Spark(58)

Niteesh cracked the door, then opened it all the way when he saw who it was.#p#分页标题#e#
“Sparky! Come in.”
She slipped inside and scanned his room, her stomach falling when she saw it was empty of a FullD system.
“No luck getting some extra sim time?” she asked.
“Vonda said we could sim tomorrow, since it’s an off-duty day. I guess everybody’s been asking to play more, so she’s planning to take over one of the hotel’s conference rooms and hook up a bunch of systems in the morning.”
“Oh. Great.”
That meant the only FullD systems around were locked in the VirtuMax trailer. Even if she could break in, she’d have to figure out a power source.
“Everything okay?” Niteesh peered at her, his dark eyes full of concern.
“Yeah. The concert was loud, and my wrist hurts.”
Both true. And even if part of her wanted to take Niteesh into her confidence, she couldn’t pull him into that kind of trouble.
“Then why are you here? Take some meds and get some sleep.”
“Yes, Dr. Singh. Whatever you say.”
Niteesh stuck his tongue out at her. “See you in the morning.”
She ruffled his black curls—a move calculated to annoy and distract him. “Don’t stay up too late, yourself.”
He batted her hand away and pointed to the door.
“Okay, I’m going.” Despite her bleak mood, Niteesh always managed to make her smile. “Night, you.”
She waited in the hallway until she heard the lock slide home. Then, instead of heading to her room, she went out the hotel’s back exit.
It was cold in the parking lot, the night illuminated by orange street lights. Spark shivered and looked up, but there was nothing unearthly in the sky—just city-lit clouds with streaks of darkness behind.
She circled the trailer housing the FullD systems, and yanked on the loading door’s handle a few times.
“Everything all right?”
Spark spun around, heartbeat banging in her throat. “Burt! You scared me.”
Her head of security frowned. “What’s going on, Miss Jaxley? You meeting someone?”
“No.” She gave him a weak smile. “I just... Well.”
There really was no explanation.
Burt waited a few moments, then nodded to the hotel. “Best we go inside. It’s late.”
It was—far too late. And clearly she wasn’t going to be able to get onto a sim system tonight. One of the other Feyguard would have to.
She hurried back to her room, said a terse good night to Burt, then powered on her messager. Her wrist zinged her with pain bolts every time she moved it. Gritting her teeth, she sat on her bed and sent messages to both Tam and Jennet.
One minute passed. Then five. Why couldn’t she reach them?
A strange shadow passed in front of her window. Hear pounding, she went and peeked through the curtains, but nothing was there. Nothing she could see, anyway.
Swallowing back the sting of fear, she tried Jennet and Tam again, then keyed in a third number. Roy Lassiter’s contact.
:Hi Roy, you awake?:
:Hey there, beautiful! Missing me?: He sent a wink icon.
She let out a sigh of relief. At least one of the Feyguard was reachable. She really hadn’t wanted to call Jennet’s dad in the middle of the night, though she would have if nobody else had answered.
:There’s a problem with Feyland,: she sent, :and I don’t have FullD access right now. The barrier between our world and the realm has been breached. Could you go in and check it out?:
:Whoa.:
Roy went silent for a long moment. She could almost hear him mentally switching gears.
:Okay,: he sent, :I’ll head in-game now. Stand by.:
:Be careful.:
:Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.:
Spark chewed her thumbnail and tried not to imagine everything that could go wrong. So much already had.
Somehow, in that one demo session, Aran had been marked by the Dark Queen. Spark didn’t know how he’d gotten back into Feyland, or what kind of promises the queen made him, but it was clear he’d done the worst thing imaginable. He’d reopened the gateway—the one she and the rest of the beta team had worked so hard to keep closed.
How had he done it? And why?
Dammit, she needed to get into Feyland and track him down. This time she’d knock him over the head and drag him back to the mortal world if he didn’t come of his own free will.
Despite the anxiety pulsing through her, Spark yawned. It was getting late, and the pain meds were making her sleepy. She made herself stand up and walk. Keep the blood moving.
After what felt like years, her messager pinged.
:Bad news,: Roy sent. :You’re right—the gate to the Dark Realm is wide open. It’s the first thing you see after logging on.:
:You couldn’t close it?: Worry squeezed her lungs.