Whenever her young students got upset… Jennifer had found that firm and calm intervention often helped them regulate their emotions and avoid melting down. Children at five had the ability to discern a trusted adult's tone and logic.
For example, right now, Jennifer was applying her kindergarten-teacher voice to herself:
"Deep breath. Look, they say the first thing in solving a problem is identifying it. So well done—we've found the problem. Let's take it step by step."
Usually, such a problem could range from a lost personal item to an offensive menu appearing on their lunch tray.
Yes, sometimes there was chopped spinach in the mac and cheese. Sometimes there were sprouts in the soup. But that was just the school cafeteria serving healthier fare—not the end of the world.
Calm down. Even if we can't swallow the full tray, we can bear with the spinach and pick out the sprouts. There's still fruit jelly for dessert, so it's not all bad.
A child might find, after attaining such enlightenment, that it was possible to get through lunch.
In the same way, sometimes life handed you a tray of assorted dramatized webnovel characters and alien portals. It's not the end of the world… wait—Micah, the cosmic devourer. So yes, it was the end of the world.
But Jennifer stopped herself before her panic spiraled.
We don't know if Micah was real… although he was very likely real, since everything else was happening.
But we can make this work, just like we can survive a lunch tray.
So there are alien portals and Micah the cosmic devourer. But there are also healing potions, Awakeners, and cupcakes.
Oh wait! Why was Jennifer even trying to make it work in real life? Why not just delete the damn chapters?
And then she thought of Adrian… it would be a pity to delete that smile. So—just edit. Yes. Edit out the dangerous parts.
And yes, Jennifer must be going totally bonkers, but everything else in her life had been out of whack, so… let's just go with that.
She clicked on Quintin's PANDORA'S BOX UNLEASHED Chapter 5.
Since the novels seemed to be happening in real time, the newest chapter should be whatever just happened.
Jennifer's eyes widened.
Oh. Oh no. No, no, no.
PANDORA'S BOX UNLEASHED
CHAPTER 5
MICAH'S POV
Sleep had been deep… endless… perfect in its emptiness. But even eternity has a pause, and even a cosmic devourer must awaken.
He opened his eyes. Darkness stretched across the void, but it was not empty. Something stirred. Something… vibrant.
A scent—delicate, tantalizing, utterly intoxicating—breathed across the multiverse.
Ah.
"My goddess."
His claws flexed. A collar hugged his neck—a fine, unbreakable band that glimmered faintly with a magic only his goddess could enforce. From it dangled a short chain, resting on his chest like both promise and taunt. He could not break it. He could only obey. Only she—or anyone foolish enough to hold it—would command him.
Fury.
He had slept for eons, conquering planets, devouring stars, bending lesser creatures to his will. And yet… here he was, bound by the whim of a mortal. His pride burned. His body thrummed with restrained power—a storm caged by a simple chain. How dare she.
And yet…
Anticipation.
Because she was her. The one who had written him. The goddess who could hold this chain, command him, tease him in ways no one else dared. He inhaled her scent again, subtle and intoxicating across dimensions, and the restraint itself was delicious.This is her doing.
He rose, stretching, muscles coiling and uncoiling under scaled skin. His tail flicked with feline grace, eyes glinting like twin suns. Every movement radiated power, magnetism, and something dangerously… pleasurable.
"Delicious," he murmured, voice low, teasing, vibrating across light-years. "My goddess… I can taste your presence. And soon… I will taste you."
Fury and delight warred within him. Every second of bondage, every restriction, sharpened his senses.
Tiny, frazzled chaos fluttered across the void. Delightful. Terrifying. Irresistible.
He stepped among his pillars, each stride measured, languid, predatory. The stars themselves seemed to bend toward him, drawn by his form. Muscular yet sleek, alien yet man, teeth that promised devastation wrapped in a smile that promised… something else entirely.
His gaze swept across his lair. Pillars of obsidian reached into darkness, pillows of velvet and gold sprawled lazily, treasures shimmered faintly in impossible light. Everything belonged to him—but he belonged, in some strange, thrilling way, to the one holding the chain.
"I have waited for this," he murmured. "You wrote me. And now, I find you. My goddess… how exquisite you are."
---
Jennifer slammed her laptop shut with far too much force. Wth.
Why had she ever written those notes on Micah? Why did she think "sexy hot" was safer than fire-breathing hot?
And where did that goddess person come from? She didn't write anything about a goddess…Then she remembered—Adrian had identified her.
She was "goddess."
Oh hell no.