"Kristine Kathryn Rusch - Chimera" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rusch Kristine Kathryn)

Dar's dirty clothes still on the floor, and the book they'd been reading on
the end table beside the bed. She went to his room every day and peered
inside, seeing it as a mute reproach for her own selfishness.

If she closed her eyes, she could see herself again—leaping away, not grabbing
her child, not even thinking of him. Thinking only of herself.

Dr. Prichard tried to tell her that her memories were flawed, that she was
ascribing motive where there could be none. But Dr. Prichard hadn't been
there.

By the time Gen got back inside the house, she heard the cage door rattling.
Cedric was still on his back, struggling with the lock.

"I'll get you out in a minute," she said. "There's a few things I have to do
first."

She set the food by one of the kitchen cupboards, and carried the cedar bed
into the master bedroom. She closed Dar's door, and used the hall keypad to
program in the new instructions. Then she went back into the kitchen.

Cedric was on his stomach, his eyes glowing from the darkness of the cage. Gen
remembered what she had learned, realized that all of them—the anonymous lab
doctors, Anna, and herself—were in uncharted territory. She didn't know what
kind of creature she had here. Just because it looked like a cat didn't mean
it thought like one.

She sat in front of the cage and opened the door. Cedric skidded out, running
faster than she had ever seen a creature move. He was across the kitchen floor
and into the hallway before she had the door completely open.

He left a trail of bloody paw prints in his wake. The blood was fresh and
red.

She looked at the wire on the door. "My god," she whispered. He had picked at
the lock until he had damaged his paws. Anna said she had caged him every
night, and that Gen should do the same. Did he spend his nights on his back,
attempting to use his paws like hands, trying to open a catch that had been
designed to work only with fingers and thumbs?

She shuddered at the thought, then grabbed a roll of paper towels, and cleaned
up the mess. The trail led her through the hall, to the closed door, and then
to her bedroom.

Cedric was standing in front of the cedar bed, his tail down as he stared at
the soft padded cushion. Gen had no idea how long he had been there. He didn't
turn as she entered.

"It's yours," she said, crouching on an unbloodied bit of carpet. "You can
sleep in here with me if you want."