{Enki}

Chris watched through his eyes as Celindria dressed him in a “coffee with cream” colored three-piece that complimented his skin. She trimmed up his fade, which he begrudgingly admitted had bothered him over the last few months. And lastly applied kohl to line his eyes.

The angelic wench even stood him before a mirror to admire her handy work.

“You are my favorite toy,” Celindria whispered in his ear.

It sickened him.

She shook her head at Chris in the reflection. “Now, now. Hate me all you like, but even you must admit you clean up nicely at my hand.”

The Valkyrie bothered him more. They were in tactical gear and war paint. Not to mention armed to their very sharp teeth. What was Imminent up to? And how horrifically would the Shadow suffer for it?

Draped over his shoulder, Celindria brushed her knuckles against Chris’ face, down his neck, chest, and groped him. With a serpent’s hiss, she assured, “We don’t want them to suffer. We want them to see as we do. Until then, they leave us no choice…”

But to what end?!

Celindria released him and walked T.a.o. to his side in the most clothes Chris saw her in since he’d got here. An elegant cocktail dress, displaying next to no cleavage. No ass exposed, either. Must be a strict dress code or Celindria wouldn’t dream of covering this much of her sister. She stood them side-by-side like two dolls about to leave for a date.

“Oh, is that what you desire?” Celindria asked from T.a.o.’s mouth. “My sister interests you more than I?” She traced one of the woman’s small fingers across his lips until he tasted T.a.o.’s skin.

Inside his head, Chris lifted his eyes to meet the controller. “No.”

T.a.o. sank to her knees before him, and Celindria carried on from her mouth. “This is a curiosity I’d yet to sate.”

Chris’ skin shrank away from the small woman unzipping his pants. Elden, he didn’t want this! How many levels of rape was Celindria willing to commit?

Still, she mused, “Perhaps gratification from both lovers would finally be enough?”

“Enough for what?!” Chris cried, strained from every fiber of his not wanting to do this. “What do you want, Celindria?!”

She stopped.

Not just the undressing him with her sister’s hands. Everything shut down. Dark and cold.

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For the first time in three months, Chris sensed the absence of Celindria’s infernal majestic presence. Even T.a.o.’s mauve eyes went empty, unoccupied.

A sound broke through the confusing mess. Korac’s voice recited the opening of his Verse. While Chris hoped it was less abysmal than Nox’s life, Celindria’s sudden disappearance unnerved him to the point of raising goosebumps on his skin. In the mirror, he followed a bead of sweat trailing down his face. He still couldn’t move—

Holy. Shit.

In his reflection, Chris watched Celindria as herself appear behind him in a billowing of shadowy smoke. All flowy white clothes that flattered her significant curves. Black hair in braids and locs that flowed on a breeze of their own. Bright blue eyes that startled against her deep violet skin. On her tiptoes, she rose to whisper in his ear. Two words, but their meaning was lost on Chris.

“To. Feel.”

Feel what?!

Chris went to shout as much when Remorse marched Para and Karter out of the lab. No. No! Where was he sending them? The Shadow!

No one heard Chris’ cries or answered his questions. Instead, T.a.o. fixed his fly and stood. Celindria looked at him through T.a.o.’s innocent face, and Chris’ heart wanted to break. He hated servicing Celindria, but Eternity help him—He couldn’t live with himself if he’d violated that girl. Never mind Celindria controlled them both—Just, no.

“Some other time,” Celindria promised from a mouth that wasn’t hers, jeopardizing the very person who spoke the words. Threatened Chris with a sanity she knew walked a fine line.

“Hard to muster any sympathy for you when I know whatever you tell me is your scheme. Go to Hell, Celindria. The Wrong Side of Eternity.”

From deeper in the lab, her real mouth said, “I was born there.”

T.a.o. followed the other women out, presumably to cause some trouble, and Chris let his head lower to the ground inside his mind once more. Over and over, he repeated, “You don’t know what you’re in for.” For hours, it seemed.

Until T.a.o. returned without the other women. Was that a good or a bad thing?

Celindria’s authentic self also returned at the halfway point of Korac’s Verse. It was as abysmal, if not worse, than Nox’s life so far. She straightened Chris’ jacket and checked his posture. “Enjoy your date with my sister. Since you seem so fond of her, I’ll ensure a goodnight kiss at the end.”

Chris almost vomited with his stomach roiling.

T.a.o. held out her hand to Chris. Despite a fresh aversion to touching her, he took it. Through the Seam, they stepped into a swanky place carved in polished wood. Abresson waited at the bar in his fanciest Tritan robes.

Outside was better. Chris could breathe here. Especially in public, where molestation was less likely to occur. The small woman next to him made it on the list of people he’d die to protect, but he wasn’t exactly full of choices here.

Celindria manifested inside his mindscape once more, but with her back to him. A keenness shone in her bright eyes. This was professional work. Not something she mixed with pleasure.

“Eminent Abresson.” The words came out of Chris’ mouth.

The indigo Tritan with white scars looked anywhere but at T.a.o., which was fine with Chris. He nodded at the well-dressed human as they approached his booth. Discretely, he asked, “Are the others deployed?”

T.a.o.’s mouth answered, “They are. Retrieval is Imminent.”

Celindria’s puns killed Chris. Mostly because they were totally unironic. They sat, ordered food, and blended in with the crowd. Waited in their stakeout. Inside his head, Celindria kept sharp and watched the crowd, and paid no mind to the man enslaved to her unimaginative whims.

“I am inclined to introduce you to my imagination when we return to the lab.”

Fuck.

The batshit insane woman intercepted his thoughts.

Why did Chris have to open his big fucking mind?