Page 45 of The Program

The heavy weight of Foryk’s probing stare stabbed through me, but I studiously ignored him. I had nothing to say to him. Not now, not ever.

‘T,’ Xander addressed me. The gravelly quality to his voice sounded painful, like he’d been screaming for turns on end, his throat damaged and raw. ‘Any news on the Artemis front?’

Bromm’s spine straightened at the mention of her and his eyes lit up. His sudden and inexplicable excited energy caused more than more brow to rise, includinghis.

‘Nothing yet,’ I grudgingly admitted.

The captain pursed his lips in displeasure, but it was Markus that responded. ‘Then we’re going to have to find a way out on our own. We’re out of time.’

‘We need a plan to release Adara and Reece. I’m not leaving them behind,’ Xander said, his ferocity like a whip snapping across the table.

‘Bromm had a dream he would like to discuss,’ Foryk stated. I tensed at the sound of his voice, but the confusion and annoyance at his topic change overrode those feelings.

For the first time since seeing him again, I addressed him directly, my tone riddled with venom. ‘What does that have to do with anything?’

It boiled my blood when he merely shrugged, ignored my question and stared at the Griknot while he waited for him to talk.

‘It wasn’t really a dream,’ the prince objected, throwing a glare towards Foryk. That glare soon morphed into a smug smirk, the tentacles that made up his beard writhing with delight. ‘Artemis and I made contact.’

I froze, emotion overwhelming me at his claim. A part of me was glad she had contacted someone, mostly because it meant she was on her way, but a larger part of me wanted to bang my fists and scream that it wasn’tme.

Why him?

‘What did she say?’ Cadmus asked, surprising me. He had never really participated in any discussions regarding Artemis, so I hadn’t expected him to speak up.

‘She’s stuck on an unknown planet. The same place as the facility she levelled. Things for her are… complicated right now.’

‘Complicated how?’ asked Markus, his question more one of intrigue than concern. The guy rubbed me the wrong way typically without explanation, just a gut feeling, but it was times like this when his reactions were off somehow that really drove it home for me. I did not trust him.

‘That facility…’ Bromm began slowly, choosing his words carefully. ‘It was part of a breeding program. All the women Arty freed are pregnant. Two of them just gave birth.’

‘Stars above,’ Henrik cursed from his seat beside Cadmus, his horror evident.

‘That’s not all.’

‘Are you telling us Artemis ispregnant?’ Dorian asked, his tone pitched higher than usual in a way that I was sure would have matched my own voice if I’d spoken aloud right then. My breathing had picked up at the thought of what that would mean, not only for the children waiting on her but for herself.

‘No, she’s not,’ Bromm reassured us, and we collectively breathed out our relief. ‘The breeding program was already successful, and each of the women there are already mothers, but they took the kids. That’s what’s in the mystery shipment. That’s why Arty’s coming here. She’s coming for them.’

‘They’re experimenting onbabies?’Henrik practically screeched, his voice reaching levels I thought only Adara could achieve and made us all wince. He grimaced. ‘Sorry…’

‘There’s been talk of a breeding program for a while now,’ I admitted. ‘They wanted to provide their own subjects to avoid taking from the civilian populace. Too many people were noticing the disappearances.’

‘They’re using them as cattle,’ spat Urman, the vitriol in his words so unlike him that Dorian and Cadmus leaned away from him warily.

‘So Artemis is the only one of them that isn’t with child and we have babies being held as test subjects. Did she say how long it would take for her to get here?’ asked Xander, bringing us back to the reason for our meeting.

‘She said she’s working on it and will be here soon, but I didn’t get a precise ETA. But that’s what I wanted to talk to you all about. We discussed a plan of escape, but with at least two dozen childrenandReece and Adara…’ he trailed off.

‘We need to split up to escape,’ Markus finished for him.

Bromm nodded his confirmation. ‘Her escape will have to be the distraction we need to get out a different way.’

‘But then what?’ the captain asked, his agitation over the situation brimming over into a restlessness that caused him to start pacing. ‘She takes Addy and Reece away from us?’

‘We need to choose a location to meet her when we’re free and clear,’ Bromm concluded.

The captain’s answering frown was deep, his thick brows lowering so far that they almost completely covered his eyes.

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