Free Faithless (Mistress & Master of Restraint) by Erica Chilson Page A

giggle as they beat the shit out of me. A slap to my nose has blood pooling in my mouth. Now that stings like a sonofabitch. I bite ba ck my nature to kick their teeth in. If I were to unleash that side of me, I doubt they’d leave here breathing. I wasn’t fooling when I told Wil I’d be better at the pain-dealing. I’m not the seductive sort, but I am the fist-wielding sort. I’m sneaky, not sexy.
    My ponytail is yanked, wrenching a high-pitched wail from my throat. Goddamn neck! I’ll kill Wil for this, even if it’s the last thing I do. There I go again, taking the Lord’s name in vain. I cover my face with my palms as those wicked bitches try to gouge my eyes out with their perfectly manicured talons. My hands are ribboned with scratches. Past experience taught me that a scratch hurts ten times worse than a punch to the gut. It’ll take weeks for those wounds to heal.
    Fate warned what would be waiting for me when I walked in the front doors of Hillbrook. I just didn’t think she was being literal when she said I wouldn’t get twenty feet inside the front doors. This is why she takes Regina everywhere she goes- protection. Daddy screwed ninety percent of their families out of money. The elite are real peculiar when it comes to their money. I’m here because I will not lie down and die. I didn’t steal their money, and it wasn’t their money in the first place. Just because your parents have money doesn’t mean you do. Until you earn it, it’s not really yours, now is it? They ain’t running me off from where I have a right to be.
    Jes u- gosh this hurts like hell. Aches and pains radiate around my body. The screams and shouts blend into a symphony of noise. Hands are tearing the girls off of me, but whenever they lose their hold, they’re right back on me again. I breathe a deep sigh when the last of the girls is pulled from my body.
    “Knock it off,” a deep voice warns. I recognize it as Boyd’s, a quiet senior who was nice to me last year. “Flora, don’t make me slap you again,” he menacingly warns.
    “Are you alright?” I look up into a pair of stormy gray eyes that would make Wil flinch. Ezra could kill someone with that penetrating stare.
    “Yeah , thanks,” I mumble as he draws me to my feet. Ezra’s large hand encircles my upper arm, stabilizing me on my shaky legs. I look around the crowd. Cortez is trying to hold a thrashing Flora in his arms. The backs of his hands are clawed up. That bitch needs to be declawed. Boyd is defensively standing between Flora and me. Another kid is standing by Flora’s friends. Kami and Trisha stare at the floor, red palm prints blooming on their cheeks. I look back to Flora and she has a huge red welt on her cheek. Someone did some manhandling of their own. Why the hell would Boyd hit them for me?
    “What was this about?” Ezra hisses out.
    “This skan-” Flora’s mouth refuses to move when Ezra looks at her with his scary-assed glare.
    “They’re just upset about my daddy stealing all their money. It couldn’t be helped. I knew it was coming. I’m Faith Simpson,” I introduce myself. I hold my hand out for a shake, and for the second time in a week, I’m rejected. Ezra eyes my bleeding hand. I snatch it away, blushing like a bride on her wedding night.
    “We better get you cleaned up,” he softly murmurs under his breath. Ezra’s voice is unlike anything I’ve ever heard before. It’s quiet, but with a deadly edge. You don’t mess with a person that has a voice like that. “Back off,” he warns the crowd, and they do. “We all have parents we’re not proud of. We aren’t our fathers.” I don’t know who Ezra’s birth daddy is, but his adopted daddy is a real good young man. I’ve seen Marcus a few times at social gatherings. I was surprised when I found out that he’s only twenty-two. Must be Ezra’s real daddy is like my real momma- someone you don’t want anyone to know about.
    I start towards the bathroom, not looking