He clenched his jaw. “You can nap here. I’ll look after you.” Useless as it would be. “Then work on me later—” “I will work on you now. I am not going to let them scare me away.” Her voice did not tremble or waver. She added, more quietly but no less fiercely, “I once lived in fear of other people. I let other people walk all over me just because I was too afraid of the consequences for refusing. I did not know how to refuse.” Her hand pushed down on his spine in a silent order to rest his head again. “The day I reached these shores, I cast aside that girl. And I will be damned if I let her
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