"You aren't going to bully me around, Casper," she said, not even wincing or shying back when he swept his arm out to hit her. She didn't think he'd do it, and so she wasn't afraid he would. She wasn't afraid of his stalking toward her either, for the very same reason. She looked at him straight on, and she let him hiss out the words.
"No," she replied stubbornly, because in Aura's world you didn't leave someone alone when they were hurting the way he was.