Page 75 of The Fall

“My partner’s daughter. I was just along for the ride.”

Kerr kept her mouth shut, but her face had a megaphone.

“It was a very strange ride,” Alana conceded “but we’re not here to talk about that.”

“No,” Kerr tilted her head. “You came all this way to sabotage her relationship, yeah?”

“Is that what this is?” Alana tilted her head to match Kerr. “How is that going to work?”

Kerr seethed, clearly without an answer.

Gathering her discarded rifle, Alana blew dismissively. “Whatever. Keeping kids from being fucking stupid is no longer my job. But stick to your own gang. Fewer people die that way.”

Her tone was clearly getting under Kerr’s skin. Whatever fear there had been evaporated and Lusa’s weird girlfriend glared at her. “You didn’t.”

Alana held her gaze for a moment. She was right. Alana had left the Styx and now lived with Cam, an Adlet. “Uh huh. I’m a hypocrite. And people died. Back to my question.”

“Lusa didn’t hurt me. And I know about her kink.” Kerr probably thought her smirk was defiant, but Alana found it immature.

Kink. That was one way to put it. “She told you?”

Kerr nodded. “She said she loses control. That I needed to stop her if she does.” She flexed the fingers on her artificial hand. “I am stronger than her with my cyberware turned on. Even if it’s off, this arm is prosthetic. She can’t break it.”

Alana took a deep breath. “She told you.” she repeated, more as a statement. Kerr nodded.

Danica hated her for breaking them up, insisting it had been an accident. Even now, things between them were rocky. But if Lusa had warned a girl she’d just met and then taken steps to mitigate it, maybe Danica was right and she’d been punishing Lusa for years for nothing. Alana sighed. Not nothing. She still hurt Danica and she wasn’t about to change her mind based on a girl so obviously besotted with her. She would have to think on it.

“Fine.” Alana thumbed a fang. “Is my face going to be a problem?”

“No?” Kerr scrunched up her face. “I do have questions, though, yeah?”

“Save them for later.” Alana exited the tent. “You need to explain why I’m here first.”

Kerr scrambled after her. “I don’t actually know…” She stopped midsentence. Alana glanced behind to see her frozen, captivated at the sight of Lusa in the sunlight. Lusa looked up at Kerr, blushed and then hid her face, busying herself with the pan of bacon.

“Fuck,” she breathed. This girl was leaking premium grade oxytocin all over the ground. And by the looks of it, so was Lusa.

“I don’t know what you did to get her to look at you like that, but she’s dangerous.” Alana pointed a firm finger before she sighed. She was the adult here. She needed to be the bigger person. “Don’t fuck it up. For your own safety.”

Kerr grinned and hopped to catch up.

A Fruitless Crown

After sharing her idea, Lusa pulled a piece of bacon from the pan, eating quickly before her fingers burned. “Is this from the one Minuschok dragged over?”

Alana’s glare could have turned the bacon to ash. She pointed at Kerr with the single fork she brought, chewing a bit more thoughtfully. “In your big scheme, you forgot to mention; how much does she know?”

Lusa knew Alana was right to be concerned, but she was in no mood to be lectured. “Who’s she going to tell?”

Alana rose suddenly. “I swear to fuck, I will kill you if you put my daughter at risk because you can’t control your pillow talk. I don’t care who your mothers are.”

Lusa stood to meet the challenge. Kerr panicked. “I know she’s different and you live outside of Tyton.” Kerr yelled before anyone died. “And that you don’t have biosig blocking tech.”

Alana laughed and then turned her ire on Kerr. “How is she different?”

“Leave her alone.” Lusa found the kukri at her back. “We’re here for Pinga. Not me.”

“I’m well aware.” Alana’s eyes remained on Kerr. “Now answer the question.”