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

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Somehow she found her way to her own car. Somehow it got her home. When she
entered the house, Cedric was sitting near the door, his back to her. She
scooped him up and cradled him like a child, ignoring his squirming, holding
him close. She carried him with her into the bedroom, and lay on the bed.
He slipped out of her arms, stood uncertainly for a moment, then lay down
beside her, not touching her. He wasn't a child. She knew that. He wasn't a
child and he wasn't a kitten; he wasn't human and he wasn't a cat.

He was, by definition, a grotesque monster.

But only because of things that had been done to him, not because of things he
had done to himself.

They weren't that different, he and she. She was a grotesque monster too, with
enhancements and parts she had never been born with. She and Cedric were
bound—not by loss, as Dr. Prichard had wanted Gen to bind with that dog, but
by night terrors and mistrust and a conviction that life wasn't going the way
that it should.

She petted Cedric's side, smoothing his fur. After a moment, he sighed, and
eased closer to her, his feline face upturned toward the light.

Life hadn't gone the way it should have, and nothing would change that. No
matter what she did, nothing would change that moment when Dar's hand slipped
from hers. Life was different now. And, like Cedric, she had come out of a
deep darkness.

It had taken her a long time, but she was finally ready. Ready to turn her
face toward the light.


The End