Mist rushed out, filling the room, and suddenly all I could see was the shadow of the wall and the construct’s golden body. It swung again and I ducked past; two steps brought me out of its visual range and I felt the futures in which it killed me fray and scatter. The futures opened up again and I could see where I was going.

Caldera was against the other wall, struggling to rise. I caught a glimpse of her side through her torn clothes; blood, a dark gash, something peeking through. I threw her arm over my shoulder, heaving her up. “This way,” I whispered. “Quiet.”

Caldera resisted for a second, then let me guide her. “Where is it?” she muttered. She was still half dazed and her voice was loud in the mist.

There was the sound of creaking metal and the floor shook as the golem zeroed in on the noise. I switched direction, pulled a stumbling Caldera to one side; a massive golden shadow loomed up, appearing out of the fog and disappearing again. The lines of its future didn’t turn to intersect ours; it hadn’t detected us. I held my finger to my lips and this time Caldera stayed quiet.

We’d reached the stairs. The golem was no more than ten feet away but it couldn’t see us. Constructs aren’t sapient, and they’re very bad at dealing with unexpected situations. The golem had been sent into the house with a simple directive: kill us both. Now it couldn’t detect either of its primary targets, and following the voices hadn’t worked. It paused, waiting for input.

I led Caldera up the stairs. A future flashed up of a stair creaking under Caldera’s weight, and the golem hearing and lasering us through the wall; I caught Caldera’s shoulder, signalled for her to place her foot to one side. Blessedly, she didn’t argue. The mist thinned and vanished as we made it up into the hallway.

The light was still on in the room where the icecat had attacked, and I led Caldera into the other one. She was silent and favouring one side. “How bad are you?” I whispered.

“Managing,” Caldera muttered.

I looked sceptically at Caldera. She wasn’t trying to order me around. Bad sign. “I don’t think that golem can get up the stairs, so if you don’t mind, I’d kind of prefer to stay up here. You might be able to fight that thing, but I’d just as soon not go another round with it.”

Caldera didn’t answer for a second and I wondered if she’d spotted what I was doing, but she didn’t push it. “Leo?”

“Panicked and ran out the front door.” I hesitated. “The force mage was right there. No way he could have missed him.”

Caldera glared. “I told you to stay with him.”

I looked away, stung. I wanted to make excuses—I’d been tied up fighting the icecat, I’d gone back to help her—but on the facts, she was right. Guarding Leo had been my job.