Book of the Damned: A-E5L1-01-00: (A reverse harem, post-pandemic, slow-burn romance) (The JAK2 Cycle, Book 2)

by V. E. S. Pullen

  “In my defense,” I said out of the corner of my mouth, “I only rated your ass that day, and I’m only tangentially an ass girl… your score would’ve been much higher if you’d been shirtless.”

  “Could you understand anything she just said?” Luka scowled at me. “I think she called us asses.”

  “NO!” I cried out, trying to sit up but not moving even a little. “No, I didn’t! I said I’m not an ass-girl and Sev’s score would’ve been higher if he’d been shirtless.”

  “Liar!” Luka hissed. “You said you were only tangentially an ass girl, not that you weren’t one at all!” And then he was laughing at me, the whole bed shaking, and he collapsed down on top of me like a monster truck with a flat tire, burying his head in my belly with his butt sticking up in the air, muttering tangentially and ass-girl in between cackles.

  “Not an ass girl…” Sev scoffed, and I realized I’d been staring at Luka’s.

  “But it’s just— it’s just there, shoved up in the air! How can I not look?!”

  “I have a five star ass, you just like my brother more than me,” Sev pouted, hurt.

  “No, Sev! No, not at all!” I cried, trying to twist toward him, but Luka still had my hands pinned down underneath him, and he was nuzzling my belly like a pig digging for truffles, and I don’t know what the fuck was going on but I hurt Sev’s feelings! “I like you both the same!” He scoffed at me, releasing my head and looking away. “Sev. Sev!” Luka had managed to get my shirt up, and was making raspberries on my belly, and I wanted to laugh, but Sev was pulling away. “Sev! I fucking love you!” I shouted, wanting him to understand.

  Everyone froze.

  Sev froze, blinking.

  Luka froze, his head under my shirt and mouth on my skin.

  I froze, every muscle tensing.

  Luka peeked up from the hem of my shirt. “And you like us both the same?” he asked slowly.

  I clamped my mouth shut, closed my eyes, and nodded.

  He climbed off me. Sev had already let me go. I was alone on the bed, wanting to crawl into a hole, then the bed moved again, and bodies landed on either side of me.

  “Open your eyes, Azzie,” Sev whispered in my ear, nuzzling it.

  “Open them,” Luka agreed from the other side, brushing the hair off my face, tracing a finger along my brow.

  I shook my head.

  “How will you know who’s kissing you if you don’t look?” Sev asked, and my stomach went over a rollercoaster hill, flew up on a swing and then dropped, did a thousand things that felt less like butterflies and more like I had a murder of crows taking flight inside me.

  “I kissed Sasha—” I blurted out, just in case that changed things.

  “Good,” Sev murmured, tucking his face in my neck. “But now we’ll have to wait… don’t want to overshadow our brother.”

  “Of course you kissed him,” Luka agreed, running his finger down the slope of my nose. “Boop!”

  “You keep booping my nose,” I grumbled, not really minding one bit.

  “You have a boopable...nose.”

  I blushed.

  “She sure does,” Sev agreed, wiggling his body even closer against mine, but my arm was now kind of smushed up against me, and then Luka was too, and both arms were folded up, squishing my boobs as I tried to find some position so I wasn’t jabbing them with elbows as both of them pushed up against me from tip to toe.

  “Here,” Luka said, and guided my arms up and over my head, clasping my hands around the bars of the headboard. “Don’t let go or you’ll be in trouble.”

  “Open your eyes, Azzie,” Sev crooned in my ear, running a warm, rough palm over my bare belly. I shivered.

  “Can I tell you a secret?” Luka asked, tracing my cheekbone around to my jaw, the sensations even more powerful with my eyes closed. I nodded. “I love you too.”

  “That’s not a secret,” Sev scoffed at him.

  “What about you?” Luka challenged him.

  “I told her days ago,” he sounded smug. “But she didn’t say it back until now.”

  “Under duress,” Luka agreed, and I could just tell he was shaking his head. “I bet it’s not even true, she just didn’t want you upset.”

  “It’s true,” I whispered, feeling broken.

  “You make it sound like a bad thing,” Luka said in a small voice.

  “I can’t—”

  “Bullshit,” Sev spat out. “Not this again.”

  “You don’t know—”

  “Then explain it to us,” Luka said reasonably.

  I shook my head, eyes still squeezed shut, trying to fight it off. The inevitable.

  “Tell us.”

  “Azzie—”

  “I’m getting sicker!” I blurted out, my voice breaking.

  Everyone froze.

  “Explain.”

  “I was doing okay, then about eighteen months ago, I started getting sicker. Now I feel awful all the time. I think— I think my disease is getting worse.”

  Sev sucked in a breath. “That’s why—?”

  I nodded.

  “What do you think you have? How long?” Luka asked, his voice thick like he had to force it out.

  “Few more years, if I’m lucky,” I whispered.

  “Open your eyes, Azzie,” Sev whispered, and this time I did. They both looked crushed.

  “I think it’s why Mouse didn’t tell me what they were doing with the vaccine, she knew I’d want to leave, and she wouldn’t want me to.”

  “Should you stay?” Luka demanded, looking at his brother.

  I shook my head. “I can’t, not now. Not knowing what I do, and you— you need to be safe.”

  “Don’t worry about us,” Sev said absently, still locking eyes with Luka.

  “That’s like telling me not to breathe,” I said under my breath, but they both heard me.

  “Tai said there are treatments—?”

  “I need to be able to produce the vaccine,” I said firmly. “That’s non-negotiable.”

  “But if the treatments get you stabilized, then you could restart the vaccines.”

  “But if it doesn’t, I would’ve wasted all that time.”

  “Azzie!”

  “Non-negotiable,” I said, closing my eyes again. I couldn’t stand to see the pain any longer.

  “Azzie, I don’t care.” My eyes popped open, ready to argue with Sev about what non-negotiable means, then I realized that wasn’t what he was talking about. “I don’t care if I have two days or two years. I want to spend all the time I can get with you.”

  “I agree with my brother, and I feel confident I can speak for Sasha too.”

  “Do Tai and Spider know?”

  I shook my head. “I haven’t told them. Not sure if Tai has figured it out, but probably not. He didn’t know me before.”

  Luka buried his face in my neck — now I had one on each side — and whispered, “It won’t matter to them either.”

  We stayed like that for a long time before I told them I had to go home. Luka gave me a ride, holding my hand in between shifting, and I kissed his cheek before climbing out of the truck and going inside.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Tai

  I always got to the lab early, even though Mouse wasn’t there to call me “lazybones” if I wasn’t walking through the door at the crack of dawn. I still wanted to be there, just in case.

  Just in case Azzie came in early.

  Just in case someone came by looking for Mouse and gave me some clue about where she was or what might have happened to her.

  It didn’t matter, I wanted to be there just in case something happened. And despite walking through the door a little after 6:30 am, there was already someone there.

  It was an older man, with hair more gray than brown, wearing stylish square-framed glasses that gave him a European look. He had on a shirt and tie, a starched white lab coat with razor-sharp creases along the sleeves, pressed slacks, and shiny dress shoes. He stood in
the middle of the room toying with an expensive pen, looking around the space assessing it as if measuring the windows for new drapes.

  “May I help you?” I asked stiffly, setting down my messenger bag and removing my jacket, hanging it in the narrow cabinet behind Mouse’s desk.

  “Taiowa Chandler?” he asked, his voice emotionless. I mean, absolutely devoid of emotion, less human sounding than Alexa. And he pronounced it tie-o-wah.

  “Tee-oh-wah,” I responded coldly. “Yes. May I help you?”

  He stepped forward, extending his hand, a gesture that had gone out of fashion in the last four years. I hesitated and he nodded as if reminding himself this was no longer appropriate. “My name is Colin McNamara. I’m Azrael’s doctor.”

  She knew, I thought to myself, remembering the conversation we had about today’s blood draw. She knew exactly what would happen. And this was the man running the base.

  “It’s nice to meet you. Azzie is a good patient, an… interesting girl.”

  The corner of his mouth twitched. “I certainly hope she’s more than that, or you’ll never get through phase two.” He didn’t say it in a creepy fashion, despite the fact that he was referring to an adult male impregnating a teen girl; he said it as though it was a criticism.

  I rested against the edge of the lab table and crossed my arms. “I don’t know who knows what,” I said flatly.

  “I know everything.”

  It was a message. It was a warning shot across the bow. It was also utter bullshit.

  It was a powerful man attempting to intimidate the lowly lab tech, one who was already at a disadvantage of information and place, and it was as subtle as the girls attempting to bully Azzie in the cafeteria. What it wasn’t, was true. Because regardless of what this man thought, he was three steps behind Azzie.

  I nodded. “Good to know. Man to man, you should know that the nature of the study is troublesome to my brother and I. She’s— she’s very young.”

  “I’m sure you’ll find a way to overlook the age discrepancy, given the incentive,” he said, with a telling lack of empathy; this man was who forgets she’s human. I should’ve listened to Azzie— I should’ve let her finish her instructions; I was at a complete loss at how to respond to him.

  “Yes, I suppose that’s true.” I looked down at my feet, hoping he read it as discomfort and intimidation, and not disgust or censure. I’m not a hypocrite, not really — the idea of the study was troubling, but the reality? Azzie was… well, it wasn’t troubling at all. “Any advice then?” I asked wryly.

  He looked down his nose at me, and I realized too late what that sounded like, but better he thinks I’m a crude soldier who believes all men enjoy them barely legal, than someone with brains and a conscience, asking wooing advice from someone who has known her for years. Luckily he ignored my question.

  “The blood draw was low yesterday.”

  “She’s recovering from being ill, and I didn’t want to overtax her system.”

  “She is not at risk. Draw the full amount today, if not more.”

  “Sir—”

  “As her doctor,” he interrupted, speaking over me but still in that same neutral tone, “I am ordering you to take at least 473 mLs, if not more.”

  I nodded again, unwilling to give him anything more than I already had.

  The door swung open and Azzie looked up from fiddling with her phone, stripping her earphones off as she eyed McNamara.

  “Dr. Mac,” she said coldly. “I’ve called you a hundred times—”

  “You called twice.”

  “—and emailed you a thousand—”

  “You also emailed twice.”

  “—and your stupid assistant—” her voice was rising now.

  “Miss Chaney is hardly stupid.”

  “—wouldn’t give me a meeting!” That was a full-on yell.

  “I’ve been busy.”

  “Where is she?”

  “Miss Chaney is in her office, I believe.”

  “YOU KNOW WHO I MEAN!”

  “I’m sorry, Azzie,” he said, not looking sorry at all. In fact, he looked...disapproving, and somehow pleased. “If you’re referring to Miss Stone, I’m afraid I have bad news.” He paused, intentionally. She staggered forward and landed on her knees, and he made no attempt to catch her or offer any comfort. I straightened, intending to help her, and he held up a hand at me, freezing me in place. Azzie was sobbing on the floor and he stood over her, enjoying every second of it. “When you purposefully infected yourself with JANUS-27, without seeking medical advice or even informing anyone of your intentions until after the damage was done, I notified Miss Stone immediately, that night. She was distraught. She was in hysterics, to a degree only Miss Stone could accomplish, going on about having to be with you just like last time. Before anyone could stop her, not realizing the depth of her despair, she entered your isolation room, unprotected, not only putting herself at risk but putting you at risk for secondary infections. Unfortunately she contracted JANUS-27 before we could have her removed from the room, and before you had developed the antibodies that might have saved her. Within a few days, she succumbed to the virus.”

  Azzie’s sobs were so raw and agonizing that it hurt me to hear them, but that asshole only flared his nostrils and held his hand up, stopping me from intervening. He let her cry for several minutes, alone and suffering, before she began to calm herself by hugging her arms around her midsection and rocking in place. Her attempts at self-soothing were heartbreaking, and I believe I learned more about why Azzie is as distant and distrustful as she is in these few minutes than I could learn in years otherwise.

  Finally, she looked up at him, face swollen, wet, and reddened from tears, and asked, “That’s what she said? She said just like last time?”

  “Yes,” he said imperiously. “Your actions have consequences, Aesli. In this case, the consequences were fatal. I hope you’ve learned from this so Miss Stone’s death was not in vain.”

  She crumpled over again, sobbing, and he finally looked over at me. “Please help her get control of herself. I’ll be back shortly for the blood draw.” He sniffed, stepping around Azzie, and exiting the room.

  As the door swung closed, I lunged forward to reach Azzie when her head shot up and she looked around.

  “He’s gone? Good. Okay,” she said, wiping her face off. “We have about fifteen minutes before he’s back. You gotta help me.”

  I stared at her, bewildered. “That was— you were faking it?”

  She stared right back at me, shaking her head. “No, Tai, not exactly. I was a little more dramatic than necessary, but I’m quite upset to learn just how gullible I’ve been all these years. That motherfucker has been lying to me, and he just flat-out lied about Mouse. I still don’t know if she’s alive, but I’m no longer sure she’s dead. Just like last time, my ass. Mouse didn’t get near me without a full hazmat suit until she was vaccinated. There’s no time for this, okay? I need your help!”

  She scrambled to her feet, grimacing as her knee’s popped, and darted over to the storeroom. I followed her, and she flipped on the light and pointed up at a large, dusty box on the top shelf labeled “nitrile gloves, XXL.”

  “Can you reach that or do we need a stool?” I easily reached up and pulled the box down, and she smiled, wiping her eyes again. She tore past the packing tape loosely securing the top, and dug into it. “I hope this is the right one— YES!” She started pulling out package after package of the aliquot tubes used in the vax guns, there must have been thousands of those tiny little tubes manufactured specifically for the AESLI vaccine. Underneath the stash of tubes, at the very bottom of the box, was a vax gun.

  “Now all we need are barcodes,” I said sardonically. Those were guarded even more carefully than the tubes, since the combination of the two with a vax gun would produce the marks on your arm that declared you vaccinated with a registration number: legal to interact in public places, to congregate in groups openly, to use publi
c transportation, and to work a job that has dealings with others. Sure, people still did that stuff anyway, but they could be ticketed, fined, even arrested for it if a cop or soldier wanted to.

  She grinned at me. “Can you put that back up on the shelf?” I nodded, watching her through the corner of my eye as I replaced the box and closed the storage room back up. She was over at Mouse’s filing cabinet, flipping through the files. “Ah yes, filed under Barney Kode — that’s with a K.” She pulled out a stack of thick, rubbery sheets of self-adhesive stickers, the tiny, circular labels imprinted with the data-matrix barcode the gun would read off the vial and imprint onto the recipient’s skin, storing the barcode data with the patient’s registration and uploading it all to the centralized database.

  “Holy. Shit. Seriously?” I breathed out, and she nodded.

  “This was why I had to come in today, I couldn’t leave this behind.”

  “How—?”

  “We had a plan, Tai. Mouse and me. We’ve been preparing for this,” she said that, but there was something off there. Later. I’d figure it out later.

  “What do I need to do?”

  “Put anything you want to take with you in your pockets because you’ll have to leave everything else. Get my phlebotomy stuff ready while I pack this away. When McNamara returns, be prepared for some dramatics, and follow my lead. We need to get down to the morgue.”

  I’d followed her earlier instructions and left the things I wanted to take in the Jeep, so I rushed to get everything set up as she emptied a few things out of her backpack — an empty box, a towel, things that made the bag look full on the way in so it wouldn’t be different on the way out. She tucked the dummy items into the file cabinet before re-locking it, then packed the gun, vials, and sheets of barcode stickers in her backpack. She had everything back in place and was in the chair, sobbing quietly but docile, by the time McNamara pushed through the door as if he owned the place. And I guess he did.

  “Very good,” he said, nodding at me. “Have you started the draw?”

  I shook my head. “I still need to run the hematocrit first.”

  “No need,” he said, approaching her. “Just withdraw the amount I requested and give her extra fluids.” It was like she wasn’t even in the room. I nodded, acting subservient. Once the bag of fluids was in place and halfway done, and he was clearly impatient to take the blood draw I was still prepping and leave, she finally spoke.