The Rise of Io Read Online Free

her bruised butt. Coward wasn’t just some guy off the streets. He obviously had some sort of training. If that was the case, why hadn’t he helped the woman? Why had he just stood there like a relatively large shit and forced her to fight all those thugs by herself? The memory of the fight set Ella off again.
    â€œYou’re starting to annoy me,” he growled. “If you just give me a chance to explain…”
    She scowled, grabbed a book off the dining table, and chucked it at Coward. He knocked it out of the air. She grabbed a cup, and threw that. He dodged. Ella began hurling everything within arm’s reach. Coward continued to dodge and block until a glass ashtray smacked him square in the eye. He dropped like a sack. Ella grabbed a lamp and, wielding it like a club, ran over to finish him off.
    Stop!
    Ella was in mid-swing when the loud word in her head startled her. She let go of the lamp and it went careening through the air. It hit the kitchen counter and shattered. Ella glanced at Coward, then scanned the room. There was no one else here. She looked in the mirror and stared at her own reflection. She looked perfectly sane; at least, she thought she did.
    Coward raised his head off the floor.
    â€œYou stay put!” she hissed, shaking her fist. “In fact, if I ever see you again, I’m going to cut off your balls.” She made a motion of stomping down on him, and he cringed.
    Ella fled wherever this was, but not before robbing the place, swiping several trinkets and a bag of snacks off the counter. Finally locating the door, she left the apartment and took the stairs, not having trusted elevators since once being trapped in one for nine hours. Of course, she had never been on a floor in a building this high off the ground. After twenty flights, she was starting to rethink her hatred for elevators. By the time she reached ground level, her legs felt like rubber.
    She exited the building and furrowed her brow at the stoplights hanging in the air above the nearest intersection. Where had Coward taken her? Crate Town didn’t have stoplights at intersections, or tall buildings, for that matter. It took her a few minutes of sleuthing to realize she was near downtown Surat, a good distance from home. A taxi was too expensive, and the thought of spending money on a bus or a tuk-tuk aggravated her. She patted her pants and realized that neither of them were options anyway. She didn’t have enough coins for the bus fare, let alone a tuk-tuk. That left walking or hitching a ride in the back of a truck heading in the general direction of Crate Town.
    Ella scowled. Night had fallen, and most of the streets would be unlit, which was dangerous for someone who didn’t know the area. There was not much she could do now except start walking. It took over an hour on foot, and she cursed Coward with each step.
    Luckily, she wasn’t harassed too much. Some guys had ideas when it came to lone women walking the streets late at night. She received a couple of catcalls, and a few propositions from those who thought she could be had for cheap. Nothing she wasn’t used to. One rancid man living on the street grabbed at her as she passed. Ella had reached for her shank only to realize she no longer had it. Lucky for him, she guessed.
    It was well into the night by the time she finally reached her container cluster. Home was a top floor double-container of a five-stack. She had purchased the first container from Old Nagu, her next door neighbor, after two hard years of scrounging and living on the streets. She had earned the second after spending the last two years of Nagu’s life stealing medicine for him. He died anyway, but on his death bed, he gave his container to her instead of to his son.
    The son, a businessman who didn’t even live in Crate Town and only visited his father twice a year, objected. In fact, the man said that since Nagu never signed over the deeds to either