Page 8 of Habibi: Always and Forever

THE TECH LAB

From Office Jinx–Hexcuses

The human world changed a long, long time ago.

It happened so subtly that no one really knew what had happened — well, almost no one.

But they dismissed his account as the foolish writings of an overexcited teenager.

Who was this teenager? His name was Pliny the Younger.

He was writing the account witnessed by his unimaginably named uncle… wait for it. Pliny, the Elder.

Now this is a deathbed account, so you can see how some aspects of it were–dismissed as fanciful.

Pliny the older one, wasn’t a young man when he saw what he did.

He had nothing to gain in adding to his account.

Only his nephew now had something to lose.

But I have strayed from my explanation. So, let me quickly sum it up for you.

In 79AD, yes, that long ago. There was a volcanic eruption near Naples, Italy.

Yes, that one, the one that rained down so much ash and pumice that it buried two towns and destroyed many others.

Well, what was not written by Pliny the Younger was that it was not only ash and lava that flowed from Vesuvius.

A fissure had opened up in the mountainside, and a race of ‘Others’ found their way into the human world.

In all the confusion, they were mistaken for being the fleeing townsfolk, and were freely welcomed in the surrounding villages.

It wasn’t long after that the villagers noticed the newcomers were different.

Pliny described them as having un-natural features that revealed themselves in the moonlight, with eyes that turned the same fire red as the mountain they’d sprung from.

These Versuvians, as they became known as, were almost all painfully beautiful.

They were much stronger and could move far faster.

Some showed signs that they had mastered the arcane arts.

Over time, two distinct groups emerged. The ones that were seen at night, and those seen by day.

And the villages soon learned to fear the ‘Suvians’ who walked in the day, those of the light or - the Lucem.

For they were the bringers of war, treachery, and hardship.

The Tenebras, those of the darkness, kept mostly to themselves, living deep in the forests and rarely troubled the villagers.

Only venturing out once a month, on the night of the full moon.

Some Tenebras would wander the cities - while some said that if they turned towards the forest. They could hear howls carried on the wind.

INTRO

Eric blinked at the trio as if the lab had glitched.

There was no escape, not after Ryan had fried the door lock, electricity shooting from his fingers.

His pulse stuttered—Verity’s aura curled around the room like silk, but it wasn’t her scent that tangled in his gut.

No, it was musk and leather and that wolfish grin Jerry wore like armor.

Troll-shifters weren’t supposed to fall for werewolves. Not in any handbook Eric had read. But the way Jerry’s posture shifted — surprise, then confidence, then something else — it made Eric’s mouth go dry. Verity’s magic hummed in his blood, but Jerry’s smile anchored him.

He stepped toward the workstation, Jerry shadowing him, too close, too warm. When Jerry whispered into his ear and bit it — gods, the bite — Eric nearly short-circuited the servers with a moan. Trolls didn’t moan. But today? Today was weird.

* * *

1. TECH LAB: ERIC

I didn’t like being cornered. Not by magic.

Not by mystery. And definitely not by people looking at me like I was a problem to solve.

I had a fair idea of why they were here — the app.

The project that I’d been asked to work on off-the-books, by Curtis Jones, the CEO of Newton Industries.

I should have known that karma would want to come and kick me in the ass for creating it.

I just wasn’t expecting it in the form, or rather forms, of an Electro Mage, a Lycan, and a Succubus.

The petite red-haired succubus — Verity — was beautiful in a way that made your blood forget to pump properly.

Her personality, not so much. But it wasn’t her perfume that made my gut tingle.

It was the scent behind her, rougher, like musk and moonlight, and the sound of Jerry’s laugh, rich and amused like he’d cracked a private joke.

Closing my eyes for a moment, I willed my body not to react and instead forced my attention to the monitor — numbers I understood, systems I could bend. But Jerry was still there. Still too close. Leaning towards me, he acted as if he belonged in my orbit.

“You gonna help us out?” Jerry murmured. His voice had curled like heat at the back of my neck, and sent a shudder through me. “Or do I need to bite again?”

Fuuuuuuk. My fingers stalled over the keys. Bite again? Just the thought had my whole-body zinging, troll magic sparked under my skin — not defensive, but… responsive. Like how my pants were strangling my dick. That wasn’t supposed to happen.

Risking a glance upward. I noticed Jerry’s expression was cocky, almost feral. His eyes sparkled, but beneath it all? A flicker of nerves. Maybe even… curiosity. Did he feel something too? Or was it just my reaction to whatever it was that was happening here?

I swallowed hard as my senses reeled. This wasn’t me. I was supposed to be immune to glamor — I was supposed to be a tank, a wall, a brute with code. But right now, I was something softer. Hotter. Hungrier.

The app wasn’t the threat anymore. Jerry was.

I leaned back in my chair just enough to graze Jerry’s hip. Not an accident. Not a glitch. I just needed to be close to him.

“You want me to fix it?” I said in a low, gravelly voice. “Say please.”

* * *

2. THE TABLES TURN: JERRY

Sorry what? My brain was slow to turn over, like it was running on steam power. I blinked a few times as realization hit me. Did Eric just?—?

I’d teased enough people to know flirting when I saw it. Hell, I invented half the moves my crew used on full moon nights. But this? This wasn’t cute banter. This was molten lava — slow, hot, and just unescapable as any volcanic eruption, like Vesuvius hitting Pompeii.

“Please,” I forced the word from my lips, but it came out half-breath, half-growl.

Eric’s eyes flicked to me. Steady. Unreadable.

But his fingers danced over the keys like they weren’t attached to a man built for wrecking concrete.

That contradiction — that damn contradiction — clawed at my insides.

Trolls weren’t supposed to be sexy. They were blunt-force muscle.

Code monkeys with caffeine addictions and zero finesse.

Except Eric was finesse. Every keystroke. Every glance. Every quiet command. I couldn’t help it. I was drawn towards him; his scent, his magic, it all silently called to me. I leaned closer, just enough for my chest to brush Eric’s shoulder.

“So,” I murmured, my voice a notch lower, rougher, “is this a one-time thing… or are you going to make me beg again?” My heart was racing, like I was hunting, only I wasn’t sure if I was the hunter or the prey.

Eric’s lips curled — the barest twitch at the corner. That was it. That twitch undid me. What was happening to me? Normally, I was the charming, confident wolf who never stammered, never second-guessed. Suddenly, I wanted nothing but to flip the lab table and see how loud that troll could moan.

Verity, bless her wicked heart, giggled while Ryan tried desperately to blend into the background. But I wasn’t listening. Not to her, or my best friend. Not to anyone.

Eric looked up and murmured, “You already did.”

I couldn’t hold back any longer; my inner wolf damn near howled.

* * *

3. SPARKS FLY: ERIC

I knew what line of code I needed to change to deactivate the brain manipulation element of the app.

Having created a backdoor effectively a kill switch, all I needed to do was enable it.

I didn’t belong to the NI Mafia or follow the Lucem.

It was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Curtis Jones and his cronies had me at a disadvantage.

Not something I was used to. Much like now.

I knew heat. Every troll learns the ways of the forge, where metal sings under flame, but only if they listen.

Controlled chaos. That’s what coding was too.

Feed the right sequence, hold the structure, don’t let it spiral.

But Jerry? Jerry was spiraling; I could see it. Right into my lap.

The word “please” still echoed somewhere deep down in my bones, low, raw and needy.

Was he asking me to kill the app or pleading with me for something else?

I hoped it was the latter. Not just for show.

No pretense. Honest . That was the problem.

Jerry’s swagger used to amuse me. The way he glided around the building all dressed in black.

Now it hooked claws into the hollow places I kept sealed tight.

Again, Jerry brushed against me. His touch was light, teasing. Accidental. Intentional. It didn’t matter — it was enough to make my fingers stumble on the keys. Just once. Just enough.

Verity’s laughter rang somewhere behind me, but it sounded distant. Muted. Like wind outside a pressure chamber.

Twisting slowly in my seat, I turned around. Jerry hadn’t moved away. In fact, he was staring at me like he’d found something precious in a wreckage site. That look — reverent and sinful — made something inside me tilt that I thought had been bolted down for years.

“You already did.” The words slipped off my tongue like steel dipped in honey.

Jerry’s breath caught. He was too close. Or maybe not close enough. I could feel his body heat roll over my skin as his scent clouded my mind with want.