Niyah:*mind blown emoji*
Niyah:You don't want to know.
But…Now Ididwant to know. Did it come off like a condom? Did it fall to pieces? Did that freak him out each time? Did it get bigger when it shed? Smaller? Did it change colors? I had so many fucking questions, and before I knew it, I realized she’d tricked me. She fucking dick tricked me!
Cal:I'm going to make you pay for this. I’ll be thinking about it all fucking day, damn it!
Niyah:Trust me, you're not the only one.
“Let’s start the meeting.”
Ezra’s clipped tone sliced through the room sharp enough that both Aniyah and I forced our faces to the screen, looking guilty as hell.
Busted.
Aniyah’s whole face pinched up before flushing red with the exact shade of a child caught drawing on the walls. Beside me, I slowly slid my phone farther across the desk before temptation convinced me to ask her seventy inappropriate questions about the snake-scale dick.
“Calix.” I looked up immediately.
Ezra was already staring at me with narrowed eyes. “Any updates on the blade?” Her mouth flattened further. “Ternin sent me a message saying they visited you, traumatized you, then told me I was welcome?”
Aniyah laughed. “Oh my god, the grandpas went to your lab?” Her expression immediately shifted into horrified sympathy. “Yeah, okay, you earned answers. I’ll tell you whatever you want about the scale thing.”
“Well…” I sighed dramatically, rubbing a hand down my face. “The grandfathers did, in fact, descend upon my workplace like a plague.”
Nova snorted while Riot quietly leaned forward with interest.
“I got Syris to examine the blade.” My fingers absently tapped against the desk while I organized the information in my head. “He recognized the magic immediately. Apparently, it dates back before the royal wars in Faerie.”
Ezra’s posture straightened almost imperceptibly.
“That bad?” Nova muttered.
“Worse.”
The humor faded from my face as I continued. “According to Syris, it’s corrupted Faerie magic. His uncle created it when experimenting with the land’s power.” I exhaled slowly. “Basically, the magic developed a will of its own.”
The room went quieter after that.
“I’ve spent weeks trying to damage it.” I shook my head once. “Nothing works. Syris says the only way to stop it permanently is either letting it burn through its own magic supply… or findingthe book his uncle used for the experiments and releasing the magic back to Faerie with a spell.”
Ezra’s lips pressed together so tightly they nearly disappeared. Not good.
“Anything else?” she asked carefully.
I rubbed the back of my neck once. “Well…” Every pair of eyes locked onto me. “I may have encountered someone using a gun infused with the same magic.”
Ezra’s left eye twitched.Oh, fuck. That’s bad.
“I handled it,” I rushed out, lifting both hands. “The gun is secured. He doesn’t have it anymore.”
That seemed to stop Ezra from launching herself through the hologram to murder me personally.
“And while he did technically attempt to shoot me?—”
Nova half-rose from her chair. Aniyah cursed loudly. Riot’s eyes sharpened.
“—I wasn’t hit,” I finished quickly. “The bullet struck an electrical panel instead.”
