Page 119 of Legacy of Chaos

“Wouldn’t kill you to call Crux more often. He misses you.”

The last thing Blade had said to him before the DART team evacuated from theSea Stormpopped into Stryke’s head. They hadn’t said proper goodbyes. Blade had bypassed Mace and Scotty as Stryke thanked them for their help, and then, halfway to the bird, he’d spun around and told Stryke to call Crux.

Blade was an asshole, but he wasn’t wrong. And Stryke could use a few minutes to get his head on straight.

He sent a missive, and a moment later, an image of Crux seated in a gaming chair with his VR glasses on popped into Stryke’s living room.

“Hi, Stryke!” Crux called out. “Just a second. I’m shooting demons.”

All around Crux, the room turned into a battle, explosions and lasers everywhere. Crux took out a couple of dire leeches, and then the image faded away. He took off his glasses and grinned.

“Hi!” he repeated.

“Hey. I see you’re playing the new game I sent.”

His blond head bobbed enthusiastically. “It’s awesome. I’ll beta test for StryTech’s gaming division any day.”

The gaming division was Stryke’s most recent acquisition after buying out an entertainment developer, and so far, he’d been pleased with the results. He hoped, after Crux finished with his software engineering degree, that he’d come work for Stryke to develop a game that would prepare humans to fight demons without them even knowing it. That goal was why he’d bought the company in the first place.

“Did you get the drone too?” he asked.

Crux slumped in his chair. “Mace took it away for a week.”

“Why?”

“I used it to spy on him through his bedroom window,” he muttered.

“You what?”

“I was just messing around,” Crux protested. “I wanted to use the projector to make him think there was a hellrat in bed with him. How was I supposed to know he had those two females in there?” He grimaced. “Gross. I know we’re supposed to likedoing all that stuff, but I don’t see how.” He made a disgusted sound. “I can’t unsee what I saw.”

Stryke forced himself not to laugh. Poor Crux. And he’d have paid money to see Mace’s reaction to a projected demonic rodent between his sheets. StryTech had worked hard to make the technology hyperrealistic.

“You’ll understand after you go through your transition,” he told Crux, struggling with every word to keep the amusement out of his voice.

“I don’t want to go through it,” Crux whined. “I asked uncle Eidolon if he can stop it.” He huffed. “For the record, he said no, and that it would be dangerous to try.”

That sounded like Eidolon, all right. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.”

Crux seemed unaffected by Stryke’s attempt to console him. “Masumi keeps coming to talk to me. She said it’s so I’ll feel comfortable with her when the time comes.” He looked around and lowered his voice, leaning in conspiratorially. “It’s not working. And why does she keep changing her appearance?”

This time, Stryke couldn’t contain the smile. He’d hit the jackpot when he found Masumi. She truly cared about his family.

“She’s monitoring your reactions to get an idea of your type,” he explained.

“My type?”

“Yeah. She wants to know what kind of female turns you on. Blond, redhead, dark skin, light skin, thin, curvy, fangs, claws, scales, fur…”

“What?”

“Wait until she starts testing your kinks.” Crux looked like he was ready to crawl into a hole, so Stryke dialed it back. “Hasn’t anyone talked to you about all this?”

“They’ve all tried,” Crux said miserably. “But I tell them that someone else already did it.”

Stryke wished he could reach out and hug his brother, but right now, the best he could do was offer advice and an ear. “Hey, listen. Do you want to talk about it?”

Crux shook his head.

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