The Shrink Program

Chapter 175

It was his brother who answered.

"We stopped playing a long time ago, Mother."

Alan slammed a foot into Cassandra's chest, forcing her to stumble back and off Alex.

The little boy shot to his feet, a blur of motion as he threw himself after the recovering woman.

Ducking under a swiping arm, he latched onto the flailing limb and used his whole body to twist it to the breaking point.

His expression remained frozen, even as his mother screeched.

Alan turned to us, hands on hips as his family members fought.

"Vain, as my senior pawn, I grant you permission to use my computer this one time... but if I catch you screwing around on Facebook I'll..."

"Shut up and keep her busy." Vain quickly stepped forward to take over the controls, gently nudging me so that I faced the screen once more.

Just this one time, I won't bite his fingers off for pushing me around...

Vain was nowhere near as fast as Alan on the keyboard, but he listened and followed Peri's instructions attentively, tuning out the mayhem going on behind us...

Which was already one step up from my own work ethic. It was becoming increasingly more surreal, ignoring the epic battle to do something disturbingly close to homework.

Nobody wants to watch the tech support save the day, that's why there's always a life or death battle going on in the background...

Alex cried out in pain, following an audible Snap of bone. I nearly bit through my lip in frustration.

...a little peek couldn't hurt?

"Pay attention."

I flinched guiltily.

Vain knew me far too well.

"You pay attention." I retorted, crossing my arms petulantly.

"I'm not the one getting distracted."

"What do you call this then?"

"You being a Brat."

I sucked in a sharp breath through my teeth.

Well, If I wasn't distracted, I sure as Hell am now...

"Please, both of you..." Nigel whimpered, the golden-haired teen finally making his way to our side.

At least on this one thing, we could agree.

"Shut up Nigel."

Nigel shut up.

If we win, someone needs to erect a statue of that very act, because Nigel's sacrifice probably just saved the planet.

Really, if there was ever going to be a moment to tell Nigel how much I really appreciate him, now would be that moment... I mean, I could wait until we're officially dead... but that would mean visiting him in animal heaven...

Screw it. Open the flood gates and let the love flow forth.

"Nigel, I reserve the right to retract this statement if at any point it looks like we might not die horribly... but you were probably the best pet I ever had."

God. I hate being mushy.

"Maddison..." Overwhelmed with all the affection, Nigel brushed his fingertips against my back in place of the words he couldn't form.