{Enki}

Celindria kept her bedroom off her lab. It was a room with a bed. A bed she currently took advantage of Chris on. By now, he was accustomed to it, and wasn’t that a sad commentary? But it was SOP. She typically got herself off three or four times and then left him to recover while she resumed lab work.

The first few times, Celindria stayed inside his head for it, but then after an incident, she left him on autonomic response while she removed herself from his conscience. Chris preferred this time where she couldn’t see his reactions, his aversion to her touch. That wasn’t her kink.

Strangely, he suspected that what sent her away was the only time he’d watched her. As much as Chris hated her—deep, seething, writhing, loathing hatred—Celindria looked beautiful, impossibly so, in everything she did. Concentrating on her work, enjoying herself with him, hiding her displeasure with her comrades—all of it. Out of curiosity, he’d watched her. Afterward, she’d retreated.

Now, Chris used the time to think of Karter and Para, bragging about him while he cooked dinner for their throuple. How they walked around the house in adorable cut-off shorts which left a little curve of cheek exposed. The way they all covered each other like a people blanket on the couch—

T.a.o. appeared, and Celindria finished with a quick dismount. She received the capsule from T.a.o.’s hand, looking more pleased than a moment before.

Inside Chris’ head, Celindria returned to pilot him out of the bedroom. Aloud, she confessed, “I want to read this with my own eyes. Good night, toy.”

“Looking to see what your ex-boyfriend had to say about you in bed?”

Celindria laughed haughtily before purring, “My toy, why you may be sore about your lack of say, you would be lying if you denied enjoying it. And never speak so lowly of the Eternal Bind.”

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Too tired to argue with her about how half the enjoyment should be distilled from earning consent, Chris instead focused on the one iota of information she offered so far. “The… what?”

Celindria said, “A bedtime story before I put you to rest, then. In the theory of Probabilities, there exist two beings inexplicably attracted to one another. While all lives and events may vary within the Matrix, these two coalesce despite the dynamics surrounding them. If we can locate these two forces, we could, in theory, collapse all the Probabilities to one.”

That could only mean…

No more conflicting realities with figures that travel between them. The end to Imminent, as they would never feed on the chaos of the Probability Matrix again. Her earlier words finally came together. “You… you believe you and Nox are the Eternal Bind? Why?! And how does the collapsing happen?”

“Toy, despite this handsome and incredibly well-equipped form of yours, you are still young and, therefore, uneducated. That is not to mock your intelligence. I am quite sure with time and the proper schooling, you would make a lovely initiate. Until then, play nice and stop trying to coax intelligence from me. What you have, I freely gave. Do you understand?”

“That you are bat shit insane? Yes. I understand.”

A bitter smile spread across Celindria’s lips. “I am Imminent. Good night.”

Against his will, Chris laid out on the warm floor and curled into his naked self. His eyes closed, unable to open them. Celindria disappeared from inside his head.

Outside himself, she read the book aloud and only then did Chris recognize it.

Did all the Shadow know Jack was reading from Nox’s Verse that entire time to Earth? Because it seemed unlikely the King Regent would volunteer to read it if he knew who was behind it. Elden, Chris hoped Jack knew Chris wasn’t behind the wheel when Celindria pulled the trigger on that nacre disabling rifle when she shot Jack in the face.

Damn, what a miserable life Nox had led. Even Celindria’s voice went from smug and pleased to quiet and absorbed. Until a call came in on her wrist device, but Chris wasn’t able to hear the other side.

“No. Don’t worry. I’ll see that everything turns out fine. I miss you, too. Continue to focus on Tameka. You’re doing an excellent job. I’m so proud of you. Good night.”

Who the fuck was that—

“Sleep. I’ll work you harder tomorrow to erase the misery of this Verse from my mind.”

Chris stayed awake the entire long night out of spite.