The Shadow Matrix (89 page)

on the stone floor.

Lew Alton bent over his wife, and watched her give a familiar feline yawn. She

blinked a few times, and began to stretch her arms and legs sensuously, comfortably.

Dio opened her eyes and stared at him for a second, as if she did not know who he was.

Then her luminous smile appeared, and she reached for his hand. Lew's heart thudded

in his chest, and he could barely breathe for the joy that possessed him.

Lew closed his hand around hers, feeling the papery skin, and the blood pulsing

beneath it. She swallowed and made a little face, as if she tasted something unpleasant.

Then she whispered, her eyes round with wonder, "Oh, Lew! There was . . . such

music!"