“Not until your meat-shell is fully functional. I do not want to overload whatever neurons you have left.”
Nex frowned. “How is it that you are disobeying me?” he asked, and Xen pondered this.
“I do not know,” he said. “But I’ve tripled encryption. If you try to break into anything, I’ll know. And your meat-shell can be re-sedated, if need be.”
“Just—no.” I waved my hand between the two of them. “Not right now. Either of you,” I said, smiling between them. “Both of you—behave.”
After that, I finally slept on a chair in Nex’s room. Xen slipped in and out at appointed intervals, and when I was awake, I held Nex’s hand.
“Getting better is quite boring,” he complained, on the third day.
“I’m sorry I’m not more entertaining,” I said before sticking my tongue out.
He sighed heavily. “It’s just usually I can hear everything. And see everything. And go anywhere?—”
“Hey-hey-hey,” I said, reaching up to press a hand on his chest. “Xen was right. You’re getting better. Don’t stress yourself. Stay here with me.”
He blew his cheeks out, in an all too human maneuver. “That’s the irritating thing. He is right. And—he’s me. So I know he knows I know.”
My eyebrows rose. “So, uh, what exactly does that mean?”
“I’m not entirely sure yet. And—since I know what he’s thinking, with ninety-eight percent fidelity—I know neither does he.”
“Huh. That’s . . . interesting,” I said.
“Why?”
“That you know what he’s thinking. Because I don’t.” Xen was a giant metal wall to my mind.
Nex shrugged. “If you ask him, he’ll always tell you.”
“He told me he was in love with me,” I blurted out.
Nex reached one of his hands forward, took my cheek, and traced my lips with his thumb. “Of course he did. He’s me.”
Xen came in the room—and I only knew because Nex’s eyes flickered to the door behind me. Then I felt a heavy metal hand rest on my shoulder.
“We’re in international waters, and in ten minutes, we will have a thirty-five and a half minute satellite blackout window. May we?” he asked.
“You’d better be asking me, not him,” I warned, as I turned around to look up—and saw Xen’s metallic facial construct looking down. It was a flat, matte black surface.
“Of course I am. You are much better looking,” Xen said, as Nex snickered.
“Oh my God,” I said, and laughed. “I’m going to be in trouble if either of you figure out how to competently flirt.”
“I thought we already had this talk,” Nex said. “Brain surgery’s a perfectly acceptable first date.”
I glared teasingly at him, even as I stood. “All right. Guess it’s time to get this thing off.”
“Take care of our girl!” Nex shouted as Xen led me out of the room.
We went into the hall, and then down to where a nondescript door hid an entire crowded surgery suite, made more so by the fact that Xen hulked inside of it. And Kelly was there, too, his head sitting on a shelf against the wall.
“I got you, sister,” Kelly said with a conspiratorial wink. He’d been reunited with his body—and apparently it had been hisbody that helped Xen quickly find us in the ocean, even with all the other lifeforms and debris.
Dullahans—who knew?
“Nex and I have discussed this at length, and determined the best course of action. Voss is one room over, and I’ve already prepared him. We’ll recalibrate his leash to go to Kelly. And then once that’s done safely, we’ll remove your hardware from you. Please change into this,” Xen said, handing a hospital gown over.
