Page 153 of Thorns of Malice

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Dax

The food is served, and we eat, making small talk throughout dinner, avoiding demons of the past. Then Ivy sets her fork down and turns toward me.

I set my own fork down and wipe my mouth, then put my napkin on the table. I put my hand on her leg, grazing my thumb across her thigh, asking, "Something on your mind, baby girl?"

She stares at me momentarily, then questions, "Do you really want me to take CogniShift?"

My pulse creeps up. I nod decisively. "Yes."

"You think it will work? That it'll stop things from getting worse?"

I assure her, "I do. If administered correctly, it has a 99.8% chance of stopping the progression."

She mutters, "With my luck, I'd probably be in the 0.02% who it didn't help."

"Don't say that."

She sighs.

"I know it will help."

She blurts out, "But you don't think I should just take NeuroZap?"

I break in a sweat. I ask, "You read the research I sent you, correct?"

She nods. "Yes."

"Okay. Do you think the risk is worth that right now?"

She bites on her lip. I continue to caress her inner thigh, and she looks away.

"Talk to me, gorgeous."

She glances back. "Dax, you don't know what this is like living as an addict."

Guilt assails me. I didn't lace her drinks. That's on Bobby and Avery. But she never would have been in a room with them had I kept her away from them.

She adds, "Isn't it worth the risk? I mean, I'm tired of struggling with this."

"Ivy, do you want to take the risk that you'd never want to have sex again?" I question, unable to fathom that anybody would want to choose that. Then again, I don't live with her addiction.

She shrugs. "I don't know."

I see how much she's grappled with this.

"I think the risk is too big to take," I state.

"I don't know. It says it's a 20% chance, which means there's an 80% chance I won't have the side effect."

"Twenty percent is a high chance, baby girl."

"Is it?"

I arch my eyebrows. "You think you'll be in the 0.02% of cases where CogniShift doesn't work, but you're willing to risk a 20% chance with NeuroZap?"

"When you put it like that..." She bites on her lip, cringing.

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