Sabrina
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Staring down at myphone where the account alert popped up on my screen, I attempt to shove away the awful feeling in my gut. But as the numbers stare back at me, letting me know the bonus from successfully completing the Byte-Ware project was deposited, it’s incredibly hard not to puke.
“It’s not your fault that Jonathan’s dead, it’s his. And Reid put in for our time off in advance, so it isn’t suspicious that we disappeared the same time that he went missing. I have a job, or at least a reference, if I need it. I can go back, or transfer elsewhere if I want to. My old life isn’t completely over, it just requires more careful navigation.”
Glaring at my reflection in the bathroom mirror of the hotel, I take a couple of deep breaths and tighten my towel at my chest so it stays firmly in place. The shadows are gone from beneath my eyes, but not within them, and I need to accept that as the blessing in disguise that it is.
Kaige was right. I’ve always been afraid to look too closely, since every time I caught a glimpse of my reflection, I was reminded of who I might become if I wasn’tbetter.I let the people I resented craft my entire identity, ensuring I was nothing like them, but that didn’t make me,me.It just made me ‘not them,’ and that’s where I messed up.
The silver lining that comes with falling apart; I get to construct someone new out of the pieces.
“My driver’s license is going to be wrong forever. They’ll never let me update my eye color on it.”
Nothing is ever going to be simple again, and I need to prepare myself. Even the trivial little things like paperwork are going to require excuses and lies in order to blend in for the rest of my life. I was never human, but I was better at masquerading as one before my eyes changed. I’m going to have to get creative if I want to survive in a world where humans and shifters alike would rather I didn’t exist, but that’s okay. I’ve always lived out of spite. Now? I’ll take it to the next level by being happy, too.
The rest of the world can suck my metaphorical dick before I let them bully me out of existence.
“Think of it like a team building exercise. Because if we're always at each other's throats, how the heck are we supposed to survive that place?”
The running shower behind me helps drown out my whispers as I psyche myself up, but there’s enough psychological pressure that I may as well be a virgin on her wedding night. With seven men on the other side of the door, and that’s if you don’t even factor in the toy in my ass. Pressure all around, but at least it’s of my own making this time.
“How the fuck do you get up on this stupid ledge?” Hunter growls, followed by the muffled sound of mashing buttons.
This morning, Reid disappeared long enough to pick up the new handheld game system that released a few days ago, and honestly, I’m stunned that he remembered. I only mentioned it once in passing my first week at work. Naturally, the rest of them went out to grab their own so they wouldn’t be left out, and I kind of... love it. It was an easy way for us all to spend time together today, focusing on virtual quests instead of our own for a little while.
“Have you already unlocked the winged boots?” Slade asks.
Hunter pauses. “What winged boots?”
“That'd be a no.” After a dramatic sigh, Cinjin intervenes. “Give it here.”
Smiling to myself, I run a quick brush through my hair. "Kaige is right. I need to be all in.” Mentally, I snort.More liketheyneed to be all in.
If we're going to murder mountain, we need to be a united front, not have the guys fighting amongst each other at any opportunity. I can at least get rid ofsomeof the tension. In a fun way. I'll claim Reid and Kaige, then we'll have an orgy to celebrate. No big deal, low key event, just the eight of us.
My poor orifices. They’re never going to be the same.
Like a coward, I don’t move from my spot, and I’m not completely sure why I’m freaking out. Kinky sex? Awesome. Totally on board with the idea. But this is a lot even by my standards. Seven guys? Unless they suddenly decide that experimenting between themselves sounds like fun, that leaves me the star of the show, and I hate being the center of attention on the best of days. What the hell do they evendowhile I’m... otherwise occupied? Stand around jacking off while watching me get railed? Line up and wait patiently to swap out after one finishes?
This is going to be super awkward for everyone involved.
“You’re going to go out there and soak up all of the benefits of having multiple mates that will fight over the privilege of eating you out,” I tell the mirror, hoping some of the projected confidence bounces back to me. “It’s their problem to figure out what to do with their dicks until it’s time to hop on the train; my job is suffering through countless orgasms. It may just kill me, but damn, what a headline for my obituary. I’ve got this.”
I’m never going to be able to walk again.
Throwing some cold water on my face and smacking my cheeks, I shove all of my anxieties into the darkest depths of Tartarus. Even if I make a fool of myself, what idiot is going to call me out on it and get ejected from the gangbang?
With one last deep breath, I exit the bathroom without the faintest clue of how I’m going to kick things off, but quickly find it an unnecessary concern.
Because they’re completely unconscious.
“Damian?”
Even when I shake his shoulder, he doesn’t stir. None of them do, spread out between the bed and couch on the other side of the room. It sets off every internal alarm bell and then some, and I hastily scramble for a plan, but it's slow coming. Every thought is difficult to hold onto, and I usethatfact as my grounding point. Because even with muddled thoughts, it doesn’t take a genius to click together that unconscious mates plus scrambled thoughts equals something bad, likely airborne. If it was something in our food, Hunter would be fine since he skipped dinner.
Missing a step, I stumble forward, landing on Cinijin’s back. Shoving my hand down his pants pocket, I snatch one of the knives he always keeps on him. Head spinning, I make my way to the window and turn my panic inward.
