Page 65 of Gratification in Gluttony

Everyone went silent.

Toni and Gem made eye contact before swiftly looking away. Rusty was clutching his tail, glaring at the floor. Glyma and Quin had stepped closer to each other, clasping hands, as Willow hugged herself and shuddered. Zef appeared to have already dissociated, milky eyes glazed. Tad was the only one who was unaffected, standing there grinning like a fiend.

Jude and Liel exchanged confused looks as Oliver glared at each of his co-workers in turn. Then he leveled Gem with an intense stare.

“What happened, Gem?” he demanded.

Shaking his head, Gem pressed two hands to his mouth.

“Gem?” Oliver said.

A high-pitched whine scraped the Araknis’s throat. “It was just supposed to be a game.”

“Gem, no,” Toni warned.

“It was supposed to be fun,” Gem said.

“Not another word!” Rusty snarled.

“Maybe it’s time we talked about it,” Gem reasoned. “We’ve carried it long enough.”

“It’s too fresh,” Quin said, knuckle grazing Glyma’s cheek. “Some things are better left buried.”

“Not gonna lie, I kind of want to play the game now,” Jude said.

“No, he don’t,” Toni stepped in front of Jude, palms out should he have to defend him. “He’s just joking. He doesn’t know what he’s saying.” To Jude, Toni snapped, “You don’t know what you’re saying!”

“I’m curious now too,” Liel said.

“Then we should play,” Oliver said.

“But we can’t!” Gem cried. “We can’t, Ollie. We lost too much last time. Glyma and Quin got divorced for forty-eight hours, and it was the worst forty-eight hours of all of our lives.”

“Gem,” Rusty cautioned, mauve knuckles bleaching as he tightened his grip on his tail.

But Gem didn’t hear him. “Toni woke up naked in the forest with something questionable lodged inside him.”

Toni groaned. “Thank you for that reminder.”

“Willow joined a traveling circus, and we didn’t see her for three days. And Zef?” Gem pointed with numerous hands at the now-pale Mantodea. “They almost had sex.”

Wings buzzing in agitation, Zef covered their face in shame. “Do not speak of it. I cannot bear it.”

“And we still don’t know what happened to Fil.” Gem threw up his hands in defeat.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about Fil,” Toni said, and everyone nodded with varying,oh’sandyeah’s.

“He disappeared,” Gem said seriously. “We literally never saw him again. I’m pretty sure he died!”

“Gem!” Rusty warned.

But Gem was on a roll now. “I rode a bus for, like, five hours because I didn’t know where I was, and I was scared. And wesoldTad—like, legitimately sold her—to some very sleezy sailors.”

“That was a fun night,” Tad said with a chilling grin. “Those sailors were up for anything.”

Gem sucked in a breath. “And Rusty—”

“No!” Rusty cried at the same time Gem blurted, “Rusty got a tattoo!”

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