Page 37 of Warrior

Fuck.

I have no idea what’s on this ancient computer. The fans inside it whir. The username is in white font just above the password bar.AMadden.

That could be me—but it’s not. It’s my twin.

My heart aches, but the more pressing distraction is the one at my arm. Gabriel kneels next to the chair, cleaning the spot. The bite of elastic in my biceps makes my fingers go numb the longer he waits.

He presses on a vein, checking it.

And I can’t possibly think of a password.

He glides the needle into my vein. Checks that he hit it, then waits.

This is the worst form of edging, because my mind can’t operate like this. I type in something that could work, one-handed, then pause. If I get it wrong, it might shut me down.

Gabriel tilts his head.

I hitenter.

The bar shakes, clearing, and I frown.

What would Apollo do? It was probably set before his relationship status changed, which means… well, there were significantly more things that meant a lot less to him. Olympus, for example, or me.

Okay. Just…

I roll the chair back and duck down. Gabriel keeps pressure on the needle in my arm, going with me, and I spot the pale-yellow sticky note a second before he does. I pull it loose and slap it down in the light.

Olympus5Madden!

Gabriel scoffs.

I agree. But I type it in and hitenteragain, and a second later, the desktop appears.

“Good girl,” he murmurs.

He hits the plunger at the same time.

My eyelids flutter. This one feels like…more. Stronger. The tide that rises, lifting me up and away, doesn’t stop when it obliterates my pain. It carries away my brain, too. All my thoughts go, and every little thing touching my skinsings.

I swear.

I shift, leaning back, and groan at the way my shirt collar slides across my throat.

He picks me up. It’s not sexual in the slightest, but I may as well be having an orgasm. I trap my moan behind my teeth and drag my fingers over my closed eyelids. Across every eyelash, down my cheekbones.

I’m set down, and then I’m moving. The sway of it is like the ocean, all-encompassing, and I happily sink down into it.

10REESE

I burstinto Starlight and scare the shit out of a girl I’ve never seen before. I’m not sure if it’s my facial hair, which I haven’t bothered to handle in the past… since I woke up… or the crazed look in my eye.

Maybe a combination?

At least I’m wearing my own clothes. They’re clean, they fit. I won’t be mistaken for a homeless person… just one who might’ve escaped the nearest insane asylum.

Wait, do they still call them that?

Nearest mental institution. The psych ward.

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