{Enki | Tritan Residences}

“So, Lucy, the guards tell me there’s some confusion with your background. How about you sit here and explain the situation to me?”

Lucy liked the way Abresson patted on the sofa for her to sit beside him. She liked the white scars on his wrists, and the way they contrasted so starkly against his indigo complexion. When he looked at her, the black vein in his neck fluttered.

Abresson inhaled and muttered, “Lemonade.”

Strange how people kept saying that word around Lucy.

Never mind.

This would be a moment she’d never forget. With the chilled drink in hand, Lucy practiced as much poise as possible to unfold her knees and stand, curving her back and presenting her breasts as she did. In her steps toward the couch, she kept her eyes averted and gulped shallow breaths. Nervous. Demure. Even a little terrified.

For who could stand before the powerful Eminent and not tremble?

In her peripheral, Abresson’s expression took on a coaxing note as he said, “Now, now, child. Why so timid? Would I offer you a drink if I intended to bite you?”

Lucy knew it was drugged. The smell told her so, like sulfur. She sipped it.

Abresson relaxed and looked pleased. “Good girl.” He leaned back with his arm stretched over the back of the sofa. “It’s honestly fortunate that you’re here. You’re the perfect last meal.” He snorted into his drink.

Interesting. “I’m s-sorry?” Lucy shivered slightly—not too much—and chafed her arms where goosebumps formed.

After swallowing, Abresson gave a satisfied sigh before elaborating. “My superior… He’ll kill me when he learns I’ve failed him again.”

Gently, Lucy tested the boundaries of this interaction. In a soft voice, she asked, “Why is that?”

Staring into his drink as he circled it to make the green liquid swirl, Abresson shrugged. “He has high expectations for me. Too high, I’d say.” He gestured over his shoulder at the door. “I regret mistreating the guards. We’re all under so much pressure.”

Lucy bit her lip and dared to gaze at him directly, eager to hear more. “That seems unfair.”

Abresson’s smile in return was sad. “Too true. All of us suffered a shock, awakened to learn half our race was decimated. ‘Oh, and you’re an archivist? Well, here’s your gun. Now go to war for our kind.’” He waved incredulously and took another drink. “Fucking Aegis.”

Lucy darted her gaze away for a long moment, then looked at him from beneath her lashes. “Do you want to talk about it? I’m not going anywhere.”

The chuckle Abresson gave was expectant and knowing. “You’re not wrong. Drink up.” She took a sip as he sighed heavily and continued. “We’re the last of our kind, and we’re not even allowed to exist as we wish—”

His words stumbled as Lucy gingerly took his hand.

When Abresson met her eyes next, he looked genuinely startled. She bled sincerity into her eyes, opening them wide enough to let tears start.

He allowed the contact, cleared his throat, and began again. “I worked in the organic stacks, uploading genetic memory for Rem and Quet’s experiments into perfecting our race. One day, I discovered a flaw in their coding design. A glitch which prevented the separation of chromosomes. See, Tritans start as males and become females before gestation. In fact, the reverse is intentional. We wanted to ensure female production as much as possible, because eventually we tampered with it so much that we degenerated the chromosome shift.”

Yito came over Lucy’s earpiece. “Are you staying awake during all that?”

Lucy tried not to smile with the swell of endearment. Her new followers wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Instead, she let her genuine interest show. “And I bet you confronted them. I imagine it was a heroic scene.”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

Abresson smirked with a delectable amount of ego. “Have another sip.” She did. Satisfied, he continued. “You’re right, of course, but they’re Primaries. I was put in my place, dejected…” The Tritan Eminent startled Lucy as he tilted, stretched out on the couch, and laid his head in her lap. “I hope you don’t mind?”

Acclimating to the task, Lucy smiled and grazed her nails down his scalp. “Go on.”

Pleased, Abresson wriggled until comfortable, which included squishing Lucy’s thigh. He sighed heavily again. “That feels nice, Lucy. Don’t neglect your drink. Where was I?”

“Dejected.”

“Thank you.” He gripped her knee and muttered into the bare skin of her thighs. “I mean that. It’s been so long since another comforted me. You remind me of my Lena.”

Lucy tilted her head curiously to the side and gently pushed. “Lena?”

Again, that heavy sigh. She was starting to wonder if Abresson was clinically depressed. He said, “My pairing ceremony was the next day. A lot of ours were. They’re done in batches, you see?”

With a kind expression, she nodded for him to go on.

“Lena was pure and sweet. A biological alchemist. Fantastic, really. She was part of the team which contained the plague responsible for the destruction of our homeworld. Brilliant. I’d wager you’re brilliant, too, Lucy. You were on the Gait project, after all.” Abresson kissed the top of her thigh.

Lucy kept raking her nails on his skin and noted a faint dizziness. She emphasized the weakness in her voice. “I feel funny.”

He patted her leg. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you. Keep drinking.”

Paired against Abresson and Razor, Justice Lee was so unambitious. This was true predation. Lucy could taste it.

Abresson carried on, the sound of his voice lulling her further to the abyss which beckoned. “Lena died without us knowing one another as physical partners.”

“Virgins?” Lucy sounded loopy without trying. Desperate to maintain her grip, she hummed a tune.

He nodded, his face grazing against her skin. “An old tradition about prolonging the anticipation to further the enjoyment. You call it ‘abstinence.’ We call it ‘the long game.’” The trademark heavy sigh. “My sweet, pure Lena gone in an instant. You can’t imagine what it’s like. I woke up one hundred and twenty million years after her death. The only consolation Remorse offered me? That I could join their efforts to steal the Aegis’s home from within.”

Lucy started singing, barely tracking the conversation as her vision blurred.

Abresson remarked, “Your voice is beautiful. Finish your drink—That’s right. Bottoms up.” He reached up and tilted the glass, forcing her to down it. Then he returned to drawing circles with his long fingers on the inside of her thighs. “Anyway. Primary Rem asked too much of me. Out of any of us. We never had time to grieve, and they refused to let us help brainstorm options to recover our race.” The Sigh. “We’ll die out before too long—Hey, is that a Night Rayne song. I like that one. Has anyone ever told you, you sound exactly like her? You know that crazy bitch killed a whole… bunch of… fans…”

Voids and mouth open wide, Abresson shifted and looked Lucy in the eyes. “You!”

Lucy wanted to say something cool and dramatic like, “This is for T.a.o., Oleen, and John,” but she barely had enough energy in her to shove the glass in Abresson’s mouth and pounded it in. Black blood geysered into it along with the sound of his screams. The Tritan’s body jerked and convulsed. He flailed, grabbing her everywhere.

Cold, so very cold—

With a violent lunge, Lucy rolled Abresson onto the floor, quickly pooling with his blood. With all the strength in her, she stomped on his right elbow. A muffled shriek and gargling followed into the glass lodged in his face, and he stopped grabbing with that hand. She repeated the process on his left arm, disabling his ability. His knees, too, out of thoroughness.

Abresson rolled over in tears, blood gushing from every orifice. He twitched and flinched from the pain. Screamed and shouted incoherently for the guards.

But they listened to Lucy now, and she’d ordered them to stay outside no matter what they heard. Still, she wasn’t completely devoid of compassion. She lowered her face closer to Abresson’s and said, “I’m sorry about your race. I don’t know why, but your story touched me, much like you did. So I’ll escort you out of this life with one assurance. The Shadow is freeing the innocent Tritans. Your guards and techs are coming with us. No more war for people not meant to be soldiers. You can go now, Abresson. You’re dismissed.”

Abresson’s spine bowed, and Lucy took it as an invitation. One fist through the chest, and she gripped his nacre. He fell flat when she ripped it out.

One less monster in the galaxy—

Lucy toppled back onto the floor. Into her earpiece, she urged, “Yito, Praw. I need help. Abresson attacked me like you said he would, but I killed him. Not before he drugged me, though—”

They’d already burst through the door. “Lucy?!”

“Here!” Despite her attempt to shout, her voice was so faint.

Praw’s voids widened when he discovered Abresson. He looked from the dead Eminent to Lucy covered in Tritan blood and back again, sniffed the air, and narrowed his voids. “That’s some impressive self-defense. There’s not a scratch on you.”

Lucy’s lashes fluttered, barely holding on.

Yito checked her pulse. “It’s faint. She’s going under.”

Praw sighed in surrender and scooped her up. “Dolton, check in with Eminent Lance.”

The other Tritan stepped out of the room, muttering, “Come in, Eminent. What’s your progress with those pods? Over.”

It was all more commotion than Lucy could follow. “So… heavy…”

Yito brushed Lucy’s hair from her eyes. “What next, Morning Star?”

“…Matt… Save… Matt…”

Yito grinned. “You got it, Lemonade.”