Page 51 of It Starts With A No

Nothing happened.

She blinked and frowned.

“It’s always a little tough in the beginning,” he said. “Because we usually don’t even have to think about moving our hands. It takes a bit of training to get it to move the way you want. Just focus.”

She was trying.

She pushed back the sleeves of his jacket and leaned slightly forward, bending toward the robotic hand on the desk.

She grinned when the fingertip twitched.

Encouraged, she drew a deep breath and worked on thinking about moving a finger.

The index finger curled, then the rest of the fingers quickly followed.

“Yes!” She spun toward him, and he laughed. She rubbed her fingers against her forehead. “Gosh, that’s tiring.”

“It gets easier. Once you’re used to it, it becomes like your actual hand and you don’t even have to think about it.” Seth removed the band from her head and put it on himself.

He picked up the robotic hand and held it out toward her.

She arched a brow, then took the hand.

The robotic fingers curled around Clary’s hand. Then he gave it a shake.

Clary laughed. “Is there a strength control or could you accidentally crush my hand?”

“I wouldn’t recommend shaking hands until you’re comfortable controlling it.”

Her eyes widened. “So one would basically have super strength with this. I need one of these.”

“Yes and no. This is only an extension, so it’s limited.” He put the arm back in place. “But we have something else that can do that.”

She swiveled the chair to the side. “Whatever that is, I want it. I have plenty of people I’d love to crush.”

He laughed again, shaking his head. “Come on.” He cocked his head to the side. “I’ll show you, but it isn’t ready for the market yet.”

She jumped to her feet. “Can I just borrow it for a day, then?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

“What if I say Hugh’s one of those people?”

Seth’s eyes slitted.

“You’d think about it?”

“No.”

She scowled. “You’re not getting any food from my stash later.”

The lights above them suddenly turned off, enveloping them in darkness and deafening silence.

Clary instinctively reached out to Seth as she stepped closer to him. “Blackout?” The muscles under her hand twitched, reminding her to shift her grip, limiting it to his shirt.

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