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Arthur blinked. “I can’t just tell—”

“You have to, or this ship will be hit by German missiles, fired from under the water. Do not ask me how I know. I just know.”

Arthur puffed out his cheeks and let out a long sigh. I’ll make them listen. I’ll go now.”

“And find Mrs. LaFontaine. She and her unborn son are not safe. John Whitehall is a double agent. The real John Whitehall is dead. The man on this ship took his identification papers.”

Arthur let out a curse. “How—”

“Do not ask me how. I justknow. I may lack a soul, but perhaps that means my mind is keener? Bring Mrs. LaFontaine to sit with the children, and I will keep her safe until we find the right people.” Reginald slowly got to his feet. “Iwill deal with the false Mr. Whitehall.” The ocean had recently become home to so many bodies. It was time to give the Atlantic one more, one who deserved to join those who had suffered from the destruction of his cause.

The young man’s eyes glowed. “You are the best ever made, Reggie. A hero. You’re going to do great things.”

The golem licked his lips. They were drying out. He needed to stand on deck at some point and let the spray from the ocean and the wet breezes heal the cracks in his skin. “Once I do these great deeds, will the empty part of me fill up?”

“Ah.” Arthur licked his lips, too, even though he wasn’t made of clay. “I have heard that golems can attain complete free will.Humanity. Even a soul. But another must give their heart and soul to them first.”

“A sacrifice?” Reggie understood how people feared his kind, then. “No wonder you fear my kind turning against you.”

“No, no. Not a sacrifice.Love. The true love of another. When humans were made, we believe they were not destined to be alone. Adam had his Eve. The Torah teaches that a man and his wife become one. They are no more twain, but one flesh. You would need a bride, my friend. A bride who truly loves you as you are, and... I’m afraid that cannot happen with your kind. A golem is always a golem, and you do not have the souls of humans. Even if I were to make you a mate once we arrived in New York, she would never complete you.”

It was unspoken but obvious that ahumanwoman, a woman with a soul and love to share, would never love a golem. She would be flesh and blood, and he would be lifeless earth.

“So my life will always be empty?”

“No. Your life will always have purpose. But that little spot? I don’t know, Reggie. Maybe other things will fill it.”

Reginald thought of the smallest children who liked to nestle into his arms, poor things, so desperately sick with loss and longing for the families they’d had stolen from them before being smuggled to London, and now fleeing again. Something grew inside him when he comforted them. “Maybe, Arthur. Maybe.”

Chapter Two

July, 2024

Pine Ridge, New York

“Waterworks Plumbing!” My voice is guttural, almost inhuman.

It’s been over eighty years, but when I first come out of my deep, lifeless sleep, I’m still more beast than human, no matter how well my form holds the shape of a man.

Why did I pick up my phone? I have a cardinal rule—never answer a phone call before my eyes are focused. Plumbers do no one any good when they’re drunk or disoriented.

That’s right. Mighty Golem, the Living Earth, Most Sacred Servant of the Temple, Protector of Innocents, Defender of Lives... is a licensed and bonded plumber, serving Pine Ridge and Broome County.

If my vision had been less blurred, there’s an even chance I’d have just let it ring. The call was from Jakob Minegold, one of my oldest friends—and a man who is notoriously immaculate in his housekeeping and maintenance. I just did my annual inspection of his property last week. If he’s calling me, it’s to socialize.

I don’t want to be social these days.

I'm not heartless (well, no, technically Iam), but sometimes I stew. I sink into misery. I’m a monster, living in a community of monsters. It’s peaceful. Aside from taking a weekly shift on the Night Watch, I have no one and nothing to protect. The monsters around me have found love and friendship. Some do marry humans, but why shouldn’t they? They arelivingthings,made of flesh and blood, or at least spirit. They can relate to humans, even create families with them.

They’ve become whole. It’s a reminder that I’m still a thing that was made of magic and clay, a puzzle put together seamlessly, but still missing one piece.

I save people from frozen pipes and backed-up toilets. I think the men who risked their lives and souls to make me would be ashamed of what I’ve become... and I think I’m ashamed, too.

Minegold is the unofficial mayor of this paranormal-friendly town and the chief supernatural representative. Like me, he assumed his monstrous form during World War II, and for the same reason—to protect the innocent. After years of toil on the battlefields and behind the scenes, he’s content with peace, with playing family with his “adopted” children and now a grandchild.

“Reginald? Are you there?”

“What?” I rasp, shaken back to the present, struggling to leave my earthen sleep. It's been harder lately. Some days I don’t even wake up.