CHAPTER 14

brOMM

M y dreams were hit or miss this past solar. Ever since I’d first dreamt of the labyrinthine web of glowing lines the night before everything went to shit, I’d found myself there randomly many times since. Sometimes my dreams would be normal before they dissolved into the abyss and I’d cling to those lines as if my life depended on it. Other times, I would start on the web and it would fade away into some sort of nonsensical dream I’d never remember. I never knew where I’d end up each time I fell asleep.

Lately, I’d been spending more time on the web without any dreams, either beforehand or after. I was always stuck in the same spot, unable to move past the blocks. Traveling along them was out, so I simply hung out until I woke up.

Tonight, however, there was one line that shone brighter than the others as if beckoning me. It was clear of roadblocks, too, like it wanted me to travel down that line specifically. And so I did.

With all the courage I could muster I leapt from my current perch, refused to look into the abyss I was sailing over, and grabbed onto that line with a fierceness that shocked even me. Something about it sang to me, the light pulsing in excitement that matched my own. It was more than just the break in the monotony of these dreams if they even were such a thing. I’d not been able to snoop in all the times I’d been here, trapped in that one specific spot on that one specific line.

The excitement grew to such an extreme that it felt like even my blood was dancing in anticipation inside my veins. That was how I knew that this was more than just my own emotional reaction. Something was happening. Something big.

Without any conscious instruction from me, the line seemed to magnetise me to it before it dragged me forward. I zipped down it with such speeds that if I were in my physical body I would have left parts of me behind. Namely my stomach… and its contents. As it stood now, I merely felt a slight tingling sensation where my body connected with the line.

And that was when I realised, for the very first time, I had a physical body in this place. Realm. Dimension. Whatever you wanted to call it. I could feel the glow beneath me like an electric current passing me by, or like static on the wind. It was energising in a way I’d never experienced before, like my entire brain was lit up and functioning all at once.

In the fast-approaching distance I could see something that made this specific line even more unusual: a vast gap between mine and another of equal vibrancy. Except that gap, the closer I got, seemed to be closing as rapidly as I was reaching it.

The closer I got, however, the more afraid I became. While the two lines looked like they were going to collide, I had no idea what would happen if they did. Would the impact reverberate across the lines and knock me off to drift endlessly in the void surrounding me? Or would I get stuck inside the collision? Could I die here?

I wasn’t given any more time to panic. Within moments the lines touched and I braced myself for whatever the outcome.

But the only reaction the lines made was to hum, vibrate and glow at an even greater frequency as a brilliant light blinded me. It was only a flash, there and gone again, and when I opened my eyes I saw that the lines had fused into one.

The newly formed single line didn’t hold my attention for long, however. When the spots in my vision cleared, a figure was revealed to me. I was no longer travelling, and we stood there taking stock of what happened while eyeing each other like this was a hallucination.

And it had to have been, because standing right in front of me was the woman who haunted me.

‘Artemis?’ Her name came out unbidden, breathy and stunned.

‘This must be a dream,’ she reasoned. Her voice was higher than I remembered but still recognisable. I wondered how she’d lowered it so much while masquerading as a male.

‘I don’t think it’s a dream, love,’ I said, slowly inching myself forward on the line, trying to maintain my balance. I need not have worried about that, though. I was still somehow magnetised to the thing.

‘A hallucination then?’

I chuckled, having just thought the same thing. But if she was questioning our presence here then was this real? Were we both here? We had to be.

‘Well, this is my dream, so you must be the hallucination, love.’

She frowned. ‘I was searching The Program’s database when the web hijacked me and brought me here...’

‘I wasn’t searching through any databases, but I was hijacked, too.’

‘But you can’t be here… it’s impossible…’ she muttered, low and confused. The hope in her tone also lit up her eyes as she took in the way I scootched on the line, a small smirk tilting up the corners of her lips at what must have been an amusing sight.

‘I’m the type to believe in the impossible, my love,’ I told her, shooting her my brightest grin.

Her head shook side to side as if she were trying to shake some sense into herself, but when her gaze landed back on me, close enough to touch now, she shrank in on herself and watched me with a wariness that hurt my heart.

‘What’s wrong, love? I thought you’d be happy to see me…’ I admitted, though now that I thought about it… The solar apart might have caused a rift between us that could be challenging to bridge if she didn’t feel the same as I did. I didn’t want to think about that as a possibility, but it was becoming increasingly apparent that we needed to clear the air.

Open honesty was the only way forward, even if the result wasn’t what I wanted.

‘So… you’re a woman.’ I gave her a gentle smile to soften my words, not wanting her to think I was attacking her for her previous disguise.

She blinked once at me, then glanced down her body where two plump breasts extended from her chest beneath a black, skin-tight jumpsuit. She didn’t meet my eyes again after that.

‘You… Are you really here?’ she asked.

‘I’m really here, love.’

Her right hand lifted, fingers reaching toward my face, but she paused before she made contact. Hand still held in front of her, she leaned forward, closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.

‘Like the ocean…’ she mouthed the words, no sound escaping. Then, eyes still closed, she reached the rest of the way until her fingers grazed my cheek. Her hand snapped back, her eyes now open and wide as she stared at me, their brown depths swirling with so many emotions I couldn’t even begin to decipher them.

But then she chose one, and the way her expression twisted into something self-deprecating and pleading that I sat there frozen, torn between trying to comfort her or letting her process the way she needed to.

I watched in horror as tears filled her beautiful big brown eyes and spilled over her cheeks to drip off her chin. They were fast, always ready with a replacement as soon as one brimmed over. I hated seeing that soul-deep sadness as she refused to look at me.

‘I’m so sorry, ’ she said, her voice trembling and teeming with guilt. ‘I know I shouldn’t have let things go as far as they did, and I tried to keep my distance, but I wanted to be selfish just for a little bit. I wanted to feel wanted, and loved, and special, just once. Even if it wasn’t going to last. And I know it was wrong. I never should have led you on like that when you didn’t even know the real me. I deceived you, and I’m so, so sorry, Bromm.’

She still hadn’t looked at me throughout her whole speech. If she had, she would have seen how utterly irrelevant her past lies were to me. She would have seen the love I had for her emanating off of me in an aura almost as bright as these damn lines.

‘Look at me, my love,’ I told her, my voice low and gentle. Still, she refused.

‘Artemis,’ I tried again. ‘I want you to see the truth in my words when I say them. Please look at me.’

I wanted to reach out to her, haul her into my arms and never let go. I’d watched her obliterate an entire facility. I’d witnessed her strength and perseverance. I’d seen her kill an entire group of armed men in record time like it was nothing. But right now, she looked so fragile and breakable and I knew I needed to be her strength here.

Finally, tentatively, she raised her head enough to make eye contact with me. I smiled encouragingly, hoping I was conveying everything I felt for her through my expression and body language. I didn’t think she’d appreciate my touch until we’d resolved this misunderstanding between us. She was going to know that we loved one another and were going to make this thing between us real if it was the last thing I ever did.

This woman was mine, and it was past time she learned I wasn’t going anywhere.

‘Arty, I didn’t fall in love with a male. My love for you never depended on a certain appendage that never even existed. I fell in love with you , who very much does exist. I don’t care about your parts, I never did. My feelings for you haven’t changed… Artemis, I’m yours. Fully, wholly, and irrevocably. I love you. Please tell me you feel the same. Please tell me this is real between us and that I haven’t lost my heart to someone who doesn’t want it, because I don’t want it back. It’s yours forever.’

I didn’t think it was possible but the tears fell in a steady stream even quicker than before. The hope in her gaze gutted me. I never wanted her to doubt this… us. Who cared that she wasn’t a man? I didn’t. As far as I was concerned, we were inevitable and irreversible. She was stuck with me for eternity and beyond.

‘But I lied to you…’ she protested weakly.

‘You had your reasons, and I don’t blame you for it.’

‘But I lied to you, ’ she tried one more time.

‘And I forgive you, my love. Your lies weren’t a personal attack on me. They had nothing to do with me. I forgive you.’

It was like the metaphorical wall between was the only thing holding her up, because as soon as it crumbled she fell forward right into my waiting arms.

I held her as she sobbed. Whispered sweet reassurances into her hair. Made promises of my love that I never intended to break. Rocked her back and forth as she let the emotion wash over her, through her, and settle deep inside her where it was safe and protected.

‘I love you, Artemis. This time apart has been torture. I love you, and I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.’

‘I love you too, Bromm,’ she answered, leaning back to take me in with her red, puffy face and running nose. The freckles there stood out starkly against the flush of her skin. Even now, she was so beautiful it hurt.

Her hands rose to cup my face, her thumbs softly sweeping in gentle circles across my cheeks and tangling with my wriggling beard. ‘Stars, I don’t deserve you,’ she whispered, her breath a sweet, longing caress against my lips, ‘but I’m selfish and I want to keep you.’

I grinned down at her, my beard reaching out to tangle with her hair, to stroke her cheeks, her jaw, her neck… her deliciously plump lips. ‘You can be as selfish as you like when it comes to me. I’m all for it.’

She laughed then, the sound wet and gargled from her crying but still somehow managed to be bright and happy.

‘I can’t quite believe you’re really here. I can feel you. I can smell you. It doesn’t make any sense,’ she admitted.

I shrugged, the motion jostling her in my lap and causing her core to brush against my cock that was hard and ready in no time at all. Now wasn’t the time, however, and we both ignored the reaction.

‘I’ve been here a lot this past solar, but this is the first time I’ve been able to move past my usual spot.’

She frowned up at me from where her head rested against my shoulder. ‘I’m still struggling to believe it, and what you’re saying makes even less sense.’

‘Sorry, I don’t have an explanation. I was sorta hoping you would, but if it allows me to see you and hold you like this then I’m not complaining.’

‘You really have no idea how you’re here?’ she asked, then sat up suddenly, alarm flashing across her face. ‘The Program didn’t hurt you, did they? Tell me you’re okay.’

I held onto her, tugging her close to my chest so that her ear rested above my heartbeat. ‘I’m fine. The Program took over Nova Station and commandeered the academy, but they haven’t taken any of us as their test subjects.’

Yet, I knew that was a lie as soon as I said it. How could I have forgotten about Reece and Adara?

I interrupted her before she could finish her sigh of relief. ‘Uh, well that’s not entirely true. I’m fine,’ I told her before the rising panic in her eyes could spill over. ‘It’s Reece. And Adara.’

She tensed, her posture rigid in my lap as she focused on what I was telling her. ‘What happened?’

I braced myself for telling the story. I hated to even think about it with how helpless I was to save them, but maybe Arty could help. ‘Reece was found guilty. They kept him in a cell this entire time and none of us were able to see him. Except Xander and sometimes Adara, but that was only because they were representing him.’

‘Xander…? You don’t mean Captain Alexander Hironimus,’ she interrupted, her indignation rising the pitch of her voice.

‘Uh, yeah, the captain. We call him Xander now, though.’

‘I don’t trust that man, Bromm,’ she told me, her desperation for me to listen shocking me.

‘Why not?’

She took a deep, grounding breath before answering. ‘Right before The Program attacked, I found out that Hironimus was meeting with Colonel Granger in secret. They had video footage of me on the Entario Station changing into my disguise for the academy…’

‘Oh, that’s what that was,’ I laughed.

Her brows furrowed in confusion. ‘What?’

‘My first time here I saw the meeting between the colonel and Xander. And I saw the footage of you changing, though to be honest at the time I thought it was a video of you and your girlfriend. It wasn’t until Markus showed us the footage of you completely destroying that facility that I realised – ‘

‘Woah, wait. Back up. You saw what? When?’

‘Well, after you sucked the soul right out of my dick and I fell asleep was the first time I ended up here. That’s when I saw the meeting and the footage of you at the Entario Station, but I woke up before I could see the end of it so I didn’t figure out it was you. Then about a week ago Markus showed us the footage The Program has of you going all badass on those guards – that thing you do with the shields? Fucking awesome, by the way – and told everyone who you were.’

She looked pale by the time I’d finished explaining, almost like she was about to be sick.

‘I… You saw that? I don’t understand… how can you say you love me if you saw…?’

I pressed a quick but passionate kiss to her lips in response. ‘It made me love you even more. You were so hot taking those bastards down I almost came in my pants in front of everyone. Apparently, watching you in full-on revenge mode really gets me going.’

She scoffed in disbelief. ‘You’re insane,’ she said on a shocked laugh.

I merely shrugged and smiled down at her. No point in denying it. I was crazy for this woman. Literally.

‘What was Markus doing with it, though?’ she asked, bringing us back on topic.

‘Apparently, Colonel Granger is anti-The Program and recruited Markus and Xander to secretly work directly for her. When she showed him that footage of you she was trying to prove what an asset you would be to the cause. They wanted to recruit you, love.’

She physically deflated as if a world-heavy weight had been lifted off her back. ‘Oh. Oh. I thought…’

‘You thought Markus, Xander and the Colonel were working with The Program,’ I finished for her.

She gave me a sheepish smile. ‘I guess I jumped to conclusions there, huh?’

I placed a kiss on her forehead, wanting the connection just as much as she needed the reassurance. ‘Understandably. You didn’t have the full picture, and it did admittedly look rather dodgy without context.’

‘Okay, now tell me about Reece and Addy. You said Reece was found guilty but not what happened next,’ she prompted.

‘Right. Well, Reece’s trial was rigged from the start. Adara provided the council with the evidence that it wasn’t Reece, but they ignored it and declared her guilty for contempt of court and conspiracy or some bullshit like that.’ I paused to gather the courage to speak their fate out loud. ‘The Program took them in as subjects a few days ago.’

‘Fuck,’ she cursed.

‘They know you’re coming, my love,’ I warned her.

‘I figured they would. Not much gets passed them.’

‘How far out are you? Where are you?’

‘I’m still planet-side. The other women from the facility were freed, but it’s not great. They’re all pregnant, even Libby,’ she said.

‘Libby is your blonde friend?’ I asked, hoping she wouldn’t say they were more than friends. I wasn’t averse to sharing, but I didn’t like the idea of sharing with someone I didn’t even know.

She smiled wistfully at the mention of her. ‘Yeah. We’ve been partnered by The Program since the start. She’s more like a sister than a friend. Family…’

I was relieved to hear I didn’t have any competition, but the sadness in her tone when she mentioned family raised my alarms. ‘What is it?’ I asked her.

Her expression twisted to display her discomfort about the topic when she answered. ‘The Program started a breeding program. That’s what they were doing to us. Two of them just gave birth within the past couple of days and a few more of them aren’t so far off. But… They already have children. The scientists took them the day I… They took Libby’s… I have to get him back, Bromm. He’s just a baby. But I have no idea where they took them or where to start looking.’

Puzzle pieces started slotting into place. The increased guards. The mystery shipment…

‘I think I know where they are.’

My words were like a bomb drop, the silence following almost unbearable with its emotional charge.

‘ Where?’ she demanded.

‘Nova Station. There’s this new shipment that’s come in for the scientists but no one knows what’s in it. They brought in a bunch of new guards and increased security because of it.’

‘That must be them…’

It was time to get down to business. A hard conversation needed to be had. ‘Listen, is there anyone coming with you to help?’

She shook her head no. ‘I’m the only one who isn’t pregnant or a new mother,’ she admitted, and I didn’t know why I never even considered that she was pregnant until this moment. She’d mentioned the breeding program, but there was just something about her that told me she hadn’t been a successful subject.

But that was a discussion we could have when we were together again.

I thought about it for a click, mulling over the situation in my mind before coming to a conclusion neither one of us would like, but it was our only chance.

‘I don’t know how many children you’re trying to liberate, but I need to ask you a favour.’

She didn’t even hesitate. ‘Anything.’

‘There’s this guard,’ Arty stiffened at the mention of him, probably due to her previous negative experiences with The Program’s guards, so I rubbed her arms to comfort her. ‘He’s been working with us. All of us have been working together to find a way out, but with Reece and Adara gone…’

‘You need me to get them out, too,’ she surmised.

‘Yes…’

‘I sense a but,’ she said sadly as if she already knew where this was going.

‘With the children, Reece and Adara, there’s too many of us to escape the same way.’

‘My mission will be the distraction you need to get out unnoticed because all their focus will be on stopping me,’ she concluded. ‘You’re not coming with me.’

‘Yet,’ I enforced. ‘I’m not coming with you yet. I just need to know where you are so I can come find you.’

‘I don’t know where I am,’ she admitted, her frustration palpable.

‘Then we’ll meet somewhere else and regroup there,’ I offered.

‘Where?’

I thought about it but drew a blank. I didn’t even know where Nova Station was at this moment in time or where we were headed. But then an idea came to me like a lightbulb going off over my head. It was the beginnings of a plan, but it was vague and relied too much on chance. I didn’t see any other way, though.

‘There’s a meeting tonight. I’ll talk to the others and come up with a location. Is there a way to contact you?’

‘No,’ she admitted, though she surprisingly didn’t look put out. ‘I could come back here every day and try to catch you, but if that fails then I’ll be able to contact you as soon as I reach Nova Station.’

I cocked my head to the side, curious. ‘How?’

She gestured around us. ‘This place. It’s a convergence of online databases. These lines are specific channels, and the little bumps are the files. If you have a holo-tab on you then I can find it easily enough and hack into it to leave you a message when I’m in range.’

My jaw was hanging so low it was a wonder that it hadn’t fallen off completely. ‘Wow…’

Fuck everything else, I needed to kiss my woman now.

My lips captured hers in a desperate kiss, and I channelled all my passion and longing into it as I could. My hands came to rest on her hips and I pulled her flush against me just as her arms wrapped around my neck, her fingers grazing the edges of my beard on opposite sides.

Her hips rocked against mine, the delicious friction causing both of us to let out twin groans of desire while the coiled tentacles at the base of my cock attempted to tug my pants down to reach her.

I wanted to continue, to tear the clothes off her body and see her in her full glory, but an insistent ringing started in my ears. It grew louder and more persistent, morphing into more of a buzzing that I soon recognised as the academy’s wake-up call.

Reluctantly, I pulled away. Her lips chased mine for one last kiss, but I needed to put some distance between us to say one more thing before consciousness dragged me from her.

‘I have to go, but I need say this again to really drive the message home, okay?’

She nodded, her eyes glassy and half-lidded, her lips even plumper and redder from how hard I’d devoured her.

‘I love you, Artemis. You’re mine, and I’m yours. There is no discussion about it. No matter how far apart we are, that will always remain true. I vow it.’

Her breath hitched with emotion, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. ‘I echo that vow, Bromm. I’m yours for as long as you’ll have me.’

I opened my mouth to respond, but she was no longer with me. Or rather I was no longer with her. Instead of the glowing web floating in a void, I was in my room at the academy. Instead of Artemis’s gorgeous face before me, Foryk’s ugly mug hovered above me.

I must not have been able to keep the disappointment from my expression.

‘Good dream?’ he grunted out the question.

I felt it as my facial muscles rearranged themselves in what I was sure had to be a blinding grin. My beard twitched with excitement and the memory of how Arty felt against me, the motion involuntary.

The lines above Ryk’s eyes rose high on his forehead as he recognised their dance. ‘A very good dream, then.’

‘The best,’ was all I admitted. ‘I’ll tell you all about it tonight.’

‘Tonight?’ he frowned.

I levelled him with a look I hoped conveyed my seriousness. ‘Tonight.’

Understanding dawned, and we said nothing else about it for the rest of the day. Right up until he called me out in front of everyone in that cramped little study room.