Page 67 of The Program

I had just released her final cuff while Dorian and Urman removed Reece’s when a familiar malicious voice had me twirling on the spot and crouching into a defensive position in front of a whimpering Adara.

‘Well, if it isn’t Subject A-173. I knew you’d come. Can’t stay away from me long can you, precious girl?’

‘Demari,’I hissed through clenched teeth. A thousand ways I wanted to kill that man flickered through my head, and a thousand more ways I wished to torture him before he died. The violence and bloodlust must have shone through my gaze well since he flinched. It was almost imperceptible, but I caught it. I made him nervous.

He knew, even if he wanted to deny it, that I was his angel of death.

He covered it quickly, and he covered it well, however. I doubted anyone else in the room would have noticed his slip.

‘Hello, A-173. I’m so please to see you. You’ve placed yourself exactly where I wanted you. I’d say you were such a good girl, but you’ve been very naughty,’ he tsked, then turned around to address the people behind him that I’d failed to notice in my single-minded fury.

‘You can see here, Mister Christianson, that despite her efforts to elude us, she always ends up back where she belongs. There is no need to concern yourself any longer with our security or our ability to contain our subjects.’

Without conscious thought, I launched myself at him. Only instead of wrapping my hands around his scrawny fucking throat like I’d planned, I bounced off an invisible wall and landed hard on my ass, though I twisted at the last moment to avoid cracking my skull against the leg of Addy’s table.

He merely chuckled at my attempt.

‘She is unruly, Demari,’ the other man spoke before addressing a younger female standing beside him, her head down as if in submission. No… that was exactly what it was. ‘Look at this, daughter. Is this what you want to become? Or are you better than this?’

‘Better, father,’ she answered without hesitation, though it was meek and sounded more like she was parroting what he wanted to hear rather than what she actually believed.

‘If you’ll bring your attention back to the subjects, you will be able to see what we are doing with our criminals. If you keep sending them to us, we will not only lighten the strain on the prison system, but turn them into something significantly more useful,’ he gestured at Reece and Adara still prone on the metal tables.

‘What plans do you have for my daughter’s rapist, Demari?’ the older man spat.

Demari’s grin was slow and filled with evil intent. ‘Why don’t we discuss such topics in a more comfortable environment?’

He led them out, but not before I made eye contact with the final man, his own wide in shock.

I lunged again, only this time I stopped just before I could touch the barrier that reminded me a little too much of my own. ‘Tarren,’I spewed the name like a foul-tasting curse.

His jitteriness was out of character, but I didn’t care much about his suddenly nervous disposition. He deserved far worse. After all, he was the reason Reece (and subsequently Addy) were strapped and bleeding on The Program’s signature metal slabs as their newest subjects.

He scampered off after his father and Demari, sticking close to his sister like she could protect him from my wrath. Unlikely. I’d probably kill her too if she got in my way, but that man was going to die right alongside Lucias Demari.

A weak whimper escaped from Adara, drawing my attention back to the most pressing matter. I could figure out a way out of this cage, but I’d need her and Reece healed enough to travel first.

I thought back to how I’d left Dave Junior back on the ship and my stomach twisted with worry. I didn’t know if he’d stay put or if he could evenmanage to escape, but I needed to get back to him as soon as possible, too. It hurt to leave him like that. It left a physical ache in my chest.

Addy’s eyes fluttered closed, but I placed a hand on her shoulder to gently shake her awake. ‘Hang in there a little longer for me, Addy. I still need those answers before I can let you sleep.’

‘H-hurts.’

‘I know. I’m sorry. I know.’

A body went flying and I lifted my head to see Cadmus on his back, legs sticking straight up in the air before gravity brought them down too.

‘We’re trapped,’ he wheezed.

‘Fuck! What now?’ asked Dorian, the tension in his muscles making the veins pop from under his skin.

‘Now we help Reece and Adara and then figure out how to get out,’ I told them, slightly annoyed at the stupid question.

‘Right, buthow?’ Cadmus asked, and I noted the distress in his tone even though I didn’t look away from Addy again.

‘I don’t know yet. Now shush.’ I focused back on Addy and ignored the way I could feel Bromm’s stare boring a whole into the back of my head. ‘Addy, sweetheart, can you focus on me?’

Her eyelids briefly peeled open to reveal her vibrantly pink, cross-eyed orbs before they closed again.

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