The Little Cyborg: A Space Age Fairy Tale (Star-Crossed Tales) by J. M. Page

Author:J. M. Page [Page, J. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-03-19T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Celine

Without a word of protest, Celine did as she was told. She slumped into the seat next to Ben and fumbled with the restraints, hands trembling and uncoordinated. He nearly found her out and her arm reacted in its own way, spasming of its own volition.

She knew he’d already pieced together the puzzle, but she hadn’t confirmed his suspicions. She couldn’t.

The buckle of the restraint missed another time, hands too shaky, before she was able to jam the two parts together.

Just in the nick of time, too, as the ship took a harsh lurch to the side, alarm bells blaring and a calm robotic voice saying ‘Warning’ over and over again.

The atmosphere hurtled toward them and Celine gripped her armrests, bracing herself for certain death. Part of her wanted to look over at Ben, to see if he was as sure of their demise as she was.

She’d done this to them, her and her stupid arm. She sent the ship careening off-course and now they plummeted to their doom. She wanted to cry, to apologize, to go back in time and undo everything she’d done.

How could she have been so stupid? So careless and reckless? Of course he recognized her. Recognition shone in his eyes from the moment they met behind the wall and Celine had been cocky enough, or naive enough, to think that she could fool him.

Well, there was only one fool here, and it was the one with the disobedient arm.

Ben seemed intent on outing her as a modder and Celine couldn’t help but wonder why. He’d been so convinced and so sure — but to what end? To have her jailed? Executed?

Maybe her father was right.

She finally chanced a glance over at Ben, his face set into a hard mask of concentration. He’d said he owed that girl a lot. She recalled his reverent tone with those words and remembered the way her stomach flip-flopped, knowing he was talking about her. That she was the one he owed.

Still, she couldn’t tell him the truth. Not that she’d ever have the chance now. Her secret was going to the grave with her and much sooner than she expected. It had to. It wasn’t just her life at risk, it was her father’s and everyone else’s in the Wastelands. Even though she was still angry with her father, she’d never condemn him to death at the hands of the humans he so feared.

She just couldn’t. Even if it would make Ben happy to know the truth. Some truths did more harm than good, she decided.

And that was the heart of the matter really. Her arm was a secret that no one would understand and it seemed to be getting worse. Where it had only been a nuisance at first, and she expected her control over it to improve, the arm from Scorpia seemed to be getting worse, somehow more autonomous.

Celine flexed her new hand, her stomach turning upside down, her insides quivering and acidic. The hand felt wrong somehow and it made her queasy to think about the trouble it had brought her.

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