Ragnarok by Ari Bach

Author:Ari Bach [Bach, Ari]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2014-11-20T05:00:00+00:00

THEY SLEPT that night in the warm guardthings’ fat. They were fairly lean, but the three of them easily housed six sleepers. Veikko and Weasel slept in the exploded remains, Varg and Spit embraced under the halves of Varg’s beast, while Violet and Vibeke shared the tight interior of Violet’s animal.

The air was frozen as night took over. Painfully so, despite the suits and chemicals. Nelson was stowed away in a corner of the abandoned Wolf camp, hiding from potential witnesses. He had nothing to report. There was no distraction from the frozen air. Violet lay next to Vibeke, afraid to roll over toward her. But she could sense Vibeke was shivering too. She needed permission, so she suggested something she knew wouldn’t work.

“We could put up vacuum defenses on our armor,” suggested Violet.

“They use pressure for power, won’t work in air, even this thin,” Vibeke replied.

Just as planned. “What can we do?”

“Just spoon me.”

Bingo. Violet did so, delighted to hear the words. She squeezed Vibeke hard enough that the shivering in her arms refocused into her grasp. It was the closest Violet could get to anything physical with Vibeke so suddenly she didn’t mind the cold. She considered pressing against Vibeke’s chest, but she’d no doubt know why and might make her stop, brush her off into the cold again. Violet wouldn’t feel much under the Thaco fur anyway.

She focused on the gory surroundings to eradicate any desire. She listened to the drip of blood and fluids from the inside of the beast, felt how it matted down on her armor’s fur. Despite using oxygen prongs, she could smell the guardthing’s blood and fat, iron and a sickly sweet stink. She tried to smell Vibeke’s neck to no avail.

“Do you….” Violet linked.

“Do I?”

“Do you have any regrets about the trip?”

“No, I thought it was lovely. Do you?”

“No, no, of course not.”

Vibeke said nothing. She thought of the awkward moment in the sparring ring.

Violet thought of her resolution to tell Vibeke everything. Cut off only by Veikko and Varg. Not by anything else, she told herself. They were alone now. She had no excuse. She was courageous in the extreme, or she wouldn’t be a Valkyrie. She had to tell herself that five times before she was able.

“It is me, isn’t it? That you’re afraid of?”

Vibeke said nothing.

“Then tell me it’s not, because it would be a real load off. Tell me nothing could ever happen between us, that you don’t want what I want. And you know what I want, you have to. Tell me you don’t want it too, that you don’t wish we’d locked ourselves in that berth and locked lips for thirty days.”

Vibeke found herself angry at Violet’s forwardness. “Which lips are you wishing we’d locked?”

“Wow, I meant kissing, but since you mention it—”

“Stop.”

Violet cringed, letting guardthing blood into the corner of her mouth. She knew Vibeke was angry. Well, if she’d pissed her off anyway, there was no sense in stopping there.

“Look, I have something I have to get off my chest.

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.