Page 91 of Nova Academy

‘And where is our dear Arty this morning, Bromm?’

I didn’t know why as I had never really been ashamed of my sexual exploits before, but I felt my cheeks heat with a blush. ‘He went across the hall to see Brin.’

‘Ouch. Loved ya’ then left ya’.’

I scoffed, remembering how I found him this morning. He hadn’t left until I’d inadvertently scared him off, but the new information bouncing around in my brain gave me enough insecurities about our relationship – whatever that may be – that I all of a sudden wasn’t so sure it hadn’t been my fault. Had I pushed him too far?

‘Arty’s a work in progress,’ I told him with a nonchalant lift of my shoulder, even if I didn’t feel it. ‘But that’s between me and him.’ I gave him a pointed look that screamedback off.

He raised his hands in the gesture of surrender. ‘Okay, okay. I can take a hint, but just tell me one thing…’ He paused to see if I would deny him but continued when I made no protest. ‘Is he a good lover?’

My lips stretched slowly into a smirk. ‘You’ll never know, bird boy.’

He gasped and reached over his shoulder to stroke the feathers beneath his shirt. ‘Bird boy? Like you can talk, squid man.’

‘At least my extra appendages are useful in bed. Orotherfurniture.’

‘All right you two, break it up,’ Henrik came to step between us, though his attempt to hold in his mirth was largely unsuccessful.

Reece chose that moment to join the rest of us, and Foryk took over the bathroom in his place. Our eyes connected from across the room, which seemed to set off Cadmus again. He jabbed me in the ribs with his elbow and wagged his eyebrows at me, then walked away cackling when Henrik physically shoved him away from me. I didn’t escape a silent ribbing from him, however, when he looked over his shoulder with a teasing smirk gracing his lips.

Normally when someone would look at me like that my reaction would have been to take them to bed, but this time I could only wish they were a different set of lips belonging to a certain alluring Terran.

Reece collected my clothes that were strewn about the room and handed them to me, then leant against the back of the sofa. Memories of what happened there last night assaulted me, and I tried to discreetly check for any stains left behind. He must have noticed because his face twisted with disgust as he leapt away from the piece of furniture.

‘Really, Bromm? We all use that couch, and it’s not even ours,’ he chastised, but I was too busy reminiscing over the way it felt to have Arty not only touch me but open up enough to do so.

I was determined to win him over, and his little girlfriend would just have to get used to sharing.

CHAPTER 37

Artemis

They knew.

My mind whirled at warped speeds as I worked to out the pieces together.

I had walked through the Entario Waystation’s space port fully aware of the risks. It would have brought too much attention if I’d cut out all surveillance feeds, so I had kept my head down and tried to remain inconspicuous. I thought I had gotten away with it, but if someone had that video footage then The Program no doubt did, too.

Everything was coming together, the puzzle pieces slotting into place. I watched as the captain was escorted to a secret meeting with the colonel. The very same colonel that had accessed the Entario Waystation’s surveillance footage. He and Markus were friends, which meant that the corruption within the IU’s military was even greater than I had previously assumed.

Markus flagging me as a potential candidate for The Program’s ‘recruitment’ process suddenly took on a whole different light. They were trying to lure me back in, to avoid scaring me off. They knew who I was and were trying to keep me complacent until they could get their filthy hands on me again, and I didn’t know if I should allow it to happen or not. On the one hand, my goal was to get back to them and Libby, but there was no guarantee that they would take me to the same facility they were keeping her. On the other hand, my plans had been to find a way back in through a position of power, like one of the guards. I had assumed that was where my conversation with Markus was leading, but now…

And then there was Adara. She was so close with the captain but seemed to dislike Markus on a personal level. Was it an act? Or wasit simply an irrelevant coincidence? Either way, her relationship with Captain Hironimus was an obvious red flag, and I never should have put so much trust in her.

There was only one thing for me to do now, and that was to make a decision: stay and let them catch me or run and find a different way back.

I contemplated the options as I sat in the captain’s quarters. I was internally kicking myself for running straight to Adara when Bromm had almost caught me using my unique cybernetic abilities. She had been the first person I thought of when I needed a safe place to lay low, but that reaction was clearly a mistake. I didn’t want to sit here and wait. I didn’t know how I could face her again knowing she was working against me this entire time.

How many others were in on it? Was that why the captain had placed Dorian and his team as our bodyguards? Was that a cover for their real instructions, and they were sent to keep a watch over me and report back to their precious leaders? And what of Foryk, Reece and Bromm?

Foryk and I weren’t close so a betrayal from him would have hurt but not caused me any lasting damage. Reece and Bromm, however… I had placed not only a level of trust in them I hadn’t managed since Libby and T, by had started to give away a part of myself I never realised I was so eager to give away. I had sheltered my heart after everything went down two solars ago, and I couldn’t believe I had allowed myself to bring those walls down even the smallest amount to let them in. And after last night with Bromm…

Selfishness had never gotten me anywhere before, and I should have known better than to let myself try to have even the smallest moment of happiness. I was here for Libby, not for me.Sheneeded me, not Bromm, or Reece, or Adara, or anyone else.

I had already broken my vow not to let anyone distract me from my mission, and I had done just that without a single care for the consequences.Stupid, stupid girl.Well, I wasn’t going to let themdistract me anymore.

Keeping all that in mind, my next move was going to have to be discrete. If I had already been caught then I couldn’t let on that I was aware. I needed everyone to believe that things were normal, so I would behave as such. And when The Program eventually came to take me away, they wouldn’t find me.Iwould findthem, sneak onto their ship, and take it from there. I couldn’t allow myself to get caught, but I also couldn’t allow them to get away, so the only other option was to let them come to me and turn the tables on them instead.

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