Carrion Comfort: An Urban Fantasy Thriller: (A Harker & Blackthorn Novella) by J. A. Ironside

Author:J. A. Ironside [Ironside, J. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blue Stone Press
Published: 2024-11-29T00:00:00+00:00

✽✽✽

“It was not stupid.” Steve’s abrupt interruption jerked me back to the present.

I raised an eyebrow. “Selling myself into magical servitude wasn’t stupid? Agreeing to swear to anything they wanted, whether I believed in it or not, wasn’t stupid?”

He let out a long breath. “What else could you have done?”

“I don’t…”

“I know Evergreen Technologies didn’t get hold of you until you were fourteen, and that they prefer children of seven or so,” Steve said. “But it doesn’t matter how long they had hold of you. In those few years they continually gave you the choice of ‘bend before us or break’. And so you learned to bend. Is it any wonder that you were willing, even eager to swear whatever they asked?”

I clenched my jaw, trying to tamp down on gratitude at being understood. At being forgiven. He didn’t know the worst yet. “It doesn’t matter what happens to you as a child. When you become an adult, you have choices to make. The biggest is how much are you going to let your early experiences influence who you become.”

“Absolutely,” Steve said in a deceptively serene tone. “And when exactly do you think Evergreen Tech allowed you to cease being a child?”

I had no answer to that.

Steve looked down at the journal, pen poised. “It isn’t a switch you can just flick off. Changing that mindset can take years.”

“Do you want to hear the rest of this or not?” I snapped back angrily.

Steve gave me a sardonic smile. “‘Want’ is a strong word but please, continue.”

“Always a laugh a minute with you,” I scoffed.

“I am curious about one thing,” Steve said. “You spoke of the ban. When we asked you about it before, you couldn’t do anything except choke. Now you seem to be able to tell us more and more. Why is that?”

My mouth twisted in a grim smile. Now that, I had an answer for. A theory at least.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.