Page 45 of Rebels Rising

‘Like Father didn’t just die,’ I said crassly. I knew it was a horrible thing to say, but I feared she was in denial. She needed to acknowledge the loss, and I needed to hear it from her so I knew she wasn’t suddenly delusional.

Her lip quivered before she hastily covered up the reaction. ‘I know he’s dead, but we’re not. There’s work to do.’

I frowned, refusing to budge even as she tried to dislodge my hold on her. ‘Where is this coming from?’

She huffed, but there was legitimate grief that poured through her frustration. ‘He wouldn’t want us sitting around moping. He’d want us to stand up and fight. He’d want us to move on with our lives. I will always love him, and I will always remember him fondly, but I have never nor will I ever be the kind of female who pines after the dead. Now let me be useful or else I’ll go insane stuck inside these four walls.’

I scrutinised her carefully, but what I saw gave me enough trust that letting her go was the right thing to do. There was a deep sadness in her gaze, but there was also strength and determination. Her mate was dead, but she hadn’t been broken. Fractured, perhaps, a theory which was further perpetuated by the tear that escaped the corner of her eye. She wiped it away before it could fall further than her cheekbone and levelled me with a look filled with resolved.

‘We have been a broken family for far too long, Tormik. I need to fix things. Life is too short and uncertain to let old grudges determine our paths for us. I want both of my sons back.’

My breath was expelled from my lungs at her words like she’d just punched me in the gut. ‘I… Do as you will.’

I gave her my back, settling in to make my way through my own Nutri-Bar. I didn’t yet have a place in the ship’s hierarchy. I had no job, not purpose other than to protect the people I cared about. I resolved myself to wait patiently until I was needed. Until then, I would leave them to do as they needed without getting in their way.

If Mother wished to properly reunite with her other son, then so be it. I wouldn’t stop her, not when she so clearly needed to cling on to some sort of hope. If this gave her purpose, then it could only be a good thing.

I wasn’t so sure I could be a part of it, though. My heart and my ego were far too battered and bruised. I wasn’t sure there was anything left of it to damage, but it was clear that putting myself out there in any way would only result in more pain and heartache. I simply did not have the mental capacity to handle it. I didn’t know if I ever would.

CHAPTER 14

Cadmus

Iground my teeth as the ex-guard stalked from the room like someone was trying to shove a piping hot fire poker up his ass. Artemis was staring after him like she’d eaten something sour when she’d been expecting something sweet, and not for the first time did I wonder what had actually happened between those two.

But not today.

Today, I needed to pull her aside and have a serious conversation. A serious conversation that ended with her teaching me how to be a badass superhero like her.Cyborgs United!

But first, she would need some convincing. I would need to prove that I could be safe and responsible with whatever new abilities I acquired, and that meant enlisting help. I already had Henrik on board in case of emergencies, which was why I needed to get here there.

‘Has he always been such an odd fellow?’ I asked her to break the ice. ‘He seems… tense.’

She snorted a laugh, her head darting to the side to dodge a well-aimed tiny finger heading straight for her eyeball. ‘You could say that. He never really talked much when I knew him before, but he was a lot…softerback then. I guess there’s no reason for him to hide his true colours anymore,’ she shrugged, but I could tell the admission caused her a significant amount of emotional pain when her eyes drifted away from me, a watery glaze to them. I knew she didn’t like to outwardly showcase her emotions, so it must have been pretty severe for her to slip like that.

I smoothed out my frown before it could give me wrinkles, pasting on a smile that I hoped was contagious enough to bring one out in Artemis, too. Baldr pointed at my face and laughed, which I thought was very rude, but when Artemis giggled – actuallygiggled– at us I knew it was worth it.

Damn, I was turning into a sap over this woman. Who even was I anymore?

‘So I really did want to talk to you about something,’ I said.

‘Oh?’

‘Yup.’

‘Are you going to tell me or what?’

‘Not here,’ I said, taking her free hand in mine and tugging her from the room. I was man enough to admit that she was letting me.

‘Where are you taking me?’ she asked, a lightness in her tone that made my heart swell.I caused that.It might have also had something to do with the boy in her arms and the creature at her heels, or possibly all the children we had to wade through that we’d freed. Either way, her mood was improving after the storm cloud of a Tornu had cast its shadow, and that was all I cared about.

I tugged her through the narrow, winding hallways until we reached the infirmary, and I was pleased to see it was still empty besides Bromm and Henrik. I needed both of them here, too.

Henrik looked up from his holo-tab to eye us curiously, gifting us a smile in greeting. ‘To what do I owe this pleasure, Captain?’

‘I don’t know,’ she admitted. ‘This is Cadmus’s show. Apparently he wants to talk.’

Henrik shot me a look that spoke a thousand words. I wiggled my eyebrows, mockingly confirming his assumptions but didn’t correct him. If I could get Artemis naked and sweaty beneath me then I wasn’t going to complain, but that wasn’t why I’d brought her here.

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