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

“Okay, sure,” said Orin. “Are you telling me you think you’re a crawling hand?”

“No, Orin, come on. I’m her whole body,” said Casey. “Crawling, walking, talking, whatever.”

Orin looked puzzled. “How would that even work?”

“It’s how we formed,” said Casey. “We shared the same space, the same body, and the same mind for most of our time growing up. When we’re together, we’re one, and we weren’t even aware of each other until we hit puberty. We were born an F-class atomic, but our powers didn’t show up right away, and the technicians figured our increased mass was because of density manipulation. But they were wrong, because one day during my eighth year at MABAS Academy, Cassie learned to eject me into the primary. At first, it was nice. Since we shared memories, I could go to class while she stayed home, and I got to meet people new to both of us. When I returned, we gained each other’s memories from when we were apart.”

“That must’ve made cramming for midterms a lot easier,” said Orin.

She laughed quietly. “You’d think. Anyway, when we got older—after Cassie got her badge and certification—sometimes she sent me to do agency work, and that was great. It’s when she quit the agency and started doing bounty hunting that something got dark in her.” She glanced at Orin sidelong. “My callsign was Constant Cartwright. Would you like to know why?”

“Please,” said Orin.

“I can’t die, except for one way. At least, I don’t think I can,” said Casey. “You could blow my brains out, stab me through the heart, or chop me into bits, but a few minutes later, everything resets. I come back, right down to the last atom. I’m naked, but I’m completely intact. That’s how I escaped Blacktusk’s shuttle, by tricking poor Misaki into hollowing out my chest cavity.” She gritted her teeth for a moment as memories flooded her mind. “Anyway, Cassie always lives, as long as it’s mewho takes the fatal blow.”

“Poor things, both of you,” said Orin. “I can’t imagine what she went through having to relive everything you suffered each time you rejoined.”

Casey stared off awhile. “Except she took a liking to it. Hurting me. Killing me. Cassie enjoyed those memories. She found it fascinating to have them, and she sent me into harm’s way more times than I care to remember.”

“Why did you listen to her?” asked Orin.

“I’m part of her, not the other way around,” said Casey. “If you’re committed to cutting open your arm, how good would your arm be at stopping you?”

“Not very,” he said. “How did you break free of her?”

Casey smiled sadly. “About seven years ago, Cassie claimed a prison bounty on April. For chump change too, from some scumbag small timer that April pissed off when she refused to use her powers for witness intimidation. It was on the boards for a month, and no one even bothered, but Cassie did.”

“Why?”

“She didn’t know April was a telepath until she saw the contract, and that made Cassie so angry. It felt like April had been lying her whole life, and Cassie had no idea how many of her secrets April knew. She got paranoid. The way she saw it, if April did a couple years in some backwater Martian prison, it’d undermine her credibility if she ever decided to tell someone about the things Cassie had done.”

“That’s hard to believe. You and April seem so close,” said Orin.

“Yeah… Fear makes people do horrible things.” Casey looked mortified.

“What happened next?”

“Catching a telepath is tricky,” she said. “Cassie figured April would have a hard time reading more than surface thoughts with me because I’m made of nightmare stuff, and when we caught up with April on Mars, Cassie set a trap. She had me schedule a meeting at a restaurant in Mariner Valley, under the pretense of hiring her onto our starship. I even showed up late, to really sell it. But when I saw her, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t go through with it. I couldn’t betray my own baby cousin.”

Orin rested against the counter. “I’m almost afraid to ask, but what did you do?”

“I hired her as my first mate,” said Casey, and she wore a mischievous smile. “Weren’t you paying attention?”

“Very funny. I meant what did you do about Cassie?”

“I kicked her into the cryo pod meant for April, and I buried her deep under Martian soil,” said Casey.

“Good,” said Orin. “She deserves it. Is she dead?”

“Oh no, those batteries are good for a thousand years,” said Casey.

Orin raised his brow. “What if something happened to her? How can you be sure she’s safe?”

“That’s the only way you can kill me. If Cassie dies, I do die.”

“Got it,” muttered Orin. “What if someone finds her?”

Casey scoffed. “No one’s ever going to find her.”

He stared at his boots awhile. “Holy shit, Casey.”

“Yeah,” she muttered. “Holy shit.”

“You know, I stole gum from the corner store when I was seven,” said Orin. “Can’t top that, can you?”

She laughed warmly and patted his hand. “I don’t know how you can look at yourself in the mirror.” Casey glanced his way and smiled. “It feels good to finally get that off my chest. Thank you.”

Orin smiled back. “Thanks for trusting me.”

“Yeah. Sure.” She nudged him playfully. “Now you have to promise me you’ll never tell anyone—especially April. Deal?”

“I promise,” said Orin.

“Good.” Casey led him from the galley, and they crossed the mess deck together.

Chapter 19

Primary Succession

Orin awoke to his door chime. “Hold on,” he said, his voice still drowsy. I yawned, he thought, and he glanced at his hands. All the stars and nebulae had vanished, replaced by flesh and bone, and the clothes he had been wearing prior to the transition into the nightmare were back.

He swung his legs around to sit at the edge of his bed, slouching so