Page 9 of The Program

‘Holy shit,’ said Addy, her voice breathy and weak.

‘What? What does that mean?’ Dorian asked and was quickly backed up by the rest of his team.

When Markus responded, his words slammed down on us like a physical blow. ‘You knew her as Arthur Mercer.’

CHAPTER 3

BROMM

‘What? That’s not Arty,’ I protested but was quickly silenced by Foryk’s meaty hand on my shoulder. I wanted to shrug him off and keep protesting but something in the way he eyed our guard stopped me. The two of them had been particularly hostile with one another so I was keeping my distance from the mysterious male. Obviously, I was missing something if my best friend was so adamant in his distaste towards him, but neither one was eager to open up to the rest of us.

The guard in question stepped forward, what little skin we could see peeking out from beneath his mask as sickly pale as the rest of us. ‘What did they do to her?’ His voice came out shaky and weak.

‘You would know more about that,’ Foryk spat, and the other man flinched like it was a physical attack.

‘This is nothing like what I’ve seen,’ he argued. ‘This is… I don’t know what this is.’

‘You know her?’ I asked, panic raising the pitch of my voice.

‘He more than knows her,’ Foryk said venomously.

‘What does that mean?’ I asked him, then turned to the guard. ‘What does he mean, T?’

T sighed. ‘I’m the one who helped her escape the first time,’ he admitted.

‘Escape…?’

‘This is irrelevant. We don’t have time,’ Markus interrupted.

‘What’s going on, Mark?’ Xander asked. ‘Why show us this?’

‘I have it on good authority that Subject A-1… sorry,Artemis,has an invested interest in the incoming shipment.’

‘What are you saying?’ Addy asked with an uncharacteristic quietness, especially directed toward Markus. Foryk and T weren’t the only ones here with bad blood between them.

‘It means she’ll be on her way here soon, if she isn’t already.’

‘She’s our way out,’ Xander surmised for him.

‘She’s our way out,’ he confirmed.

‘When?’

‘This footage was recorded about a week ago. It could be any day now. We need to be prepared.’

‘What about Reece?’ asked Foryk, and I was glad he spoke up about our other missing friend because I didn’t think I would be able to get any words past the large lump in my throat.

‘Let me deal with that,’ Xander told him. I could see the start of a plan forming behind his fiery yellow eyes.

I couldn’t think about anything else but what I had just seen. It wasn’t connecting for me. Arty was a male… right? But it made a lot of sense now that I was thinking about it. The biggest clue was how he didn’t want anyone to see him unclothed. I had assumed that was due to his undercover status somehow, but now I was rethinking that approach. Ifhewas actually ashe…

It was as if a puzzle piece suddenly slotted into place and everything came together perfectly for once. I hated that fucking puzzle. Especially now as I stared disbelievingly at the frozen image of the hologram still in front of us. It had reverted back to the beginning when it ended, the starting image clear to see as the footage waited to be replayed. It was even clearer now that my perspective had shifted that I was staring at a still of Arty.

My Arty was right there, out of reach but still alive. The protective stance she took over her friend was all Arty. She’s stood over me like that before, though that was a memory I never wanted to relive. The fear of losing her combined with the sheer terror of believing we were going to die.

I shoved the memory away and focused on her image. She was wearing a skin-tight jumpsuit the moulded to her every curve. And fuck me, did she have them. Her breasts were perky and on full display beneath her jumpsuit, and her ass was as deliciously round and tight as I remembered. Her hair was shaved, which pissed me off because I doubted that were her decision, but I noticed a strange line outlining her form on her skin.

Despite the visible difference, this was still the person I fell in love with. I just needed to merge the Arty I knew to the Artemis I was seeing now into the same person. It would be an adjustment, particularly after seeing the way she’d slaughtered all those guards and scientists: brutally and with ease. Yet at the same time I was glad for it. She had butchered every last one of the sick fucks that had caused her pain. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the suffering she had endured at their hands.

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