Eight, nine, ten…
She worked her good arm free and sank her fingernails into my cheek. I could hear her weeping.
Thirteen, fourteen…
At sixteen she stopped. I don’t know why. Perhaps after years of carrying her secret alone she’d finally had enough, or perhaps the thought that her own daughter would take her life was too much for her to bear. She stopped fighting and used the last of her air to curse me.
Her arms slid away from mine and she lay still.
I pressed down for a minute longer until I heard her neck break.
I didn’t regret it. There was no point in condemning myself for something I’d sworn to do from the moment I stepped from the plane.
Remorse was for the runners, the people who tried to escape the justice they knew they deserved, people like Klein and Gust and Gruetzmacher.
That’s not what what I wanted for Monica.
It’s not what I wanted for me.
So I sat on the edge of the bed, lit a cigarette and waited for Dagrun to find me.
I wouldn’t run.
Not anymore.
* * *
Acknowledgments
The fantastic front cover
was designed by Janet Robinson
http://www.scribbleleaf.com
I’d also like to thank Mollie Baxter and Sarah Quigly for their tireless effort in editing the original manuscript.
James Major for giving the book the final once-over
Alan Stokes for saying something rather amazing and poetic about a ladder that got the ball rolling about two years ago
Richard Warrick, whose determination to pursue his dream fuelled my own
And my partner Helen for… well… putting up with me really!
I was told once that writing a novel is a solitary, lonely business. Over the past two years I’ve learned that it doesn’t have to be!
About the Author
Dominic is an author of science-fiction, urban fantasy, and erotica – often all in the same book.
If you’d like to know more about Dom and his work, you can find him here:
@DomOssiah
DomOssiah
domossiah.com
[email protected]
Also by Dominic Ossiah
Regarding Avalon
Also by Dominic Ossiah
Leonard Bliss & the Accountant of the Apocalypse
The Quisling Orchid Page 56
