The Machine Dynasty Omnibus by Madeline Ashby

Author:Madeline Ashby
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780857669063
Publisher: Watkins Media
Published: 2020-08-10T16:00:00+00:00

He waved his wrist, debited his line of credit, and allowed her to lead him into a sumptuous bedroom whose primary theme appeared to be cherry blossoms. They adorned every surface: the walls, the paper screen, the old-fashioned scrolls hanging beside the mirror. He pointed at them as he found a white wicker rocking chair, and Cherry found her bed.

“Subtle.”

Cherry swept her skirt underneath her and dangled her stockinged feet over the edge of her very white, canopied bed. From her bed, the illusion was complete. She looked like the perfect ideal of three years old.

“I don’t do subtle.” She picked up a fluffy teddy bear and began picking at one of its button eyes. “What do you want?”

“I want Amy back,” Javier said.

“I don’t know what you could possibly be talking about,” Cherry said.

“I’m talking about you and your clade holding a copy of Amy Frances Peterson somewhere, and me wanting that copy back.”

Cherry appeared to examine her nails. They were painted a common shade of baby pink – no surprise there – and were utterly flawless, no drips or cuticles – no surprise there, either.

“I think it’s kind of racist of you to assume that all the girls who look like me must be part of the same clade that tried to hurt you,” she said, finally.

“How do you know they tried to hurt me?” Javier asked.

Cherry beamed. “Oh, it’s not easy to stay mad at you, Javier.”

He leaned his elbows on his knees. “Not many people can.”

Cherry’s thin, fuzzy eyebrows rose. “Lucky for us, we’re not people. And we don’t want you to have Amy back.”

“Why not?” Javier asked.

“Amy was dangerous. And so was Portia. Our copy has both of them on it.”

Javier rolled his eyes. “Amy’s not that dangerous.”

“She ate her grandmother, Javier.” Cherry reached over and picked up some papers from under her pillow. They were old-fashioned correspondence. She’d tied them with pink ribbon. They gave off a faint whiff of vanilla and lavender as she shuffled through them. She frowned; apparently she had forgotten to open one. “And she was a child,” Cherry added, reaching for a pearl-handled letter opener. “She handled conflict the way a child does. She didn’t consider the consequences of what she was doing. She was the queen of her own little island, and thought the rest of the world would treat her accordingly.” Cherry sliced open the letter in a single, efficient motion. “In other words, a spoiled brat.”

Javier stretched. The rocker creaked under him. The room was small, but impeccably clean. The bookshelf was real wood. The sheets looked to be actual cotton. And the little washbasin, for whatever bath games Cherry was paid to play, was real ceramic, not printed.

“You get paid a lot for this job, don’t you?”

“The pay is hourly. The tips are what I earn.” One thin eyebrow lifted. “You’ve never tried it?”

“Nope.” He smiled. “I prefer to make a personal connection with people.”

“Is that what it was, with her?”

Javier did not allow himself to get angry.

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