Elena's POV
"You're not going to like this conversation."
I set two cups of tea down on Ruth's desk, one in front of her, one in front of the empty chair I'd pulled up beside it, and didn't move to sit until she looked up from her monitor and met my eyes.
"I don't like most conversations before nine in the morning," Ruth said, but she reached for the cup anyway, wrapping both hands around it like she needed the warmth more than the tea itself.
"You told me we'd talk properly. Yesterday, before you sent me home." I sat, folding my hands in my lap to keep them from betraying how unsteady I still felt, even a full night's sleep later. "I'm ready to talk properly now."
Ruth's expression didn't change, exactly, but something behind it went very still, the way a person goes still right befo
