But still, even with the unusual number of heads Neds possessed, he was all one body. Organic. Natural.
This man was not natural. It did not mean he was ugly. Quite the opposite.
The stitching joined pieces that were not quite the same color as the rest of him; a little too light as if some of his skin never quite took to sunlight, and in other places a little too dark, with muscles and scar tissue bunching thick beneath. The work it took to make him, to piece him together, was amazing. As fine as anything I’d seen my dad or brother do, even though his thread was much thicker than mine.
“I understand there are only twelve of you in the world—galvanized. But I have no idea why you’d come out to my land. Did you know my father? Do you know his enemies? Your stitches are gray. Does that mean House Gray still claims you, or are you on the run?”
I reached for a cloth to clean the blood from his wound. “Were you in an accident, or put together for a purpose? There must be a point to it, to you. You must have a story.” I brushed the cloth gently along the smear of blood on his stomach.
His breathing let go and he gasped. I looked down at his face.
Into eyes red as banked coals.
4
It was called Mercury Fever, and like the California gold rush before it, brought hundreds to the little town, searching for a fortune in the dirt and hills. But the promise of mercury also attracted men of the sciences: mad men with mad plans.—1869
—from the journal of L.U.C.
He didn’t blink, didn’t look away from my eyes.
I’d seen crazy before. I’d seen beasts mad with pain, and I’d been the one who put them in that pain.
They looked a lot like the man lying in the bed below me.
“You aresafe,” I said. “You are in my guest room in my home. I am just about to sew up your injury.”
For too many tumbling beats of my heart, I thought for sure he had forgotten how to understand the language. There didn’t seem to be a lot of sanity left in him, just a raw, mindless anger.
I licked my lips and tried out a soft smile even while logic was telling me best thing would be to back up nice and slow and find my shotgun.
“These are scissors.” I lifted them so the sunlight could catch them in gold. “I’m just going to put them over?—”
The floorboards creaked.
His hands shot out viper-fast, wrapped around my wrists, and yanked me down against him as he shoved back with his heels and pushed both of us off the bed.
I’m a strong girl, but along with speed, that man had monstrous brute force. He was on his feet and I was too, as he manhandled me over to the corner of the room.
“Whoa, hold on,” I said. “Simmer it down. We’re all friends here. We’re all friends.”
He planted his back against the wall, seeking a defensive position. My back was against him and the heat of his blood soaked through my overalls and cotton shirt, trickling down toward my belt.
He’d yanked the scissors out of my hand with that grab and roll he’d just done off the bed. He held them hidden, tucked by his thigh, while his other arm hung over my shoulder and across my chest, keeping me still.
I could hurt him. He was in his stocking feet and I had on steel-toed boots, not to mention I knew how to throw a wicked elbow. I wasn’t afraid to aim for the parts of him that would hurt the most—including his wound.
“You came here to me,” I said. “I’m trying to tend your injury. Which would be a lot easier if you’d get back into bed.”
“Told you he was trouble,” Left Ned said in a cold, cold voice. He stood in the doorway, a wooden bucket of water in one hand, an old Glock 20 in the other. The gun was aimed our way.
“I’ve got this under control,” I said. “He’s just spooked is all. Might better unspook without that gun pointed at him.”
Neds had once told me they controlled opposite sides of the body, so Left Ned was primarily right-handed, and Right Ned was left-handed. That meant Left Ned had his finger on the trigger.
Didn’t seem likely we’d get out of this without him putting more holes in the stranger.
“Tilly,” Right Ned said, “you can’t see his face.” He nodded slightly. “I’m pretty sure you don’t have this under control.”
