Chapter 24

When we finally made it downstairs, Ivan was walking a little oddly. I kissed him at the base of the stairs and sent him to go dress for the meeting.

I went out to the pool and found Yann and the angels swimming.

"I thought you two had school." I said.

They stopped swimming and looked at each other.

"There was a slight snag." Yann said. "Apparently, they were never actually admitted to the school."

"Slight snag?" That sounded like a major crisis to me.

"We have a call into the Austrian Consulate." Yann told me. "Someone's supposed to call us back. In the meantime, we thought it might be safer if the twins just stayed here until we figured out their status."

"We will work." Left Angel said. "We don't want to be a burden." Right Angel agreed.

"That's probably not a good idea." I did find myself wondering who's swim trunks they'd borrowed. "Not for long, at least." I glanced around. "Where are the other two?"

"Office. Are you going to bring Zane in?" Yann looked hopeful. "Juan said he's a good fit so far."

"Who's running this show, anyhow?" I chuckled. "Shouldn't you be mowing or weeding or something?"

"I'm babysitting." Yann gave me a coy look. "There were some wild animals in the house this morning. They frightened the children."

"That loud, huh?" Ivan was going to have to tone it down. Maybe I should gag him? "I'll right. I haven't made a decision about the new guy. Let me know when the consulate people call." I turned to go back into the house.

"Oh Boss?" Yann's voice was playful. "Ivan's birthday gift? The guys are giving me the same thing for my birthday next month."

I shook my head and went to what was now the office.

Juan and Sean were watching the Harem Game.

"What's this?" It didn't look like either of them was playing.

"Zane's game play." Sean said, moving aside so I could sit down. "His fourth time through."

"He's playing now?"

"Last night." Juan said. "Each time someone plays it, the game is saved so we can see how often they play and what choices they make."

"How many people are playing this?"

"Just Zane; he's the only one who has the address." Sean pointed out. "But he's a bloody perfect test! He's on level two and that's where it gets dead weird."

"How so?" I asked, trying not to snicker at how British he sounds when he gets excited.

"Well for a start, it lets you switch from Boss to harem. Roll it back, baby." Juan dutifully rewound the play. "See, I stole this from a zombie game, right, and just made a few cosmetic changes. In this area, you play a zombie and see how many victims you can create."

Zane's player was in front of two doors - one labeled 'boss' and the other 'harem'. Zane entered harem. Inside were men in all kinds of half dress. Narration began scrolling across the screen that I ignored.

"Give me the gist."

"Collect as many recharges as you can before the end of the round." Juan answered. "But if a member of the harem gets to you they can steal your load."

I nodded and watched Zane get busy. He blew eight party guests before a harem member fucked him. Then he did six and got fucked again.