Unawakened Read Online Free Page B

me, but I craved the euphoria of the high. The need for another hit seared through me, and I shuddered, biting my lower lip so I wouldn’t beg Rob for what I knew he didn’t have.
    He had taken away the sample of Terry Moore’s drug months ago to study it.
    The only person who could give me what I needed was Kenneth Smith. My breaths came hard and fast. For a brief moment, I considered pleading for another hit. Balling my hands into fists sent stabbing pain up my arms.
    “I’m not giving you anything, so don’t ask.” Rob’s gaze was fixed on his laptop screen. “I know it hurts, but if I tried to sedate you, I have no idea how the drugs will interact. I could do a lot more harm than good.”
    “I know.”
    So many from the fringe had lost their lives over the years due to overdosing on drugs. I had almost numbered among them. I wanted to scream, rant, and rave over the injustice of it all.
    I thought I had won the war, but the cravings were back and stronger than ever. Slumping on the couch beside Rob, I stifled a groan and bent forward, burying my face in my hands.
    It hurt.
    “You might claim it’s the perfect drug—if you’re the dealer,” Rob said, leaning back from his work with a heavy sigh. “Twelve hour duration, invisible to current tests, and invisible side effects. You’re in pain, but you’re able to function. If you had another dose, you’d just be back to hunting down another round to bring back the high.”
    “Shut up,” I hissed.
    “It explains Kenneth’s decision to come visit. Not only was he going to have his way with you, he’d be able to manipulate you with the promise of another hit. It’s a brilliant tactic, really. Too bad he didn’t count on me being here.”
    Yelling at Rob wouldn’t help anything. It wasn’t his fault I had been stupid. It wasn’t his fault he was right, either.
    If Kenneth Smith walked through the door, I would beg for more of the drug, and I knew it. Worse, I’d be willing to do anything to get it. I took a deep breath and held it until my lungs burned. When I exhaled, it was slow and long.
    Even the gentle flow of air slipping between my lips hurt.
    It wasn’t Rob’s fault. I reminded myself of that fact until the urge to snap at him faded. “No sane man of your rank would stay in a dive like this.”
    “My advantage. Mr. Smith doesn’t know how to be anything other than an elite. I, on the other hand, prefer having a varied set of skills. However, I think it’s time you had a change of scenery. I have an apartment not too far away, and it’s far easier to secure than this place. While he’ll probably be able to find you, getting to you will be a challenge. It would benefit my other plans, too.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Mr. Smith and I have overlapping goals. We both want information on the dean. We have the advantage in that neither Mr. Smith nor Mr. Lewis are aware we know the nature of the invoices, and Mr. Lewis doesn’t know we are aware the invoices and videos exist. While Mr. Smith knows about the invoices, it’s a useless lead for him without the murder videos.” Rob propped his feet up on the coffee table and stretched. “Unless I’m mistaken, Mr. Smith will want to keep his history with Terry Moore a secret.”
    Forcing my attention to the problem of the drugs and murders helped distract me from the withdrawal, and I scowled as I considered Rob’s words. While drug abusers would often concoct elaborate schemes to avoid paying Kenneth, most of them weren’t really bad people. Like the women in Terry Moore’s videos, they were victims of a system designed to drive reasonable people to the edge and push them over.
    The elite benefited from a society of addicts, as long as the addictions didn’t impair the workers’ ability to do their jobs. To buy drugs, the addicts needed money. To get money, they needed to work. In turn, the elite didn’t have to police the population as much; many in the fringe were too busy chasing