Chapter 12 #2
“Why were you made his ward?” he asked. He ignored my command, he ignored my boundaries. He just kept digging.
“Are you seriously asking me that?” I let out a sharp, incredulous laugh.
“There are only two reasons children typically become wards of the state, Cipher. Their parents are unfit. Or dead. So which flavor of tragedy are you looking for?” I demanded.
“Do you want to know if they beat me? Or do you want to know if they died?”
I stared at the black mask. I couldn’t see his eyes which meant I couldn’t see if he was mocking me or if he was calculating how to use this against me.
I was being interrogated by a void and I couldn’t stand it.
I needed to see if there was a man behind the monster or if I was just screaming at a machine.
I reached up to pull his mask off, but Cipher side stepped my hand easily and tsked.
“How rude, Keeper Bishop.” He tapped his mask. “A Super’s mask is to remain on unless you’ve been invited to peek under it. Surely you know that rule.”
“I already know what you look like,” I snapped. “And if you want me to keep talking to you, I want to see your eyes. I need to know if you’re mocking me or being serious.
“And that’s why I’d like it to stay on, Bishop. I’d like to keep you guessing.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. If he wanted to play games, I could play too.
“I’ve seen Thomas Smith. I’ve seen how different you are without the mask. Not so scary, are you?
I looked at the black void where his eyes should be.
“You hide behind this because you need it,” I challenged. “You want everyone to think you’re a monster because the truth is too mundane. You’re just a man.”
“You think the mask is the lie?” He let out a dark, humorless laugh. “You think Thomas is the truth?”
He lifted the mask off and tossed it onto my bed without looking.
“Thomas is the performance, Annie,” he said. “Thomas is the suit I wear so people like you don’t run screaming.”
The face was Thomas. The high cheekbones, the mouth that I had spent too many nights thinking about.
But the eyes were Cipher.
They were silver and endless and devoid of any warmth. And without the barrier, the intensity of his stare burned. He looked like a wolf deciding where to sink his teeth
“Thomas is the mask,” he whispered. “This is what’s underneath.”
I swallowed hard, regretting my challenge. I stepped back, but he matched my movement instantly, eating up the space between us.
“What’s wrong, Annie?” he murmured, stalking toward me. “Isn’t this what you wanted? To see the man?”
I continued backing up, until I hit the bedroom door with a soft thud. I had nowhere left to retreat.
Cipher placed his hands against the wood on either side of my head, caging me in. His body blocked out the rest of the room as he leaned down, inhaling deeply near my neck.
“Do I still need the mask to intimidate you, Annie?” he whispered. “Or do you realize that Thomas doesn’t exist? That I’m the thing in this room that could break you, mask or no?”
I tried to force my breathing to steady, to ignore the way my body responded to his proximity, the way every inch of me was aware of him.
“This doesn’t intimidate me,” I lied.
“Your pulse says otherwise.” His gaze dropped to my throat, where I knew my heartbeat was visibly racing. “I can hear it. Every quickened beat.”
“You want to talk about hearing things?” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “I can hear your ego from here.”
My fingers twitched toward my cuff. One press against his skin and the voltage would drop him, or at least make him back off.
I made my move to press the cuff against his exposed neck, but Cipher was faster. His hand shot out, fingers wrapping around my wrist before the cuff made contact. He spun us around, using his momentum to shove me backward.
I hit my mattress hard and Cipher followed me down, settling his weight over me, a blanket of heat and muscle that pinned me deep into the bedding. It was everything I’d been imagining moments before.
He captured both my wrists in one hand, forcing them above my head.
“I’ve been wondering when you’d start the foreplay,” he said, his voice dropping to a husky whisper that sent a shiver of warning down my spine.
His free hand slid under the hem of my tank top and kept going until it rested against my ribcage.
I bucked, twisting my hips, trying to throw him off.
He didn’t budge.
“What’s going on in that deliciously violent mind of yours, Bishop?” he murmured, his face inches from mine.
My breath hitched as his fingers traced the line of my stomach. My skin tingled where he touched, confusing fear with desire.
“Nothing to say?” His thumb brushed across my hipbone.
I glared up at him. I hated him. I hated how small I felt beneath him. I hated how much I wanted him to keep touching me as each touch sent sparks of electricity through my body, making it harder to remember why this was a terrible idea.
“What do you want, Cipher?” I demanded.
His silver eyes darkened as his gaze dropped to my lips. “I think that’s becoming increasingly obvious, Annie.”
He shifted his grip on my wrists, sliding his hand down my arm until his fingers wrapped around my cuff.
“While I enjoy your spirit,” he murmured, his thumb stroking the metal band, “I don’t fancy being stunned at the moment.”
He squeezed and the metal groaned.
Horror flooded through me.
“No! Don’t break it!”
Cipher paused. The lust in his eyes cooled, replaced by a sharp curiosity. He didn’t let go.
“Please,” I whispered, unable to hide the tremor in my voice. “Don’t.”
He studied my face, clearly surprised by my reaction. “It’s just a stunner, Annie. You can get another one.”
My mind raced for a plausible explanation. Something he’d believe. Something that didn’t involve the truth.
“If you destroy it,” I said, forcing my voice to steady, “Havoc will know immediately. It’s linked to his systems.”
Cipher’s eyebrow rose skeptically.
“He’ll come here,” I continued. I held my breath, praying he would listen to me because I didn’t want to have to explain to Havoc what had happened.
He bent his head down, his lips hovering above my neck. Not quite touching, but close enough that I felt the ghost of contact. I wanted to arch upward into him, seek more of that almost-touch.
“Let him come.” His lips trailed up my neck to my ear. “Let him see who actually has you.”
His fingers tightened around my cuff again, the metal creaking ominously under his grip. Panic exploded through me, overwhelming everything else. The unwanted desire, the confusion, all of it vanished beneath my terror.
“No!”
Pure instinct took over as I jerked my head forward and slammed my forehead directly into his face.
Pain exploded across my skull. Stars burst behind my eyes as agony radiated from the point of impact. It felt like I’d headbutted a brick wall.
I howled in pain, tears springing to my eyes. I tried to curl into myself, but Cipher’s weight still pinned me down. “Goddamnit!”
Through watery eyes, I glared up at him. He hadn’t even flinched. His expression was a mixture of shock and horror, not a mark on his perfect face.
“Annie!” Dawn yelled.
Cipher simply ceased to exist.
One second, his weight was a crushing reality on top of me, his heat searing through my clothes. The next, the pressure vanished. The air where he had been shimmered like a heat mirage, then settled into nothingness.
“Annie!” Dawn threw the door open and rushed to the bed.
I sat up, gasping. The room listed dangerously to the left. Warmth slid down my temple, tracking over my cheekbone and dripping off my jaw. I touched it and my hand came away wet and crimson.
“Oh my god,” Dawn breathed, her eyes wide with horror.
“I fell,” I choked out. “Hit the dresser.”
Dawn vanished into the bathroom and returned in seconds with a hand towel. She pressed it to my head and the white fabric turned red instantly.
“Stitches,” she said. Her voice was tight. “Hospital. Now.”
“No.” I pushed her hand away, wincing as the movement sent a fresh spike of agony through my skull. “It looks worse than it is. Head wounds bleed a lot.”
“It’s gushing, Annie.” She grabbed my phone from the nightstand. “I’m calling Havoc.”
The last thing I needed was Havoc storming over here, especially if Cipher was still lurking somewhere nearby.
I scrambled off the bed and the floor tilted.
“Mr. Havoc? It’s Dawn. Annie’s hurt, she’s got a huge gash on her forehead...”
I lunged and snatched the phone from her hand.
“Havoc. Stop.”
“Report,” Havoc barked. “Dawn says you’re bleeding.”
“Minor laceration. Controlled bleeding.” I kept my voice flat. Professional. I pressed the towel harder against my skull until the pain sharpened into clarity. “I’m fine.”
“I’m five minutes out.”
“Do not come here.” I gripped the phone harder. “If you come here for a cut, I quit. I am a grown woman, Havoc. I will call if I need you. I don’t need you.”
After several more minutes of back-and-forth, I finally convinced Havoc to stay put, promising to call him if the bleeding didn’t stop or if I felt dizzy.
I hung up before he could change his mind.
Dawn stared at me like I had grown a second head. “You’re insane. You need stitches.”
“I’m fine, really,” I insisted, not sure who I was trying to convince, her or myself. My head was throbbing, and blood still seeped through the towel.
Dawn glanced at her watch and bit her lip. “I have to go to work, but I can’t leave you like this. Please just let Havoc come help.”
“No. This doesn’t require Havoc,” I insisted. “Go to work, Dawn. If it gets worse, I promise I’ll either go to the hospital or call Havoc.”
Dawn’s eyes narrowed as she looked me up and down. I recognized that expression. It was the same one she’d worn when I tried to convince her I could still work after catching the flu last winter.
“You’re staying home and resting all day,” she declared, her tone leaving no room for argument. “And I mean actual rest, not paperwork.”