Page 78 of Jump or Fall
A hand held the back of her head, and it became difficult to breathe.
Disconnect.
Disconnect.
Joiner sounds.
Tap. Tap.
What was the seam allowance for that pattern?
At the edge of her senses, there was a low noise, and she had to fight the sudden urge to vomit.
Don’t throw up. Don’t.
Why did he have to take her only refuge? Hyperion was the one place she could forget. Now it was tainted.
At least her trick had worked—she only felt some of it.
The click of his buckle marked the end, and he hauled her to her feet. She stumbled, unsteady, and the room tilted as nausea gripped her.
He turned her around and unbuttoned her blouse just enough to expose her shoulders.
“I may not have been the first to fuck you,” he said, lightly dragging a claw across her skin, “but every stripe will be mine.”
The claw pierced her flesh and she slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a cry.
“You’ll get used to this.” He chuckled. “Just like you got used to me.”
He placed a bandage over the cut and leaned close to whisper, “No medi-spray. This one, I want to enjoy.”
***
Mara went straight to her room that night and refused to come out, even when a housekeeper tried to make her eat.
When she’d used the stitcher, it slipped out of her hand from the strange angle, sending a jolt of pain through her shoulder. Working in reverse with the mirror was infuriating.
She thought she could escape this—if she just listened, if she did everything he said. Karena was the bad one. It made sense she had so many stripes.
Damn it, why’d she have to talk back? She would have to be more careful.
How far was he going to go with her in public?
She shoved that worry aside. She’d made it this long.
Curled up in her comfortless bed, her thoughts traveled to dark places. Sleep was a far-fetched idea, but at least she had her fantasies.
Someday, she would be free.
Someday, she would kill him.
Chapter 25
Mara
Silva had been right to rush home.
Three new messages from Millon had been waiting, each one laying out the accelerated plan for deploying the synth-minds across the board.
