World Of Shell And Bone by Adriana Ryan

Author:Adriana Ryan
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Morning crawls in and lies on my bedroom floor, its gray belly exposed. How many days until I see Ceres? What is she doing at this moment? Does she have a window to see the world go by? Does she have a friend to whom she can speak of her sister, of her life past?

When Shale stirs, I turn on my side.

“Do you always wake so early?” he asks, his voice thick with sleep.

“Not always.”

He smoothes a strand of hair back from my face. My heart beats an erratic pattern at the gesture, and I try to will it to calm. “What’s the matter?”

A tear leaves a salty trail down the side of my nose, and it’s quickly followed by another. I squeeze my eyes shut. “Mica says the government’s building an army in China. That’s why only the healthiest people are being allowed to go. That’s why they’ve made an exception for you, for the young, strong Husbands who can’t reproduce. They’ll use you as soldiers instead. You and—and me, if I can give them a soldier to add to their army, and anyone else they want.”

I suppose there’s nothing else to be said. Shale gathers me into his arms and I lie with my ear against his chest, listening to the steady thudding of his heart.

I’m almost asleep again when my stomach lurches. My head spinning, I sit up and press one sweaty hand to my head.

“Are you alright?” Shale sits up too, and puts his hand between my shoulder blades.

“I think—” But I don’t have time to finish my sentence. I barely make it to the washroom in time to vomit.

When I’m done, I take a deep breath and wash my face. Shale’s pacing in my bedroom, his face drawn.

“I don’t feel very well.” I make my way back to the bed and lie down.

“Do you need to visit the doctor?”

“I don’t think so. But could you bring me a cup of water?”

When Shale goes into the kitchen, I hurry to my bag and pull out my mini-calendar, though the dates and their meaning are emblazoned in my mind.

It’s as I thought. I’m pregnant.

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