Chapter 13 Pomegranate Lazar The bathroom was small by the standards of the Global 8000. Which meant Italian marble, brushed gold fixtures, and a mirror that ran the full length of the wall. Lazar ran the hot water and used the soap. Once he cleaned up, he dried off, grabbed a folded cloth, and held it under the stream until it was soapy, saturated, and steaming. He looked up and stared at the man in the mirror with the silly smile on a deadly face. His mouth was still buzzing and he could still feel the pressure of his son's lips against his own, the way neither of them had pulled back, the way both of them had chosen to stay exactly where they were. He had kissed his son, over his queen's pussy, and no one judged. The Veritrex was still moving through his blood—he could feel it, the chemical warmth of enforced honesty—but he knew with the absolute certainty of a man who had survived so many years by trusting his own gut that the chemicals were not responsible for what ha...