeves onto the floor.

Lara frowned, resting a hand on his chest over where a human’s heart would be. “I’m glad it wasn’t worse.”

“So am I. Wouldn’t have complained if it had been a little less intense though.”

Her gaze rose to his damaged eye, and a crease formed between her brows. “Do you…want me to try to get that one out?”

“No. The risk of further damage to my optical system is too high.”

“What else can I do, then?”

Ronin hesitated. She’d called it morbid, but it was a necessity, and itwouldearn a little credit in the market. “Need to get the damaged skin off. I had to disable the entire interface due to the shorted sensors.”

Her eyes widened, falling to his abdomen, where most of the blackened, melted skin clung.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Lara stared at Ronin’s ruined flesh. Pulling the pieces of metal out of his casing had been like plucking out splinters, which she’d done more times than she could count for herself and Tabitha. But this…

This wasskin! Even if it wasn’t living flesh, it was a part of Ronin…and he wanted her to cut it off.

She bit her lower lip, looking up to meet his steady, one-eyed gaze. “Does it hurt?”

“No. Not anymore.” He turned and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “I can take care of it.”

She pressed her hand more firmly against his chest, and he froze. It was eerie how suddenly and completely his movement halted.

“I’ll do it, Ronin. Just…tell me what I need to do.” Her hand fell away from him.

Slowly, he turned his head, eye dipping to follow her hand. “You’ve done enough already.”

“Damn it, Ronin!” She sprung off the bed and strode to the chest. “I said I’ll do it. It’s the least I can do after everything you’ve done for me.”

Stubborn robot.

Lara looked over the array of tools. Unsure of which she needed, she collected several of them and spread them on the bed. “I’ll get your back first.”

He was quiet for a long while, keeping his lip-plates pressed together. Just as she began to wonder if he had shut down, he twisted and picked up the knife she’d placed down.

He deftly spun the knife on his palm, holding the grip toward her. “Use this to cut around my waist. Four or five centimeters below the scorch marks.”

“Four or five centi-whats?”

“Sorry. An inch or two.”

“Okay.” She wrapped her fingers around the handle. The knife was impossibly heavy.

Ronin stood and turned away, hooking his thumbs on the waist of his pants to tug them down below the burn marks. While his chest had been devastated, The damage on his back was mainly around his shoulders and sides.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Lara raised the knife, stopping the blade right before it touched him. Her stomach churned. She’d never cut anyone, apart from the accident with Tabitha. Now she was about to slice into the only other person she cared about.

He said it doesn’t hurt.

That didn’t change the fact Lara was about to cut him.

I need to trust him.

Inhaling deeply, she pressed the blade to his skin. The pressure it took to finally break through nearly killed her nerve, but she pushed on.