“I do. And they will listen.”
He leaned back and nodded, as if to jumble the options around in his head.
“You are not allowed to feed here. Do I make myself clear?”
“Doesn’t seem fair, if you ask me.”
“The last thing you deserve isfair.”
“Fine, I’ll find my own food. Only because your mangy pack may upset my stomach,” he huffed, but the twitch of his mouth was like a sneer. “If you hate me so much,” he started, his eyes gliding over to land on me, “why am I not as dead as I was promised?”
“Because Viktor isn’t dead to me, and I haven’t decided whether or not your skills are worth keeping.”
“Oh?” he smirked.
“But,” I continued, “I don’t know if I can trust that we have similar goals in all of this.”
“My goal is survival. I don’t care much as to how. So if that means helping you, then it’s as simple as that. Do not confuse self-preservation with charity.”
“The only reason you are still alive is because you were requested to be here.”
“It must hurt to know they disregard your safety for their own, letting something so hated by you sleep in their beds and steal warmth from your hospitality.”
I straightened, glancing away.
“They don’t know, do they?”
“No. And they will never know.”
“What happened to not keeping secr?—”
“Tell them, and I will make both sides of your face match.”
He was silent.
“If they want me to use you, I will. But as you made itpainfullyclear last time, you don’t take your job seriously. You take too many liberties. You are a liability more than you are an asset.”
Luka tipped his head back in annoyance. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“You know what.”
“I want to hear you say it.”
“I am truly, deeply sorry that you fell for a mirage.”
“What you did to me was despicable.”
“That’s why I did it.”
“How do I know I can trust you?”
“You shouldn’t.” His expression did not change. “But you can trust that my motivations are the same as yours.”
“That’s not good enough. You’ve betrayed me once; you can do it again.”
“Alina, don’t be so childish.” He rolled his eyes. “Think of it as if we are both diplomats. We both have people depending on us, and both parties need this deal to work in order to survive. As much as killing you would be fun, it would be terrible for business, and my head would surely be on a spit in return.”
