Page 79 of Immersed
We died. We all died.
But here hewas, alive and unharmed in the storage closet Jasper found. The cases of water and energy barswereexactly where theyleft them. Even their makeshift chalk drawings on the concrete floor remained—the schematics compared to Dr. Faine’s notes, the areas theymapped, Jasper’s careful observations about the automated systems.
Things left in this room carry over.Whatever force controlled the loops, it preserved this space and everything in it.
Asherwasalready awake, sitting against the far wall with that alertness that never seemed to fade.
“Where are Jasper and Maddie?”Levi asked, looking around the small space.
“Not here,” Asher said mildly. “Interesting, huh?”
They’re not here.Which meant what—that theyspawned somewhere else in the building? That theywerestill alive, wandering the corridors without memory of what happened?
He pulled out Dr. Faine’s journal, flipping to the pages where he documented the safe room’s location. The noteswerestill there, written in his own handwriting. Everything from the previous loop carried over.
Turning to a fresh page, he began writing:
Spike trap?—corridor split, middle path. Three-way junction after running from surgical creature in atrium approach. AVOID.
He studied the schematics, trying to correlate their path with the systems Dr. Faine designed. The maze of corridors and the building’s shifting architecture made it impossible to pin down exact locations.
At least we know to avoid that area,he thought, making additional notes about the surgical amalgamation and its location near the atrium.
As he worked, he became aware of movement beside him as Asher settled beside him.
Too close.
Then he felt it—warm fingers settling on his leg, just above the knee. The touchwaslight, almost casual, but unmistakably possessive.
“Don’t!”Levi jerked away from the contact. He scrambled to put distance between them, his back hitting the concrete wall.“Don’t touch me.”
Asher’s expression flickered—disappointment mixed with something darker. The smile faded, replaced by a look thatwasalmost petulant.
“But wehada deal,”he said quietly, his voice carrying that confusion that somehow made everything worse.
“I said something in the heat of the moment,”Levi snapped, his heart racing.“I just wanted you to let me go so I could help Jasper and Maddie.”
“Going after Jasper and Maddie got us killed. Again.”
The casual dismissal of their deaths, of Jasper’s brutal murder, made rage flare in Levi’s chest.
“Besides, it’s not all that bad.”His mismatched eyes swept around the small room with obvious contentment.“We have this safe room all to ourselves. No monsters to interrupt us this time.”
Oh God.
“We don’t have time for this,”Levi said, pressing himself back against the wall like he could melt through it.“Jasper and Maddie are out there somewhere. We need to find them and figure out what happened—”
“We have all the time in the world,”Asher said.“We’re safe in here. No building trying to kill us, no creatures hunting us. So how about you make good on our deal?”
“Look, we can talk about this,”Levi said quickly,“Maybe we can work something else out, find another way to—”
“We made a deal.I’m trying my best to be extra good for you, Levi. I really like you, and I want you to like me too.” He moved closer still, his hand moving up Levi’s thigh.“I’ve never been one to not get what I want. And right now, what I want is for you to honor our agreement.”
Shit.
Levi’s mind raced, looking for some kind of leverage, some way to maintain control of the situation.
“Fine,”he said, his voice barely above a whisper.“I said you could touch me. But I didn’t specify how long.”
