Had to be that guy. “So I just dunk him?”
Beside her, Rook exhaled. “Lightly.”
Heart hammering, she mentally reached out—the smudged person came alert, stood—but before he could do anything, she pushed.
He collapsed backward, sucked out of sight. Fell out of the waking world.
Rook was already pulling into traffic, but once down the one-way street, he turned up the next block, doubling back to head away from her apartment building.
“Good job, sweetheart.”
She’d been trying to take today’s rapid shifts in stride. It was getting more difficult.
“Sorry we won’t be able to pick up your things,” Rook said. “But don’t worry. I’ve got you covered.”
Oh, so he was going to take her shopping?
“You have your pick of my T-shirts to sleep in.”
No such luck.
***
“Not even Coll knows where I live,” Rook told her as he unlocked the door with its peeling paint in the old factory. Worn, narrow stairs led up to the second floor.
Following him, she moved more slowly, pale, eyes wide, taking in where he lived. He knew he had beer in the fridge, but she looked like she could use a glass of orange juice or something. Low blood sugar.
“It’s not much.” He unlocked the door at the top of the stairs. “But it’s safe. No one will come here.”
His place made up the entire second floor. It was utilitarian at best, with airy, high ceilings, but zero renovation to make it cool or comfortable. He had basic furniture in scarred black leather. A good bed, though he fell asleep just as often in his desk chair.
It was only now, though, that he noticed the dust bunnies cartwheeling across the floor from the draft from the door. “I’m planning to fix it up.”
She was gingerly stepping over his free weights. “You work out a lot?”
“Things like strength, fitness, and general health transfer into Rêve if they’re true in real life. Most Chimera stay in decent shape so that they aren’t tempted to spend energy and concentration trying to look strong.”
“All the Rêve ads say you can be anything you want.” She was looking around, taking in the stained walls, the exposed pipes where the kitchen sink was, and the cheap-ass folding table that served as his counter.
He didn’t know how to live differently. He’d saved all his money, invested it, but he still hadn’t figured out what to spend it on. He didn’t know how to do to his place what she’d done to hers.#p#分页标题#e#
“A weak person will still flinch,” he said. “A scared person will lose the fight. You can’t face a serial killer while worrying if you’re tough enough.”
She threw him a weak smile. “Does that mean I have to start working out?”
“I could help you,” he said. “If you wanted.”
“Not scared I’d drown you?”
“Jordan, I know my way around Darkside. I’ve been deeper than most. You don’t scare me.”
“I scare me. What am I going to do now? Where do I go?”
He almost offered to let her crash here, but it was too raw for someone pretty like her. It reminded him of how different they were. “Coll will have loads of options. You can live a normal life, just carefully. You’ll need a good security system.”
She cast her gaze around again. “FYI, this isn’t a normal life.”
“Don’t use me as an example.” His place was a decade short of the kind of warehouses he’d crashed in on the streets. In fact, this was exactly the kind of building he’d lived in after running away from home. Eleven years, and he was in the same spot: alone, living cold, using Rêve to get away from his life.
“Chimera will give you whatever you want to set yourself up.”
“So I’m starting over?”
“It won’t be like this, I promise. This is just me and my shit. You will have a good life. Good pay. Hours can be weird, but you get used to that.”
“I was in art school, you know, before I had to earn a real paycheck to provide for Maisie. Got a job as a receptionist, took business classes at night, worked my way up into marketing.”
See, there. “You could paint again.”
“I can’t go back to my apartment, right?”
“Not for a while.” He’d see what he could do to get her stuff.
She dropped her purse on his messy desk. “I think I’ll take over yours.”
“Huh?”
“Your apartment. I want it,” she said. “The light is perfect.”
He looked around at his empty shithole.
“You can stay, if you want. Or move,” she said, shrugging. “But if this is okay for a Chimera, then I’ll take it.”