Page 42 of Shai

What did that have to do with anything? I shook my head, only finding

my voice when Shai’s eyebrows rose in a way that made it clear he expected an answer.

“I don’t know… it varied. It’s pretty new. It was popular for a while, until…” I was babbling, my brain working faster than my mouth could get the words out, the same questions going through my head on a loop. What is this? Why has he got it? What is he going to do with it? Why has he tied me up?

Shai tipped his head to one side in an inquisitive way. “Until what?”

I strained against the bindings, but they didn’t give an inch. Shai was far from a novice when it came to restraining someone. I’d learned that the hard way and on more than one occasion. “Can you untie me, and then we can talk?”

His gaze trailed slowly down over my naked body. “I like you tied up.” His eyes returned to my face. “And we are talking. Why did Void become less popular?”

“Oh, come on. You know all this, right? Your organization peddles every drug under the sun.”

Shai lowered himself to sit on the edge of the bed, his thigh nudging my bare hip. “I want you to tell me about it.”

I flashed him a provocative smile, giving a slight roll of the hips that should leave him in no doubt what I was inviting him to do. “We could do something more interesting than discuss the current street drugs doing the rounds.”

His gaze strayed to my ass, the gleam in his eyes saying he was recalling the two loads he’d already given me and contemplating adding another. Good. That meant he’d need to put the fucking syringe down.

“Tell me about Void.”

I let out a frustrated sigh. Sex was all I had in my arsenal. If that wasn’t going to work, then I had nothing. “It became less popular when they realized how fucking addictive it was. Customers who were already hooked on it would do anything to get their fix. They would have solicited their own grandmother if it gave them the money to buy more. But it was too easy to overdose on, so at least half of them died in the first few months of taking it. Word got around and people started to steer clear. After the initial clamor for it, demand dwindled to pretty much nothing. In the end, I could barely give it away for free, except to the biggest thrill seekers, those people who think they’re invincible.”

Shai nodded. “Sounds about right. What about its side effects?”

I frowned, still not sure where this conversation was going. Was it some

sort of test? Had he changed his mind about adding me to his workforce? Perhaps this was an interview—Shai style. No desk for him. Bondage and a barrage of questions all the way. “The usual for a drug. Nausea, high blood pressure which can lead to a stroke, effects on the liver and pancreas, possibility of it leading to psychosis. I guess the only one missing from the usual list is the effect on libido. Void makes people horny as hell, so there’s no problems with erectile dysfunction or achieving orgasm. Quite the opposite. I had one customer who took it instead of Viagra. He was dead within a month.”

A pang of regret hit me that I could speak so casually of someone’s

death. Pre-McIntyre and pre-Shai, I’d been a very different person. One who’d thought he was untouchable. I didn’t need to be tied to a bed to know that that had been the biggest load of bullcrap ever. “What’s this about, Shai?”

He tilted the syringe, the clear liquid inside it running to one end until

he tipped it back the other way and reversed the process. “I wanted to see if you knew its effects before I give it to you.”

The world stopped, the sudden ringing in my ears not quite loud enough

to drown out the increased rapidity of my breathing. I tried to sit up, only getting so far before the bindings on my arms stopped the movement. I sank back against the pillow. “Why?” I didn’t even try and hide the desperation in my voice. “Why would you do that? I’ve done everything you asked of me. I passed your damn test. I’ve fought you every time you asked, and not fought you when you didn’t want me to. What was it you said you wanted? Someone who can fight you, but surrender at other times. I’ve done that, haven’t I? Tell me what I’ve done wrong and I’ll fix it.”

It was difficult to think clearly over the rushing sound of blood, my

heart catapulting it around my body at an alarming rate. Was this about the bottle of venom I’d taken? Shai finally taking his retribution for it? I’d thought the rape had been payback for that. Had he only been biding his time until he came up with something better?

Shai stood and I craned my neck to watch him as he walked over to the

chest of drawers. Had I succeeded in getting through to him? Hope lasted no more than a few seconds before being crushed, as he returned with a tie in his hands. He retook his seat on the bed, wrapping the tie around my upper arm in a rough tourniquet without pulling it tight. “Is this because of what I said this afternoon? I didn’t mean it. I was just saying stuff I thought you wanted to hear. You don’t have to worry about me having some sort of attachment to you. I think you’re a fucking monster.”

Shai lay a hand on my forehead, his palm cool against my heated skin. “Shhhh. You’re working yourself up into a frenzy. Relax. Don’t drive yourself crazy by trying to get inside my head. Just accept that there are reasons for the things I do that you wouldn’t understand.”

I put all the pleading into my expression I could. I didn’t even care if I was coming across as pathetic. Nothing mattered except avoiding that needle going into my arm. “Please don’t do this. I don’t want to be a junkie. You like me to fight, right? Well, trust me. I’ve seen what people are like on this stuff. It’s going to take all the fight out of me. You don’t want that, do you?”

Shai’s expression didn’t change in the slightest all through my impassioned speech. There wasn’t even the slightest twitch. His face may as well have been made from granite. He leaned over me, detaching the arm he’d tied the tourniquet around from the corner of the bed and pulling it down to my side. I automatically tried to pull it away from him, but he held firm, turning his body so that he could kneel on my wrist and hold it still while he tightened the tourniquet. “There’s two ways we can do this. Either you keep your arm still and let me do what I need to do, or I call for assistance and get them to hold you down. Either way it’s going to happen.”

It was no idle threat. Shai didn’t make idle threats. Having this happen was humiliating enough without having his men witness it too, especially considering my naked state. Shai gave a questioning look as he experimentally lifted his knee. Despite my fingers instinctively curling into a fist, I left my arm where it was. Shai nodded in recognition of my decision. He retrieved the syringe from where he’d left it next to the bed and straightened my arm, the tourniquet having done its job and pushed veins to the surface.

Had Shai injected anyone before? But then, that was probably the least of my problems. It would probably be a mercy if he accidentally injected an air bubble into my bloodstream. I may have dealt drugs for years, but I’d never been stupid enough to sample my own products. And yes, I was well aware what sort of person that made me. Karma was about to be injected into my body in one huge rush of retribution.