Stiles rose from her seat, carrying Evie and carefully placing her beside Dakota. Dakota brushed a strand of hair from Evies face, thinking: This is the nearest Ill ever get to having a daughter of my own. And since she and Gabrielle had identical DNA, in a sense Evie was her daughter or the daughter she might have had, if ever she had lived a normal life.

Bash got up from his chair and came to sit on Evies other side, giving her a hand-sized star prism. She took it, smiling hesitantly.

Here. Bash reached down and took hold of it again. You have to shake it, like this.

It started to glow, and Evie gave a tiny cry of delight.

<Dakota?> sent Bash. <I know youre going to find this hard to believe, but this little girl is reading me.>

<I think I can feel it too,> Dakota replied, staring at the child in astonishment. Somehow, incredible as it seemed, Evie was probing the edges of the machine-part of her consciousness something that should be impossible for anyone lacking implants. <But look at her. Theres no way in hell Evie could have machine-head circuitry in her skull, could she?>

She glanced at Stiles, who clearly sensed something was up.

<No,> sent Bash, after stroking the top of Evies head, which was entirely free of the bumps and crenellations that usually indicated the presence of implants. <This is something else entirely. Look . . . the Ship of the Covenant tweaked the DNA of the original Speaker-Elect, right? And all of you are her clones?>

<What are you thinking?>

<That maybe the Ship of the Covenant did a lot more than just tweak your DNA. Maybe it did something else that would make any children you produced different as well.>

Youre not really human, are you? she thought with a chill, staring down at Evie with new eyes. Part of you is, but the rest is all Magi.

Evie clearly wasnt a machine-head, but neither was she a normal human girl. She was something new; something Dakota didnt even think there was a word for.

But she was still flesh and blood. She was still Gabrielles daughter.

Dakota had a fleeting mental image of brightly coloured, fuzzy shapes that moved and twisted in new and enticing ways. A kaleidoscope of feelings and sensations accompanied this image, and she sensed fear and excitement and wonder and curiosity all mixed together. Most importantly, it was coming from Evie.

Here, she said, lifting Evie up and handing her back to a puzzled-looking Stiles.

The older woman cleared her throat, after she had settled Evie back on to the couch beside her. If you dont mind my asking, just what are your plans?

Speaking for myself, said Dakota, Im only visiting here briefly. Then Im moving on.

Stiles nodded with a sigh. Ive grown . . . rather attached to Evie, she said quietly. But I guess thats obvious.