"Ven, you took me to the this garden paradise, which I could never have, and introduced me to a woman who was more than me in every way. She is beautiful, warm, she can cook like a chef, and then the lot of you sat around and discussed people you've known since childhood."
"I wanted you to like each other," he said.
"I like them. It just... I can't even cook. I mean, I try, but it tastes odd."
He laughed at her.
"I will never be Imelda Carvanna," she said.
"If I wanted someone like Meli, I would have married a long time ago. I want you. My beautiful, lethal, precise ice dragon. One of a kind."
"That's a terrible pet name," she said. "Ice dragon?"
"Silver Shark? Captain Lethal? Slaughter Maiden?"
"Venturo!"
"Seriously, how many hours have you logged in?"
She shrugged. "Eight hundred and forty two combat missions; with training, a little over forty thousand hours."
"I have fifty thousand hours and I've been logging in since I was six. This is kind of embarrassing."
"You logged in because it was fun and you loved it. I logged in because it was my duty to contribute to the war effort. Eight hours, almost every day. There were times when we'd get stuck, and I'd be in for forty hours at a time. I'd wake up with an IV in my arm and have to relearn how to walk." She shivered.
"But do you like it? The bionet?"
She nodded. "It's what I do. It's what I am."
"I'm glad," he said. "I like it too."
"I had a squad working with me. Grade B and C psychers. That's where the precision comes from — I had to protect them and I couldn't shield all of them at once, so my only choice was to attack and kill with one or two blows before they attacked my guys."
"You didn't hit anything vital on the bridge," he told her quietly.
She sat up and faced him. "I knew in the sheer power contest you would crush me. You are strong, Ven, stronger than me. Less precise, but stronger. I didn't want to hurt you and I didn't want to die. I had only one chance — to run."
She told him about the school and the dagger and the five repair techs.
"And the kid I sprung free today was helping, I'm guessing?" he said.
"Yes. We did the basic DAD — draw away and distract — on the AI protocol. You should've seen him. He was bouncing about sniffing flowers. His eyes were this big." She opened her hands wide and held them by her eyes. "It was all, 'Kosta! Don't touch that, it will eat you. No, don't touch that either. Don't pet that giant monster... Like trying to walk a kitten on a leash."
Venturo laughed and then the laugh died. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I almost did, up in the roof garden. And then you went on about how I had a nice quiet mind."
He groaned. "I was trying to pay you a compliment."
She mimicked him. "'You have a such a quiet mind, Claire. I deal all day with people whose brains are noisy.' Was I supposed to come back with, by the way, I can kill you with my brain and I indulge in dirty fantasies about you in my spare time?"
He grabbed her and pinned her down. "I like your dirty fantasies."
She laughed.
"And I like when you laugh." He kissed her. "Mmm."
She untangled herself from him and rolled off the bed. "Come on. I'll show you the split."
"Oh, I'd love to see that." His grin was carnal.
"No, you fool, the cloning technique. Come on."
He got off the bed.
"Bionet hub," she ordered. A section of the wall split, and a small liquid interface terminal emerged, the lid sealed.
"Still sealed," Ven said.
"I was too afraid to log in. Besides the shell takes a week to rebuild. I didn't want to chance it." She took out two cognizance units from the shelf and tore the plastic.
Ven twisted the lid, breaking the seal. "Some people open wine. We open the hub."
She fitted the unit on him and waited as he fit one on her. It felt oddly symbolic.
The dark tunnel swallowed her, and a moment later she landed next to him into the soft grass. They sat in a jungle clearing, wild bright flowers blooming all around them.
The enormous beast that was Ven stretched, raking the ground with his massive claws. Claire rolled, batting her red paws at the sun rays puncturing the jungle canopy in narrow spears of light.
A deep underground roar made her jump up.
The jungle fell apart, melting. The ground underneath them surged up, the wind pressing on them like a massive hand. Suddenly the movement stopped.
Behind them the ground dropped off in a sheer cliff. They stood on the edge of a wide grassy plateau. A low sound of a gong rang through the world. In the distance a bright star winked, then another, and another. Psychers logging in.
"Cute," Venturo said.
The realization washed over her. "DDS. Pelori came to see me two days ago, trying to buy me. He had sensed the shell on my mind. They must've put a code trap on my access line."
Across the plateau dust rose. Something massive was moving toward them at top speed.
"Figured," Ven said. "Attacking Guardian was too risky. Castilla must've decided that sooner or later you would log in and alone you'd be the perfect target."
"We can grow wings and glide down off the cliff," Claire said.
He shook his enormous head. "No. I am going to finish this once and for all. But you want to go -"
"Are you joking? You couldn't drag me away."
The cloud of dust parted and she saw them: an enormous elephantine monster, followed by a huge canine and a flightless bird with a fiery plumage. Lim, Pelori, and Castilla.
Claire grinned, displaying her fangs. Fire sheathed Ven.
The monsters were almost upon them.
"Hey," Ven said to her. "Watch this."
Epilogue
From: Lienne Escana
To: Malvina Escana
Malvi, I know you won't believe it, but your son finally found someone. Smart girl, Grade A psycher, perfect manners, you'll love her. Apparently Castilla had the stupidity to attack the two of them in the bionet, and they ended up rampaging through DDS. It was brutal. DDS is still recovering and their stock has fallen 32%. I'd give you the details, but they refuse to talk about it during the work day and at night they hole up in his apartment, drink pink wine, and have sex like two rabid monkeys.
Anyway, if you want Venturo to marry, now is your chance. I've got a scheduling conference set up on Monday, and if we ambush them there with combined forces, I'm sure we can get them to commit to a date. I suggest you make your husband warm up the aerial as soon as you get this.
Your Loving Sister,
Lienne
About the Author
Ilona Andrews is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team. Ilona is a native-born Russian and Gordon is a former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army. Contrary to popular belief, Gordon was never an intelligence officer with a license to kill, and Ilona was never the mysterious Russian spy who seduced him. They met in college, in English Composition 101, where Ilona got a better grade. (Gordon is still sore about that.) Gordon and Ilona currently reside in Texas with their two children, three dogs and a cat. They have co-authored two series, the bestselling urban fantasy of Kate Daniels and romantic urban fantasy of The Edge.