Of Bone and Steel and Other Soft Materials Read online

the pick-axe into her belt more on habit than through want. She rubbed at her face with one sleeve, glad the blood wouldn’t stick to her whiskers. They were finer than human hair. She still wanted a hot shower and an aspirin.

  Toma. She had to get him. Get to her cycle. She wasn’t sure how long her control panel would keep the sensors off-line. Too long to be useful immediately. She needed to get moving. Luka had compared the kinetic batteries to being like a shark. Stop moving and you’d die. It wasn’t quite that dramatic, but without movement, she’d be unable to run the programs that let her function.

  And that let her drive the cycle. Ryska decided to deal with that problem as soon as she found Toma.

  “Toma?” she called as she finally got back to the room at the end of the upper hallway.

  “I’m here.” Ryska heard scrabbling as he pried open the plywood and climbed into the room. She guided him carefully past the bodies and had him pick up the still lit electric torch that had slid into another room on the lower floor.

  “You have goggles and blood on your face,” Toma said.

  “Worry about that later.” Ryska shrugged. “I need your eyes. I can’t see right now, so you’ll have to guide us.” She explained where she’d left her cycle, trying to find the words to describe the area in a way that Toma could understand.

  He was a good guide, patient with her. She only stumbled once. There was no noise other than a soft evening wind rustling the weeds and dead grasses of the square. Ryska moved through the open space, letting her fingers trail along the grasses, anxious for something to orient her in the darkness.

  They found her cycle and she helped Toma up in front of her, flicking on the headlamp and praying that it worked since she only bothered with it inside the city where she rarely went at night.

  “We’ll go slow, but you have to steer,” she told Toma.

  “You really are blind? You didn’t seem blind before.”

  Ryska lifted her goggles and showed him the empty sockets behind. He gasped but didn’t shrink away from her. She felt his head turning back to the front.

  “Oh. Okay. I’ll steer.”

  It was a long trip back into the city. Ryska flexed her fingers and wiggled her toes, tapping her tongue against the roof of her mouth, hoping it was enough movement to charge her battery.

  “There!” Toma spoke after a long time and steered them left. “Stop,” he called and Ryska hit the brakes, letting the cycle idle.

  “Public phone?” she asked. She’d told Toma to find her one.

  “Yes. I can call papa now. He’ll reward you a lot.” Toma slid off the cycle but turned and threw his arms around Ryska, surprising her.

  She leaned into him, letting his hair tangle in her whiskers for an all-to-brief moment. This close, his hair smelled of lemon soap and wheat and she let herself pretend that she was holding Luka or Misha or...her closed ducts burned again with tears she could never shed.

  “Thank you, Ryska,” Toma whispered.

  “Thank you,” she whispered back, not expecting him to understand. She still remembered. She still loved. She’d thought her heart had been buried with the blackened bones beneath the demolished Lab, but she carried it still. It was time to move on and feel again. With Toma’s warm arms wrapped tightly around her aching body, Ryska thought that maybe she finally could.

   

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  Want to read more by Annie Bellet? The first book in the Chwedl Duology is now available in trade paperback and all ebook formats.

   

  In an ancient Wales that never was...

  The twin brothers Emyr and Idrys are cursed to live as hounds; Emyr by night, and Idrys by day. The twins believe they will be trapped this way forever until they meet the fierce and curious Áine, a changeling woman born with fey blood and gifts struggling to fit into a suspicious human world.

  Áine unravels the fate of Emyr and his twin as all three of them fall in love. To free her lovers from the curse, she embarks on a journey to the realm of the fey where she confronts her own unique gifts and heritage. Ultimately, she must decide where her heart truly lies and what she’s willing to risk to get what she desires most.

   

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  Also by Annie Bellet:

  The Gryphonpike Chronicles:

  Witch Hunt

  Twice Drowned Dragon

  A Stone’s Throw

  Dead of Knight

  The Barrows (Omnibus Vol.1)

   

  Chwedl Duology:

  A Heart in Sun and Shadow

  The Raven King

   

  Pyrrh Considerable Crimes Division Series:

  Avarice

  Wrath

  Hunger

  Envy

  Lust

  Inertia

  Vainglory

   

  Short Story Collections:

  The Spacer’s Blade and Other Stories

  Gifts in Sand and Water

  River Daughter and Other Stories

  Deep Black Beyond

  Till Human Voices Wake Us

  Dusk and Shiver

  By Spell and Sword

   

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  About the Author:

   

  Annie Bellet lives and writes in the Pacific NW. She is a Clarion graduate and her stories have appeared in magazines such as AlienSkin, Digital Science Fiction, and Daily Science Fiction as well as multiple collections and anthologies. Follow her on her blog at “A Little Imagination” (https://overactive.wordpress.com/)

   

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  If you want to get to be notified when the next Annie Bellet novel or collection is released, please sign up for the mailing list by going to: https://tinyurl.com/anniebellet Your email address will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

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