Page 29 of The Fall

Lusa moved to unfasten the helmet. Kerr’s chin rose to meet her fingers without a thought.

“It’s my Aunt Sparx’s bike. She used to let me and Pinga ride it. Pinga’s a lot more reckless though.”

Kerr couldn’t imagine going any faster. Lusa helped lift the helmet off of her head and clipped it to her bike.

“What’s it like having a sister?”

Lusa eyed her sceptically before gathering her things from the bike. “Why do you care?”

“Just making conversation,” Kerr insisted, puffing out her chest, unsure why she felt the need to do so.

Lusa pulled her hair back into a bun after the bike ride had destroyed her ponytail. “We’re not that close.”

“But you showed up right away when we took her.”

“Pinga’s a reckless idiot, but she’s still my sister.” Lusa pulled a glove off with her teeth. “That’s what having a sister is like.”

The way Lusa’s teeth sunk into the expensive-looking synleather made Kerr flush. She quickly tried to find something else to focus on. “If you don’t like her, then…”

“Because she’d do the same for me.” Lusa fastened her knife belt. “Now it’s your turn. What’s the deal with you and Chalice?”

Kerr froze for a moment. She hadn’t been expecting the question, but it was only fair. What was the deal between her and Chalice? She didn’t even try to go after Kerr once she left. And Kerr ended up in her bed the same as a dozen other women – occasionally and with no expectations. Quite literally just a physical response.

Kerr exhaled like it was complicated, only it wasn’t. The only way it was is if you deluded yourself into thinking Chalice cared for anyone but herself. “Chalice took over after you murdered Piston.”

“Not you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why didn’t you take over?” Lusa checked her knives. “You did all the talking during our…trade.”

The trade was odd, but only because Chalice had to improvise. Kerr shook her head. “She’s better at leading. And she’s his daughter, yeah?”

“Nepotism? That’s how your gang works?”

Sharing details was probably unwise, but it served her right for starting the conversation. “His death caught us off guard. He was the one who organised everyone and no-one thought about what would come after.” She shrugged. “Cinder tried to take over, but everyone blamed him for what happened.

“The one who attacked me,” Lusa said.

“Yeah.” She’d seen it a hundred times, but Lusa saying it out loud narrowed the entire chain of events to a singular origin point. “The Styx started making moves immediately. They had a new leader. We’d never heard of her before. Ex-Natalist, we think because they started up a breeding program.” Kerr leaned against the bike. “It didn’t go far.”

“I’m sorry.” Lusa shifted forward, like she was about to give Kerr a hug, but she stopped abruptly. Positioned to receive it Kerr straightened herself and chewed at the inside of her cheek, the slight pain giving her something else to focus on.

“Chalice started giving orders and people listened. We came up with transition rules after.” She let her hands drop to her thighs. “And here we are.”

Lusa stood, one leg behind the other with an awkward stillness. Like she couldn’t decide which way to move. “If it makes a difference, I didn’t have anything against him. Piston, I mean.”

Kerr blew out her cheeks, annoyed. Just when they were starting to get along, she had to bring that up. “Everyone parades through the streets with someone’s arm. Just business, yeah?” She scoured Lusa’s face for a reaction, but got none.

“Look. I’m not trying to start a war,” Lusa said flatly. “If I get Pinga back in time, I’ll do my best to make sure no-one’s going to come after you. We’ll call it even. Besides.” Lusa looked away briefly before returning her dark brown eyes to Kerr. “Everyone knows what Pinga is like.”

Kerr immediately regretted trying to rouse her anger. Why had she done that? Nothing could be salvaged from this anyway. “Chalice killed our trade relationship though, didn’t she?” Kerr snorted, looking away. Lusa’s stare proved too intense. “A right cockup, yeah?”

“Siku deals with that,” Lusa pawed at the back of her neck. “But yeah, probably.”

They stood in silence, off balance and avoiding looking each other in the eye or overtly acknowledging the camaraderie of the absurd situation they shared.

“You can’t bring those in.” Kerr pointed to her knife belt, breaking the tension.