Page 39 of Provocation
‘This ain’t market research, kid,’ he says with a condescending chuckle that makes her open expression shutter instantly. ‘These guys spend every waking moment flying. They beg and steal for their next hits. They aren’t going to fill out a fucking questionnaire.’
‘Dom,’ I say quietly, and it comes out as a low snarl.
‘Any women?’ Daisy asks.
Her face is still blank, but she doesn’t seem upset by the way my brother is treating her. I think it might be bothering me more than her, to be honest.
‘Excuse me?’
‘You said ‘guys’. Is that just a turn of phrase? Are there any women in the group? We need a cross-section of our demographic. Men and women. Equal amounts if possible. Ifthere aren’t any women in the group at all, I’ll have to take it myself.’ Her brow furrows as she speaks. ‘I should be able to remain compos mentis at least enough to take notes on my experience for most of it.’
She nods to herself and my eyes flash at Dom.
‘You are not taking it, Daisy!’
She looks surprised. ‘I will if I have to. I’m not going to sell it to women if it’s never been tested on a woman. It’s unethical.’
I pinch the bridge of my nose, and I’m sure I hear Dom laugh and try to hide it with a cough.
‘Daisy, without you this drug wouldn’t even exist in its current form. It’s a little late to be worrying about ethics, don’t you think?’
Her hands come to her hips and she straightens, her jaw setting mulishly. ‘No, not at all. The only reason I fixed it for you was because I saw the memo about it not being addictive and harmful. Do you think I would have touched it otherwise?’
My mouth opens and then closes. I don’t have an answer. I never actually thought about it, but I find myself smiling at her in spite of her obvious anger.
Our girl has a thick ethical streak. Why didn’t I realize that? But of course it makes sense. She has a clear idea of what’s right and wrong, it just might not quite fit everyone else’s notions.
I give Dom a pointed look.
He puts the pills in his pocket. ‘I’ll make sure there are women junkies as well as dudes in the mix,’ he mutters, his expression resigned.
‘Great!’ Daisy says enthusiastically. ‘If they won’t do the questionnaire, I need an external observer to document how long it takes for the effects to begin, when they peak, and when the subjects begin to come down. I need to know how they feel, what they see, if they like it. Maybe I should just come.’
‘No!’ I exclaim, staring at my brother beseechingly.
He swears under his breath, his eyes closing as he tilts his head back toward the ceiling. ‘How about I stay with them and ask them the questions?’
Daisy lights up. ‘Oh, would you? That would be lovely. Are you sure it’s no trouble? After the initial ingestion, absorption, metabolism, and, finally, excretion should take between four to six hours, depending on the subject. Are you sure?’
‘Yes,’ he says quietly, suddenly looking at Daisy a bit differently than he was a few moments ago.
Maybe he’s beginning to understand that she isn’t just here because she’s ours, she’s here because she’s smart as hell.
‘Come on,’ I urge her.
‘But the questionnaire,’ she says, looking a little worried.
‘Send it to me,’ I tell her, ‘I’ll forward it to Dom, and hewillfill it out, okay?’
I give Dom another look and he gives me a long-suffering one back as he nods.
‘Fine.’
I usher her out and find the truck in the alley where Blake left it last night after Shade picked him up. The key is in a box under the chassis, which I have to feel around for but we’re soon on our way back to campus.
Daisy stares out the window for most of the trip and I see her eyes close and jerk back open more than once.
‘No more working around the clock,’ I tell her.
