Read SILVER: Acheron (A River of Pain) (The SILVER Series) for Free Online Page B

the flesh market can be the only explanation for this woman’s perfect, scar-less wrist. How she slipped free of the electronic collar is another matter, though, and one that Silver is much less certain of.
    Jades are immediately identifiable by the metal collar clasped around their neck. This permanent collar has their unique employee number engraved on it, and if they attempt to remove or tamper with it in any way, they’ll receive a potentially lethal electric shock.
    A shock capable of causing severe memory loss? Almost certainly.
    Without words, Silver reaches forward and scoops her hand around the woman’s neck, moving aside her hair.
    There’s not a mark on her.
    At Silver’s touch, the woman becomes instantly rigid, her pale skin frozen at Silver’s fingertips.
    Silence.
    “I have to call you something,” Silver says at last, and retracts her hand. “Since you’re basically starting everything from scratch, how about a brand new name?”
    “I can pick?”
    “Of course.”
    “How?”
    Silver shrugs. “I don’t know. Anything you like.”
    Deep in thought, the woman absently raps her fingertips against the book in her lap.
    Alice in Wonderland.
    Duh, obvious.
    Alice.
    Yes, Alice.

CHAPTER THREE
     

    Light Bulb Moment
     
    In the Fringe District, morning is often heralded by the wail of a Police Division siren, or a gun fight. After months or years of this routine, supposedly, you become immune to the racket.
    Not today.
    The dawn of day two.
    Silver lies awake in bed, her heart thumping inside her tight, anxious chest. She had dreamt of the Sentinel District; dreamt of home and all of its familiarities. Clutching at the dog tags around her neck, she pushes those thoughts aside and becomes aware of an unusual warmth behind her.
    Alice.
    Curled up in the crook of Silver’s legs, Alice is peacefully oblivious to the sounds of destruction echoing in through the open window. She only stirs when Silver rolls away from her and gets to her feet, stretching out her joints with various snaps and pops.
    Hungry again, Silver forces her body to ignore its pangs for food. She has enough money to buy more meat, for now, but that’s just a temporary measure. Something more permanent needs to be forged, so she elects to dip into that reserve fund only if it becomes absolutely vital. Consequently, the first thing on the menu for today is the search for employment.
    “You’re leaving?” Alice enquires from the red velvet sheets.
    “Get used to it. This is going to happen a lot.”
    “I can’t come?”
    “Not without the basics: proper clothes and a tag, for starters. Both of which come at a price, and neither of which are a priority. You understand?”
    Silver runs her tongue over her filmy teeth.
    Toothpaste.
    Now, that’s a priority.
    “I’ll be back before dark,” she promises, badly underestimating the task at hand.
    Skip ahead five hours, and she’s already running out of ideas. Most of the bars are run by Handlers, and their girls take turns waiting tables and spreading their legs. Butcher shops need bouncers, but they’ll only hire men.
    Silver wasn’t trained for this. For the first time in her life, she feels utterly inadequate.
    Tired and angry, she finds herself in an Old World playground. Now just a collection of dangerously rusted metal poles, only one swing remains. Tenderly reconstructed by neighboring residents, it sways gently in the breeze, beckoning to Silver’s aching feet.
    It creaks when she lowers her adult frame down upon it, but it bears her weight without further complaint. Winding the chains around her wrists, as she did when she was a child, the coarse metal scrapes against her stitches, tearing one of them open.
    “Great …” she sighs.
    Blood seeping back through the open wound, she looks around for anything that might help. All she can find nearby is a soiled pair of children’s panties, which isn’t quite the band-aid she was hoping for. Instead, she opts for something