Cybermancy by Kelly McCullough Read Free Book Online Page A

to be me,” I said, “simply Ravirn and no more.”
    But that name was a gift of Fate, too, or did you think your parents would have given it to you without consulting the matriarch of your line? And what makes you think that being Ravirn is a simple thing?
    I didn’t want to hear it, or in this case, read it. I’d had this argument too many times with Cerice. I was who I was and not what Fate would make of me. Besides, the clock was ticking, and Hades might return at any moment. I didn’t know what Persephone’s agenda was or what it might cost me, but since my heart was still beating, she obviously wanted more than my life.
    I’m fast and tough, a child of Fate and practically immortal, but Persephone’s the real deal, a goddess born. I am to her like a toy-box Mercedes is to the actual car, yet she had chosen to discuss rather than demand. I might as well push my luck.
    “Give it a rest, Lady.” I heard Melchior slap his forehead but ignored him. “You want something from me. That’s clear enough. What is it? Come on, speak.” I looked up. It was a mistake.
    “Do you really want to hear my voice, little Raven?” she asked aloud. Sorrow washed over me with her words, a wave of pain like the chorus of an undead orchestra. Her face reflected every ounce of that agony.
    My hand went to my pistol, but this time it was because I wanted to blow my brains out. I stilled the impulse, but again, it cost me. So did refocusing my gaze on the screen. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that she’d moved closer. Her presence washed over me like the heat of a fire.
    “OK,” I said, and my voice sounded shaky even to me, “ so maybe that was a little hasty. If you want to keep IMing me, that’s just fine.”
    She laughed then, a sound like rain falling on a corpse.
    You learn quickly. Perhaps I can make use of you.
    I didn’t like the sound of that, but I wasn’t in a good bargaining position, and time was most definitely not my friend. “Look, as much as I’d love to keep up the charming banter, your husband might come by at any minute. That would cause us both some problems.”
    True. So, let us be quick. You want to rescue the goblin from her durance vile, yes?
    I nodded.
    Some variation on that old story is always why the living find their way here. Usually I ignore them. But you are not usual, Raven . Not at all. It is in my mind that you may yet make it out of here in one piece. And so I am inclined to help you.
    “That’s great,” I said. “I can use all the help I can get.”
    “Truth,” mumbled Melchior.
    I ignored him. “I’ll take what you can give. I don’t have a lot of choice in the matter. But I would like to know what I’m going to have to do for you in exchange.”
    For starters, there’s the simple knowledge that when Hades finds out about this, it will hurt him. That alone might be enough to buy my help. But yes, I do want something. What that is will become clear with time, Ravirn. From your reputation, I think I can say it will be something you won’t mind too much ;-).
    Emoticons and my preferred name. Fabulous. Why did I suddenly think this was going to cost way more than I could afford? Experience perhaps. Goddesses are never nice to you unless they feel they have to be, and payback’s the stuff of Greek tragedy.
    “Right. Great. I’m sure I’m going to love every minute of it. In the meantime, we’ve got a goblin to rescue.” I jabbed a thumb at Shara, who’d very sensibly taken refuge under the desk. Then I pulled her laptop case out of my bag. “Do you know how I can put the one back inside the other?”
    Yes. But it can’t be done in the underworld. Before your conflict with Fate, no one knew of the free will of the AIs. Afterward, Atropos alerted Hades to the need to summon souls like your Shara’s and cautioned him to be very careful in securing them. She even sent him a program for the purpose.
    I sighed. Story of my life—Atropos making things difficult,