Page 29 of Rebels Rising

‘I may have a theory,’ I said.

‘And?’

I blew out a breath, unsure how much to say. If I was right, the consequences could be devastating. If I was wrong, we were back to square one. But I also didn’t want to give him an answer until I was sure. He deserved to make that choice for himself, however.

‘Do you want the theory or the answer?’ I asked.

‘Do you have an answer?’

‘Not yet.’

‘Then I want the theory. I don’t want to be kept in the dark, Artemis. Not with this.’

I pursed my lips, but he was right. If my theory was correct then this was all my fault anyway. The least I could do was keep him informed of my thoughts on the matter.

‘I think we should keep this between us. At least for the time being. I don’t want to cause a panic in case I’m wrong,’ I insisted, and he nodded.

‘Okay, I can agree to that, but you’re scaring me so cut to the chase, yeah?’

I took a steadying breath but couldn’t keep eye contact as the words fell out of my mouth. ‘This has only happened to the two of you. The two men I’ve been… intimate with. Or at least kissed. Demari kept saying that my nanites responded to my emotions and my body… what if they read my reactions and tried to connect us somehow? What if I accidentally transmitted them to the two of you?’

‘What? How?’

‘Same way anything is transmitted. Bodily fluids.’

‘What, like our spit?’

‘Yes.’

‘So, you think you gave us your nanites like one might pass on a disease, because wekissed?’

‘That is my theory, yes.’

He stared at me, his body deflating to fall back against the shelves. Then he averted his eyes, suddenly struggling to look at me. ‘I considered the same thing, but I wasn’t sure.’

I wanted to reach out and touch him again, but I didn’t know how he would react to physical comfort from me right now. ‘We can’t know for certain just yet. We need to wait it out and see what happens. We should tell Henrik so he can monitor you, and we should keep an eye out for anyone else showing similar symptoms. If others start passing out and showing up in the web then we can rule that out, otherwise…’

‘I can’t decide if I’m scared to change or excited to become a badass like you,’ he blurted, shocking a laugh out of me.

‘Only you, Cadmus,’ I teased, the tension breaking as his humour settled around us like a comforting blanket.

He winked. ‘I’m one of a kind, baby.’

I snorted. He sure was.

CHAPTER 9

Adara

Iwasn’t sure what to make of the scene before me. Xander and I had returned to the cockpit to check on Artemis, only to discover she wasn’t there. Instead, we’d found Eloria and Julius discussing the potential advantages and limitations of the abilities Artemis and the children had. Well, any subject from The Program, really, but the focus of their attention was on Artemis and the kids in particular.

That had opened up the floodgates on Xander’s curiosity, and he’d immediately jumped in with his own opinions and theories. He may have been a whole hell of a lot of brawn, but what surprised most people was the amount of brain he had going for him, too. Quite frankly, he was a bit of a nerd. Not that I’d ever say that to his face. Or maybe I should. Toying with him was always such fun.

Their enrapt conversation was also how Julius and I had ended up sitting to the side, relegated to watching as Xander and Eloria monopolised the discussion, eventually ignoring the two of us as their interactions became even more heated. Not in a bad way, though. It was more like they were passionate about the topic and were excited to talk about it with someone who matched their level of interest.

Julius and I were more than happy to move aside and let them have at it, but I was beginning to think Xander would have a crush on the ethereal Yu’Rom pilot by the end of this interaction if the way his eyes lit up whenever she countered his theories with her own was any indication.

He was barking up the wrong tree if that were the case, though. Everyone who knew anything about Eloria Stanson knew that she was solely into women. He didn’t stand a chance, but I wasn’t about to tell him. In fact, I was going to enjoy watching all of it unfold.

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