Page 1 of Stream Heat
CHAPTER ONE
Kara
"Eat shit and die, Maddox!" I slammed my mouse down, barely resisting the urge to throw it across the room as I landed the perfect headshot. The RGBs were set torage mode, bleeding violet and blood orange under my desk in three-second bursts making everything look almost like it was on fire. The whir of heat from my gaming PC and the slow-cycling skull LED were the only light in the room, making everything feel like a battleground.
I couldn’t help but smile as the kill cam replayed my flawless execution in glorious slow motion, Reid's character's head exploding in a satisfying burst of pixels. "That's what happens when you try to flank me, you predictable knot-head."
My chat erupted, emotes and messages scrolling so fast they blurred together:
QUEEN DESTROYS DIESEL
HOLY SHIT THAT SHOT
pack wrecked getting WRECKED
she's on FIRE today
I flashed a razor-sharp grin at my camera. "What's that, chat? You thought Pack Wrecked might actually win this round? Please. They're just Alpha posturing with mediocre aim."
Through my headset, I heard Theo's exaggerated groan. "Come on, Queen! Give us a chance to breathe at least!"
"Breathe on your own time," I fired back, already repositioning my character for the next engagement. "Tournament qualifiers wait for no one, especially not fragile Alpha egos."
The viewer count ticked up another thousand. Sixty-three thousand people watching me dismantle Pack Wrecked during this high-stakes qualifier. My sponsors would be ecstatic, the engagement metrics were already off the charts, and we weren't even halfway through.
Sponsor overlays popped across my screen:#NESTSYN SAYS HOT HANDS. ORDER NOW.Another garish flurry of sponsor art ran along the bottom third. Perfect timing. RazorTech would be ecstatic.
"Someone's extra spicy today," Reid's voice rumbled through my headset, that irritating Alpha confidence never wavering despite his team's impending loss. "Must be all that energy drink rotting your brain, Queen."
"At least I have a brain to rot," I shot back. "Unlike some egotistical thumbs I could mention."
Chat went ballistic.
DADDY ISSUES SPEEDRUN
BETA SLAYS
TOXIC KING
I clicked my tongue. "Honestly, Diesel, try again when you've evolved past your caveman phase."
He chuckled low, irritatingly calm. "Don't need evolution when I'm already better. I can handle anything you’ve got, Queen."
"Funny you should mention handling," I cooed, "I’ve yet to see you finish anything you start."
Theo cackled in my ear. Malik snorted. Even Jace's quiet static felt like laughter.
My moderators highlighted a donation message.
Quinn, how do you stay so focused during intense matches?
"Simple," I answered, landing another perfect shot on Jace's character. "I don't let distractions in. Not game distractions, not life distractions, and especially not Alpha distractions. Sorry, boys."
The truth was a bit more complicated than that, but no one needed to know about the small pill container disguised as a vitamin case sitting just out of camera view. I'd been feeling off all morning, headache, slight temperature, irritability worse than usual. My headset bit into the space behind my ear where the cartilage had never healed and sweat was pooling behind my knees. Nothing I couldn't push through, but enough to warrant an extra dose of my "supplements."
"Speaking of distractions," I continued, using Reid’s gamertag instead of his name, "Diesel's busy flexing for his camera instead of watching his six."
Reid's laugh was low and infuriating. "Don't need to watch my six when I'm coming straight for your throat, Queen."
