Medusa in the Graveyard by Emily Devenport

Author:Emily Devenport [Devenport, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781250169358
Google: 1OFhuwEACAAJ
Amazon: 1250169364
Goodreads: 41555921
Publisher: Tor Books
Published: 2019-07-22T23:00:00+00:00

* * *

As I watched Medusa and myself, I couldn’t help thinking, Don’t kill Baylor yet! He has information we need to know!

Alas—hindsight. Maybe it doesn’t matter—the best that can happen is what really does happen. What happened then was that Baylor Charmayne could not see past his Executive arrogance, and I couldn’t see past my resentment.

From Gennady’s perspective, the whole thing unraveled in silence. I don’t know if he was able to eavesdrop on the communications we conducted through our brain implants—Medusa and I were using a secret pathway my father had created, and I have never seen evidence that it was breached. The only indication that the conversation Medusa and I were having with Baylor was not friendly, other than our initial aggressive action regarding his jets, was Medusa’s expression.

I felt riveted by her visage. Because I had been wearing her, I didn’t know what emotions had played on her face. I still didn’t know them. Maybe I can’t. Feelings that powerful might have clouded my judgment and weakened my resolve—they twisted her expression in ways I had never seen. I hardly recognized the entity who held Baylor tight and pulled him closer, so he could see exactly what had him.

I had never asked Medusa how she felt. It never occurred to me—I was so consumed with my own agenda. She had supported me without question back then—but was it really about me?

She had been forced to move her sisters to Olympia to save their lives. She had sabotaged Lady Sheba’s escape vessel. All of that happened long before she met me. Why had I assumed Medusa resented the Charmaynes solely in my behalf? Seeing her now, I felt a grudging respect for Baylor. He had been helpless, yet he kept arguing his case.

Not well enough, though. When Medusa grimaced, both Gennady and I knew Baylor’s time had run out. She and I had acted as one at that moment, just as we had so many times before when we killed our enemies. We slammed Baylor against the hull of Olympia until his faceplate shattered.

Gennady uttered a whole string of enthusiastic non-Standard words. Then he said something I understood perfectly. “You’re not going to triumph after all, you bastard!” He laughed merrily.

“Enjoying some schadenfreude at your enemy’s expense, Gennady? I’m proud of you.”

I had heard it only once, but I recognized the voice coming from Gennady’s helmet radio.

“Grandmother,” said Gennady, “I confess that I am.”

“We’ve lost some powerful allies,” said Baba Yaga, “but cheer up. We’ve gained some others. I think they will prove to be much better.”

The recording ended abruptly when the picture collapsed back into the icon that represented it. I frowned at it, feeling disappointed that he had ended the recording before I could see how he finessed his escape.

That was the least of the mysteries surrounding Gennady Mironenko—and his wasn’t the face that kept surfacing in my memory.

Medusa was closer to me than anyone, yet I hadn’t fathomed her feelings, except where they intersected with mine—and how could I? My own were so shallow.

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.