Still, discomfort continued to churn and swirl inside her belly.
Because it’s not like sheaskedabout Sway’s past. She didn’t even try to check on him, or any of the crew of the Humility.She’d pulled a real dumb girl act by just trusting herself to some guy because he was cute.
No, not even because he was cute. She’d seen that he was a farasie, and then just assumed that she was safe with him. Like the prejudice that made Covor and the dock crew treat Loyalty badly, but just swinging in the opposite way. She’d judged him by what he was and put herself in his hands without a second thought.
How did Garnet manage her to flip this around on her so completely?
The door chimed again, and she looked up. Sway?
“Open,” she ordered the door, surprised by how steady her tone was.
It wasn’t Sway or Garnet. Instead, Loyalty’s big, purple body filled the doorway. He looked around curiously before focusing on her.
“Hey,” he greeted. “You alright? The hall is filled with the scent of your fear.”
“Oh, sorry,” she grimaced. “I’m okay.”
“What happened?”
“Erm, well…” She hesitated, not sure she wanted to say. But Loyalty had a right to know if he was around bad guys too. “I, er, just found out that Sway is from Rik-Vane.”
Loyalty’s eyes widened briefly in surprised before he stepped inside. The door shut behind him as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“I didn’t know anyone could befromRik-Vane.”
“He is,” she said, her hands clenching on the edge of her bed. “They all are.”
“I see.”
“He told me he was a murderer.”
Loyalty made a sound. It wasn’t quite good or bad. A totally neutral acknowledgement of what she was saying. “Interesting. Did he threaten you?”
“No.” She frowned as she answered. Because he hadn’t. At all. “He just kind of said it.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted to be honest with me.”
Was it because she’d just been lectured by Garnet that Grace felt guilty again just saying that? What did she have to feel guilty about? Was she just supposed to smile and say ‘that’s okay’ when someone confessed to murder?
Loyalty made another one of those sounds as he looked her over carefully. “And I take it that you’re not feeling great about that confession.”
“Am I supposed to be happy?”
“Maybe happy isn’t the right word,” he admitted. “But if he wasn’t threatening you, then he just wanted you to know.”
“Why are you so calm about this?” She asked, giving him a look. Needing to know why he hadn’t freaked out like her.
Loyalty didn’t answer immediately. He came around and sat beside her on the bed, arms resting on his knees. A thoughtful look on his face.
“Let me ask you something first.”
She cocked her head.
“Why don’t you think I’m a monster?”
“What?”
