“No matter,” she said aloud. “I can be patient.” None of her children had acted out since seeing that one rebellious group annihilate itself in an attempt to take power from her. They’d thought they could join forces. All they’d done was burn up in their combined fire.

Only the Architect was immune from those flames.

She could snuff them out at any time.

Let the so-called Ruling Coalition play their little games. She would watch, she would learn, and she would strike at the moment when they were the most vulnerable. Soon, she would be the one who reigned, the one who made the decisions, the one who determined who lived and who died.

Chapter 42

 

Two hours to occlusion.

—Substrate timer set by Canto Mercant

CANTO STROLLED WITH Payal through the fog-bound trees in the pale light of dawn. He’d switched to the outdoor chair he preferred for uneven terrain, and she’d put on sneakers. Soon she’d leave him, get ready to do her part from Delhi.

“Look, Canto.” Voice full of wonder, she pointed to the dark form of a bear passing in the distance, the fog blurring its outline into a mirage.

He scowled and yelled, “Stop being so goddamn nosy, you furry asshole!”

Payal stared at him—while the bear turned around and bared its teeth in what he knew full well was a bearish grin, before the big creature lumbered off into the trees. Another bear padded along in the other one’s wake—but first he rose up onto his hindquarters and waved.

“Changelings, I presume?” Payal murmured.

“Ignore them.” He glared in the general direction of where the bears had disappeared. “They know you’re with me and they can’t help but poke their noses in—damn bears want to know all my business.”

Payal held out a hand, and when he took it, she said, “Are they your friends?”

“Worse. Family.”

“It’s true, then? I heard rumors the bears had claimed the entire Mercant clan as family after your cousin’s mating with their alpha.”

“The bears like to hold on to their people.”

A bright, stunning burst of laughter from her that owned him. Just owned him.

“What?”

“Just like Mercants.”

He made a face at her. “Don’t be rude.”

Solemn lines carving away the laughter. “To have such a family: it’s a gift.”

He squeezed her hand. “They’re yours now, too. I was going to tell you post-occlusion, but Grandmother and Mother have both requested your presence at dinner next week—to be held at Grandmother’s private residence, the Sea House.”

The minutest flaring at the corners of Payal’s eyes. “I can handle meeting your mother,” she said, her voice firm. “I can. I survived Ena, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you can. She’ll love you.” Magdalene would see what Ena already had—that Payal’s hard outer shell protected a heart capable of fierce loyalty and raw devotion.

A bear lumbered out of the misty woods, its eyes bright with interest. Canto’s glare had no effect.

Of course it didn’t. This was Pavel’s twin, Yakov.

It had taken Canto a while to learn bear markings, but he could now identify the bears with whom he interacted most. “I thought I told you to get lost.”

The bear walked right up to a fascinated Payal and bent to butt her hand with its head. Sucking in a breath, she lifted that hand and petted the top of the bear’s head. Said bear gave Canto a smug look.

“I’ll shoot you in your big furry butt if you don’t stop smirking,” Canto threatened.

Payal gave him a dark look. “Be polite to your friends.”

Yakov gave her big brown eyes, with no hint of the glow that turned them yellowish-amber at night. If you didn’t know he was one of Valentin’s most dangerous people, you’d fall for the teddy bear act. Payal certainly did, petting him with gentle hands.

When Yakov ambled away at last, her face fell. A little jealous, Canto muttered, “You could just stroke me, you know.”

She gave him a long look. “Yes,” she said in that way she had, as when she’d worked through a mathematical problem. “I will.” A sudden smile and she was in his lap, kissing him stupid.

His heart was thunder by the time she was done.

“You’re my favorite,” she whispered. “No matter how many bears I pet.”

He squeezed her hips. “You’re not funny.” But she was—wickedly funny when she allowed her shields to drop. Only the thing was … he loved her in all her moods and facets. Whether it was the cool-eyed CEO, contained Payal Rao, or his wild 3K.

The light faded from her eyes moment by moment. “I have to go.”

“You take care of yourself, 3K. Or you’ll answer to me.”

A solemn look, a delicate touch … and he was holding on to nothing but air.

Time to occlusion: zero minutes.

In the Substrate, Canto relocated himself to the Delhi region.

Payal was the first to link herself to him, a burst of icy light in his veins.

Then Arran and Suriana. The other As saw what they’d done, copied their linking technique. The final link. The superanchor formed. And suddenly, Canto was heavier than he’d ever before been in his life. As if every cell of his body held a massive weight.

Pulling, pulling, pulling.

He was the core of the superanchor, wrenching minds toward him with inexorable force. They came, hundreds at once, sliding across the Net toward him without ever breaking their biofeedback link.

Hundreds turned into thousands.

Thousands turned into tens of thousands.

More. And more. And more. Minds upon minds held within his grasp so huge and powerful … but he could feel all the separate strands of the anchors who made him this nucleus.

The strongest thread of all was her.

His Payal.

Occlusion complete.

Now!

The other As disconnected from him at the same time.

Several of those minds were far too close to where Canto’s superanchor had been. If he hadn’t broken it off when he had, they’d have slammed into him. He didn’t think it would’ve impacted him—not with how huge he’d become—but it would’ve probably killed them.

Now he allowed his mind to return to his body, to his zone, while Payal and the other Delhi anchors absorbed all those new minds into their zones. There had to come a point where anchor zones would overload and break, but it wasn’t now.