Page 10 of Rebels Rising (The Intergalactic Union #3)

Artemis

I no longer needed Xander to drag me along – progress – and I propelled myself down the hallway with Baldr still secured firmly in my arms. Dave Junior was walking beside Addy who was scratching between his ears as they moved, but I could tell that though Xander was attempting to project confidence around the large Kikshrut baby, he was still nervous. Perspiration was accumulating on his brow, a drip leaking down the side of his face that he tried to surreptitiously wipe away. I gave him his privacy, pretending not to see.

When we made it to the infirmary, it was packed. Bromm still took up one of the cots, but the other two were occupied while a crowd had formed a little waiting area outside the door. People with varying degrees of small injuries were propped against the walls or sitting on the floor as they awaited their turn to be seen.

Henrik was flitting about, gathering new packages of gauze or needles for stitches, while Cadmus was surprisingly situated beside Bromm, head bowed as his gaze was fixed firmly on my Griknot prince.

‘Hey,’ I said. Everyone, medic, patient and visitor alike, turned to face the door, expecting me to enter on the ground. I took a small amount of amusement from their shock when they found me on the ceiling, their jaws dropping comically. I tried to hide the way my pride was wounded at not being able to get back down just yet by donning my signature poker face.

‘What the fuck are you doing up there?’ Cadmus asked with a startled chortle.

‘The ceiling needed some love,’ I deadpanned. ‘How are things in here?’

Henrik waved at me but kept his attention on his patients, the only one who hadn’t batted an eye at my unusual position, leaving Cadmus to respond. ‘Bromm’s fine. Everyone else has cuts and bruises, a few broken bones here and there, but otherwise they’re also fine.’

‘No animals in the infirmary please, Captain,’ Henrik suddenly stated, and I glanced down to where Dave Junior was shoulder-to-shoulder with Adara, a content expression on his face as he accepted even more scratches from her small but deft fingers.

‘Sorry. You’re right. We’ll leave. I just wanted to do a quick check-in before I head up to the cockpit. You can find me there if you need me,’ I said, then floated right back out as the others trailed after me.

‘Artemis, wait,’ Cadmus called, stepping into the corridor behind us.

I twisted back around to face him, ignoring the way my limbs awkwardly bumped into the walls in the process. ‘What’s up?’

‘Uh…’ he hesitated, twisting his fingers together and seeming uncharacteristically bashful. ‘I need to talk to you about something.’

‘Is it urgent?’ I asked, my impatience to get somewhere secluded to figure out how to reinstate my own gravity causing my words to snap out a little more tersely than I had planned. I winced when he flinched then tried to hide it by rubbing the back of his neck.

‘Well, kind of, but it can wait until you have a spare moment,’ he said, already beginning to back away.

‘Okay,’ I said eager to leave and not so eager to talk with Cadmus. Whatever conversation we needed to have was not going to be a comfortable one after the moment we’d shared inside the facility, but I could grudgingly admit that I was probably better to just get it out of the way so we could move on. The mere thought of what had transpired had me internally squirming with discomfort, but I softened a little when I realised I was being rude. He was behaving unnaturally timid around me and it was throwing me off. ‘I’ll send for you when I’m free and we can chat?’

I didn’t mean for it to come out as a question, but something about the way he was behaving was rubbing off on me and I found myself just as shy and awkward as he seemed to be. It was probably just because he was usually so composed and wielded an air of superiority almost like a weapon, but there was no sign of that right now and I didn’t know what to do with it.

I hoped the coming conversation was about something other than what had happened between us inside The Program’s Nova Station facility, but my gut was telling me that was a wound that would fester until it was treated. I didn’t really know what to say about it, nor how to feel, so I’d been pushing it aside and pretending it was nothing. Cadmus’s nerves were telling a different story, however, unless I was completely wrong and he wanted to discuss something entirely different that had nothing to do with my hands cupping his two cocks while I fucked another man…

Nope. No time for thoughts like that.

We said our farewells and went our separate ways, me towards the cockpit and him back inside the infirmary, and I shoved the entire interaction into a box to open when I had the time to ruminate on it. I knew I would overthink and jump to conclusions, so I wanted to have the discussion with him first before I put my foot in my mouth.

Who was I kidding? I was already overthinking things.

I wished Libby were here to help me keep my feet firmly planted on the floor – metaphorically and physically – and my head securely in the present, but once glance down at Baldr’s big green eyes, an exact replica of his mother’s, and the effect was just the same. He smiled wide when he realised I was giving him attention then snuggled deeper into my chest as he watched the happenings below.

My feet may not have been on the floor, but this was suddenly the most grounded I’d felt in a long time.

As we swooped lower through the doorway into the cockpit, a sharp trill of high-pitched laughter cut through the air. Eloria was already here, and she apparently found my sudden weightlessness immensely amusing.

‘I don’t know why I expected you to walk in like a normal person, Captain, but it’s clear I need to adjust my expectations,’ she teased.

‘Oh, shush, you,’ was my brilliant response.

Julius the Weapons Expert was here, too, jaw to his chest as he gawped at me.

‘She can fly , too?’ he squeaked out.

‘I think the real question is, can she get down?’ she shot back in an overly dramatized whisper.

‘I’m working on it,’ I mumbled sulkily.

‘She couldn’t move on her own five minutes ago,’ Xander said, his lips tilted up at the corners in a smirk. ‘At least she figured that much out.’

Eloria mirrored his amusement. ‘Indeed.’

‘Good morning, GC Stanson. I hope our course is remaining smooth sailing.’

‘Eloria,’ she said, making him rear back like she’d smacked him clear across the face, his eyes expanding until they looked as if they’d pop right out of his head and I held in a snigger. ‘Our dear captain here prefers to be referred to by her given name, and I’ve never been too keen on titles either. Let us forego the formalities in private, yes?’

‘I…’ he began, then sighed as he sent an exasperated glance in Addy’s direction that she returned with a smirk. ‘I don’t think I have much of a choice,’ he chuckled.

‘You really don’t,’ Addy teased.

Eloria turned to face me, effectively dismissing the others while Julius continued gaping at us in silence, his jaw working like a suffocating fish. ‘Are you feeling more up to making that call now, Artemis?’

‘I don’t really think now’s the best time. You made a good point yesterday, and I don’t want their first impression of me to be influenced by my inability to keep my feet on the ground.’

She laughed again, the sound high and tinkling and filled me with a lightness I had previously only felt with Liberty. ‘That’s probably a good call. I pulled up their contact details for you this morning and did a little research on royal protocol. You’ll have to jump through hoops to get through to them and it will take a while – royal security and all that – but all you need to do is be here once gravity is back on your side. Though I must warn you that they will more than likely refuse to speak to you personally. They don’t typically permit strangers direct contact with the royal family. You’ll more than likely be told to leave a message for the security team to pass on.’

I shot her a thin-lipped but grateful smile, unsure if I should feel disappointed or relieved that I probably won’t be meeting Bromm’s parents today. I was curious, but I was also nervous. I wanted them to like me.

‘Thanks Eloria. You’re turning out to be a life saver.’

She preened at my praise. ‘I’m happy to help.’

‘Is now a good time for that chat with Cadmus, then?’ Addy asked, and I knew she was just being nosy for gossip. I was glad to see her behaving like her usual self, but I wasn’t too eager to allow her into private conversations while they were in progress. I’d happily debrief her afterwards, but I would rather have that conversation alone.

‘I’ll grab him for a chat now,’ I told her, but she cast me a confused look when I handed Baldr to her. She held him tight to keep him from flying away, and Xander snorted his amusement, apparently knowing what I was up to.

‘I’ll keep her away,’ he promised me.

‘Dave Junior, too, if you don’t mind,’ I asked. His face paled but he nodded anyway. Junior was happy enough getting pets from both Eloria and Adara so he I doubted he’d have anything to worry about. I cast a glance towards the oversized animal, noting the way he narrowed his eyes on Xander’s back.

Okay, he might need to exercise a little caution, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. I was sure he’d be fine.

I nodded my thanks then swiftly exited the room, taking care to avoid bumping my head on the doorframe as I dipped lower to get through.

???

The hallway outside the infirmary was even more crowded than when I’d left it, and I could hear Henrik rushing around inside, barking orders at Cadmus before I even entered the room. I couldn’t help a quick glance at Bromm as I floated inside and was pleased to see that he had gained a little bit more of his colouring back. I wondered when he’d be able to breath without assistance again, hating the sight of the intubation and the respirator sticking out of his mouth.

Henrik looked harried, and Cadmus was hastily performing the small assisting tasks our unofficial medic was rapidly throwing at him, but he seemed to be having fun if the smile etched onto his face was any indication.

Sensing Henrik’s rising distress as yet another individual entered the room and added their name to the ever-growing list, I decided it was time to take action. ‘Need any help?’

‘Yes!’ Henrik exclaimed, eager for the extra hands. ‘Please. Do you know any first aid?’

‘I know enough,’ I admitted. ‘I can clean and dress a wound, but I’ve never sewn anything in my entire life so I’m not much help there. I am, however, proficient in setting and bracing bones.’

‘Can you take vitals?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then can you head into the hallway with Cadmus and start crossing off names on the waiting list? Bumps and bruises can leave, but anything beyond your capabilities should stick around for me to see to.’

I gave him a two-fingered salute. ‘You got it, doc.’

Just as Cadmus handed me an armful of supplies, my body descended until I was back on the ground. The nanites must have finally listened to my desire to stop flying through my need to help.

He shot me a wide smile. ‘Good job.’

I grinned back, pleased with myself.

Together we exited the infirmary and headed straight for the front of the line. The first patient was a middle-aged mutt, his features too ambiguous to determine his lineage. He was resting with his head tilted back against the wall as he sat cross-legged on the floor, and his eyes were closed and slightly squinted as he clutched his arm, his pain evident.

‘Sir?’ I called out to him, gently placing my hand on his shoulder so he knew I was addressing him. His eyes peeked open slightly, and they were red rimmed with dark, puffy bags beneath them belying his exhaustion, both mental and physical.

‘I’m going to take your vitals,’ I informed him. ‘While I do that, why don’t you tell me about your injuries so I can determine how best to help you.’

He allowed me to fit a small machine around his forefinger, the tiny device accumulating information such as heartrate, blood pressure, and even pricking the skin to draw some blood to run a quick test for substances and blood sugar levels. It was truly a versatile little thing, and quite useful.

Cadmus moved onto the next patient in line while mine informed me that his wrist was damaged and he had a large gash on his shoulder. It turned out that he’d only sprained the wrist so I wrapped it, but after a closer look at the cut it was clear he needed stitches. I cleaned it the best I could and secured some gauze over the top but told him to stay put until Henrik could stitch him up. I wrote a note next to his name on the waiting list hanging from the door and moved onto the next.

On and on, Cadmus and I worked efficiently and effectively. Most only needed a bit of bandaging, very few needed anything more like pain relief or stitches. One man had a broken arm but didn’t want to get caught up in the melee the day before so he had held himself back until things had calmed down, but it was easy enough to set. He went off on his way with some pain pills, but he would be fine.

I chanced a peek at Cadmus who was bent over someone’s leg, inspecting a dark bruise. His rear was taking up the majority of my view, and I couldn’t help but pause to admire it. Round and pert, he clearly spent a lot of time sculpting those particular muscles. And to think, I just barely missed out on first-hand experience for how those mounds would feel cupped in my hands…

My fingers and palms tingled with the memory of how the other side of him felt through the fabric of his clothes. Thick, heavy, and double the trouble with his two admittedly large cocks. I couldn’t help but wonder what they would look like, my only experience with Griknots and Terrans. When we’d scoured through virtual files during the awakening of our sexuality, the only footage Libby and I had discovered had solely starred Griknots. Whilst we were aware of the differing anatomies of the various races, it was mostly theoretical knowledge beyond that.

My research had stemmed from the feelings T had invoked in me once upon a time, but I wasn’t particularly keen for the Tornu sexual experience. It was said to be painful and quite traumatic for most, which was why it was so rare for Tornus to breed outside of their race. Since I had spent my entire life feeling pain, I wanted sex to be pleasurable, not painful, yet I was still curious.

I tried not to think about that too much, however. Nothing was going to happen between me and T, but something had happened between me and Cadmus. Not much, but certainly a lot more than I had allowed before with anyone else besides Bromm.

Well, and Demari, but I didn’t count the forceful copulation. That hadn’t been fun in any capacity.

‘It’s a great ass, yes?’ my patient whispered to me, bobbing their eyebrows up and down. ‘You familiar with it?’

I couldn’t stop the blush from burning my cheeks if I’d tried. ‘Um… not really, no.’

He winked at me. ‘But you’ve gotten close, hmm? Lucky lass.’

I choked on an uneasy laugh, the sound loud and unattractive and drew the attention of the surrounding soldiers. Including Cadmus.

‘You choking, Arty? Need me to perform the Heimlich?’ he teased, wiggling his eyebrows comically.

I rolled my eyes. ‘Whatever, Cadmus. Focus on your patient.’

‘But how can I focus when I can feel your eyes burning holes in my ass?’ he asked, but it wasn’t exactly mocking. There was no teasing note in his voice. He sounded completely serious.

My cheeks burned even hotter, the heat travelling to the tips of my ears and spreading down my chest. I didn’t want to know how red I had become, so I simply ignored it.

‘What were you doing back here, anyway?’ he asked, his attention split between me and his patient.

I didn’t want to respond in front of so many strangers, especially my current patient who was watching the interaction like we were his own personal soap opera. I placated myself by reminding myself that we didn’t need to have the coming conversation here.

‘I was free. Figured I could pull you for that chat,’ I admitted.

‘And then you got sucked into nurse duty,’ he surmised.

I hummed in response.

‘Did your call get cut short or something?’ he asked, glancing at me through his periphery.

‘It didn’t happen.’

‘Ah. Didn’t want to talk to the in-laws while you were floating?’ There was that teasing quality I’d been waiting for. Shockingly, I had missed it.

I blinked, averting my gaze as my face practically blazed in my discomfort. ‘Pretty much.’

‘Well, you can go now if you want. I think I’ve got things from here,’ he gestured to the few patients still left behind. With the three of us working together, we’d managed to see to most of the wounded in record time.

‘They can wait,’ I said, willing my blush to go down. I wasn’t successful, especially when his head snapped up, purple eyes wide and more innocent and vulnerable than I could ever remember them being.

‘That eager to spend some time with me, Arty?’ he winked, covering up the slip of his mask so fast that I almost believed I’d imagined it.

‘I figured it’s best to just get it over with.’

He made a pained sound at the back of his throat. ‘Ouch. Is it that horrific to spend time with me?’

I frowned. ‘What? No. I never said that.’

‘Oh, stars, this is painful to watch,’ my patient muttered to the man next to him.

‘I’m quite enjoying the show,’ the other man responded, eyes bouncing between me and Cadmus like we were the best entertainment he’d had in a while.

‘You two, hush,’ I snapped half-heartedly and turned to Cadmus. ‘I’ll help you finish up here, and then we can go talk.’

His answering smile was bright, but I didn’t miss the shakiness that he tried to hide. Everyone else seemed to, though, his acting skills more than respectable. I only caught it because I was looking.

We finished up with the last of the waiting patients quickly, sending them all on their way with bandages and pain relief while Henrik continued working on the ones that needed a little extra help. He didn’t need us for that, so Cadmus and I took that as our opportunity to go someplace quiet and secluded to talk.

I was nervous which was an unusual emotion for me to feel. I didn’t like it. It made me unsure of myself and I hated any level of self-doubt. I had always considered myself above that. The closest approximation to that feeling I’d ever allowed was paranoia, but that was well-deserved after all I’d been through so I cut myself some slack there. That one was a matter of survival. Nervousness was just silly. A single conversation wasn’t going to kill me.

We both stood there in the now-empty hallway, the silence between us growing like a living thing. He raised an eyebrow at me, effectively dispersing the majority of that tension with his pointed amusement even if some of it remained, and I gestured for him to lead the way. I knew of a few places we could go to ensure our privacy, but I was curious to see where he would take me.

He led the way to a small room that was clearly originally intended to be a closet, the cramped space lined with shelves and cupboards. The floor had been turned into a sort of nest, blankets and pillows creating a warm padding above the hard metal. I was aware that there weren’t enough bunks for everyone that had joined us – it couldn’t be helped – but I was taken aback by their living conditions. I considered for a moment giving up my own room to people who needed it more but quickly dismissed the idea. I had Bal to think about, and Dave Junior would revolt if I moved him from the space he’d claimed for himself. He struggled enough with Bal’s constant company as it was.

The spot was secluded and surprisingly intimate as we avoided stepping on the carefully fluffed nest. When the door closed behind us the light from the hallway no longer helped to illuminate the space. The single dim overhead light seemed to cast more shadows than light, and we were pressed so close together by the narrow room that if I breathed any fuller my breasts would brush up against his chest. My breath hitched involuntarily, heat undoubtedly staining my cheeks for the umpteenth time while I waited for my nanites to kick into gear and even out my body’s biological response to the man before me. It didn’t help that I we were gazing into each other’s eyes, the purple in his growing darker the longer the silence persisted. This time, however, it was less of a chasm and more of a magnetism.

Fuck, this guy was a danger to my mental health. And my libido.

When he didn’t immediately speak, I cleared my throat. ‘So… what was it you wanted to talk about?’ I asked, feigning ignorance. I had a very strong feeling I knew where this conversation was headed, and I wanted to postpone it for a long as possible.

Was that cowardly? Perhaps, but I was only a badass when it came to destroying my enemies. Truthfully, I was warm and squishy on the inside, my emotions larger than I cared to outwardly portray. Only Libby, Bromm and Adara were privy to that little secret, however. I wasn’t sure I could trust Cadmus with that much of me.

‘You know,’ Cadmus began, leaning against a shelf with a playful glint in his eyes as he took me in, ‘I think you secretly enjoy spending time with me.’

I raised an eyebrow, masking my shock at his audacity with a smirk. ‘Oh, really? And what makes you think that?’

‘Just a hunch,’ he replied, bowing his head so his lips were barely a breath away from mine. ‘And maybe because you keep looking at me like you want to devour me.’

I scoffed in utter disbelief. ‘This is the first time we’ve ever been alone in a room together, Cadmus.’

His pupils dilated, almost completely overtaking the purple. ‘That didn’t stop you before.’

‘Whatever do you mean?’ I taunted, tilting my head to the side.

‘Nothing. Nothing at all,’ he said, his tone suddenly serious as the smile fell from his face. ‘That’s actually not what I wanted to talk to you about.’

There was a vulnerability in his eyes that set the alarm bells in my head ringing loud and clear. For all intents and purposes, there shouldn’t be anything else for us to talk about, let alone privately. Was it something with Bromm…?

‘What’s wrong?’ I asked, doing my best to mask my rising panic.

‘Why would you think anything’s wrong?’ he asked, his mask suddenly snapping back into place so quickly it almost gave me whiplash. Cadmus was without a doubt the biggest enigma I have ever encountered, but he couldn’t hide everything from me.

I reached out, placing a hand on his arm. ‘You don’t have to hide behind all this bravado, Cadmus. If there’s something going on you can talk to me.’

He sighed, the mask slipping again a little before he decided to take the plunge and remove it entirely. Seeing him without it for the first time was like having the breath knocked right out of me. He was stunning. The depth of emotions in his eyes called to me like a siren song as compassion from the deepest depths of my being rose up, eager to reach for him and soothe his distress.

‘The truth is… there’s something happening to me. And I’m… fuck,’ he cut himself off, dragging a hand down his face as he tried to find the words he was struggling to get out. ‘I can’t…’

‘What is it?’ I whispered, inching closer despite my best efforts to maintain the distance between us, our breaths mingling. The urge to act as a balm to his troubles was new and slightly terrifying, but I couldn’t seem help myself.

Cadmus hesitated, then took a deep breath. ‘Artemis, I think what’s happening to Bromm is happening to me.’

I swallowed hard, my heart pounding. ‘What?’

He looked into my eyes, the weight of his troubles evident in his gaze. ‘When you entered the web to open the airlock doors on Nova Station, I… followed you in. To that place. The web. I don’t know how, but it was like I was this ghost being dragged along. I couldn’t see anyone else, but last night… Last night I ended up back there. I was a little more corporeal, and I saw Bromm. We spoke.’

I studied his face, seeing the uncertainty etched into his features. ‘Well, fuck,’ I breathed, stunned.

‘Artemis, what’s happening to me? To Bromm, too?’

I shook my head, the answers so far away from me that trying to grasp them was pointless. ‘I don’t know, Cadmus. Everyone’s saying that The Program didn’t taken them or perform any tests. There really should be no- ‘

A sudden thought entered my mind and cut me off. The only common denominator between Cadmus and Bromm was, well… me.

His back straightened as he sensed the change. ‘What? What is it?’

‘I may have a theory,’ I said.

‘And?’

I blew out a breath, unsure how much to say. If I was right, the consequences could be devastating. If I was wrong, we were back to square one. But I also didn’t want to give him an answer until I was sure. He deserved to make that choice for himself, however.

‘Do you want the theory or the answer?’ I asked.

‘Do you have an answer?’

‘Not yet.’

‘Then I want the theory. I don’t want to be kept in the dark, Artemis. Not with this.’

I pursed my lips, but he was right. If my theory was correct then this was all my fault anyway. The least I could do was keep him informed of my thoughts on the matter.

‘I think we should keep this between us. At least for the time being. I don’t want to cause a panic in case I’m wrong,’ I insisted, and he nodded.

‘Okay, I can agree to that, but you’re scaring me so cut to the chase, yeah?’

I took a steadying breath but couldn’t keep eye contact as the words fell out of my mouth. ‘This has only happened to the two of you. The two men I’ve been… intimate with. Or at least kissed. Demari kept saying that my nanites responded to my emotions and my body… what if they read my reactions and tried to connect us somehow? What if I accidentally transmitted them to the two of you?’

‘What? How?’

‘Same way anything is transmitted. Bodily fluids.’

‘What, like our spit?’

‘Yes.’

‘So, you think you gave us your nanites like one might pass on a disease, because we kissed? ’

‘That is my theory, yes.’

He stared at me, his body deflating to fall back against the shelves. Then he averted his eyes, suddenly struggling to look at me. ‘I considered the same thing, but I wasn’t sure.’

I wanted to reach out and touch him again, but I didn’t know how he would react to physical comfort from me right now. ‘We can’t know for certain just yet. We need to wait it out and see what happens. We should tell Henrik so he can monitor you, and we should keep an eye out for anyone else showing similar symptoms. If others start passing out and showing up in the web then we can rule that out, otherwise…’

‘I can’t decide if I’m scared to change or excited to become a badass like you,’ he blurted, shocking a laugh out of me.

‘Only you, Cadmus,’ I teased, the tension breaking as his humour settled around us like a comforting blanket.

He winked. ‘I’m one of a kind, baby.’

I snorted. He sure was.