You could have let that thing flatten me, but you didn't. Why?”<br />“I could ask you the same question.”<br />She was too tired to edit her mouth. “You're my master. I couldn't let that thing kill another trapper, even if I think he's a total asshat.”<br />Harper looked at her for a long time then cracked a toothy grin. “And you're one mouthy bitch, but you're my apprentice. I don't need the reputation that my people die because I don't protect them.”<br /><i>That was fair.</i>