Page 8 of Swamp Kings 2

He pulled her closer with his leg, letting go a single, tired sounding chuckle. “My first job is creating Handy’s new body, apparently.”

Her breath blasted. “Oh wow! That’s huge! Awholebody?What are you going to do, like give him special features? Well, duh, I’m sure you will, but like what kind? Who all knows about this? This is sudden, isn’t it? Is it because of Celeste?” She sucked in a breath. “It has to be that, at least partly because Kaphas wouldnotwant to share a wife. I’m sure Handy wouldn’t either, but then from what I’ve gathered, he can be somewhat of a troublemaker.”

“Did you have coffee before bed, Ma Petite,” he murmured, making her laugh.

“No, I’m just… don’t really get to talk to you much these days. I miss you,” she said softly, stroking his arm and kissing it again. “Is it too late to choose to be your right hand so I can be with you more?”

“Way-way-way too late,” he said, sounding suddenly wide awake.

She stifled a laugh. “That woke you up.”

“You’re my domestic goddess, please don’t ever change that.”

The terror just beyond the desperate beg in his voice clenched in her chest. “I won’t. I will always do what it takes to protect you. Which means protecting me and the baby, so you aren’t worried. See? I get it.”

“Thank fuck,” he sighed, back to exhausted. “You ready for your classes?”

“No!” she whispered. “And yes! Mostly yes. I’m just nervous. I’ve been back and forth on how to start it, what’s most important and then life keeps changing and making its new emergency demands but, in the end, I realize thatloveworks for every scenario, every problem and is the prime mover ineverysolution.”

“Fuck, I already love you more just hearing that,” he murmured, squishing her into his body. “You’re going to be amazing. I swear it.”

“Don’t forget you need to be ready to be my helper.”

“Helper?”

At hearing his worry she turned her head. “Just if I need you to demonstrate anything in regard to a husband and wife.”

“Like…?” he wondered.

“Don’t worry, you’re just gonna help with the practical demonstrations, but—okay, so first I start with the emotional stuff, because, that’s the key in the ignition to the physical. So, we’ll spend the first hour talking about emotional triggers—oh wait, before that, I’ll explain the whole ‘crisis’ thing, like, how stress makes people crazy and causes everyone to snap at each other and stuff. So, I go over recognizing emotions under pressure, and then I’ll have them do this thing where they just look at each other, no talking, juststaring, in a deep, connecting way, not creepy. AndthenI’m gonna get them to practice saying ‘I’m scared’ or ‘I’m stressed,’ which I know sounds super basic, but you’d beamazedhow many people just can’tsaythat stuff. So, they’ll share, and then boom, we move into triggers.Everyonehas them, especially in an apocalypse, so I’ll get them to write down their triggers—of course I’ll tell them how—then they’ll share them with each other—oh, and you’re not just standing there nodding and looking thoughtful and too sexy for my own good,” she laughed. “Like, I’ll explain howholding hands can calm people down when they’re freaking out, and you and I willdemonstrateit. I’ll show them how to hold hands the right way—firm but not too tight, you know? Just to keep grounded. And maybe I’ll throw in something about eye contact, and you’ll have the chance to tell me with your eyes how much you want to fuck me and are pissed that you can’t,” she giggled. “Oh, andthen, when we hit thesecond hour, that’s when you’ll…”

She angled her head and smiled at hearing his light snores. Poor baby. “And that’s when you’ll go to sleep,” she continued in careful whispers, “and I zip it so you get your desperately needed rest.” She kissed his arm tenderly as far as she could reach with her lips. “And I’ll sleep like the princess you’ve created out of me…” Her words snagged in her throat as tears welled. She shuddered out breaths, hugging his arm so very tight to her. “And I’ll wake up and be the best wife ever because you deserve only the very,very,bestof everything. And I know you don’t believe it,” she continued in a strained whisper, “but I love you way-way-way more and I’m saying it while you’re asleep so it gets inside your stubborn head and you know it’s true.” She smiled, blinking through tears. “Goodnight my beautiful, sweet Bishop.”

CHAPTER TWO

“I’m fine, I’mfuckingfine. I wouldn’tsayit if I didn’t know it was a fact!”

Kult glanced at Harlow then back at theirLegendaryQuantum cybertronic. “Listen.Brother,” he began, out of fucking patience with him. He pointed at Harlow next to him while holding Legend’s death stare. “Younearlykilledhim. Your owncreator.This second, you’re laser-beaming me into the wall with youreyeballs,and ever since you woke up, you sound like a low-life convict stuck in a temper tantrum.” He regarded Fetch, Fathom and Fin on his right. “Tell him we damn wellshouldbe second guessing every so-calledfactthat comes from his extra-terrifying humanoid mouth.”

“Listen to me!” Legend yelled, coming right up to the glass on thecontainment cell. “The neural parasites I inherited are corrupting my system fast, they’ve embedded themselves into my code and destabilized my neural pathways which has accelerated my human integration. It’s behaving like a virus, screwing with my core functions, and Celeste’s situation is even worse—her inherited backlash power isamplifyingthe corruption, making it unpredictable. We. Are running. Out of time,” he swore. “If we don’t get Handy out of Kaphas and isolate this fucking… parasite, it’ll spiral out of control. Andwhilewe’re standing here, those AIs we now know exist could be hijacking a lot more than weapons and grids. They’ll come for their biggest threat—us. This kind of technology in the wrong hands means our worst nightmares. They’ll get inside our heads, turn us on each other and make us commit heinous crimes against our own families while we’re stuck inside, helplesslywatchingit happen. They’ll strip away memories, make us forget who we are, and use us as tools for their own sick ends. So please!” he begged, hitting the glass with his fists. “Let me go so I can stop this. I swear to every God in every universe that whatever I might fuck upcannotbeworse than what issurelycoming.”

The room was suddenly utterly quite in the wake of that verbal shitstorm.

“Fuck,” Harlow muttered, shaking his lowered head. “He’s right.”

“He is,” Fetch, Fathom and Fin all three said in unison, sealing the dread in Kult’s bones.

Kult remembered. “What about the Bishop. We need to tell him, about this.”

“About what?” Quantum demanded.

“He’s taking the bat bite,” Harlow said.

“The what?” Quantum wondered, lost.

“Tell him,” Kult said to Harlow.

“You remember the marsh king that was attacked by bats and overdosed on serum that their alchemist made to try and leverage the bat saliva to his advantage.”

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