Book 18: Warning!

Alex

Bitter coffee scents the air as Toby slides two paper cups full of ink-colored liquid across the counter. I grab one while he pours a copious amount of sugar in his cup and wait for him to finish with the carafe of cream.

It’s Friday, and normally I’m in the lab, but today I needed to make myself available to sign for a supply delivery coming from Aurorium, and Toby took that as an opportunity to turn my down-time into an entire event.

We used to be roommates back when I lived in the dungeon-like dormitory beneath the ice. Unlike everyone else, I loved it down there–the darkness of it all. The shuddering pipes and crackling ice against feet of concrete felt like home, but when I was offered an apartment after I graduated with my master’s and planned to pursue a PhD, I took it, mostly because Toby begged for me to take it–and to take him with