Delete: Volume 3 (Shifter Series) by Kim Curran Read Free Book Online Page B

singularity. Too many people pinning it in place. Personally, I think we need to ride it out.”
    “Still think if you avoid using your power, you can escape entropy?”
    Zac’s face crumpled in confusion. “What? No. Is that a thing?”
    “No,” I said quickly. “I mean, I don’t think it is. But you do. I mean, did. I mean, I don’t know.” I stood up, as much to stop the conversation as to do what I’d come here to do. “Where’s the bathroom?”
    “How should I know? You’ve never let me up here before.”
    He reached for the remote again as I wandered through the flat, opening doors. I finally found the bathroom: a room as big as my bedroom at home, with light grey tiles lining floor and ceiling and a huge shower head suspended in the centre. I peeled off my clothes, noticing the aches and the series of bruises across my body. They ranged from bright purple to greenish yellow. I caught a glimpse of myself in the large mirror hanging over the sink. Ribs sticking out, hip bones jutting. When was the last time I had eaten? I also rubbed at the tattooed S on my arm. Did we all have this? I wondered. Marking us out as Shifters? It seemed that in this reality, there was no need to hide our power. Instead, it was being put to good use protecting the country. Maybe Shifters in this reality were proud of who they were, whereas I’d always been strangely ashamed of my power. And I knew that Aubrey felt the same. We’d promised each other that once we’d found all the members of Ganymede, we’d quit and go about our lives. Well, there was no chance of that happening in this reality.
    I threw the switch for the shower and stood under it, letting the high-pressure water pound on my skin. It hurt and felt good for it. I grabbed a bar of soap and scrubbed at my skin, trying to wash off the ground-in dirt, which had stained my skin. As I started to feel if not exactly human, then at least one rung up from vegetable, there was a knocking on the door.
    “Alright,” I shouted. “I’m finishing.” I regretfully turned off the shower. Zac hadn’t stopped banging.
    “What?” I said, throwing open the door as soon as I’d found a towel to wrap around me.
    “We’re needed at HQ now,” Zac said, his face grim and grey. “It’s the Red Hand.”
     

CHAPTER SIX
    The lights flashed red in the Hub when we returned. A level three alert, I knew somehow. People were rushing back and forth: soldiers kitting themselves up, support staff pushing computer equipment around. Zac and I headed straight for the command room.
    Sergeant Cain waved me over to where he stood with Cooper and Turner. Cooper was sucking on a gold medallion while Turner nervously fiddled with the equipment on her belt.
    “What’s happened?” I said.
    “The Red Hand have sent us a little message.” Cain pressed a button and an image started playing out on the screen.
    A woman sat in a dark room, with a bag over her head. People stood in the shadows behind her, red scarves pulled over their faces. One of them tugged the bag off, revealing the woman was in her late twenties with blonde, curly hair. She blinked in the light.
    “That’s Lieutenant Sarah Edwards,” Cain said. “She was one of two S3 spies we had under cover in the Red Hand.”
    “Looks like she was found out,” Zac said.
    “The video went live half an hour ago and has already had three thousand hits,” Turner said.
    “You stand accused of crimes against God’s will,” a muffled voice from the video said. It was clearly going through a vocoder, which gave it an eerie robotic quality.
    “I don’t know what you mean,” Edwards said.
    A scarved figure stepped forwards, squatted down in front of Edwards and took her face in their hand. Edwards tried to pull herself free, but their grip was too strong.
    “You are an operative for the British army. You have been spying on us,” the robotic voice said.
    Even with the grainy film quality and the low light I could see Edwards eyes