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Back Ruins Save as PDF
Chapters (62)
  1. Dedication
  2. Contents
  3. Part 1
  4. Chapter One
  5. Chapter Two
  6. Chapter Three
  7. Chapter Four
  8. Chapter Five
  9. Chapter Six
  10. Chapter Seven
  11. Chapter Eight
  12. Chapter Nine
  13. Chapter Ten
  14. Chapter Eleven
  15. Chapter Twelve
  16. Chapter Thirteen
  17. Chapter Fourteen
  18. Chapter Fifteen
  19. Chapter Sixteen
  20. Chapter Seventeen
  21. Chapter Eighteen
  22. Chapter Nineteen
  23. Chapter Twenty
  24. Chapter Twenty-one
  25. Part 2
  26. Chapter Twenty-two
  27. Chapter Twenty-three
  28. Chapter Twenty-four
  29. Chapter Twenty-five
  30. Chapter Twenty-six
  31. Chapter Twenty-seven
  32. Chapter Twenty-eight
  33. Chapter Twenty-nine
  34. Chapter Thirty
  35. Chapter Thirty-one
  36. Chapter Thirty-two
  37. Chapter Thirty-three
  38. Chapter Thirty-four
  39. Chapter Thirty-five
  40. Chapter Thirty-six
  41. Chapter Thirty-seven
  42. Part 3
  43. Chapter Thirty-eight
  44. Chapter Thirty-nine
  45. Chapter Forty
  46. Chapter Forty-one
  47. Chapter Forty-two
  48. Chapter Forty-three
  49. Chapter Forty-four
  50. Chapter Forty-five
  51. Chapter Forty-six
  52. Chapter Forty-seven
  53. Chapter Forty-eight
  54. Chapter Forty-nine
  55. Chapter Fifty
  56. Chapter Fifty-one
  57. Acknowledgments
  58. About the Author
  59. Back Ad
  60. Credits
  61. Copyright
  62. About the Publisher

“We can’t stay here,” said Ariel, pushing past them through the trees. “A Partial patrol could be here any minute; we have to keep moving.”

“Is that . . .” Hobb stared at the screaming infant, too stunned to move. “My . . . child?”

“We can talk about it while we run,” said Nandita. She looked at Haru. “Did you come from the north or south?”

“South,” said Haru. “We haven’t seen any Partials in two days.”

“Then we keep heading south,” said Nandita. “Xochi, find us a place to hide for the night.”

“We saw a good place not far from here,” said Hobb. “It was a middle school, straight down this road, maybe four blocks—”

“Thank you,” said Nandita crisply, “but we can find our own hiding places. The infants require us to use a very specific kind of camp, and a school won’t do.”

The men fell in line with the women, Xochi and Kessler leading the way. Haru’s shooters from the bridge joined them a minute later, taking up rearguard positions at the back of the column, so Ariel jogged forward to catch up with Isolde. There were six men in total, an even match for the six women.

“Is it a boy or girl?” asked Hobb.

“Boy,” said Isolde, not even deigning to glance at him.

Hobb’s voice was reverent. “I have a son.”

“You made it very clear you had no interest in me or the baby after you knocked me up,” said Isolde. “That means I have a son, and all you have is a memory of something you’ll never have again.”

“You act like I turned you away,” said Hobb. “I’m a busy man. You can’t think I hate you just because I didn’t have time for a heartfelt conversation every day.”

“I worked in your office,” said Isolde. “You didn’t even have time for ‘Good morning, Isolde,’ which seems to me like a pretty strong hint.”

“We were working under the Hope Act,” said Hobb indignantly. “Getting you pregnant was our civic duty—yours and mine—but I never expected the child to live. They never live. If I’d known—”

Isolde cut him off. “Do you honestly think that anything you’re saying is working in your favor?”

“But I—”

“I think it’s time for you to shut up now,” said Ariel, stepping between them. “We can talk about this later.”

“Or never,” said Isolde.

“Never’s good too,” said Ariel. Hobb scowled but stayed quiet.