Master of One

by Jaida Jones

Looking at him, Rags got that same feeling he’d get when he caught the glimmer of untended coin. An excited twist in his gut. Pleasure so unexpected it was almost pain.

Rage, so much hotter, so much lighter, than grief.

Stowaway dreams she thought she’d jettisoned along the road to the Far Glades, deadweight cast off so she wouldn’t drown.

It hurt to live, but this pain was different and new. It was hers and no one else’s, the molten core of her anger.