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My stomach drops. “...You?”

“Me.”

“I also watched you hand over two purification tablets.”

“I didn’t have much choice.”

“You had choices.”

“Not if I wanted to keep the pack.”

He inclines his head once. “Correct. Which is why you ran.”

Good Light... he knows.

He knows I killed that man.

“The ugly one with the shovel.” His head turns toward the camp. “Want him removed as well?”

The question knocks the air out of me. “What?”

“The man who robbed you.”

“You... could?”

“Of course.”

“Why would you do that for me?”

“Maybe I want to know what you’d give me for it.”

I stare at him.

“Protection. Food. Medicine. A man you don’t want to see tomorrow.” One gloved finger taps his belt. “I could make this Hunt very easy for you.”

Heat climbs my throat before I can stop it. The visor tips a fraction, as if he can hear my pulse.

“And what would you want?” The words scrape out of me.

Closing the distance with one slow step, he stops close enough that I can feel the warmth beneath the storm cloak. “What do you think I want, prey?”

My eyes drop to his mouth before I jerk them away. I don’t know what he means. Or maybe I do, and that’s even worse.

His mouth curves.

“Sectors can be arranged. Routes can be cleared ahead of you. One word from me, and nobody out here lays a hand on you before the seventh sunrise.”

Prey.

The word settles somewhere under my ribs, fitting itself where it doesn’t belong, and I hate that my first reaction isn’t fear.

“And what does that cost me?” My throat tightens. “I don’t have any money.”

“I know.”

“Then what do you want?”

He lets the silence stretch. “We’ll discuss that later.”