Page 57 of Skyn
Ben shocked her.
But I understand something Lily never will: that her desirability is a currency, but it’s not the market. And her value, like that of most women, is at the whim of a fickle god. So now she’s stapling skin over her cybernetics because her plan A has a mine wife.
Ben hisses “thief” under his breath.
She hisses back, “You are Iku. You must reap. All I did was agree.”
He doesn’t get a chance to reply because Ben’s younger brother, Michael, approaches us, flanked by other members of the board.
They’re all here—Lily’s Oggun clan in silver, the Oshun tribe in shimmering yellow, the brash Shangos in rippling red.
I’ve never seen the council all together. Michael, Ben, and the other Ikus, of course, are dressed in heavy black.
Hell of a welcoming committee.
“Ben.” Lily’s voice is now high and sweet. “So glad to see you on your feet. We were all terribly worried.”
Ben’s hand finds the small of my back. I feel the tension coiled in him, and I think again about how he might react without his dampeners.
“I wasn’t sure you’d be able to attend tonight, given…everything,” Lily continues, making sure all the council members hear her concern. “It’s been a lot to adjust to, hasn’t it? The dampeners, the sudden decisions… Such a whirlwind.”
Lily’s smile widens, soft enough for only those close by to hear, but loud in its implications. The ballroom hums around us, oblivious, but those in the small circle of business partners surrounding us exchange uneasy glances.
Michael slides into the conversation like a snake slipping through tall grass. “I told Lily she was overreacting. Let a man have his secrets. I’m sure whatever he does at that lab twenty-four seven is for the greater good of the company.”
Ben’s face darkens, but he keeps his silence. It takes more strength to temper yourself in provocation than to be drugged out of a reaction.
I can imagine the slow, simmering anger building in him—but that’s the plan, isn’t it? Try to goad him into irrational behavior now that he’s off his dampeners.
I want to pull him away, but it’s too late.
Business partners and council members hover around us, trying to catch an earful of what’s unfolding.
Lily slides her arm through Ben’s brother’s own, and… Wow. I see it. I see exactly what she’s doing. The SKYN, the brother, the innuendo—she’s constructing a whole spectacle, and it lands with perfect precision. Ben finally sees it, too. His grip on his glass tightens, and I get nervous that it may shatter in his hand.
Council members are exchanging glances that may as well be flashing red warning lights. The ballroom grows heavier by the second, thick with murmurs just out of earshot, the clink of glasses, and the too-loud laughter that only ever happens when people are whispering things they shouldn’t.
I pull Ben aside, my heart pounding harder with each breath. “I think it’s go time,” I whisper, my voice tight.
He turns to me, eyes blazing, jaw locked like he’s holding back something ruinous. His gaze keeps cutting between Josh and Michael. He wants to punch through something. I can see it.
“Not right now, Fawl.” His voice is low and dangerous, barely restrained. The heat rolls off him, the tension wound tight in every muscle.
“Right now.” My voice comes out sharper than I mean, but I don’t care. The room is shifting—not in our favor. Every conversation he’s not in feels like it’s setting a trap. The ballroom’s turning into quicksand. “Ben, trust me.”
He exhales hard, fighting to stay in control. His eyes dart across the space, scanning for threats, seeing them everywhere—in whispers, in sidelong glances, in smirks and lifted glasses.
My pulse hammers. The air’s thick, and I feel the ground sliding out from under him. They’re trying to undo him in real time, piece by piece.
His gaze slides over to the diamond on my shoulder. He gets it. These people are rats, fleeing before the ship even starts to sink. I see it happening. I see it happeningnow.
Then a commotion breaks out near the front. While Ben and I are locked in this quiet tug-of-war by the door, the announcement slips in. I don’t hear the setup, but I hear the line that matters?—
Lily’s voice rings out across the crowd, eyes locked on me: “Michael and I are pleased to announce our marriage at the sector magistrate this afternoon.”
I see Ben stiffen, feel the moment land in his chest like a blow.
I give him space. It’s not easy, watching the world organize your downfall like a party.
