World Running Down by Al Hess

Author:Al Hess
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781915202246
Publisher: Watkins Media
Published: 2023-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

10

Such Sweet Sorrow

Valentine

Valentine clutched his elbows and marched back to where everyone had eaten their stew. He was trying his best to hold it together, but Cinnamon kept glancing at him with her brow furrowed, so he probably wasn’t doing a good job.

The prospect of earning a visa had felt too surreal to properly sink in, but now having everything he wanted seemed very real… and completely impossible.

He wasn’t going to get chest surgery. He couldn’t go back on testosterone. He’d never walk down the streets in his new suit. And he’d never see Osric again.

Instead, he’d be stuck in the van until the end of time, fighting with Ace and getting misgendered and going hungry and they didn’t even have the fucking static-gat any–

He slammed into Osric, who steadied him and held him back. His gaze jumped between Valentine and Cinnamon. “What’s wrong?”

Valentine’s nostrils flared, his eyes stinging. A lump stuck in his throat, and he struggled to push it down. “We can’t take the androids back to the manor.”

“Why not?”

Ace, busy rousing the women from their sleepy pile, straightened and stopped by his side. She was going to be pissed.

Cinnamon held back, the awl still hanging limply from her hand. If Ace got upset, he didn’t want her stabbed. Turning to the android, he said, “Will you give us a moment in private to talk?”

Cinnamon folded her arms over her chest. “No.”

Osric’s eyebrows shot up, and Ace’s mouth parted.

Valentine wiped his nose on his sleeve and took a steadying breath. “That’s why. She can think for herself, and she doesn’t want to go back.”

“That’s definitely a complication,” Osric said.

Ace’s gaze jumped from Valentine’s neck to the weapon in Cinnamon’s hand. “Did you hurt him?”

Valentine wiped his neck, and his fingers came away red. “I’m alright.”

“The hell you are!” Ace snatched Cinnamon’s wrist and twisted until she cried out and dropped the awl. “You think stabbing him is going to get you what you want? I don’t care what you are; hurting Valentine is going to get you nowhere.”

Valentine pushed between them. “I’m okay. I didn’t even know I was bleeding.”

“That doesn’t matter! You’re pale and shaky and–”

“Because now we can’t get visas!” His voice broke, his words echoing back to him from across the pirate settlement.

Ace froze. “What do you mean? Why not?”

“If it was only Cinnamon who didn’t want to go with us, we’d probably get away with it. But she said several of the others are teetering on self-awareness, and if they don’t want to go back to the manor either, we can’t force them. It would be wrong.”

He expected Ace to explode, to say he was right but curse him for having a heart. He thought she’d demand to know if there was a way to make them go back to the way they were before. If she did, he’d welcome it so he could scream back and release this miserable energy inside him.

But after a thoughtful moment, she nodded and said, “I knew this was too good to be true.

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