Page 38 of Victoria's Embrace

A significant portion of that was spent on Snitch, who apparently had ridiculously complex genetics, but they managed to successfully single out what allowed him to go invisible and apply it to those who wanted it.

Victoria stared on in horrified fascination as first Snitch, then her guys, and the lupka all took their turns. It was like watching a train wreck: gruesome and nauseating, but she couldn’t pry her eyes off the new bodies as they came together in the tube to the right.

Once finished, they moved the original bodies into one of the stasis tubes lining the walls of the lab, which turned out to be one hell of a struggle when it came time to transfer the lupka. They were bigger than the tubes were made to hold, but Lilac assured her she could fabricate proper ones once they had control of the complex again.

Finally, it was her turn.

Blowing out a hard breath, she stepped into the left tube and gave her guys a thumbs up as the glass lowered. Supports came out to hold her just as a hissing sound came from near her feet a second before something cloying hit her nose.

She barely had time to grimace at the smell before darkness closed over her like a blanket, and she fell unconscious.

* * *

The first thingVictoria saw when she opened her eyes was her guys forming a wall between her and the rest of the room, trying to shield her nudity.

She felt… disconnected. When she tried to move to lift herself off the metal supporting arms holding her up, there was a delay between the thought and the action which was disconcerting, to say the least.

That delay got shorter the more she tried to move, thankfully, but the entirely unwelcome sensation that her body was just a skin suit for her brain was damned unnerving.

Once she finally managed to make her new body cooperate and stepped out of the machine, she leaned heavily on Thegan while Thorn sprayed her with a little tube that held some kind of high tech liquid material that stitched itself into clothing.

Trying to bite back a moan at the feeling of the material knitting together against her skin, she choked out, “Oh, she was not kidding about the heightened sensitivity.”

Thorn paused in his spraying to give her a hungry look while Thegan and Vi’kail both chuckled lowly.

Dressed now in a matte black bodysuit that made her look a hell of a lot more badass than she felt, she stepped out of the way so Vi’kail could carry her old body to a stasis tube. Watching herself lie limp in his arms was surreal, but seeing the way he carried her with such care stole her attention. He arranged her on the supporting arms gently, brushing her hair off her face and adjusting her clothes. The soft, reverent look on his face made her feel warm and loved and utterly cared for.

When he turned and caught her watching him, his olive cheeks darkened to a deeper green, making her smile.

“You love me,” she whispered teasingly.

“You’re just now figurin’ that out?” He shook his head and sighed with feigned weariness as he stepped closer. Smirking, he bent until they were almost nose to nose. “I suppose I’ll just have to try harder to show my devotion.”

Before she could come up with a quip, he slid a hand down her hip, grazed his fingertips over her inner thigh, and nipped her ear. The breath exploded out of her on a moan. Slapping a hand over her mouth, she gave him wide, censorious eyes.

He just grinned wickedly, the dirty tease, and dipped down for a quick kiss, dancing away again before she could swat him.

Chapter 24

Victoria locked the lab using every security measure she could apply so it would only open with her biometrics, authorization code, confirmation key, and voice then ran with her guys to the elevator.

It was the best she could do. She just had to hope it would stop Salesh from getting in, because they couldn’t take the stasis tubes with them.

She’d asked, but there wasn’t a power source in the dungeon to support them. She’d considered asking for a volunteer to stay and guard, but she foolishly hadn’t thought to bring any food or water, and there wasn’t any in the room.

* * *

The exhaustion Cloudhad warned them would come after their first time being cloned was beginning to set in as she stepped off the elevator and into the hallway that led to the main cavern of the dungeon.

Erlain met her there and chirped, “You did not die. Happily said! That is good. I have arranged a surprise for you. Follow me.”

Glancing at her guys, intending to give them an excited look, it shifted to suspicion when she caught the knowing gleam in their eyes. She knew instantly they were in on whatever surprise Erlain had arranged for her.

Curious, but content to wait and see what they’d set up, she followed behind the tiny man as he led her through the cavern to a tunnel opening in the sidewall.

Looking back over her shoulder just before she went in, she saw her guys were no longer behind her. Considering Thegan had commented on the demanding growl of her stomach in the elevator on the way down, she assumed they’d gone to find food and continued following Erlain down the rough stone passageway, lit by small glowlights littering the floor in regular intervals.

After a longer walk than she anticipated, or particularly wanted to make considering how tired she felt, they turned and went down a steep decline and into a magical, underground oasis.

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