Page 79

Story: Darkness Echoes

“Exactly,” Finn agrees, offering his upper arm underneath the edge of Jay’s T-shirt. “Do you want to do the honors, or shall I?”

Gideon finishes with Finn and quickly checks the app to confirm it’s working. He shows them the screen, where a tiny blue dot marks their location and the bio-active app displays “Doc” at the top. It refreshes—and there’s Finn’s health data, clear as day.

“How convenient. Gimme.”

“No, Dr. Merritt. This is for me. Just for me,” Gideon taunts.

Gideon has forgotten that Finn is on the tail end of his most dominant rut ever, because Finn has the phone in one hand, the back of his neck in the other hand, and Finn’s teeth in the side of Gideon’s neck in under five seconds.

“Okay, okay. Me next,” Jay says, but still has to break them apart with his hands on their shoulders.

Jay’s info shows just as easily, his enigma calibrations showing slightly hotter and—surprisingly—a red flashing spot that signifies a literal pain in his ass.

“You okay, Jaybird?” Finn asks with a smirk.

Jay’s cheeks are pink. “Oh, fuck you.”

Rowan laughs. “Uh, I think it was the other way around.”

Jay charges Rowan and tickles him until the other enigma squeals.

“Do me before I change my mind,” Luca whispers. “I trust you, Sugar.”

He still flinches when Gideon does this one himself.

Grayson climbs off the couch to offer his own shoulder afterward. Finn loads the fourth syringe with the vial markedGP, and it pinches a little bit going in but is otherwise unnoticeable.

When Finn loads his bio info on the app, he gasps.

“Holy fuck, Gray.”

“What?” Jay leaves Rowan to recover from the tickling and the kissing.

“His temperature is over 104°F. Look! That’s the highest it’s been.”

Sure enough, the entire humanoid shape is lit up with red lights, his core even warmer.

“Are you feeling okay?” Jay puts a hand on Grayson’sforehead, and it’s blissfully cool against his heated skin.

“I’m good, but that feels great.”

It’s the truth—he feels really good.

“But you can check me over when we’re done here, okay?”

Jay backs off then, a tiny frown between his eyes.

Rowan goes next, then Gideon, and Finn has such a deft hand that it’s truly uneventful—if you can get past the idea and why.

“Nix?” Finn asks their omega, who has been sitting with Leo on the sectional.

Their beta has been so quiet that Grayson couldn’t begin to guess where their normally enthusiastic mate sits on the idea of microchips.

Nix squeezes Leo’s hand and joins Grayson near the counter, where he’s been watching the proceedings.

The wolf likes the idea of Nix getting this done even less than himself.

“I don’t want it, Finn. Like at all. My wolf is worked up like his ass is on fire. But…I don’t want to meet Carnell without my express consent and not having a plan in play. I trust you, and I trust Lauren.”