Page 57 of Hysteria Rises
She tilts her head to the side, studying me with a grimace.
“Respond when I speak directly to you.” She still says nothing. My jaw works to the side. I’m close to losing it on her, and that’s definitely not my fault. Yet, she’s also doing exactly as we expect of our women. But why now, when she’s been fighting it all this time?I exhale impatiently through my nose. “Fuck!” The word bursts from me before I finish with a frustrated, “What do you want?”
Finally, she gestures to the bed and holds up the bedding for my inspection. “I was sent. I didn’t mean to interrupt whatever you’re doing there.” Her gaze falls to the sketches I’d been working on, but I can’t tell from her expression what she makes of what I’ve drawn. A snake. A surging river. A scared girl with wide, lash-fringed eyes. I turn around, flipping the paper over. Drawing in a sharp breath, I finally nod. “Be quickabout it.”
She ducks her head, though I sense her gaze on me from under her lashes. As she moves on quiet feet, she breathes out, “Yes sir.”
That one phrase not only hits me like a hammer to the chest, it also has my dick stirring in my pants.Yes sir.It’s something she’d say to any of the Collective. Isn’t that what I want from her? To have her treat me with respect, like the leader I was born to be? My head spins off center, warring thoughts colliding inside my mind.
Ever since Nolan found her with us earlier today, our entire interaction has run through my thoughts a million times. I could have left her to Nolan and let him reprimand her for not immediately kneeling before him. But instead, I gave her the chance to realize her mistake. Why the fuck did I do that? Why do I fucking care that she could have found herself in a whole world of trouble? Rather than search too deeply for the answers, I drag in a breath, then motion to her that she should proceed.
As I head back to my father’s desk, my mind twists, taking me back to the night I fucked her in this very room. Out of the corner of my eye, I observe as she begins to tug the sheet into place over the plush mattress, yanking ineffectively at the corners.No. Don’t offer help. Don’t talk to her. Let her do her job and be on her way.For several minutes, I simply brace my hands on the desk, staring into nothing on the page while the sounds of her struggle with the sheet continue.
Finally, I exhale hard, bringing my hands to myhead and scrubbing my fingers over my scalp as I watch her. She pulls one corner into place, and the opposite snaps free. I need her the fuck out of here. I can’t think. She doesn’t look up, simply stands there, her chest rising and falling quickly. My heart thumps faster in time with every agitated breath she takes.
I pivot, marching over, and begin tugging on the sheet.
“I can do it,” she heaves out. Her eyes connect with mine over the mattress.
“I really don’t care. I’ll help if it’ll get you out of here faster.”
Touching her tongue to her upper lip, she shakes her head. “Is this just a way to lash out at me? Are you going to tell someone I was taking too long?” She narrows her gaze.
There she is, my little minx. She’s been in hiding, but she’s still alive and well in there. I roll my eyes right back and yank the corner into place. “Go on. I’ve got this end.”
“Fine.” She gives a sharp pull and finally manages to ease it over the edge and into place. “Thank you.”
With a bob of my head, I bark out, “Is that all?”
She nods, her gaze boring twin holes in my head.
And then, I don’t know what the fuck possesses me, but I grit out, “Are you happier now?”
Her eyes dart to mine. Fire leaps to life within them. “Hap—” The rest of what she was going to say catches in her throat, almost like she’s gagging on it. “Did you sayhappier?”
I don’t have a clue if she meant for that to be her answer or if she actually didn’t understand my question. Raising a hand to the back of my neck, I grip it tightly before trying again. “Being with the women, I mean.”
Her lips part, and she hesitates until I gesture that I still want an answer. Chewing on her lip, she nods. “All I wanted was what was offered to me.”
My brow arches. I wasn’t there to know exactly what Kiefer did. But I think Malakai was right. That his father told her she was free to go. That doesn’t stop me from wanting to hear it from her mouth. “And what was that?” I rasp, fighting to control the urge to step into her space.
“He said you all had no more use for me. He said I could leave.” She hesitates, almost as if she’s fighting herself, knows she shouldn’t keep speaking. But she does. “Helied.”
I cross my arms over my chest, the need to know more rising quickly within me. “The entire incident that day—start to finish. Tell me more about what happened.”
Her pink tongue pokes out, and I can tell she’s mulling over the request as she studies me. “Is this another trap?”
TWENTY-NINE
HAYZE
My brows tug together.A trap?“No,” I grit out, taking a few beats to observe every nuance of her body language. What it tells me is this woman is primed for either fight or flight—whichever she feels is necessary. With her gaze flicking over her shoulder toward the door, she takes a breath. Holds it. Then returns her attention to me, as if I might try something when her back is turned.
I’m fighting to understand what to do and say to get the information I want from her. “I need to know what’s happening in this compound, the same way my father would want to be aware. Only… he wouldn’t ask you to tell him. He’d demand it.” I draw in a breath, searching her eyes and hoping I’m going about this in a way that makes her crack. Not all of us have to lead with an iron fist. Sometimes that doesn’t get the right results. Purposefully lowering my voice, I murmur, “I’d really like it if you’d talk to me.”
Wetting her lips, she tilts her head to the side, considering what I’ve said. Then, to my surprise, a moment later, she nods. “Arrow, he—” She pauses. “He’s asked me to forgive him. But what happened was partly my fault.”
My gaze snaps to hers. “It was as Kiefer said?”
