Page 64 of Hysteria Rises
Curious lines form on her forehead as her brow furrows and her lips part to respond, but she’s cut off as her expression morphs into pure terror. Cocking my head, I hear what’s caught her attention. Creeping footsteps faintly sound on the stone stairwell down the hall.
My heart clenches hard in my chest. If I cause her more pain, if I make things more difficult for her, I don’t know if I’ll recover from it. I’ve spent the last many, many hours while locked inside my miserythinking of her and her alone. I stroke my thumb over her cheek. “I had to tell you thank you.” When she wets her lips, shaking her head, I rush on, “For kicking the bottle under the bed. Why’d you do that?”
“I don’t know.” Her breath hitches. “I should hate you.” She wrenches her gaze from mine.
But it’s not her action or her words that punch me right in the solar plexus, stealing my breath. It’s because shefeelssomething for me.
We’re motionless, staring at each other when finally my better sense kicks in. Drawing in a breath, I quickly murmur, “We’re running out of time.” For whatever reason, she gives me the barest of nods, and I rush on, “The first time I came to you, I told you to remain silent. I was trying to help. I need you to listen to me now. At the Hunting. You need to run fast. Hide as best you can.”
I’ve only gotten out those words and backed away from her when the door swings open with a grating creak.
“Arrow. Fuck. You shouldn’t be down here.” Hayze hurries into the room, shaking his head in disbelief. “We have to go. Your father is awake upstairs.”
My siren’s eyes widen as she shifts farther from me, her gaze rushing back and forth between us. Hayze is already at my side, giving me a hand up as pain shrieks along every nerve ending, though it’s not nearly as bad as it once was. “Twenty-three, you should sleep. Follow instructions today. Trust me when I say you’ll need the rest,” Hayze demands as he all but drags me from theroom and snaps the door shut with a quiet click. “Key?” he grits out, the muscle in the back of his jaw twitching. He’s mad. I get it.
Sighing, I slap it into his hand without a word.What is there to say?What I’ve done was beyond stupid. If I’d been caught by anyone other than him… Well, I don’t want to think about how that would have played out. My body shudders involuntarily.
Gripping my shoulder with one hand, he shoots me a look that readsYou poor, obsessed, lunaticas he locks up behind us. “Go.” He gestures toward the stairs. “Now. Before Henry realizes where you’ve been.”
THIRTY-FOUR
DELILAH
A feelingof foreboding has been with me since last night. I can’t shake it. But like a well-oiled machine, I’ve worked tirelessly alongside the other women for hours on end now. It’s clear today is no normal day. We’ve spent the better part of the afternoon preparing what amounts to a fucking feast, if I ever saw one. The delicious scents have my mouth watering and my stomach grumbling noisily. My assumption, though, is that I won’t get a bite of this, nor will any of the other women and probably not the children, either. There’s no doubt in my mind that this display of gluttony is for the men and probably has something to do with the things both Arrow and Hayze said to me last night.Get some sleep. Run. Hide.
Eight shoves a dish of potatoes she’s just taken out of the oven at me and nods toward the warming dish on the counter. Got it. Move the potatoes from one dish to another. Create more dishes for us to washlater. Soundsgreat.The only upside is that menial tasks like this leave my mind free to roam.
Arrow’s appearance in my room had been unexpected. I hadn’t seen much of him since the day of our correction with the exception of that one day I’d encountered him while cleaning upstairs, but then the snake happened and chaos had reigned supreme. I’d totally thought he had something else he wanted to say that day, so maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he’d found a way down to my room. I don’t know whether to trust him or not, though. He could simply be playing the nice guy to get back into my pants again. I grimace. Not that I’m allowed fucking pants at all.
The truth is, if I’d had access, it probably would have made a whole lot of sense to focus on him, because I have a suspicion he might just do anything I ask of him.
I wet my lips, continuing to ladle potatoes into the dish meant to keep the food warm. Instead, opportunity had presented itself in the form of Hayze. He has me just as muddled in the head. My cheeks flush pink. Jesus. I let himtouchme. I grit my teeth.Desperate.I’m not crazy, I’m fucking desperate… so I’d let him do what he wanted. I evenactedlike I wanted him.
I nibble on my lip, thinking back to those stolen moments. Maybe the conversation we had about the punishment he inflicted on Arrow and the disappearance of his father did kinda make me feel for him. But only a tiny bit. Frustrated by the direction of my thoughts, I let out an aggravated noise, whacking thespoon on the side of the dish to free a chunk of potato stuck there.
Fuck. My face crumples as I relive the way those intense blue eyes had pierced mine.I hate liars. And all I’m doing is lying to myself.What we did, it’d felt good. A wash of shame rolls over me from head to toe at the memory of his tongue lapping at my clit and the way he’d tentatively thrust it inside me. I exhale unsteadily. Never once, though, did I forget what I was doing and why. Hayze, though, I don’t think he had a clue what was going on in my head. Men think with their dicks. And I’m going to exploit the shit out of that knowledge. Now to figure out how I can best use it to my advantage with the leader’s firstborn son…
Glancing around, I find that among the other women, there’s this sort of somber anticipation, which makes me feel even more clueless than I already do. I watch them for a hint of what’s happening as we buzz around making final preparations. They know something is coming. I’m certain of it.
I’ve thought about flat-out asking what the hell is going on, because this seems significant, and being kept in the dark is driving me nuts—but maybe they aren’t permitted to tell me. Fingers of unease crawl up my spine one vertebra at a time until my body shudders involuntarily.
With a huffed breath, my eyes flick toward the chalkboard on the wall that we use to mark off tasks as we finish them. I itch to scrawl a simple question in the corner, to see if anyone will give me an answer. It couldbe wiped away seconds later, no one the wiser. Do I dare?
My gaze darts to Twenty-two, and I watch her for a moment as she stretches, hands massaging her lower back, her growing belly protruding from her abdomen like she’s smuggling a small pumpkin under her dress.
Frustrated, I scowl.This is stupid.I’m not even writing it down. I’m just going to ask. Rightnow.But I’ve only gotten as far as opening my mouth to violate one of the fundamental commands from the Collective—silence—when Twenty-two gives me a sharp look and jerks her head in the negative.
Shit. So much for that.I cringe, letting the reminder that this woman has already risked herself on my behalf once curb my actions. She’s right. I shouldn’t make trouble for her. With a shuddering sigh, I set that idea aside, absently chewing on my lip as I fill a basket with silverware and napkins as I’d been instructed to do. Unfortunately, I get the feeling I’m supposed to be left in the dark.
Run. Hide. But from what?
THIRTY-FIVE
HAYZE
Now that thesun has dipped below the horizon, light flickers from torches set up around us. We’re gathered at long tables, every male ten and over, for the traditional meal we have to celebrate the coming of the New Moon Hunting. There’s something in the night air—a heady anticipation. I sense it in the way voices are raising and boisterous laughter accompanies just about any comment, funny or not. Cups have been filled and refilled multiple times. Some of us are drunker than others. Soon, we’ll be cloaked in full dark and the madness will begin.
I glance at Cross’s youngest brother, Fenix, who—for the first time ever—was given a small cup of Henry’s cider. The kid is tipsy as hell. And now, he’s making a mess, stuffing his face full of the rice and vegetable dish that was last brought to the table. Thank fuck my youngest brother, Brand, won’t be participating in this chaos for another three years or so,much to his disappointment, and is currently tucked away in the nursery with the other children. He’s only seven, but he sure did put up a fuss at not being included. We’ll send Leif and Fenix back inside before the Hunting begins anyway. If any of them had a clue what went on tonight, they’d be scarred for life.
