Read Implanted (The Ascension Series Book 2) for Free Online

“He was so young when I declined. My memories of him are quite spotty,” Tanya added as an afterthought. The fire snapped and popped, sending glowing ash into the air. Ret watched quietly as the hot cinder cooled to a white fleck and floated away. The steam from Tanya’s tea lifted into the air and a slight scent of ginger drifted on a breeze.
    Tanya shook her head and chuckled as she swiped at a lone tear. “I know I’ll see them again.”
    Ret nodded. “Hopefully soon.”
    She sighed. “Sometimes, the wait can be challenging.”  Tanya waved her hand through the air as if erasing the conversation.
    “So, what have you been up to? Are you enjoying having someone to hang out with who is closer in age?”
    “You mean the Wolf?” Ret barked out a laugh. “Yeah. She’s alright.”
    “She’s in the healing hut right now. Undergoing her detox.”
    Ret stood. “Right now?”
    “Mm hm. I’m actually surprised your parents waited so long.”
    “Yeah. So long.” Ret parroted Tanya’s words, but his mind was back at the river. He looked at Tanya and then over his shoulder to the healing hut. He’d promised that he’d keep her accident between the two of them, but then again …
    “Thanks, Tanya. I think I’ll head over and see how she’s doing.”
    Ret hurried away from the fire with a nagging gut. He didn’t like it. He knew Wolf would probably hate him for sharing, but the information was crucial to her healing. 

 
     
     
    Chapter 8
    FRAN
     
    Fran moved in and out of consciousness wrapped in heat and fire. Her cheeks burned, and her throat ached for a drink of water. She wanted to open her eyes, but they were stuck as if lined with thick adhesive. She moved onto her side, and her muscles screamed. She turned onto her back, and a moan escaped from deep within, feral and animalistic to her own ears. The sound was like the groaning of the air ducts. Was she still there , trapped inside? Surrounded in darkness? Something tickled her face. A venting spider? She tried to smack at it, but her arms were tucked tight to her sides. Mummified. She wanted to wake, but she was pulled back down into an endless cycle of dreams.
    She thrashed in angry rapids, was chased by hungry bears, and then she was running from Ret who hunted her with his mighty sling. A moment later, she was back inside the city, and an image of Marcus hung like an angry avatar over a gaming arena. Sitting on his velvet throne, he flew with the grace of a hawk while shouting, “Quite odd for such a ghastly creature, Rebel!”
    She dashed across the Agora looking for her exit venting and Ted, dressed in well-creased pants and a red blazer, ran next to her reciting Impervious dogma. She closed her eyes and when they reopened, a stuffed teddy bear lay where her brother had stood. As she reached for the doll, a tear tumbled from its glass eye.
    She wailed and held the stuffed bear to her chest, racing through dark tunnels, searching for an out. Her head throbbed and lungs ached as she ran. Something flashed in her peripheral. Light ? She ran toward it, but as she moved it faded, and she ran hard into a metal wall. How had she mistimed that?
    She squatted in the darkness holding her head with one hand and clutching the bear with the other. She panted, trying to catch her breath, and a moment later, her body lurched.
    Fran rolled to her side and instinctively reached for the pot that had been placed there a moment before she began to retch. Her entire body convulsed and spasmed until her stomach had nothing more to give. Half off the bed, while her head dangled over the side, she worked to slow her breath. The shiny, worn planks that made up the flooring churned in swirls of browns and tans and the drumming of her heart eased as she rested in the moment.
    Although she felt like a haggard zombie, Fran at least felt somewhat victorious with the knowledge she could power-down the Council’s trackers. On her first sip of the detoxification tea, Ema