Spark’s breath came in quick bursts, and she set down the heavy stand. The fingers of her left hand were numb, and she hoped she hadn’t damaged herself beyond repair.
The huntsman gestured, and this time the riders of the hunt galloped across the air. Instead of targeting the stage, they began to fan out over the audience, pale hands outstretched. Fear spiked through her. They were looking for humans to harvest and take back into the realm. There was no way she could stop them, not by herself.#p#分页标题#e#
“No!” Spark yelled. “Elder Fey, help!”
A thunderclap shook the dome, and the Wild Hunt halted, some mere inches from their intended victims. From the darkness at the roof of the stadium, a dim form took shape. Winged and ancient, outlined in eerie purple light, the creature spoke.
*Cease,* it said—though it was more like a voice sounding through her bones than any word said aloud.
“Our prey,” the huntsman said, his voice the shadows of deep night.
*No. Begone.* The Elder Fey clapped its wings together, sending a blast of wind screaming through the stadium.
Spark closed her eyes against that fierce gust. When she opened them again, the Wild Hunt was gone—the last hound leaping through the portal. The glowing ball of light shrank to a pinpoint, then winked out.
The audience went mad—jumping to their feet and shouting until the stage vibrated. Beneath that surge of sound, the creature spoke to Spark.
*The way between this word and the realm is open, Feyguard. You must close it.* As suddenly as it had appeared, the Elder Fey was gone.
Somebody at the light board was quick-witted enough to bring up the flashing stage lights. Bella’s drummer laid down a beat, and her rhythm guitar player started strumming along.
“Nice show,” the singer said to Spark. “VirtuMax has some prime special effects.”
“Yeah.” Spark hung on to the mic stand, suddenly dizzy.
“Thanks for coming,” Bella said, then flicked her mic back on. “Let’s give Spark and the whole VirtuMax crew a Bella Boingo wave!”
The singer lifted her arms high overhead, then brought them down. Most of the stadium followed her action, the glow sticks and illuminated messagers flashing in a river of light.
Spark waved goodbye, careful not to move her left arm. Keeping her head high, she strode off the stage as Bella segued into the next song on her set list.
For all everyone knew, VirtuMax had just put on an incredible holographic show. Spark swayed, lightheaded and sick. She had to get that gateway closed.
“You did what?” Thomas shouted—actually shouted—and jumped up from the table, spilling his cup of tea.
Aran took a step back toward the tent door.
“I reverse-hacked the wall between the realm and the human world. Just like the queen asked me to. Now, will you come with me or should I go talk to her by myself?”
Even though he’d been successful, the Dark Queen scared Aran. He’d rather have someone else along when he went to demand his reward. Although Thomas wasn’t exactly being supportive.
The bard’s eyes flashed with anger and he clenched his fingers into fists, then uncurled them, over and over.
“You stupid, stupid boy. The mortal world is completely unprepared for the havoc the fey folk will wreak. Oh, had I but known—”
“What, you would have disobeyed your ruler? I doubt it. Look, the queen said that without access to humans, the realm would die. I couldn’t let that happen.”
Aran tried to ignore the sick clench in his gut at Thomas’s reaction.
“Did you not see the crack in the wall?” Thomas set a fist to his forehead. “I should have spoken sooner, but I never dreamed you would succeed in such folly—or that Spark would fail to remove you from the realm. There is still time to undo the damage. Repair the break, BlackWing.”
“It can’t be that bad.”
He couldn’t close the gateway back up. For one thing, he needed the money and had won it fairly, and for the other, he didn’t want to contemplate what the queen would do to him if he backtracked and denied her.
“You must close it.” Thomas’s voice was strained. “The queen and her court are dangerous. If allowed to enter the mortal realm unchecked, they will cause utter mayhem.”
“According to you, they already have access. And there’s a police force at the ready, right? The Feyguard can handle it. Now, I’m going to collect my reward, before the queen changes her mind.”
He was beyond ready to get out of the Dark Realm and its treacherous loyalties.
On the way out, he grabbed his black cloak from its peg beside the door. He wasn’t changing into court finery, but it wouldn’t hurt to wear the cloak over his jeans and T-shirt. Plus it had a wide inner pocket big enough to carry his tablet.