Willful Child: Wrath of Betty Read online

  Music started up. The view on the screen shifted to an external aft shot of the Willful Child, sliding forward and getting smaller by the moment. “Classy,” said Hadrian. “But…”

  “But what?” Tammy demanded.

  “Well, I mean, I’m sitting on the bridge of that ship, so watching it fly away is, well, confusing.”

  “Yes, since being on it you can’t see it the way you’re seeing it. That’s a given.”

  “Maybe it’s a given to you, Tammy, but I’m getting a headache.”

  “At least tell me you like the music.”

  Hadrian shrugged. “It’s all right, I suppose. But all those straining strings…”

  “What about them?”

  “They seem to be viscerally inducing in me the desire to take a dump.” He abruptly stood, looked around. “Anyone else feeling like that? If so, permission granted for potty break.”

  Everyone leapt up and ran for the bridge door.

  “I hate you,” said Tammy. “I really hate you all.”

  Stay tuned

  for more adventures,

  as the voyage of the Willful Child

  continues.

  Boldly.

  TOR BOOKS BY STEVEN ERIKSON

  The Devil Delivered and Other Tales

  This River Awakens

  Willful Child

  The Malazan Book of the Fallen

  Gardens of the Moon

  Deadhouse Gates

  Memories of Ice

  House of Chains

  Midnight Tides

  The Bonehunters

  Reaper’s Gale

  Toll the Hounds

  Dust of Dreams

  The Crippled God

  The Kharkanas Trilogy

  Forge of Darkness

  Fall of Light

  Malazan Novellas

  Bauchelain and Korbal Broach

  Crack’d Pot Trail

  Wurms of Blearmouth

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Steven Erikson is an archaeologist and anthropologist and a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. His New York Times bestselling Malazan Book of the Fallen series, including The Crippled God, Dust of Dreams, Toll the Hounds, and Reaper’s Gale, has met with widespread acclaim and established him as a major voice in fantasy fiction. The first book in the series, Gardens of the Moon, was short-listed for a World Fantasy Award. The second novel, Deadhouse Gates, was voted one of the ten best fantasy novels of 2000 by SF Site. He lives in Canada.

  Visit him online at www.steven-erikson.com, or sign up for email updates here.

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Prologue

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Epilogue

  Tor Books by Steven Erikson

  About the Author

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  WILLFUL CHILD: WRATH OF BETTY

  Copyright © 2016 by Steven Erikson

  All rights reserved.

  Cover art by Steve Stone

  A Tor Book

  Published by Tom Doherty Associates

  175 Fifth Avenue

  New York, NY 10010

  www.tor-forge.com

  Tor® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.

  ISBN 978-0-7653-8390-7 (hardcover)

  ISBN 978-0-7653-8391-4 (e-book)

  e-ISBN 9780765383914

  Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].

  First Edition: November 2016

  *OAP, an interest rate of 43.97%, over a period of no less than one hundred ninety-nine point nine nine years, see finer print and contract terms on following nanodot [.].