Page 181 of Somno Slave

Deogal’s eyes hold mine.

Please.

Say yes.

Say it.

Say it so I can write it down. Say it so he has to hear it. Say it so they can’t put you down like an animal and pretend this was simple.

For a second, I think he will. His mouth parts. My whole body tightens.

Then his voice drops, “What would you do with my yes, Doctor?”

The disappointment is so violent it almost feels physical.

My voice comes out too quiet. “Answer the question.”

“No.”

The word hits harder than yes would have.

No.

Not because it’s denial.

Because it’s punishment.

Peter exhales through his nose, harsh and relieved. “There. Done.”

“No,” I say, too quickly. “That’s not—”

Peter cuts across me. “He answered.”

“He’s lying.”

My pulse drops into my stomach.

Peter’s eyes narrow. “You want to repeat that?”

I feel Deogal watching me. I feel the trap closing. I shouldn’t have said it.

Damn.

Peter steps closer to the table. “You’re not here to defend him.”

“I’m not defending him.”

“You just accused a condemned prisoner of lying because he didn’t give you the answer you wanted.”

My mouth opens, but nothing comes out. Because he’s right. Not in the way he thinks, but enough.

Deogal’s voice slips into the space between us. “She wants me alive.”

My head snaps toward him. The words land worse than anything else he could have said.

“That’s enough,” Peter says.

But Deogal isn’t finished. “She wants a reason that looks clean on paper.”