And his body caved, the color of him sucking out of a single point, like a minute black hole, right in front of her. Spectacularly bad special effects.
Jordan was left gaping at nothing. She guessed that meant he’d been awakened as well, and eventually—when the party was over—she and her sister would be, too.
Not what they’d signed up for.
She turned on her sister. “What the hell?”
“God, it’s nothing.”
“I also heard you say you’re not going ‘back there.’ Where’s there?”
“Nowhere.”
“You’ll tell me.”
“It’s none of your business.”
Jordan put her hands to her hips and bowed her head to cool off. Deep breath. Count to ten. Call her bluff. “Someone attacked my sister. Of course I’m going to have to report it.”
Maze stood, eyes wide, shaking her head. “No, you don’t.”
“Then start talking. Like now.”
Her sister fumed for a moment, then held out her hands as if to say, Don’t freak.
Too late. “I’m waiting.”
“It’s my job. And it pays well.”
This was getting worse and worse. “What’s your job?”
“I deliver packages across Rêve.” She dropped her hands, now saying, There. Totally okay.
“You deliver—?” Seemed someone had already found another way to monetize Rêve beyond the fantasy dreams that were so popular. Of course they had.
Jordan was going to be sick.
“It’s totally cool,” Maze said. “I get to cross dreamspace. I’m in the middle of it all.”
“What do you deliver?”
“It’s not my business what I deliver. Does a bike messenger open his packages?”
“You’re a bike messenger?” In Rêve?
“I am a courier. I get unlimited access, whenever I want. They paid for me to come here, and you had to shell out, like, thousands, right? I play in Rêve every night.”
Uh-huh. Maze had lied about this being the first time. Faked her reaction upon entry. But that was a secondary concern. “Do you know what you’re transporting? And for whom?”
Baby sis’s back went straight, chin up. “It’s proprietary information.”
Yeah, ’kay. Her little sis had been suspended in the air, choking and unable to move. That kind of violence— “How do you know you’re not a mule?”
Maze took offense. “Are you calling me an ass?”
Good God. “I mean, how do you know you’re not carrying something illegal?”
Maze folded her arms and looked off into the trees, refusing to answer because she didn’t have one to give.
“Right. You’re sticking with me for the rest of the dream,” Jordan said. Vince Blackman would just have to be a good sport about it. That, or find someone else to kiss.
“This is a fucking nightmare,” Maze grumbled.
“You don’t say. Follow me.” They were going to the damn volcano, and her sister would be very lucky if Jordan didn’t throw her in.
Dark and Deadly: Eight Bad Boys of Paranormal Romance by Jennifer Ashley, Alyssa Day, Felicity Heaton, Erin Kellison, Laurie London, Erin Quinn, Bonnie Vanak and Caris Roane
CHAPTER 3
Coll looked up from his tablet. “Sisters?”
“Don’t thank me yet. The younger one, Maisie Louise Lane, is a Reveler already, and she’s in trouble. She let someone into the Envoi’s dream, and—” Rook waved a hand. “—I had to intervene.”
The Envoi had pulled him from the Rêve for helping her and had not been happy to learn they had been hosting a Chimera agent and not his cover, Michael Reese. They’d have pitched him into the drink if they hadn’t feared repercussions. Instead, he’d gotten a courtesy look at their guest list, thank you very much, and a silent ride back to shore.#p#分页标题#e#
“Yes, I’ve been in contact with them already,” Coll said dryly.
Rook didn’t feel sorry for him. “Big Sis, Jordan Elizabeth Lane, was a first timer, but she has a clear and palpable aptitude. I marked her, but my guess is that she was identified by at least one other as well.”
Coll sat back in his chair. “Did you get a sense of the person the younger one, Maisie, let into the Rêve?”
“I could track him, if that’s what you’re asking,” Rook answered. Tracking was what he was best at, following trails through other people’s dreams, sometimes so deeply he didn’t remember the way back to himself.
“Then I’ll concentrate on Jordan,” Coll said. “She should be fairly easy to take under.”