Garden of Time
Page 18
“My left nut,” I said, a cold rictus stretching across my face. “You were probably soaking your panties hoping I’d hold out long enough that you could try your hand at outmaneuvering me.”
Glacial swamp ice glinted in her eyes. “Where is he?”
“How did you know?” It was when I said abandon. It had to be. When you’re evenly matched, the one who blunders least wins.
With a flick of her wrist, she slit a gash in the bladder. I lurched toward her, reaching with both hands as if I could stop the Time from spilling out.
She grabbed another off the hood. “How many gallons are you willing to lose before you answer the question?”
“Don’t!” I yelled so hard my voice cracked. I swallowed and got it back under control. “I’ll tell you where Nick is if you tell me how you knew.”
She stabbed the bladder. Precious hours splattered to the ground.
“You fucking psycho!” I screamed. “That’s my life you’re throwing away!”
She didn’t even blink. She tossed the deflated bladder down in the mud and picked up a third.
“Where’s Nick?” she asked, raising the knife to it.
“In Soam! I left him in Courten with the fix-it witch! Now put my fucking Time down!”
Carina set the bladder back on the hood. The knife disappeared into her sleeve. A flicker of sadness crossed her face.
“You took the choice out of my hands,” she said.
Before I could say another word, she picked up her water bottle and took a sip.
My head whipped around. My cheek stung as if somebody had slapped me. The Time was still arranged neatly on the hood, but Carina was gone.
She hadn’t hit me before she left. A slap from outside time would’ve broken my jaw, maybe even my neck.
I crouched down and looked in the Culebra’s sideview mirror at my stinging cheek. I had debearded on the icebreaker, so the spot was easy to find.
It stood out in bright red contrast to my skin, the size and shape of a pair of lips.
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About the Author
I am invincible. I am a mutant. I have 3 hearts and was born with no eyes. I had eyes implanted later. I didn’t have hands, either, just stumps. When my eyes were implanted they asked if I would like hands as well and I said, “Yes, I’ll take those,” and pointed with my stump. But sometimes I'm a hellbender peeking out from under a rock. When it rains, I live in a music box.
But I’m also a tattoo-addict, coffee-junkie, drummer, and aspiring skateboarder. I love you. Let’s be friends.
Hang out with me on Goodreads
Drop me a line: imedenhudson@gmail.com
Take a look behind the curtain: WhiteTrashCappuccino.com
Acknowledgements
If you’ve read this far, then you deserve a confession: I wrote this book, but everything good contained herein came from the hard work and tireless efforts of many shiny deities, kigaos, and speleothems who are not me. Every one of them deserves a standing reservation at a five-star penthouse…unfortunately, all I have access to is this Acknowledgments section. So, let’s acknowledge them with nice cheap words!
God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Thanks for the Word and the word.
The ballers and shot-callers from across the Pre-Revived Earth—Silvia d’Elena, Michael Jarvis, Koeur, Carlos R. Bisquertt, and the One-Man Stand Against Man Buns and Man Purses.
Errbody at Shadow Alley Press, whose patience with certain authors named eden is legendary.
Tim McBain, LT Vargus, Tobias K. Phipps, and James Hunter—four incredible storytellers whose collected works should be on everybody’s desert island reading list.
WG, RK, KS—so many different letters, but you’re all Gs to me.
My Joshua—the brains, heart, lungs, and Marth of this operation.
And Casey. How’re the burritos up there?
Works by eden Hudson
Revenge of the Bloodslinger: A Jubal Van Zandt Novel (Book 1)
Beautiful Corpse: A Jubal Van Zandt Novel (Book 2)
Soul Jar: A Jubal Van Zandt Novel (Book 3)
Garden of Time: A Jubal Van Zandt Novel (Book 4)
***
Halo Bound (Redneck Apocalypse Book 1)
Lion’s Den (Redneck Apocalypse Book 1.5)
Hell Bent (Redneck Apocalypse Book 2)
God Killer (Redneck Apocalypse Book 3)
Books from Shadow Alley Press
Strange Magic (Yancy Lazarus Episode One)
Cold Hearted (Yancy Lazarus Episode Two)
Flashback: Siren Song (Yancy Lazarus Episode 2.5)
Wendigo Rising (Yancy Lazarus Episode Three)
Flashback: The Morrigan (Yancy Lazarus Episode 3.5)
Savage Prophet (Yancy Lazarus Episode Four)
Brimstone Blues: A Yancy Lazarus Novel
***
MudMan (A Lazarus World Novel)
***
Viridian Gate Online: Cataclysm (Book 1)
Viridian Gate Online: Crimson Alliance (Book 2)
Viridian Gate Online: The Jade Lord (Book 3)
The Artificer DLC 1.1: A Viridian Gate Online Novel
Copyright
Garden of Time: A Jubal Van Zandt Novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 by eden Hudson and Shadow Alley Press, Inc.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email the publisher, subject line “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the email address below.
JStrode@shadowalleypress.com