Page 43 of Master B-1901
“But it’s a start.You’re remembering.” I stood to join him, placing my hand on his shoulder. “I’m here for you. One memory at a time. I’ll help you get through it, and if you remember enough, maybe the Main Master can do something about it.”
“Maybe? Did you saymaybehe can do something? If what we fear is correct, if she ruined me, she’ll do more than pay. Melissa’s going to fucking die, and not nicely.”
He was so wrong. She wasn’t going to die nicely. She wasn’t going to die at all. Not by either of us if I could help it. Not that I wanted to. There was a heat boiling my insides. Growing by the hour. I shouldn’t have felt it. I shouldn’t have even had these thoughts, but I did. I wanted what Braddock did. I wanted Mistress Two to pay, and I wanted my Master to do it.
Master B-1901
Emotion. For my slave, it came and went. There were moments I thought she was more than a blank slate, and then there were times like this where days would go by and Allison was just as she’d been when I got her. Blank. Programmed. Routine. It was nice, and yet…sad. I liked her emotion some days. Other days I missed when she would reassure or have a real conversation with me. Sex…it happened, but only once since we’d returned from me destroying that crow. Even that was different. She was a robot again, fulfilling my every command without feeling them. I wasn’t sure what I thought about that. Not that I could think too much. There was only one woman on my mind, and I wanted to decimate her. Melissa was all I thought about, and it was driving me crazy.
“And that’s what you remember?”
My stare left Allison who was sitting on the far side of the room making another list. She did that a lot. List after list after list. And it was for all things. Groceries. Books. Towels. New Blankets. Maybe she needed something to do. Maybe even as a blank slate these walls were getting to her too.
“That’s it, Elec. I wish I could remember more. Stories.She says…Braddock, what story shall I tell you today? Or Braddock,what adventure should we go on today? It’s always the same, but she’s different when I see her. Sometimes she’s younger. Other times…older.”
“And you can’t remember the actual stories?”
“No. Will you tell me more of what the hell happened when Melissa came into my apartment since my own slave won’t. You said when I healed we could talk about it. I’ve healed enough. Why can’t I know? I know she wanted me to kill Allison.”
The Main Master’s lips tightened as he glanced in her direction.
“You remember that?”
“No, but I’m not stupid. I remember…” My hand flattened on my face as I closed my eyes. “I remember seeing Ally down, and I was hitting her. It’s such a blur. Barely even there. I hear…voices, but they’re not clear. I don’t know if it’s Melissa or not. I don’t care. We all know it is. I want this taken care of, Elec. I want her to pay for what she’s done to me.”
Back and forth his head shook.
“Brad, I wish she could. I wish—” He stopped, leaning forward to rest his forearms against his lower thighs, close to his knees. “What we know and what we can prove are two different things. Mistress Two is guarded by the Uppers. She’s favored. Whether that’s because of her skills or just status in our circle, it doesn’t matter. The truth is, I can’t do anything without solid evidence, and even then, it might be for nothing. They may very well let her get away with it.”
“Get away with it,” I exploded. “Get away with fucking up my mind?I’m a Pierce!Am I not part of this circle? Is there favoritism amongst us now? What she’s doing is beyond treason. She’s fucking ruined me, Elec. Do you hear me! Ruined. I can barely function. I can’t leave my goddamn apartment without fear she’ll be there to set off another episode.What about me?What about my life? Am I worth nothing? How can our circle function if there’s no accountability? It can’t.”
Silence. My slave shifted in my peripheral, drawing my attention as she began to talk.
“The rules don’t seem to apply to her. You’re not worth anything to Mistress Two, anyway. You’re in the way.” Allison glanced up from her list but quickly looked down as she wrote. “If I recall, Main Master, she wanted you to continue Braddock’s line without him. That was the entire reason she brought you in to that appointment. She wanted you to assess him. She thought you’d find him insane, and then she could get rid of him like she always planned to. She told me herself she’d gotten what she wanted out of him: money, death, and fun. He was nothing but a game. She destroyed his mind, exactly like she wanted. She’s sick. Are her motives not clear? Am I the only one able to see the entire picture? Or maybe we’reallaffected.”
Only then did her stare jump up to meet the Main Master’s.
“She got you too?” He didn’t answer my question. “Elec?”
“Like I said, without evidence she’s untouchable. With it…maybe still. I’mworkingon it.”
“And if I kill her?”
Mine and Elec’s gaze jumped up to Allison, but it was the Main Master who gave a sharp shake.
“You know better than that, slave. I could have you locked up or put down for even saying that. Why would you feel it was okay to murder a Mistress?”
Angry light blue eyes peered up under thick lashes.
“Because she deserves it. Because she admitted the truth to me and she’s getting away with it. You and my Master are my priority, and both of your lives are in danger. What did she tell you when she left that hospital room? Enemy.She threatened you.”
“I should have never messed with your programming, Allison. You think too freely, and you should have returned to your normal status at my order.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “I don’t even know what you mean. You think you did this to me because I can think? Because I feel? I do feel! I’m angry! I haven’t been the same since she got in here. It wasn’t you. She did this to me, Main Master.To all of us. What would have happened had I not walked in on the two of you? How far would she have gone? More than a kiss? How farhasshe gone? What has she made you do that you can’t even remember? I bet you’re just as clueless as my Master.”
“Slave.”
Her lips trembled at his vicious tone.