Such a strange exchange, one born of a place I didn’t quite understand but wanted to know more about. It was the part of me he’d awakened. Or perhaps the part of me that Lilith’s death had called to light.
I wasn’t free, yet I felt free. Like my chains had been removed, allowing me to finally live as I desired. No more tasks. No more labs. No more experiments. No more orders.
Except for the ones from Jace.
But his orders didn’t affect me like Lilith’s had.
Why is that?I wondered as a male dressed in baggy red pants and a matching button-down shirt entered the room.Staff Member Thirteen, I realized, noting his wiry frame and the stark bone structure of his cheeks. He appeared half-starved. It was a shock to find him not only walking but also carrying a set of bags.
His gaze was on the ground, his hair a mess of curls that fell over his forehead as he executed a wobbly bow. He didn’t straighten but remained there as he awaited further instruction. Just like Juliet had on the plane.
Jace approached him, his smile melting into a scowl. “I’m going to ask you two questions, Staff Member Thirteen. Your answers will determine your fate.” He stopped before him. “Stand and look at me so I can judge your truthfulness.”
My heart skipped a beat at the sudden change in Jace’s character, this side of him reminding me a little too much of Lilith and her penchant for degrading humans and lab subjects for sport.
The human straightened, his sunken cheeks appearing shadowed beneath the low lighting from above. His pale green irises thinned as his pupils dilated with innate fear. But he admirably met Jace’s gaze.
“Why—” Jace’s question came to an abrupt halt as he looked at his wrist. “Hmm. I need to take this. Don’t move.” The last two words were for the male servant.
Jace turned without explanation, heading toward a pair of doors off to the side of the living area. He disappeared through them, leaving me alone with the frozen male.
Literally frozen.
As in not moving at all.
And having clearly taken Jace’s words as a command to not even breathe.
“Um, I think he meantdon’t leave,” I rephrased.
The human didn’t reply or blink. Tears began to pool in his eyes a few seconds later, his face turning even paler.
“Seriously, he just meant not to leave,” I said, trying again.
Nothing.
I sighed. “You can only self-asphyxiate to a point before your body will force you to breathe. However, in your current state, I’m guessing that simple act will leave you off-balance, which will result in you shifting in some capacity, or more likely, falling. So you might as well breathe. He won’t see it and I won’t tell him. But if you fall, he’ll definitely notice.”
Not that I thought Jace would truly care, as I suspected his order was meant to keep the human in the suite, not frozen in place.
The human’s pale irises slid to me, a note of shocked hopelessness staring at me.
He wobbled and tipped sideways in the next second, landing with a dull thud against the marble floor.
I stared down at him. “See?”
Staff Member Thirteen—whom I mentally shortened to justThirteen—attempted to stand again, but his legs refused him.
A sharp cry left his mouth as his palm went to his groin and he curled into the fetal position.
I frowned at his convulsing form. He appeared to be in a great deal of pain.
Slipping off my shoes, I went to the floor beside him, my instincts kicking into gear. I wasn’t a doctor in the medical sense, but I knew enough about human anatomy to be helpful in certain situations.
“Now, tell me—”
A gasp interrupted my request.
Then Thirteen went still once more.
