Broken Doll {ManxMan}

CHAPTER 38

What Tobias had said while he was carrying me, just before I fell asleep, kept going through my head, somehow louder when I woke up in our bed. It took me quite a bit to grow conscious enough to recognize where I was, eyes opening and looking down to see I was still dressed.

It made sense. Tobias was probably too anxious to strip me, especially after the way I'd freaked out on him before when we were kissing. I sat up slowly, tugging the collar of my shirt to loosen the first few buttons, overheating, sweat soaking through the flannel.

Tobias was asleep beside me, on his back with one arm tucked beneath the pillow under his head, the other reaching towards me. His face was smoothed out showing no signs of distress, lips parted slightly with his soft breathing, and the slow rise and fall of his chest immediately relaxed me.

He looked comfortable, which made me happy, reaching over to carefully slip my fingers across the scar along his hairline, then turning away and running a hand through my hair before stepping out of bed.

My initial intent was to simply change into something lighter to sleep in, noting the dark sky outside and the fact it was still late. I was tired, I wanted to get back in bed and curl up against Tobias to sleep, but what I heard him say about inviting Emyr to join the Syndicate kept me awake.

I was excited. Tobias actually liked him, someone from my past that I was close to. I wanted to tell him, and sure it could have been a long shot, he was likely already asleep, but I still wanted to try. Even if it was stupid. So I left the bedroom, one hand against the wall as I stepped down the hall, pausing immediately in my steps when I got to the corner.

It was late, past midnight at least, no one should have been out in the halls unless they were patrolling for security reasons, but I didn't think Anton would be cleared by the rebellion for something like that. He was a direct member of the Syndicate and had no relationship with any of the rebellion.

So it made me wonder why he was out in the hall, standing in front of a closed door and knocking. Even the way he was knocking made me uneasy enough to step back around the corner to peer out at him. There was no set of three knocks before waiting for an answer, which I considered the polite thing to do. Instead he just stood there knocking constantly, rapidly, almost in a frustrated way, like the person inside was blatantly ignoring him, ultimately pissing him off enough to start pounding a hole into the door.

His posture was tall and tight, even his face was void of emotion, though his eyes held a storm that had my stomach twisting. I couldn't figure out why it made me so nervous. My feet moved on their own, taking a step back in preparation to just go back to my room and hide against Tobias. Until I recognized what door he was knocking on, whose room he was in front of, and instead stepped forward.

"Anton... um, Mr. Hirsch," I called over to him, and he pulled his hand away from the door mid-knock, turning to look at me in slight surprise, "I-it's late, isn't it? What are you doing at Bryn's door?"

Anton stared at me with an unnervingly blank expression, as if he didn't recognize me, before something lit in his eyes and he smiled brightly, stepping away from the door.

"Oh, Carter, I'm sorry. Yes, it is pretty late. Two in the morning. I suppose it's early, hm?" he looked back at Bryn's door, feigning a frown with a sigh, "Couldn't sleep. I was hoping he'd be awake so we could talk."

"About... what exactly?" I asked, and he smiled at me again.

"Anything really. The rebellion, the supplies, the new allies the boss has been talking about. Your protection and the guards Tobias is planning to assign to you."

"Bryn hasn't been sleeping very well lately," I decided to inform, feeling unusually annoyed at the fact he was bothering the man, "He's been busy and worried about the Syndicate and Tobias, not sleeping at all really. Couldn't the conversation wait until morning? He deserves some peace and quiet."