Kelley Eskridge by Solitaire Read Free Book Online

chair cushions.
    “Get another pair.”
    “I want these, they go with my shirt.” A
part of her was surprised to find herself sounding so ordinary, as if
nothing much had happened, as if she had not yesterday taken a long
step closer to a dangerous edge.
    “What's that on the bookshelf? No, the
other one.”
    She put the two socks together just to
make sure they matched, and then dressed in a storm of flapping sleeves
and a boot that tried to get away and had to be chased across the room.
Snow stayed against a wall and watched in amusement as Jackal hunted it
down. The boot was dirty, but there was no time to polish it. Maybe no
one would notice. Ah, she remembered the fashion remark now: it was
Mist, in one of her look-down-her-nose moments. And what kind of a
stupid name is Mist, anyway, Jackal thought for the thousand-and-first
time. She was sure that Mist would end up in a public-relations job
that involved many dinners with competitively dressed people, while the
rest of her department did whatever actual work there might be. And
Mist would probably come to Jackal for favors, fixes, confident that
whatever she asked would be done.
    And so it would be. Jackal sighed. Mist
was a web mate, and it didn't matter if she was also profoundly
irritating. “Say, do you think Mist is the most annoying person in the
whole world, or just this part of it?” she asked Snow as she pulled on
her second boot.
    “I think Mist will be less annoying after
breakfast. Bring an apple.”
    It was a good omen that they found seats
together on the bus. She really did feel a little better, as if she'd
sicked up some of the poison inside her along with the wine. She still
hated the vulnerability and the secrecy; it was almost unthinkable not
to share this with Snow, if no one else. But she couldn't risk making
Snow a target for Ko. If it came right down to it, she'd give up her
mother in a heartbeat to protect Snow. Oddly, the realization made her
feel more grounded than she had for a while. She knew what she had to
do. She had her priorities. She ate her apple and cautiously allowed
herself to feel a bit more cheerful.
    Snow was somewhere in her own head,
doubtless thinking elegant, complex thoughts. Jackal nudged her with an
elbow. “Who's the smartest?” she asked, smacking the words around the
last bite of apple.
    “This month, I think it's Bat.” Snow
smiled back. “But you're pretty smart.”
    “Who's the most likely to succeed?” It was
a new question, and she could see the moment of surprise before Snow
answered, in a gentler voice, “You are, Jackal. Everyone knows that.”
Snow took the apple core out of Jackal's hand and dropped it carelessly
into her own pocket, and then she leaned in to kiss Jackal. “You'll be
a great Hope,” she said quietly. “The things you do will shape the
world. You are smart and stubborn and brave. Forget about Tiger. Oh,
don't look at me like that, I've seen how he rides you. He's an
asshole. You're the Hope. Now here's your stop. Go do Hope stuff and
I'll see you later.”
    “You know,” Jackal said after a moment,
“you just astonish me. Bless you twice. Oh, hell,” she added as her
stop slid by. She scrambled out of her seat, calling to the driver to
wait, and by the time she'd collected herself out on the sidewalk, the
bus was purring away and she could only wave after it and hope that
Snow saw. If she could have put her heart on a stick, she would have
given it to Snow right there in the aisle. But no, she thought, I'll
need it if I'm going to do the right things, if I'm going to be a good
Hope. I can still be a good Hope. I just have to work a little harder
and be a little braver. And I can. I can.
     
    Jackal was the youngest person by at least
ten years in Neill's workshop, the only one who didn't have to juggle a
full-time job schedule to keep up with classes. Everyone else was a
serious runner on the Ko management track, people chosen for perceived
long-distance stamina rather