“When you are ready,” Thomas said, “simply snap to extinguish the final lantern. I bid you good night.”
“Night.”
Aran bent to unlace his black high-tops, and when he looked up again Thomas was gone. The crimson cloth hung down, a thin barrier between him and the rest of the tent.
Curious, he reached for his tablet and pressed the power button. Nothing. He tried again, but the screen stayed blank and dark. If tech didn’t function in the faerie realm, how was he going to figure out Feyland’s code?
For a second Aran’s lungs squeezed tight, panic thumping through him. What had he agreed to, and where the hell was he?
The soft plunk of guitar strings drifted from the main room of the tent, and slowly his breathing eased. Later. He’d figure it all out later. His head was spinning and sleep was gnawing at his ankles. Tomorrow things would make more sense.
He slid under the covers into a bed soft as thistledown, then snapped off the light. Overhead, the stars brightened. They formed patterns he had never seen, their light clear and remote, and worlds away from home.
Nine by Night: A Multi-Author Urban Fantasy Bundle of Kickass Heroines, Adventure, Magic
CHAPTER TEN
The VirtuMax tour bus swooshed down the road, the grav technology hovering it smoothly above the pavement. Spark stared out the window at the winter-bare trees, trying to ignore Roc and Cora, who sat near the front. Although she didn’t like riding in the back, it was better than having those two behind her.
“Yo.” Vonda leaned forward from the seat across the aisle and waved her hand in front of Spark’s face. “Wake up. We’ll be at the next venue in a couple minutes.”
“I’m here.” Spark rubbed her eyes.
She’d let herself forget how monotonous ground tours were. And, truthfully, she’d enjoyed staying in one place for a while, even if that place had been the backwater town of Crestview.
She glanced at the itinerary glowing on her tablet screen. “The game center demo. Why is this marked as a special event?”
“One more gamer is joining the tour,” Vonda said. “VirtuMax’s newest superkid.”
“Niteesh will be there?” It was the first thing that had made her smile all day.
At last year’s international simming tournament, a scrappy eleven-year-old orphan from the New Delhi slums had blasted through the competition and landed straight in the top-ten finalist ring. In addition to his gaming skills, his unfailing good cheer had endeared him to everyone. Well, almost everyone.
Her smile faded as she heard Cora’s shrill laughter drift back. The Terabins had given her a rough time, but she hadn’t been a kid. Niteesh Singh was streetwise, but he was small for his age. While Spark didn’t doubt he could fight dirty if needed, the Terabins had size and strength on their side.#p#分页标题#e#
Vonda caught the direction of her gaze.
“Don’t worry,” she said softly. “We’ll be keeping an eye out. Everyone on your team, even if they weren’t here at the time, knows about the… incident.”
“It won’t be enough. Those two are tricky—and dangerous. They don’t want any competition. And I mean that in a permanent way.”
Vonda shook her head. “There’s no proof they were trying to do lasting harm. It was a prank.”
“Right.”
A few people knew it had been more serious than that, but charges of attempted murder wouldn’t look pretty on VirtuMax’s corporate resume.
“It’s a temporary thing, Spark. You can deal until the Terabins split off for their own venues.”
“It’s not me I’m worried about.” Well, only a little. She was more concerned for Niteesh. “How long is temporary, in VirtuMax speak?”
Vonda looked at her tablet. “A couple weeks. Until the FullD launch promo winds up.”
“All right—but you and the guys better pay attention.”
“We will.” Vonda’s expression was serious. “All of VirtuMax’s gamers are important.”
Important, right. To the corporate bottom line.
“After this,” Spark said, “I’m going to visit my family.”
At least she knew they loved her, even though, since becoming VirtuMax’s sim star, her life had changed in ways they couldn’t understand. They tried—at least, her parents did, though they could only support her at a distance, seeing as how Mom did all the caretaking for Nana and Papa. Dad couldn’t leave his business, and Spark’s brother was off at university, doing his own thing. Her younger sister treated her with awe, until she forgot and went back to her usual annoying self.