Page 206 of G.O.D.S Omnibus

“I don’t have any research on this drug besides what happened to Jolie, so you take it at your own risk,” Chester says, not even looking at Melinda. “Do you understand?”

Melinda nods, staring intently at the needle in his hand.

“I said, do you fucking understand?” Chester demands, not happy with her silent agreement.

“Y . . . yes,” she stutters. “I understand.”

“Good. Where do you want it?” he asks, holding the syringe up and squirting a little of the liquid from the tip of the needle.

She turns and pulls her shorts down, revealing an ass cheek. Chester raises a brow at me, and I shrug. “So he doesn’t see a bruise. He might ask questions if he notices.”

“Smart thinking,” I say, and Chester moves closer to stick her with the needle. From where I’m standing, it looks like he jabs her harder than necessary, but she doesn’t even flinch.

“Now what?” she asks, pulling her pants back up into place.

“Now, we wait. Petra made some sandwiches and set them up on the back patio for you. I’m going back to finish the serial killer documentary. Those assholes refused to pause it for me.” I laugh, and Chester pulls me into his body. “Do you think I can kill Davis and take his night?”

I smile against his lips. “No, but maybe you could convince him to let you join us.”

“Nah, he is too soft for my liking. I will just have to be more creative.”

With one last kiss, he slips back through the small door that Creed fixed after Laughn kicked it in, and he disappears.

I take Melinda through the house and out to the back patio. “How come you’re not staying in the other wing?”

“Honestly, I think they are paranoid I might get hurt. Or that a builder might look at me. Something stupid, but I humour them. The bunker isn’t as nice as yours, but it’s still big enough for all of us... just.”

“It must be nice to have all those boys fawning over you.”

“It has its moments,” I admit with a laugh.

“Those boys are obsessed with you,” Petra says, bringing out a plate of sandwiches. Melinda laughs, and Petra goes back inside and comes back with two glasses.

“Orange juice for you,” she says, placing one down in front of me. “A fake mimosa for you.”

“Why fake?” Melinda asks, picking up the wine flute.

“In case you have any side effects from the shot, you can pass it off as being drunk.”

Melinda nods.

“I will keep them coming in fast succession. Are you feeling okay?” Petra inquires.

“At the moment, I feel fine.”

“Good, let us know if anything changes.”

Melinda nods, but I turn to Petra. “They told you?”

“Yes. After those boys came back to life, I was mad. I have been there for them since they were children. I demanded they include me, unless they saw me as just a housekeeper.”

“What did they do?” Melinda asks.

“They sat me down and explained everything. What they don’t realise is I already knew. Annabella and Blake filled me in years ago. I’m family, and they wanted it to be my choice to stick around. I just decided to scare the boys a little.”

I chuckle. Good old Petra can give them a run for their money. I know Brennan is especially fond of her.

We spend the next couple of hours talking and getting to know each other. Melinda doesn’t have the same reaction I had to the injection, and I start to worry that maybe it hasn’t worked for her until she begins feeling nauseous. I text Chester, and he says we shouldn’t worry. But he will send a car to take her home. He had to give her a smaller dose since she isn’t genetically modified like I am, so her reaction may be different than mine, and he’d expected that. Nice of him to tell us—the asshole. He just sends back smiley face emojis.

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