Page 14 of Hysteria Rises
“What the fuckhappened to your eye?” As we hurry from our room, I nudge Arrow, and he turns, staring at me dead-on.Fucking ouch. I grimace, studying more carefully the spectacular array of color that mottles the skin surrounding his left eye. It’s deep purple in some spots, a reddish blue in others, and I imagine it hurts like hell.
Just as we hit the top of the stairs to begin our descent, a shriek fills the air. That’s what’d gotten us all moving in the first place—one scream after another, then the crashing of something heavy hitting the floor and more shouting. I haven’t ever heard anything like it that I can remember.
The thrill of the unknown has questions racing through my head, and from the way we’d all responded, the others had felt no different. The shared bedchamber on the third floor is large, but when there are eight of us—eight of everything, really—it feelsinfinitely smaller. So, when we all sprang out of bed at the same time—with the notable exception of Malakai—it was something similar to what I would imagine elephants colliding might sound like. Thunderous chaos.
As we hit the second-floor landing, Cross finally gets a load of Arrow’s black eye and lets out a low whistle. “Whoa. Shit, man. Did you get into it with someone last night? Or lose a fight we don’t know about?” A deep line etches itself down the middle of his forehead. “Seriously. Tell me Gannon said something else, and I’ll make sure to jerk the knot out of his ass.”
Confused, I groan aloud. “What the fuck did I miss?” There’s way too much going on around here all of a sudden.
Cross rolls his eyes in answer. “Just Gannon being a dickhead again.”
I let out a perturbed sigh. “So, more of the usual from my dipshit brother.”
Arrow winces as we hurry along, but it takes him a long time before he says a word. “It was nothing. Nothing I couldn’t handle, anyway. I—” His mouth snaps shut.
“Is he giving you trouble again? I could try having a word with him if you want me to.” I clamp a hand on Arrow’s muscular shoulder. He can totally fend for himself… but he also isn’t much for confrontation.
“Nah,” he heaves out a sigh. “It’s okay. I’d be anidiot to care what he says or does. His nasty jealous streak is nothing new.”
I exchange a glance with Cross who simply shakes his head and shrugs. Eventually, this situation brewing between Gannon and Arrow is going to come to a head, and we’ll have to deal with it. But Arrow is stubborn and prefers to simply ignore him. It works most of the time, but I worry about the day when things escalate.
At the bottom of the stairs, we’re greeted by another loud crash. Cross’s eyes search mine for a second, then he rakes his teeth over his lower lip as we pick up our pace. Nolan’s quarters are all the way on the far side of the compound. “I’m fucking exhausted. I was busy into the early hours of the morning.”
That gets my attention. “Holy shit. You were with Nolan that long? Was something wrong? I wondered when you hadn’t made it back to the room as I was nodding off.”
“Nah. She’s still alive. I know you were concerned.” He shoots me a lopsided, devious smile—the kind of look that tells me he’s very proud of himself. “It took so long because he had me help with theentireexam.”
My brow furrows. Based on some of the things I’ve heard the Collective discuss, I think I might have an idea of what he’s referring to… but still, I can’t be sure. “I wanna know what you mean by that.”
Arrow’s brows raise. “Exam? Like help bandage the gash on her head?”
“That too.” Cross’s lips twitch. “But I uh… my father had me help clean her up. And I”—he pauses, giving an almost disbelieving shake of his head—“got to have a really…intensive… look.”
I’m unsure what to make of what he’s saying to be honest.
Raising a brow, Arrow blurts, “Cross, I think I wanna hear more. I get the feeling it was eye-opening.” That last part comes out like a question, even though it wasn’t really meant to be one. He’s simply curious as fuck, just like I am.
Cross holds up his hands, then gestures toward his father’s rooms as we get to them, and a grin spreads across his face. “Let’s say she woke up in the middle of it. And she waspissed.” He lets loose a chuckle. “I’ll tell you more, but I, uh … I want to know what’s going on in therenow.”
No more than a second later, the girl—I really wish my father were here so that we could officially call her Twenty-three—shouts, “You’re disgusting! Put me down!”
“Fuck, well sounds like she’s doing better than when I brought her in unconscious.” My eyes connect with Cross’s, then Arrow’s in turn, and I waste no more time, rapping a few knuckles against the wood. There’s no answer from the other side. But it’s completely possible that it’s because they’re preoccupied. I heave out a breath when an undecipherable noise reaches us.Fuck it. “I’m going in.” I turn the knob very matter-of-factly and throw the door open.
My eyes are drawn first to Nolan with Kiefer. Holy shit. From the looks of it, the female we rescued from the elements must not be enjoying her welcome to the compound.
Blood oozes from deep marks that cover one of Kiefer’s cheeks. Nolan nods at us in greeting, a grim expression on his face. “Cross, I could use your help here, if you don’t mind.” His voice is calm despite the incident that must have caught all of them off guard.
Cross’s focus swings to the other side of the room as he makes his way over to the exam table. “Sure thing,” he murmurs. My gaze follows.
“Holy shit,” I huff out, mildly impressed by the chaos as I peruse the room. I fucking called it. My gaze flicks from the mess to Henry, and then finally lands on the girl, who is red in the face like she’s put up one hell of a fight, even if she’s now mostly subdued. None other than Malakai has her back against the wall and arms pinned over her head. I’d wondered where the fuck he’d gotten off to. Go figure, that cagey bastard would sniff out trouble and join in the fray. He throws a flinty, smirking glance in my direction.
I ignore him, instead watching the energy the girl exerts in her efforts to gain freedom. This is the first I’ve had eyes on her since I left Nolan last night. I can’t quite decide if she was easier to manage as deadweight on a trek across the mountainside through the thunderstorm orthisversion—agitated, slapping and clawing. A she-devil. I’d have thought the rescue we’d provided from her own poor choices out there in thewoods would have meant she’d be grateful to us, but that seems to be far from reality.
“What do you want done with her?” I take a few steps toward the wall where she’s pinned.
Henry shakes his head, eyeing her. “That one’s a little demon. I’m keeping my distance. You all might be wise to do the same until we teach her a lesson or two.”
My brow arches. With my father not accounted for, I have no idea who will be making the decisions around here. Not my business until someone says it is. “I’ll take her to the cellar if you need me to.”
