Tethered Souls | Books 1, 2, and 3

{Book Three} 139 | Trials

ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ Tethered ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

Chapter 13

━━─── • ───━━━

• Luna •

Days passed, and while there were no more instances with the Lazarus floor, and no one was attempting to persuade her and Amir into procreating like there was no tomorrow, Luna had developed a general feeling of discomfort.

The fights had resumed, but no other Defectives were involved. She was kept away from them for some reason, even though she knew they were still available. During her training, she was forced to utilize her energy on a messed-up version of target practice for anyone who was assigned to her.

Minus the guns, bullets, and knives.

It still shocked her that they were training her as if she had been enlisted into the military. She told Amir about what happened in the hallway while they were in the bathroom.

His face was flushed with surprise. "Seriously?"

It was difficult to hold a conversation while knowing that they were most likely being listened to. She had told him about the pregnant woman and what Greer had explained to her quickly and discretely.

"That's horrible." Amir cocked his head. "It's crazy how they've been messing with people's lives like this. And then they produced hundreds, if not thousands, of Lazarus descendants around the world? Things have gotten grim."

And Amir was right. Neither of them had anticipated learning about this aspect of the organization. What they had witnessed in the facility was all too real, and Greer would have no reason to mislead Luna. BARDA had many sides, so everything he had explained had to be true in some way.

All of this was much bigger than them. They wanted out of there, to have a future where they were not a freak science experiment or controlled by a sinister organization, and what BARDA was doing with the Pure Souls and the others had far-reaching implications that went beyond what either of them could fix. She just knew that they needed to run as soon as an opportunity presented itself.

Greer arrived shortly after breakfast and escorted her to the treatment room. She was expecting to see Amir, but they had him doing something else. She resented the fact that she had no idea what they were doing to him, and that neither of their abilities was functioning properly. That was made certain by BARDA.

"What are we testing today?" Luna asked as she sat on the bed. In the small room, it was just her and Greer.

"I honestly don't know."

"That is helpful." She looked at him and took a deep breath. "How does it feel? Being one of their projects?"

He crossed his arms. "How does it feel to be an origin?"

"I feel like a human." She sighed. "I'm just a regular person."

"Then you understand," he said. "You and I aren't that different."

Greer was unlike anything she'd ever seen. "Can I ask you a question?"

"It depends on what it is."