Page 40

“Now you sleep.”

Kesta gave him a look.

His expression remained steady for perhaps two seconds before the hint of humor returned.

“Tomorrow,” he amended, “you learn Ash Camp. Sera examines your injuries whether you protest or not.”

“I can examine my own injuries.”

“Sera will enjoy hearing that.”

“And the claim?”

The humor disappeared.

Dreven's eyes moved briefly to the copper band.

“You accepted protection. Nothing more.”

“What happens if I decide I don't want it tomorrow?”

“We record the refusal.”

“And then?”

“Then I find another way to keep you alive.”

There it was again.

Not let you live.

Keep you alive.

Kesta wasn't sure whether the difference should comfort or irritate her.

“What if I don't want you responsible for me?”

Dreven's jaw tightened. For the first time since they entered camp, he looked away.

When he answered, his voice was quieter.

“I did not say responsibility was yours to give.”

Kesta frowned.

He looked back at her.

“Some things I choose because they belong to me. What I do. Whom I defend. What kind of male I become when everyone else says necessity excuses anything.”

The words touched something in her before she could stop them.

Dreven pushed away from the wall.

“You may refuse every right the claim could give me. You may leave Ash Camp when you can do so without walking into a predator nest merely to prove a point. You may dislike my decisions.”

A faint edge entered his voice.

“But you do not get to decide whether I care what happens to you.”