Daughters of Lyra: Heart of a Mercenary Read Online Free PDF Page A

fingers curled into
tight fists and he leaned forwards, resting his elbows on his
knees.

    When he looked up at her,
she could clearly read the pain in his eyes. It made her believe
every word that he had just said. He hadn’t wanted blood on his
hands. He gave a frustrated growl, scooped up the protein pack and
threw it against the wall as he stood.

    She opened her mouth when
he stalked into the darkness, afraid that he might leave and forget
to lock the door. His company was preferable to being alone. When
she was alone, she kept thinking about that other man that he had
mentioned. When she was alone, she felt vulnerable, trapped and
unable to defend herself. She would rather he stayed so he could
protect her. He seemed a reasonable man and she had a strange
impression that he might care about what happened to
her.

    Relief blossomed inside
her, as warm as the Lyran sun, when he reappeared out of the
darkness and walked up to her. Stopping close to her, he dragged a
hand over his spiked black hair.

    He turned away and hung
his head.

    “ Why am I
here?” he muttered under his breath.

    Miali frowned at his back,
wishing that she could see his face.

    Those words had held a
hint of frustration and self-loathing. She wanted to know if he
truly felt those feelings or whether this was some kind of
act.

    She laughed internally at
herself. What benefit would there be to him acting this way? There
was no benefit to him being here at all that she could see. If he
wanted her to eat, then he could easily force her. He seemed to
want to be here with her and that thought made no sense at
all.

    “ Why am I
here?” she echoed his question and he looked over his shoulder at
her.

    “ Because you
are valuable.” He turned to face her, so close that she could feel
his breath wash over her skin when he talked. “Beautiful, young,
intelligent. You’re everything those sick terk’naks at the markets
desire.”

    Terk’naks. She knew that
word. Her older brothers had taught her to swear in several
languages. There wasn’t an equivalent to this word in Lyran but she
understood the meaning enough to know that he didn’t approve of the
type of person who bought a slave.

    “ If you loathe
them so much, why are you here sending people like me to a life of
torture at their hands?”

    He frowned and his dark
eyes flashed with something akin to anger but it seemed stronger. A
moment of hesitation and then his fingers brushed her cheek. His
palm was warm against her skin, sending tingles dancing through her
each time they touched.

    “ You are much
like them.” He swallowed and his eyebrows furrowed. “I’m sorry.
It’s you or them.”

    Before she could ask what
he meant by that, he had walked out of the door. Her cheek felt
cold from the absence of his hand against it and her head ached as
she tried to make sense of everything he had said.

    Some of it was perfectly
clear, but that last part she didn’t understand at all. Who was she
like? Why was it her or them?

    How could a man who so
clearly hated the people who bought slaves, work in the slave
trade?

    Miali stared at the door
and then looked up when the light began to dim, shrouding her in
darkness. Her heart rate increased as the black closed in on her,
sending waves of cold chills over her body.

    Why was this happening to
her?

    Was anybody going to come
and save her?

    ****

    Chapter
4

    Kosen punched the code
into the door and listened to the locks click into place. He leaned
one arm horizontally against the wall beside the door and pressed
his forehead against his forearm. His eyes closed. What was he
doing? His duty was to feed her and ensure her health remained
good. Feeding a captive and checking their health normally took him
no more than a few minutes. He didn’t normally care if they wanted
to eat or not. He made them eat.

    What was so different
about her?

    Why was he sitting in her
cell for hours watching her, studying her? Why did he go to sleep
in his