Dreams of the Damned (Atlantis Legacy Book 3) by Lindsey Fairleigh

Author:Lindsey Fairleigh [Fairleigh, Lindsey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: RUBUS PRESS
Published: 2020-10-02T04:00:00+00:00

15

I sat on my knees beside Meg’s bedroll on the floor of the gephyra chamber. Meg lay stretched out on her back in the sleeping bag, her eyes closed, recovering from the hours upon hours of gene therapy. She was weak, her skin waxen and sweaty, and violent shivers wracked her body every now and again. Though she appeared to be asleep, I sensed her awareness through our bond, muddled by the shooting pains wreaking havoc on her nerve endings and cramping her muscles.

I dabbed a cool, damp cloth against Meg’s forehead, then wiped down her cheeks and neck, providing what little comfort I could. I hated seeing her in so much pain.

“It will be worth it”—she sucked in a shaky breath—“in the end.” She swallowed roughly, then coughed as the saliva caught in her throat. Her pain levels spiked at the sharp movement. “I just wish—”

“Shhh . . .” I rested the damp cloth across her forehead and grabbed her nearest hand, squeezing it gently. Talking was only increasing her pain, and there was no need between us, not when I could sense every turn of her mind, just as she could mine.

I knew Meg wished, desperately, that she could come with us as we journeyed through the gephyra to explore the lost colonies. Not only did she want to see the distant worlds for herself, but she wanted to protect me. She had pledged her life to mine in the sweltering rainforest, the day we had linked our regulators and formed our bond, and she had meant it.

“You'll be with me the whole time,” I told her. I tapped my temple with a fingertip. “You’ll be right up here, seeing everything I see. Next best thing to actually being there.” Or, at least, I hoped that would be the case. The only way to know for sure if our bond could span the lightyears between worlds was to travel across a gephyra bridge and find out.

Meg attempted to smile, but a tremor struck her body just then, and she groaned, her teeth clenched, and her eyes squeezed shut.

The way I understood it, Hades had essentially re-written her genetic code, and the cells throughout her body were being replaced at an unnatural rate. Once the cellular transformation was complete, she would be better than ever. Meg 2.0, the baddest of the baddasses. But until then, she was as weak and helpless as a sick baby, and it broke my heart to see her like this.

I curled my other hand around hers, giving her all the support I could while she suffered through the fit, until her body relaxed once more. “Don’t worry about me,” I told her, rubbing the back of her hand with my thumb. “Just worry about getting better, and the next time I travel off-world, I promise you'll be coming along.”

Meg’s eyes fluttered open, and a weak smile touched her lips.

“Get some rest,” I said as I placed her hand on her middle and sat back on my heels.

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