Its mind wrapped around me. No, not its. His. It was a distinctly male presence.
The view rushed over water to some buildings. A metal-tipped tentacle burst from the muck and pierced the guard standing on the walkway. The man convulsed, impaled through his stomach. A second tentacle wrapped around him and dragged him into the water, through the swamp, with dizzying speed, to where I sat. The tentacles lifted the body out of the mire and showed it to me.
All around me appendages rose from under the surface, some big, some small, some tipped with metal, others with long spindly digits. They filleted the guard like fish, dropping organs and flesh into the mire. The water boiled as fish and other things fed.
The appendages dipped the bloody remnants of the man into the water and pulled him out again, neatly separating the head and spinal column from the body. A massive tangle of plants surfaced, and the Abyss began to weave them around the head and spine. A larger, thicker appendage appeared, shaped like a bulb, opened, and secreted liquid metal onto the plants, wrapping it like a ribbon around the shape it was building.
Another thin tentacle thrust a glowing seed into the amorphous construct. Magic sparked and the new beast moved, its body tightening, flowing into a compact shape, vaguely familiar. The construct dropped onto all fours. It had four limbs, a long muzzle, a short tail, two floppy ears . . .
It looked like . . . It . . .
The Abyss had made a cow-sized version of Shadow for me and he put the dead man’s brain into it.
I recoiled. “No!”
The image of the Pit faltered and vanished. The Razorscale construct clamped its forelimbs on my legs.
Regina said that if a single matrix node survived, the Abyss could rebuild itself. That meant a matrix node could function independently. I had to break this one free of the Abyss or I would end up on a lily pad in the Pit.
I poured my magic into the creature’s matrix. My evil grandmother could’ve cleaved it free, Nevada too, but my magic seduced. It didn’t sever. I could only wrap my power around it and try to make it mine.
The construct pulled my legs, sliding me across the mud, as it backed toward the water. I swathed my power around it, tighter and tighter, layering it like an onion, trying to isolate the matrix node from the tendrils of the Abyss’ mind. If I let it get me into the water again, it would be over.
The creature yanked me toward the river.
I pulled it to me with everything I had. The Abyss clutched on to the construct, trying to wrestle it free from me. It was like putting a dog leash on a lion and trying to drag it. The Abyss was strong, so much stronger, but he was so far and I was right here.
I released my wings and they opened behind me, radiant with magic. I stared into the turquoise eye and sang.
“Sleep my child and peace attend thee,
All through the night . . .”
The construct stopped pulling.
“Guardian angels God will send thee,
All through the night . . .”
The Abyss’ hold on the creature was slipping. Both of them were listening to me, one seduced and the other fascinated.
“Soft the drowsy hours are creeping,
Hill and dale in slumber sleeping,
I my loved ones’ watch am keeping,
All through the night . . .”
The construct’s matrix buckled under the pressure.
I forgot the next part, skipped it, and kept singing.
“While the moon her watch is keeping,
All through the night.
While the weary world is sleeping,
All through the night.
O’er thy spirit gently stealing,
Visions of delight revealing,
Breathes a pure and holy feeling,
All through the night . . .”
The Abyss’ grip slid off the construct’s mind and vanished. The creature scooted closer to me, its flower glowing, and wrapped itself around my body, like an affectionate dog. Its metal scales vibrated, making a soft mechanical purr . . .
A body dropped from above and landed on top of the construct in a flash of orange magic. Alessandro swung and buried Linus’ sword in the creature’s eye. The construct fell apart into bands of metal and reeds.
Alessandro glared at me. “I leave you alone for six hours and this is what happens?”
I scrambled to my feet. “I had it! I took it away from the Abyss! You—”
He kissed me. The world spun sideways. A whirlwind of emotions tore through me—relief, need, want, outrage—and I didn’t know which one to pick. Outrage won.
Alessandro’s lips left mine. He squeezed me to him, a huge grin on his face. “You’re alive.”
“You killed my construct,” I ground out.
“You can’t keep it,” Alessandro said. “It’s bad.”
“Let go of me!”
I pushed away from him and swayed. He caught me. Alarm skewed his face. “Are you okay?”
The words fell out one by one. “Tired. Dirty. Wet. Hurt. Frustrated.” My brain suddenly came up with a complete thought and I spat it out. “Now? Of all the times you could have kissed me, you thought now was a good idea? I have mud and algae in my mouth.”
He grinned again, wrapped his arm around my waist, and half steered, half carried me up the slope to a narrow, paved sidewalk leading up the bank. My legs barely moved.
“Where were you?” I squeezed out.
“Busting Arkan’s HQ in Houston.”
“Are you okay?” He looked okay, but that didn’t mean he was okay.
“Yes.”
“Is Linus okay?”
“Yes.”
“Are they dead?”
“Some of them. The telekinetic wasn’t there.”
“I can’t believe you kissed me. You’ve lost your mind.”
“You were dragged off by a monster into the river. You can’t blame me.”
Oh yes, I could.
“What did it want?” he asked.
“Me.”
“It can’t have you.”
“It’s a he.”
“What?”
“It’s a he, Alessandro. He thinks he should. He showed me images.”
A hot spike of pain shot through my right hip. My leg folded, but Alessandro caught me.
“I can carry you.”
“No!” After that kiss, being carried by him was the last thing I needed.
We trudged up the sidewalk.
“What kind of images?”
“The impress-your-date kind. He showed me his crib, demonstrated that he was a good provider, and I wouldn’t starve, and then he showed me what he did for work, and how creative he was.”
Alessandro put his hand on my forehead.
“I don’t have a fever!”
“Did you hit your head?”
“No!” We were almost to the road. “He killed a guard and used the dead man’s brain and nervous system to make a five-foot-tall replica of my dog.”
“That might be the creepiest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Yeah, it wasn’t a ton of fun to watch.”
We reached the bridge and walked onto the pedestrian access, separated from the traffic by a narrow barrier. Alessandro’s Spider waited just a few yards ahead.
“You should dump this on Linus.”
“That’s not how it works. He gave me the job, I’m doing the job. Besides, what is Linus going to do against a Saito construct?”
“What is that?”
“A construct that’s alive, capable of independent decisions, self-repair, and growth, physical and mental. It’s not supposed to exist, but it’s in the Pit right now preparing a lovely lily pad for me and feeding dead bodies to fish to fatten them up so he can serve them for dinner.”