Page 67 of Toy No More

This is about him?Fuck, of course this is about him.

Even now, on top of the world, after having achieved the ultimate power move, somehow Jasper still clings to that meaningless insecurity.What a goddamn fool.

My body might feel as though it will collapse on itself any moment, but I still have the capacity to feel righteous anger at his words.

“He…” I have to pause and swallow the saliva nearly dripping out of my mouth. My throat feels so tight, my words come out slurred. “He isn’tyours. He doesn’t want to be mine…or anyone’s.”

Jasper’s brows coming together and his face filling with more rage is the last thing I see before my vision goes out.

For a second, I think I might’ve died. Until I come to on the ground, still where I was, trembling on my knees. No amount of mental willpower can save me from projectile vomiting right next to Jasper’s feet. I keep throwing up, my chest and hands and neck spasming so much I worry I’ll choke.

When there’s nothing left to puke, not even water, I hit my forehead against the floor. I can’t hold my eyes open with how weak I feel. And I’m so damn hot…

Muffled voices sound above me.

I try to focus and get a sharp shard of pain shooting through my head in return.

“The tensions are running pretty high…” someone says. All sound cuts off when I blink, as if my brain shuts down momentarily. “…what happened.”

“...is enough.”

“Whatever.”Jasper. That’s Jasper’s voice. My body constricts painfully in response to it, like a dog jolting at the raised hand of its owner. My balls tug and ache. “Clean this mess up and go home. This is clearly too much stress for your predisposition.” I hear him inside my head again, but I think he’s only bent over to me to say that.

Somehow, I manage to nod.

He must stop releasing his pheromones because, after what feels like hours, I can take a proper breath. Even if the air is so saturated with them that I start coughing.

Steps that I presume to be his get further and further away until he’s gone. The scent of the sea—cold, freezing, burning in my nose—is still all I can smell, but my mind is clearing. I begin remembering there are things outside of it. I remember that my body didn’t always feel this way and that this isn’t right. The fact that I do so only now that he’d released his grip on me terrifies me to the core.

Others move around me. I sense their gazes, no doubt filled with disdain or pity.

I’m not dying at least.

Not today, anyway.

Chapter 18

Apollo

“Apollo?Apollo!”Withajerk, I open my eyes. Someone definitely called me. Annoyed at having one of the few moments in my day where I can relax getting interrupted, I grab the handle to turn the water off.This better be important.

“What is it?” I yell toward the door while I reach for a towel.

“Your next two clients have canceled,” the voice, who I now recognize as the handler’s, says on the other side, as matter-of-fact and sharp as always. Frowning, I wipe the droplets running down my eyelashes off my face and tighten my towel around me.

“Oh…okay,” I mutter. Again? And two in a row?Weird.

I wait for her to provide a reason, but instead I hear shifting steps and then the doors closing. Why did she come in here to tell me personally in the first place, anyway? “What the hell is going on?” I whisper to myself while stepping out of the shower. Quickly getting dressed, I walk out into the backroom where a few other dolls hang out.

Sadie’s eyes catch me from next to my station, where she sits with an unusually uneasy expression on her pretty face. “My client didn’t show,” she says with furrowed brows, her words a mix of astonishment and concern.

“Huh. Two of my clients just canceled on me,” I blurt as I step to her. We share a look of disbelief. This isn’t normal at all. Especially for the two most sought-after dolls, whether I like to think about ourselves in that way or not.

Esme, Daya and Tash, who sit huddled together around a station a few feet away from us, all sharply turn toward the sound of our conversation, their eyes wide.

“Oh my god, same! All of us! What the hell is happening today?” Daya says while the other two nod.

Frowning, I look back to Sadie. The seriousness in her gaze tells me she knows as much as I do that this is more than a coincidence. That’s why Rya came to tell us in person. It must be serious, even though she gave no one a proper explanation.

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