Rambaldi cleared his throat gruffly. “We’ve never seen them. I had never even heard of a Phantum.” He deliberately left the previous question unanswered, for he did not care to answer that for Sanshoku. But in Rambaldi’s own head, he could admit he liked the low pitch of the koi woman’s laugh. How her scales shined in the faintest trace of light; the grace with which she moved; how salty her smell. He wasn’t ever going to admit this to her, of course, but he figured there was no harm in privately identifying what he did like so he could get a handle on himself. Sadly, that seemed to have the opposite effect as his eyes could only seem to watch Sanshoku. They fixated on the fluidity of her movements, the way she smiled at him. Like she was a cat with a canary. A tiny feral kitten with a mouse.

“So tell me when you’re gonna let me in.”