Free The Other Side of Life (Book #1, Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy) by Jess C Scott

“You
should have seen the research project on DNA repair enzymes we had
to do last semester. It took eight weeks to polish the final
draft.”
    “ What did you title it?”
Leticia asked, looking at him through her lashes.
    “ The Benefits of
Biosculpturing.” Julius cleared his throat before adding in a low
voice, “On how a new Bio Sculpture Gel accelerates correction and
recovery of aging skin, with the power of DNA repair
enzymes.”
    “ Could I have a
sample?”
    Julius leaned forward, and lightly traced
the side of Leticia’s face with the back of a fingernail. “Your
skin’s still smooth.”
    Anya looked away for a moment. She knew how
Leticia could shudder at the mere thought of discovering her first
wrinkle.
    “ Aced it, I
guess?”
    “ Full marks.”
    “ Overachiever,” Leticia
concluded, before saying something about not knowing how Julius got
enough sleep.
    That seemed to divert the topic of
conversation away from all things Elven, and mythological. Anya
secretly heaved a sigh of relief, then thought of her mother for a
moment.
    Maybe Chloe did have it better off than
Julius, in some ways, whose family owned a fourth-generation
multinational company. His family seemed to be the
all-work-and-no-play sorts. Working at a diner was probably less
antagonizing than working at expounding theories, and processing
lab analyses, all day.
    Besides, Anya found some of the super-smart
students to be quite dotty, when it came to matters that required
plain old common sense.
    Julius was busy during an ad break, texting
a reply on his phone—a GVMT model.
    “ We heard those aren’t,
super good,” Anya started, treading carefully. While she had no
need to make any mention of the elves, she had to warn Julius, if
what the elves said about the subliminal powers of the phone were
true. “Our phones run hot, sometimes.”
    “ Really? I thought that was
kinda…normal.” Julius flipped the phone around while holding it
with his left hand. “I don’t use it much, though—not when I’ve got
you around.” He put an arm around Leticia’s shoulder, and gave her
a kiss on one cheek.
    “ He’s part of the 10%
who doesn’t sleep
with their cell phones within an arm’s length.” Leticia’s lazy
smile let Anya know that she’d try to convince him to switch
models, some other time.
    “ Rehearsal’s tomorrow,”
Julius murmured. He had co-written the script for The Lunartics, a
satirical play on the effects of a full moon, put up by the
University of Zouk City’s senior-year students. He also had a lead
role as a sparkly werewolf. It was the play Anya and Leticia had
gotten reeled into to help.
    “ Yep,” Leticia replied.
Anya made no comment. If Leticia realized it coincided with the
scheduled Gilbreth break-in, she made no sign of it.
    Julius gave Leticia a kiss on the nose. Then
they started to make out on the couch.
    Anya glanced over at the couple, not minding
she was being ignored out of existence. Leticia had a knack for
keeping guys wrapped around her little finger.
    Anya would tell Leticia later that she had
no intention of attending the rehearsal, which would begin at
8.15pm. If the break-in was going to happen as planned, Anya wanted
the day off to rest. She was always on the lookout for new and
unique experiences, and enjoyed the whole process of psyching
herself up before any assignments.
    Anya leaned against the arm of the sofa, one
elbow propped up by the side of her head. She rubbed the back of
her ear, absent-mindedly, before recalling it was the same spot
that Nin’s lips had gently touched.
    “ Until
tomorrow…”
    Anya swung around, startled. Anya could’ve
sworn she heard someone whispering in her ear.
    Julius and Leticia were still absorbed in
each other—hands going lower—to the sound of a belt unbuckling.

 
    Chapter 5:
     
    A dreamless, uninterrupted night of sleep
passed for Anya London.
    She stared at the ceiling when she woke up,
calling to mind the safe location of the