Hard Wired Trilogy DeAnna Pearce (if you give a mouse a cookie read aloud txt) 📖

off by the dry thud of a punch and responding moan.

Arching back, she continued struggling against their hold. “Let me go.”

They ignored her, lifting her to her feet and hauling her out the door. Back in the main room, unconscious patients remained unmoved by the chaos in front of them. A few feet down the main corridor, Reed stood between two guards, a gash on the right side of his temple, and blood in the corner of his mouth. His gaze was frantic as he called for her.

“Reed!” Ari needed to know he was okay. He had to be okay.

“No need for theatrics.” Williams appeared, his creased forehead the only sign that Ari might have gotten to him in the VR.

She strained against her captor’s grasp, kicking behind her and twisting. She’d grown up wrestling with Marco, who never took it easy on her, and she knew how to fight. The guard hit her from behind, and her legs collapsed under her. Pain shot down her back, and she gritted her teeth.

“Stop!” Reed pulled forward.

“Don’t injure her,” Williams ordered, and her guard stilled. Williams’s gaze traveled briefly between Reed and Ari, finally resting on Reed. “The boy, on the other hand, is disposable.”

“No!” Ari shouted.

“Then behave.”

She stopped struggling and the guard lugged her to her feet.

Reed’s eyes were frantic and worried. “This isn’t goodbye, Ari.”

If it kept him safe, she would do whatever they asked. Even if that meant going with Williams. As they walked past the private rooms, her heart ached to see defeat written on Reed’s face.

As she moved past him towards the exit, the world exploded around her. The blast knocked Ari to the ground as pieces of rubble rained down on her. An alarm blared above, cutting through any conscious thought. Pain radiated up her leg and the side of her face burned. For a moment she worried she was back in the VR with Williams. She struggled to open her eyes as smoke flooded the room.

“Get your ass moving,” someone yelled in her face, someone with purple hair. Tessa.

Ari tried to speak, but started coughing instead, which sent her head spinning. Shouts sounded over the alarm. Sprinklers turned on overhead, water raining down over Ari.

A burly guard approached. A blast of light shot from Tessa’s hand, and the man fell to the ground, convulsing as if being electrocuted. Tessa pulled on Ari’s good arm, and she focused on getting her legs to stand. Ari cried out when she put pressure on her leg. A large piece of plastic stuck out of her thigh.

“Don’t look at it. Just move,” Tessa ordered.

Ari obeyed. With Tessa’s help, she could walk. Unfortunately, standing didn’t help the world swimming around her. Ari searched for Reed but couldn’t see anything through the smoke and chaos.

“Reed?” Ari yelled over the alarm.

“Up ahead. Just keep moving.” Tessa pulled her through the maze of beds. The rain didn’t bother the unconscious patients as it splattered their faces and soaked their white sheets.

Ari couldn’t help but worry some of them might have been hurt by the explosion, even though it had come from on the opposite wall. “What happened?”

“Oh, your brother is now into black market toys. Sort of cool, if it doesn’t kill him.”

Ari moaned. If they all survived this, she was going to kill him.

Reed appeared on Ari’s other side and a flush of relief coursed through Ari’s body.

He glanced down at her injured leg and swore. “Let’s get out of here.”

They hurried to where Marco stood by an emergency exit. Marco’s lip pulled up into a large smile, far too large for the trouble they were all in. “Hey, sis.”

“Save it.”

“Of course.” He opened the emergency exit and they filed out into the alley.

A shot fired behind them, and Ari instinctively ducked. Williams hollered over the alarm. Marco turned back. He pulled the gun from the back of his pants and took aim.

“Marco,” she yelled in protest.

Reed held her back. Ari knew most of the staff had already taken cover once the alarm had sounded. Armed guards stormed towards them. Marco got off several shots before the doors closed.

Out in the alley, they all ran, or as close to running as Ari could manage. Reed supported Ari’s bad leg, helping her unsteady stride. A doorway appeared up ahead, and Marco motioned for them to take it. They were in the middle of an industrial park, filled with sky-rise buildings and offices. They continued down the alley, and it opened to a street. People cluttered the sidewalks, most dressed in business attire.

“One sec.” Reed had Ari hold onto Tessa. He took off his button up flannel, leaving him in a black t-shirt.

“What are you doing?” Marco must have finally noticed Ari’s wound. “Shit, sis. That’s bad.”

She sucked in a harsh breath as Reed pulled the piece of plastic out of her leg. He tied his shirt around her leg, covering the wound. “It’s not close to a major artery, so hopefully that should hold for a little bit.”

“That’s a hell of a lot of blood for fine.” Marco’s eyes widened.

Ari tried not to look at her leg.

“I’m sorry—” Marco started.

“I’m just glad to be away from Williams, and I don’t want to go back.” She exhaled a big gust of air and focused on their next step. “We have to split up. They only want me.”

“No,” Reed and Tessa said in unison.

Reed continued, “You’re getting on that plane first.”

“What plane? I’m supposed to meet Dave several blocks from here.” She briefly glimpsed the busy street. “We won’t last out here for long. Every cop in the area is probably looking for us.”

“I called Dave. He’s meeting us on top.” Tessa pointed up.

“There?” The sleek gray building next to them rose high in the air.

“We aren’t totally useless,” Marco said. “Let’s move.”

They turned the corner onto the sidewalk. Ari stood in between Reed and Tessa, with Marco in front trying to block the view of her bloody leg.

“When we saw Williams enter the center,