Spark(59)

:Believe me, I tried, but there’s no obvious way. Force and spells don’t work.:
:Maybe it needs more than one person.: She wanted to scream with frustration.
:Have you tried any of the others?:
:Tam and Jennet aren’t answering.:
:I could make a bad joke here, but I’m refraining.: Roy sent.
:Good.:
: Look, I’ll get Zeg in-game with me. We’ll see what we can do.:
:Message me when you get out. I don’t care what time that is.:
:Will do. Sweet dreams.: Roy signed out.
She felt dizzy with exhaustion. Rubbing her eyes, she sat on the bed, just for a minute. She had to keep trying to reach the others. She had to figure out how to get Aran out. And she refused to think about what fey mischief could even now be creeping out into the world.
Spark shivered, wishing she could go back and change everything—starting with the day she’d met Aran.






 
    Nine by Night: A Multi-Author Urban Fantasy Bundle of Kickass Heroines, Adventure,   Magic
    
 


 

CHAPTER NINETEEN


Aran woke with a crick in his neck from sleeping awkwardly on the lumpy couch. Early morning light smudged the windows, and a strange feeling of contentment hummed through him. It took a minute to remember why.
Right—his treasure.
Smiling, he reached under the couch and fished around for the velvet bag. His smile faded as he pulled it out. It wasn’t heavy, like it should be, and it rustled instead of clinking. Throat dry, he sat up and opened the bag. No gold coins winked up at him. There was nothing inside except handfuls of dry brown leaves.
Leaves! What the hell? He pawed through, hoping that somehow the coins were still there, hidden at the bottom. But they weren’t.
Somebody had robbed him—snuck into the garage while he slept and stolen his gold. He sprang to his feet and checked the door. The deadbolt was still in place. Turning, he inspected the windows. Locked and intact.
Even though part of him insisted one of the Chowneys had done it, another part knew better. Who would painstakingly replace each coin with a dead leaf? Nobody. Nobody human, anyway.
Those damn faeries had stolen back his reward.
Aran paced the chilly cement floor. He couldn’t just storm into the Dark Court and demand his coins. The queen would laugh at him, and maybe trap him there for real this time. Unless he had a bargaining point.
Fine. He’d close the wall back up, and if they wanted it open again they’d have to pay in real money. The non-disappearing kind.
But to put that plan into action, he needed to get on a FullD system.
Aran ran one hand through his hair. First thing was to talk to Bix. He glanced out the windows at the pearly sky. It would be good to see the sun again.
Quietly, he slipped out of the garage and snuck over to Bix’s window. The pebble pile he’d made under the bushes was still there. Aran flicked one at his friend’s window. The stone hit the glass with a little tink. Two more pebbles, and then Bix appeared, shoving the curtains aside. He slid the window up.
“Aran—you’re back. Short trip, huh?”
“I’ll explain later. Listen, do you have your FullD yet?”
Bix scrubbed a hand over his sleepy face. “It won’t be delivered for another two days. Two days! That is so tweaked.”
Aran folded his arms against the cold. So much for that plan. He could try to break into a gaming store—but that was too risky.
“I’m freezing my ass off here,” Bix said. “See you in the garage in a few.”
He closed the window, and Aran snuck back to the garage, his brain spinning. How could he get access to a live FullD system?
Spark.
She would help him; she had to. And if he remembered right, her tour brought her back near the city. He grabbed his tablet and found the site showing her itinerary. The VirtuMax tour was due to hit Readle, which was only a hundred miles away. What day was it, anyway? He scrolled up to check the date, then let the air out from between his teeth in a frustrated hiss. The tour wouldn’t be in Readle until tomorrow.
The itinerary glowed up at him and Aran read it again, not skimming it this time. Last night Spark had made an appearance at Bella Boingo’s concert in Landover.
He tapped his fingers on the screen, thinking. The concert hadn’t started until nine. The VirtuMax tour had probably stayed the night there—and might even spend the day. He had to get to Landover. Ninety miles, in the opposite direction from Readle. If he was wrong, there wouldn’t be time to backtrack.
Although… He brought up the lists of the top hotels in Landover. If he could reverse-hack a magic portal, cracking a hotel’s guest list would be no problem.#p#分页标题#e#
The garage door opened, letting in a cold blast of air, and Aran set his tablet aside.