Landlocked (Atlas Link Series Book 2) by Jessica Gunn Read Free Book Online Page B

I were nothing more than a silly schoolgirl—or like I was back outside the Franklin when he’d saved me. When he became the beacon of light I’d so desperately needed.
    The machine beeped and a square with indents and ridges appeared on my touch screen. A puzzle piece.
    “It’s a puzzle game?” Trevor and I asked at exactly the same time.
    Our eyes met, and the night at the Franklin exploded across my vision in vivid detail. Me, on the phone with Logan, cursing Ray’s name to high heaven and beyond. The call had lost service, and I’d hung up. I’d punched a hole clear into the wall. Dave, who I didn’t know at the time, had attacked me. I had thought he was a mugger, out to steal my phone and cash. Or worse.
    Trevor, who’d wandered out the back exit not knowing anything. Trevor, who’d startled Dave and given me the chance to kick him away. Me, launching Dave clear across the alleyway in a manner I wouldn’t have been able to do without my superhuman strength.
    Trevor, asking me if I was okay. Trevor, making sure I got back inside the Franklin safely.
    Trevor, my light. The man who introduced himself as “Boncore, Trevor Boncore” like he were James Bond.
My
Mr. Bond.
    Trevor. All Trevor.
    But then there were bits of me, too. Memories I couldn’t possibly have. Me, looking fierce and ready to take down Trevor, too. Me, swallowing scared tears. Me, onstage before being mugged. A feeling of attraction, of surety, swooped across my mind and lower belly, a chilled zap like lightning. A feeling that couldn’t be mine, of freedom. Of hope.
    “Are you guys okay?” Dr. Hill asked from the far side of the room. He and the others could only watch, only see what was on the display screens. They didn’t feel any of this.
    “Yeah, it’s just confusing,” I said. That didn’t come remotely close to describing what was happening.
    “What you are experiencing right now is the machine calibrating to the two of you,” Germay’s words filled the room. “In a few moments you will be given a puzzle to solve on the screens in front of you. It will take both of you to solve it, and it will require the mental connection now present between you two in order to do it.”
    “Mental connection?” Pike asked, sounding skeptical.
    “The devices on their temples,” Germay explained. “They allow thoughts to pass between two persons, filling in the space in their otherwise already strong connection.”
    “It’s weird,” Trevor said, but I also heard it in my head, too.
    I hear you, too
, came Trevor’s thoughts.
    I let a small grin form around my mouth.
Like you ever had issues reading me
.
    Trevor laughed once from the other side of the glass, and shrugged like he had no idea what I was talking about.
    Smug-ass punk
, I thought.
    He smirked.
    I didn’t know why, but it was like the flooding of old memories somehow whisked away the tension that had grown in our relationship. When I looked at him it was like those first few weeks all over again, with giddy smiles and awkward first kisses.
    I tried my best to stow away those misplaced feelings as puzzle pieces began appearing on our touch screens. We went to work matching the pieces together. As I started lining up the tablet tiles, some of the pieces I turned over shared glimpses of events from Trevor’s point of view. Some of these tiles showed things I couldn’t possibly remember, like when we’d first emerged on the outpost. Our first kiss, among… other stuff, all from his viewpoint. Including Trevor scrambling around outside the Bridge as Thompson’s crew took over.
    The Altern Device had read my memories—
our
memories— and was rebuilding pieces of our past into this puzzle. But why?
    Three pieces came together to form Thompson’s face. More merged to show images of the hijacking. My pulse raced, my breaths speeding to the rhythm of a jackhammer. Heat flashed across my cheeks and neck.
    No
. I couldn’t. Seeing his face again snapped me out of the