Rivers of Orion by Dana Kelly (a court of thorns and roses ebook free .TXT) 📕

April stood across from Orin and took his hands into hers. Absently, she ran her thumbs across his knuckles. “I’ll find you,” she whispered. “If any part of your mind can remember this moment, believe that I will find you.”

“Thank you,” whispered Orin, and he fought the urge to cry.

“It’s going to be okay,” said April.

“I hope so,” said Orin.

Casey stood at the top of her shuttle’s boarding ramp. “April, come on! It’s time to go. Unless you’d rather hitch a ride with Ky?”

April leaned her forehead against Orin’s. “I’ll find you.” With a nod, she turned and walked slowly toward the shuttle. Casey gestured for her to hurry up.

Orin watched the hatch seal shut behind them. “Bye,” he whispered.

“You did a real number on April,” said Ky. Rinshi grabbed Orin by one arm, and Ky grabbed Orin by the other. “Been years since I’ve seen Little Red Woody-bait sweet on someone, but here you are. Must be a power thang.”

“Keep that up, and I’ll choke you on the shit you talk,” said Orin.

“Ooh, I’ll see if I can stop myself from quakin’ in my boots,” said Ky, and he laughed. “Thang is, I saw the video. You ripped that truck in half, but you let the driver live. Why ever would you do a thang like that, right after he tried killin’ you and your friends? And after Cassie tried to send you floatin’, you let her live too. Thanks for that, by the way. She’s a perfect piece of ass, and that ain’t easy to come by, even though I know that ain’t why you did it.” He raised his brow. “So I gotta ask myself… Why? Why let ‘em live?” With a smirk, Ky prodded Orin’s chest. “Unless you just ain’t the killin’ type.”

“Anyone is capable of anything, given the right push,” said Orin. “So, you go ahead. Keep pushing.”

“You ain’t gonna do a damn thang, and you know it,” said Ky. “Your memories make you weak. And your compassion. I got one hell of a buyer lined up though, and I’m bettin’ a hundred million big ones there’s a killer in you just waitin’ to come out.”

“You’re wrong about me,” said Orin.

“No, I ain’t.”

He and Rinshi walked Orin up the boarding ramp and along a dimly lit passageway. They passed several storage compartments closed off by reinforced slabs. At the passageway's end, a large steel door hissed open at their approach.

Frigid air rolled out, and Orin shivered. Beyond the door, he saw a large, circular chamber with a crescent of chairs set around an operating table. Faintly glowing cryogenic pods lined the chamber’s upper and lower decks. “Who’s on ice?” asked Orin.

“No one that’s been paid for,” said Rinshi. He chuckled ominously as he led Orin to one of the chairs and sat him down.

“What were you guys doing out here anyway?” asked Orin. “It’s awfully convenient you just happened to be in the area exactly when she needed you to be.”

“When the boss got word Cassie was headed out to Ixion System, he got concerned,” said Rinshi. “He likes to keep an eye on his things, if you get my drift.”

Orin sneered. “Seriously? You’re seriously asking me to believe you traveled all the way out to the eastern edge of the galaxy just to do some stalking?” He snorted. “How do you two get anything done?”

“Show some respect,” said Ky. “The man just answered your question.”

“Right, respect. The cornerstone of any good stalker,” said Orin.

“Keep runnin’ that mouth, and I’ll ask Rinshi here to make it bleed,” said Ky.

Orin sat up straighter and cleared his throat. He nodded at Ky.

“Atta boy,” said Ky. “But Rinshi’s right, more or less. I worry ‘bout her. I do. But I also know her, probably better ‘an she knows herself. I kept close, ‘cause only a whopper of a job’d bring her this far out, even if she ends up shittin’ herself over it.” He wore a scornful smile. “Surprise, surprise—that’s exactly what she did. And here we are.”

“I can’t believe you two ever broke up,” said Orin.

“You just cain’t help yourself, can you?” asked Ky. “You just gotta pick at thangs. It’s all right, though. I can make you stop.” He approached a recessed refrigerator and retrieved a vial of clear liquid. “Know what this is?” After verifying its label, he inserted it into a jet injector. “Course you don’t, so I’ll tell you. It’s a very special blend of acetylcholine, one I like to call ‘Yorick.’”

“Hm, I don’t get it,” said Orin.

“It’s called ‘Yorick’ because whoever we give it to, you could say their friends knew them well—emphasis on the past tense,” said Rinshi.

“He was bein’…!” Ky spun around on the mphuno. “He was bein’ sarcastic-like. See?”

Rinshi cleared his throat. “Sorry, boss.”

“It won’t work on me,” said Orin. “You might as well save that dose for someone else. My mind’s a black box.”

“Cassie mentioned somethin’ to that effect.” Ky rolled up Orin’s sleeve and pressed the jet injector against his shoulder. “Still, I reckon it’s worth findin’ out for sure, don’t you?”

“Why do you guys call her that?” asked Orin.

“What, Cassie?” asked Ky.

Orin nodded.

“When we was married, that’s what she went by,” said Ky. “But she turned strange ‘bout seven years back. Real strange. I was startin’ to think she got took by a skin-thief, but her genetics checked out. And then she checked out of bein’ us.” He looked away for a moment. “No matter the why of it, I reckon. What’s done is done.”

“Did you guys try to get some help? When I was a kid, my parents started seeing a counsellor. After my dad got his first deep space—”

Ky squeezed the injector’s trigger.

“—gig, he… I mean, uh,” stammered Orin, and a wave of euphoria swept through his body as he struggled for the memories that had informed his anecdote. Blinking drowsily, he clenched and unclenched his fists. “No, wait,” he said. Moment by moment, his past vanished before his mind’s eye.

Within a snowy haze,