I braced my spine. “Does it piss you off that I’m still fundamentally myself?”
He paused before nodding brusquely. “Actually, yes. I’m fucked off you’re still the same—even after…” He cleared his throat. “Even after being fucked within an inch of your life last night in a dimension that wasn’t real.”
“Why does that annoy you? Why aren’t you happy that I’m strong enough to withstand whatever nightmares you throw my way?”
“Because I don’t like what you make me—” He cut himself off, his hands balling on the table. “We’re off topic. You wanted to know about Euphoria.” He glanced at his naked wrist, waving it as if an expensive Rolex winked there. “Time is ticking, Jinx. I’ve overstayed my welcome as it is, and I have work to do, guests to welcome, goddesses to prepare. You get three questions about how my VR works, and that’s it.” He grabbed a handful of grapes, popping one into his mouth and chewing slowly, his eyes never leaving mine. “Go ahead. Ask.”
I did my best to keep my attention away from his lips and throat as he swallowed. “Only three?”
He nodded regally.
“Fine.” Tapping my mouth with a finger, I deliberated. Doing my best to incorporate as much into one question as I could. I wouldn’t fall for his tricks. I refused to walk away from this strange, impromptu luncheon without knowing everything I could.
Information was key. And I needed all the keys I could earn to escape.
As he waited patiently, Pika fell asleep on his shoulder, his little head bobbing with tiredness.
Leaning forward, I ignored the way Sully’s gaze latched onto my cleavage as I placed my arms on the table, pushing my breasts together. His jaw flexed, his naked chest rose with a harsh breath, highlighting muscles that made my mouth water.
My stomach reacted to him, coiling itself with barbwire, pinpricking with pain.
Stop it!
My voice cracked as I asked, “You called it VR…VR as in virtual reality?”
One question wasted.
Dammit.
He steepled his fingers, elbows digging into the armrests of his chair. “Precisely.”
“And everything you put on me…the oil, lenses, earbuds, the stuff under my nose, the mouthwash, the pads on my fingertips. Is that how the illusion felt so real?”
“It was.”
“How?” I held up my hand before he could answer my final question with a generic reply, adding a caveat. “I want an in-depth explanation, not just a quick, mysterious hint. I want to know exactly what each element did.”
It was his turn to lean forward. Pushing his chair away from the table, he moved it to face mine, clasping his hands between his legs. “Normally, I let the goddess figure it out. But…I did say you could ask, so pay attention because I’ll only divulge this once.”
I stopped breathing, way too aware of how close he was, how powerful, how ruthless. Voltage sparked from his body to mine, crackling with invisible lightning bolts.
“Virtual reality only works if your senses are consumed. Gamers use headsets that see three-hundred-and-sixty degrees, so no matter which way you look, you only see the world you’re immersed in. Your brain accepts the imagery as gospel. You can run in an empty field but slam into a wall in a tiny room. Once you feel the walls instead of grass, the illusion is shattered and the brain boycotts the deception, dumping you firmly back into reality.” He shrugged. “I don’t let that happen. I don’t allow any instances where the hallucination can be broken.”
Taking my hand, we both jerked as our skin burst apart with fire. The heat and burn were so intense, I couldn’t understand how our flesh remained uncharred and flames didn’t crawl up our arms.
Clearing his throat, he stroked my fingertips with his. “If you touch a wall in reality, with the sensors on your fingers, you touch grass from the field. If you smell, with my serum under your nose, you only scent sweet earth and spring growth. If you feel, thanks to my oil, you only feel the soft blades upon your skin and the breeze within your hair. Your taste buds taste the fallacy. Your ears hear the delusion. Your body may remain in a blank room, and harnesses might keep you from straying, but none of that exists to your brain. You don’t feel the bare tile beneath your feet if I’ve coded a cave to be lined with fur. You don’t hear the voices of the people around you if you’re listening to crackling fire and grunting cavemen.”
Letting me go, he shook out his hands as if trying to eradicate the leftover crackles of chemistry. “That’s it. Just a trick. All carefully designed to make your brain believe something unbelievable.”
“So…you’re saying you can create any apparition, conjure any scene a guest wants?”
He cocked his head. “That’s a fourth question.”
“I know…but…it’s relates to my previous one.”