Page 80 of Gift from the Nexus

We have to get to the lab and don’t have time to fulfill that naughty little request of mine.

Aside from Corentin’s and my mind-blowing bonding, the guys have been extra respectful, extra sensitive with me. Showering me with gentle kisses, sweet words, and intentional but not sexual touches. As endearing as it is, it’s also teasing. It makes me crave them even more.

This is what got Oakly and caused her back-to-back bonding. The cherished, unconditional love they’re throwing my way causes more than just my love and devotion for them to grow. It has my sex drive in overtime, and I want them bending me over around every corner.

Fucking me senseless.

“Will, please stop.” Tillman groans.

“What’s she doing?” Draken asks, taking my hand in his as we walk out of the breakfast room.

“Nothing,” Tillman responds, knowing good and well if I say the word to Draken, I’ll get exactly what I want.

“Getting lost in my thoughts. Nothing to worry about. Is everyone else already at the lab?” I ask.

“Yeah. Jamie’s already messaged, asking when we’d be there, and Gaster’s transporting there now,” Corentin answers as we make it to the back lawn.

I’m excited to see what Jamie and Nikoli have come up with. I did ask Corentin if I could watch Nikoli try the batch of Bane of Essence I’d given him, simply to sate my curiosity, but heinformed me Nikoli has to ground himself in the earth and have unwavering concentration when trying ingredients he’s never actually consumed before. So we’d be nothing but a distraction for him and that was the last thing I wanted to do.

It apparently took him three of the vials to identify all the necessary ingredients to make it, so we only have two left over now if something were to go wrong.

“Good morning,” Oakly cheers as soon as we step out of the transport and into the lab. In seconds, I’m wrapped up in a hug from her, then make my way right to Gaster. As the guys all greet each other, I smile as the space shirks tremendously.

My oh my, how my family has gotten bigger. So much bigger.

The lab is a decent size, don’t get me wrong, but it’s equipped for just Jamie and an assistant if he wants or needs one. Right in the middle of the room is his personal workstation, like a kitchen island, that’s covered in his most important work. There are long stations across the walls that form the shape of an L and across their surfaces are a multitude of things. Artifacts, vials, bones, herbs, you name it, and in the corner sits his latest and apparently greatest project. The Gift Data system.

It’s a large, shimmering, translucent box that holds what must be hundreds of vials of blood. The red flows freely in single file lines, mixing and matching with an enchantment that’s already established the DNA sequences of confirmed gifts. If a match or one close enough is found, a parchment emerges from the bottom like a printer.

When I tried to make that comparison to Jamie and explained what a printer is, he looked at me like I had two heads. It was the same look Oakly and I gave him when he tried his best to explain, as simply as possible, how this whole system works. I still don’t understand, to be honest. That’s way above my comprehension.

As Draken tries to maneuver around Caspian to get to Nikoli, he bumps into Jamie’s bench, nearly knocking over a beaker of something, and Jamie shoots him a withering look as he catches the sloshing solution. These eight massive men, walking around, shaking each other’s hands, bumping into one another, is not what this lab was built for, and I can’t help but laugh.

“Take a seat, guys, before you break something and Oakly and Willow start their cruel jokes,” Jamie says teasingly, shooing my guys away from his space.

“Okay, get to it. I’m so excited,” I say enthusiastically as Tillman tugs me into his lap to share his seat.

“I was able to identify the five main ingredients and San has a pretty good idea of where four of them could be found and the process in which to brew the tonics,” Nikoli says, clapping and rubbing his hands together before picking up a piece of parchment.

Clearing his voice dramatically, causing me, Oakly, and Draken to snicker while the others give him looks of ‘hurry the hell up,’ he continues, “First up on our list is the crimson root.”

“The crimson root’s appearance isn’t like most roots where it’s brown on the outside with a bark-like texture. Its root is black and smooth on the surface. Instead of the flesh being white, it’s crimson, hence the name, and bleeds red when cut open,” San explains.

Ah, I see. Nikoli announces, San describes.

Taste tester and library. Got it.

Behind me, Tillman rumbles with silent laughter. It’s at my mental clarification and I roll my eyes at his nosiness. This is why he randomly walks around concealing a hard-on because he doesn’t stay out of my head.

“Little warrior,” he warns.

Squirming in his lap as he grips my hip, chuckling, I ask, “Where do we think the crimson root is?”

“Pyrathia…on Pyra,” San says.

“On her? What does that mean?” I ask, shocked. How in the realm are there roots on a volcano?

“Every couple of centuries, millennia possibly, the crimson trees bloom out of the volcanic rock around Pyra. They’re not large trees, but their roots burrow deep. A way of adapting for when Pyra explodes, the trees are wiped out, but the roots remain. Blossoming again with time. This is all supposed since none of us, most of us, haven’t been alive to witness it,” he says, and we all, as one, whip our heads to Gaster.

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