Page 48 of The Program

‘No,’ she snapped. ‘I can see those wheels turning in your pretty little head, bitch. I’m serious. I’m glad to have you back, but Iwantedyou to leave.I’mthe one who’s sorry. I never should have forced you to leave me behind. I should have fought harder to get out with you. I’m the reason we were separated, andI’m sorry, A.I’msorry.’

‘I should’ve stayed behind. I never should have left you. We’re stronger together, L. We were always stronger together.’

‘Let me come with you,’ she begged one more time. ‘I don’t want you to have to be alone again…’ she trailed off, her voice breaking at the end as more tears spilled over her splotchy cheeks.

My answering smile was grim. ‘I can’t risk you or the baby like that, Libs. Please don’t ask me to.’

She shrugged, wiping at her eyes. ‘Worth a try.’

I pulled the holo-tab from my pocket and handed it over to her. Her eyes lit up at the sight before searching mine curiously.

‘We can stay in touch with this. I set an alarm on the ship to automatically connect to this holo-tab every twenty-four hours. We’ll talk every day so we’ll still be with each other even if it’s not in person. I don’t want to spend a single moment with you not within reach.’

Her lip wobbled as she attempted to compose herself enough to speak. ‘Never again, A. I can’t lose you again.’

I pulled her flush against me, holding her tight. ‘Never again.’

‘Thank you,’ she whispered against my neck, her breath hot and muggy against my skin. It was a sensation I hated from when the scientists and guards leant close to whisper nasty things to me, and I held back the urge to shudder. Right now we both needed me to be a comfort, not a reminder of the things we’d been through.

‘Do you really forgive me?’ I asked, my voice tiny and barely discernible despite the quiet.

‘Artemis, if you need to hear me say it then yes, I forgive you. As long as we both promise never to leave one another like that again.’

‘I promise.’

‘Me, too.’

‘Then it’s settled.’ I raised my fist between us, my little finger poking up in an offering. She took it, twining her little finger with mine.

‘We should probably get some sleep. I want you well-rested for your journey,’ she told me, pulling me down onto the hastily made bed and snuggling up against me. She was shorter than me by quite a bit, so her head rested comfortably in the crook of my neck.

I fell asleep within moments, feeling safer than ever with my best friend by my side.

???

I felt a single, smooth, bony finger stroke across my jaw and along my neck before slowly dipping lower toward my cleavage. I shuddered at the way it traced the swell of my breasts. The way he paused at both my nipples and gave them his undivided attention. The way my nipples perked up at the stimulation against my wishes, betraying me. Then when one finger became his whole hand, which became two, and they cupped my breasts. When he squeezed so tightly I thought they might pop.

On and on his ministrations went, alternating between gentle and harsh. I tried to picture Bromm’s face in my mind and the way his touch felt compared to his, except the present moment drowned out any memory I had of the man I had fallen in love with so quickly. So easily.

Instead of passion-filled pleasure, I felt trapped and repulsed. I needed to move, to get away, especially when those hands dipped even lower towards that area between my legs that I had let no one touch. Most of the women under The Program’s thumb had been sexually assaulted by either the scientists or the guards – sometimes both – and I was no exception. The biggest difference was that I had somehow managed to avoid my innocence being forcefully taken.

Until now.

I used to imagine T would be my first. My choice. But I knew without a doubt that there was no getting out of it this time. I could barely move, and even if I could escape I was still restrained to this damn metal slab. Thecoolness of it penetrated deep through my skin, and I felt it through every inch of my naked body.

I had stopped feeling shame at my nudity a long time ago, but I felt it more than ever right then. I wanted to hide, to cover myself up, to prevent this sick man from viewing what didn’t belong to him, from touching what was never meant to be his.

But that wasn’t true, was it? I did belong to him. I belonged to all of them. I was never free and never would be. Everything about me was owned by them. They could do whatever they wanted to me and there was nothing I nor anyone else could do to stop them.

???

It was the screaming that snapped me out of my stupor. The shrill sound of multiple women shrieking echoed back to me within the stone chamber of the space I shared with Libby, but those weren’t Libby’s screams.

A quick glance around showed that she wasn’t even here –where was she?Instead, I found Dave Junior crouched before me, growling at whatever was going on.

The sound of two babies joined in the ruckus, confirmation that Driselle had finally given birth, but I doubted the birth was the cause if the women were screaming, too.

The answer was quickly provided by the two women who came storming into my private offshoot of the cave, looking as if they were preparing to attack. But attack who? What was happening?

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