Page 28 of Rebels Rising

We finished up with the last of the waiting patients quickly, sending them all on their way with bandages and pain relief while Henrik continued working on the ones that needed a little extra help. He didn’t need us for that, so Cadmus and I took that as our opportunity to go someplace quiet and secluded to talk.

I was nervous which was an unusual emotion for me to feel. I didn’t like it. It made me unsure of myself and I hated any level of self-doubt. I had always considered myself above that. The closest approximation to that feeling I’d ever allowed was paranoia, but that was well-deserved after all I’d been through so I cut myself some slack there. That one was a matter of survival. Nervousness was just silly. A single conversation wasn’t going to kill me.

We both stood there in the now-empty hallway, the silence between us growing like a living thing. He raised an eyebrow at me, effectively dispersing the majority of that tension with his pointed amusement even if some of it remained, and I gestured for him to lead the way. I knew of a few places wecould go to ensure our privacy, but I was curious to see where he would take me.

He led the way to a small room that was clearly originally intended to be a closet, the cramped space lined with shelves and cupboards. The floor had been turned into a sort of nest, blankets and pillows creating a warm padding above the hard metal. I was aware that there weren’t enough bunks for everyone that had joined us – it couldn’t be helped – but I was taken aback by their living conditions. I considered for a moment giving up my own room to people who needed it more but quickly dismissed the idea. I had Bal to think about, and Dave Junior would revolt if I moved him from the space he’d claimed for himself. He struggled enough with Bal’s constant company as it was.

The spot was secluded and surprisingly intimate as we avoided stepping on the carefully fluffed nest. When the door closed behind us the light from the hallway no longer helped to illuminate the space. The single dim overhead light seemed to cast more shadows than light, and we were pressed so close together by the narrow room that if I breathed any fuller my breasts would brush up against his chest. My breath hitched involuntarily, heat undoubtedly staining my cheeks for the umpteenth time while I waited for my nanites to kick into gear and even out my body’s biological response to the man before me. It didn’t help that I we were gazing into each other’s eyes, the purple in his growing darker the longer the silence persisted. This time, however, it was less of a chasm and more of a magnetism.

Fuck, this guy was a danger to my mental health. And my libido.

When he didn’t immediately speak, I cleared my throat. ‘So… what was it you wanted to talk about?’ I asked, feigning ignorance. I had a very strong feeling I knew where this conversation was headed, and I wanted to postpone it for a long as possible.

Was that cowardly? Perhaps, but I was only a badass when it came to destroying my enemies. Truthfully, I was warm and squishy on the inside, my emotions larger than I cared to outwardly portray. Only Libby, Bromm and Adara were privy to that little secret, however. I wasn’t sure I could trust Cadmus with that much of me.

‘You know,’ Cadmus began, leaning against a shelf with a playful glint in his eyes as he took me in, ‘I think you secretly enjoy spending time with me.’

I raised an eyebrow, masking my shock at his audacity with a smirk. ‘Oh, really? And what makes you think that?’

‘Just a hunch,’ he replied, bowing his head so his lips were barely a breath away from mine. ‘And maybe because you keep looking at me like you want to devour me.’

I scoffed in utter disbelief. ‘This is the first time we’ve ever been alone in a room together, Cadmus.’

His pupils dilated, almost completely overtaking the purple. ‘That didn’t stop you before.’

‘Whatever do you mean?’ I taunted, tilting my head to the side.

‘Nothing. Nothing at all,’ he said, his tone suddenly serious as the smile fell from his face. ‘That’s actually not what I wanted to talk to you about.’

There was a vulnerability in his eyes that set the alarm bells in my head ringing loud and clear. For all intents and purposes, there shouldn’t be anything else for us to talk about, let alone privately. Was it something with Bromm…?

‘What’s wrong?’ I asked, doing my best to mask my rising panic.

‘Why would you think anything’s wrong?’ he asked, his mask suddenly snapping back into place so quickly it almost gave me whiplash. Cadmus was without a doubt the biggest enigma I have ever encountered, but he couldn’t hideeverythingfrom me.

I reached out, placing a hand on his arm. ‘You don’t have to hide behind all this bravado, Cadmus. If there’s something going on you can talk to me.’

He sighed, the mask slipping again a little before he decided to take the plunge and remove it entirely. Seeing him without it for the first time was like having the breath knocked right out of me. He was stunning. The depth of emotions in his eyes called to me like a siren song as compassion from the deepest depths of my being rose up, eager to reach for him and soothe his distress.

‘The truth is… there’s something happening to me. And I’m…fuck,’he cut himself off, dragging a hand down his face as he tried to find the words he was struggling to get out. ‘I can’t…’

‘What is it?’ I whispered, inching closer despite my best efforts to maintain the distance between us, our breaths mingling. The urge to act as a balm to his troubles was new and slightly terrifying, but I couldn’t seem help myself.

Cadmus hesitated, then took a deep breath. ‘Artemis, I think what’s happening to Bromm is happening to me.’

I swallowed hard, my heart pounding. ‘What?’

He looked into my eyes, the weight of his troubles evident in his gaze. ‘When you entered the web to open the airlock doors on Nova Station, I… followed you in. To that place. The web. I don’t know how, but it was like I was this ghost being dragged along. I couldn’t see anyone else, but last night… Last night I ended up back there. I was a little more corporeal, and I saw Bromm. We spoke.’

I studied his face, seeing the uncertainty etched into his features. ‘Well, fuck,’ I breathed, stunned.

‘Artemis, what’s happening to me? To Bromm, too?’

I shook my head, the answers so far away from me that trying to grasp them was pointless. ‘I don’t know, Cadmus. Everyone’s saying that The Program didn’t taken them or perform any tests. There really should be no- ‘

A sudden thought entered my mind and cut me off. The only common denominator between Cadmus and Bromm was, well…me.

His back straightened as he sensed the change. ‘What? What is it?’

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