“Hey,” he said, “you’d complain too, if your leg had just been used as a chew toy by some demon dog. How come, when things get rough in-game, we can’t just hit the exit button?”
“There isn’t one.” She frowned. “It’s one of the things the designers are working on. We could ‘escape’ out, but that re-sets the whole game. We’d be back at Fynnod’s cottage again.”
“It might be better than being run to ground by the Wild Hunt. Although - that spell you used on them was pretty effective. What was it?”
“A light flash with a sonic blast. Too high for us to hear, but I thought it would get to the animals.”
“Nice choice - I never would have thought of something like that.”
She smiled a little, then rummaged in the emergency kit. “I don’t think you’ll need stitches. Just a little plas-skin to get you through.”
She lifted the can and sprayed, the contents sealing and soothing the bite. Welcome numbness spread through his leg, and Tam let out a low sigh. Jennet laid a bandage over his wounds and tucked the can of plas-skin away. When she looked at him again, her expression was serious.
“So, are you convinced now?” she asked. “Feyland is dangerous.”
“Yeah - it’s dangerous. To you, to me, maybe even the whole world, if what Thomas said is true.”
He glanced down at the bandaged bite. There was no fooling himself that he’d somehow gotten hurt on the way home - not like last time.
“I’m sorry, Tam. I never meant for you to get hurt. I was just so afraid, and I couldn’t get back in alone…” She pressed her lips together and looked away from him.
“I don’t blame you, Jennet. But this isn’t just your fight any more. What if the creatures in Feyland got through? We can’t let that happen.”
For a moment he flashed on a horrible image of the Wild Hunt riding through the streets of the Exe. His little brother, his mom, chased down and savaged by hounds with glowing eyes.
“I… I never wanted to put you in danger, too,” she said, her voice low.
She looked so miserable that he reached out and took her hand. It felt different than when he touched her in-game. The contact with her slim fingers jolted through him, but he didn’t pull away.
“Hey,” he said. “Sometimes we don’t really have as much control over things as we think. We’re in this together now. Ok?”
“All right.” She squeezed his fingers and an odd, breathless silence fell between them.
Tam cleared his throat. “I think I can stand now.”
Still holding his hand, she slowly drew him up. Their faces were close - so close he could feel her breath against his cheek. His heart raced, as if they were running from the Wild Hunt again. Her lips looked really soft.
“Miss Jennet.” HANA’s metallic voice sounded through the room.
Jennet jumped back and dropped Tam’s hand. “Um, yes?”
“Would you like to have the car summoned?”
“Sure, go ahead and call George.” Jennet gave him a weak smile and moved toward the hallway. “Guess it’s time for you to go.”
“Yeah, I should get home.”
Home, where his mom was slowly pulling herself together. He didn’t kid himself that she was better, but every day that she was around and functioning was worth remembering. He stuck his hands in his pockets and followed Jennet down the stairs. At least his leg felt good enough to walk on.
“See you tomorrow,” she said when they got to the door. Her gaze met his and held, her blue eyes clear and full of honesty. “And Tam… thank you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
That night, the Dark Queen haunted Tam’s dreams. Her midnight hair brushed his face while she whispered promises in his ear. She smelled of stars and roses.
Tam woke in the darkness, the scent of her still caught in his mouth. He lay awake, the silence broken by his brother’s soft snores, and tried to catch hold of the bits of dream floating in his mind. It was no use. He couldn’t remember her clearly enough. The only thing left was her laugh, sparkling like moonlight on frost.
When he woke again, sunlight was trickling into the room. His alarm buzzed beside him like an angry bee.
“Get up,” the Bug said from the couch, then yanked his own pillow over his head.
“You, too.” Tam sat up and pushed out of his sleeping bag. He smelled coffee. Mom must be up already - and cheerful as only her medication could make her.
“Good morning to the best boys in the world,” she said, coming in from the kitchen.
She handed Tam a mug of strong, milky coffee. Her hands shook, but Tam ignored the trembling and took a sip.
“Thanks - it’s delicious.” It didn’t matter that both the coffee and the milk were made from powder. Coming from her, it was the best thing in the world.
“Mmf,” his brother said.
“Hot chocolate for you.” There was a teasing note in Mom’s voice. She was so much better than he was at getting the Bug up and ready for school. When she was around.
When she wasn’t, Tam always ended up yanking the covers off his little brother and resorting to threats. He didn’t like it any better than the Bug, but nothing else seemed to work.
“Will you be home after school today, or are you seeing your friend again?” she asked.
“Uh.” He shifted and took a minute to find a shirt that wasn’t too dirty from the pile next to his bedroll. “Do you need me to come back right away?”
“Oh, honey.” She gave him a smile that lit her eyes. “I don’t mind either way. Peter and I keep good company. When he’s awake that is.” She cleared her throat, and his little brother suddenly sat up and started pulling on his clothes.
“Maybe I’ll go over to Jennet’s house again. If that’s ok.”
His mom spread jelly on a piece of bread for the Bug’s breakfast. “Jennet. So that’s her name. Do you still spend time with Marny, too?”
“Yeah. Though it’s been a while.” He hoped she wasn’t too pissed about it.
“I’m glad you have friends, Tam. Have fun this afternoon.”
Fun, yeah. Hopefully that wouldn’t include more in-game mangling. “I’ll be back in time for dinner.”
“That would be nice. I’ll make your favorite potatoes. And if your friend Jennet wants to come, she’s welcome. I’d like to meet her.”
Tam stared at the floor. Guess Mom didn’t remember opening the door for Jennet, or the wrist-chip that was so out of place here in the Exe. Didn’t remember the patina of wealth that lay over Jennet, making their place look dingy and derelict in comparison.
He sighed. “Ok Mom, thanks for the offer. I’d better get going.”
“Bye, honey.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek as he went out the door.
It was painful, her affection - it made the emptiness when she was gone even worse.
# # #
“So what’s up with your system?” Marny asked Tam at lunch.
“Spread out all over the floor, that’s what. The Bug’s working on it though.” The kid was even making some progress, though it was going to be a long time before his rig was playable. If ever. He took a bite of mushy noodles.
“You going to Zeg’s to play, then?”
“No.” He finished chewing. “I’ve been simming at Jennet’s.”
“Ah.” There was a world of understanding in the big girl’s voice.
He didn’t have to say that his mom was back, or defend his actions. No explanations necessary.
Marny glanced past him. “Speaking of Miss Fancy-pants…”
“You calling my name?” Jennet asked, setting her tray beside Tam’s.
She sat down and flashed a quick smile across the table at Marny. Then she looked at Tam and her smile tilted a little, unsure.
Marny pointed her fork at them. “You guys simming this afternoon?”
“Yes,” Tam said, at the same moment that Jennet said, “No.”
The other girl raised an eyebrow. “That kind of mutu
al understanding is really inspiring, you know. Keep it up.”
Tam sent Marny a warning glance, but she just looked at him, like she was trying not to grin.
Jennet touched his arm. “How’s your leg feeling?”
Her eyes were troubled, and he knew she was trying to remind him of how dangerous Feyland was. But it wasn’t her choice. Not only did she need his help, things would get severe for everyone if the Dark Realm opened a gateway between the worlds.
“My leg is great.” He swiped his hair away from his eyes, so that Jennet could see how serious he was. “What are you doing for Halloween? Got plans?”
She stilled and her blue eyes widened. Yep - direct hit. He didn’t think he’d hear any more argument from her about how he shouldn’t play.
Marny was looking back and forth between the two of them. “Planning a party or something?”
She clearly could tell they were talking in layers here, but there was no way for her to guess how very deep they were.
“Something,” Tam said. “We’ll let you know.”
Too bad Marny wasn’t a simmer. She was smart and level-headed - two things that would be assets if she ever set foot in Feyland. But that wasn’t going to happen.
She gave a quick nod, her black hair swinging above her shoulders. “Alright.” Her gaze moved to Jennet. “Whatever’s going on, watch out for each other.”
“We will.” Jennet’s voice was steady, though he knew she was worried.
He’d be worried, too, if he were marked as a human sacrifice.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Jennet tried not to glance at Tam too often during the drive to her house after school. Something had changed between them. Or at least, she thought it had. Yesterday, after escaping the Hunt, after Tam finally and truly believed her, she had felt so close to him. She had even wanted to kiss him…
Heat crept into her cheeks and she made herself look out the window so he wouldn’t notice. It was just a crush. And no wonder - he was her knight in shining armor. In a virtual sense, anyway. Plus, they were good together. Solid partners in-game. Getting to be friends, out.
She wasn’t getting the same interested vibe from Tam now, though - not like she had yesterday. Which was good. Really it was. Boy-girl stuff would just make things too complicated.
Maybe later, after they had defeated the queen and figured out how to deal with Feyland, she could go thinking about kisses. But right now it was dumb of her to be so aware of Tam sitting quietly beside her in the back seat. Dumb to notice how his leg touched hers when the grav-car took a corner. Dumb to imagine brushing the hair out of his face and getting a good, long look into those guarded green eyes.
“So,” Tam said. She felt him turn to look at her. “What now?”
She hoped her blush had faded. “We finish the game.”
“No. We win the game.”
“Ideally, yes.” She glanced at the front seat, to where George was piloting the grav-car, then raised her eyebrows at Tam in warning. Better they not say too much where he could overhear.
Tam nodded. “So. How’d you do on that surprise quiz in history today?”
They talked about school for the rest of the ride. It wasn’t until they were in the gaming room, with the jammer on, that Jennet felt secure.
“We have the rest of the month to get to Court and defeat the queen,” she said. “It’s going to take three, maybe four game sessions. Provided we succeed at each level, and don’t get in serious trouble.” Like running into the Wild Hunt again.
“Two weeks.” Tam frowned and leaned against one of the gaming chairs. “That’s cutting it close, if what Thomas said is true.”
“And how ‘true’ was your gnawed-on leg, yesterday? Or have you forgotten that part?” Worry circled in her stomach.
“Ok.” He pushed his hair out of his eyes, only to have it fall back down again. “Obviously the game is interfacing with another world. One that can affect our reality, at least a little.”
“More than a little,” she said. “The day I came over to your place and met, um…” She didn’t want to mention his mom, and by the shuttered look on Tam’s face, neither did he. “Anyway, on the way there, two zombed-out guys tried to give me trouble.”
“Hell.” He fisted his hands. “Did you run?”
She tasted her remembered fear. “No, they had me boxed in. But - and this is the weird part - my mage staff appeared.”
“Your staff? As in, a long piece of wood with a crystal on the top?”
“I know. I didn’t believe it either.”
“What did you do, whack them with it?”
“No. I blasted them.”
Tam had a way of drawing his eyebrows slightly together when he was thinking hard. She could just see it behind the scrim of his hair. Abruptly, he straightened. Concentration clear in every line of his body, he held out one hand, fingers curved.
“Are you - ?”
“Shh,” he said, his hand still extended. After another few, silent, moments, he shook his head. “No luck.”
“You were trying to summon your sword?”
“Yeah. Maybe it only works if there’s great need.”
“However it happened, it saved me. I knocked one guy out, and the other one took off. Maybe, like Thomas said, the boundaries between the worlds get thinner around this time of year.”
He let out a low breath. “I’m still trying to get how Thomas - or his spirit, whatever - could be inside the game.”
“He’s not in the game. He’s in the Realm of Faerie, but can interact with us through the game. You read that book I lent you. Faeries are great at enticing humans into their world. And their realm is every bit as real as ours.”
Tam got that thinking look again. “So, Feyland is just an anteroom between our world and the Dark Realm of Faerie?”
“You have to admit, it makes a weird kind of sense.”
He nodded. “Then, after we save you, how do we make sure the door on our side stays locked?”
It was an excellent question.
“Maybe Thomas will have some ideas,” she said. “Because I sure don’t.”
“We’ll figure something out.” He slid into the sim chair. “Come on. We have a game to win.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Tam felt himself relax as the game’s golden light surrounded him. The moment of disorientation he felt when entering Feyland made sense now. It wasn’t some trick of the visuals. It was an actual transition from the real world to - what had Thomas called it? A between place.
This time, they arrived in a ring full of twilight shadows, with not even a hint of sunlight. That was good, right? Jennet had said the darker the level, the closer they were to the court. The thought sent a shiver through him. A dream-fragment caught in his memory; the satiny texture of the Dark Queen’s hair, her midnight voice whispering forgotten promises.
“Tam? Are you coming?”
He gave himself a mental shake and looked up. Jennet had already stepped out of the mushroom ring and was watching him, her head tilted. The crystal on the end of her staff shed a bluish glow, illuminating the pale forest around them.
“You brought a flashlight,” he said. It was a weak joke, but she smiled anyway.
“No following wisps this time, ok?”
“I expect you to poke me with that if I do.” He nodded to the staff. “Lead on.”
The pale trees grew farther apart here, interspersed with clearings full of silvery grasses. They hadn’t walked for long when Tam became aware of a sound - a humming buzz coming from up ahead. Jennet halted.
“Do you hear that?” Her voice was hushed.
“Trouble?”
“I… I don’t know. I’ve never seen this place before. Everything in the game is changing.”
He set one hand on the hilt of his sword. When she started walking again, he was at her shoulder. If something jumped out at them, he could get between her and it in a heartbeat.
Nothing sinister happened,
though. Just the noise getting louder until they reached a larger clearing, illuminated by a lantern set on a post. On the far side was a tumble-down hut, and just outside the door sat a bent old woman. The sound they had heard was coming from her spinning wheel.
“Come closer!” the spinner called, not pausing in her work.
The wheel in front of her turned at a furious pace as her foot worked the pedal. She had a handful of something that looked like cloud, which she was feeding into the wheel. Luminous white thread came out the other side.
“Greetings, goodwife,” Jennet said.
The old woman looked at them then, her eyes deep-set and piercing. She nodded her lace-capped head and let the wheel slow.
“Fair Jennet. And bold Tamlin.”
“Greetings.” Tam made a bow, and then glanced at Jennet, waiting to follow her lead. Was this a threat, or just a diversion? It was impossible to tell if this was originally part of the game, or if it was all Faerie, or a combination of both.
The old woman let out a cackle. “Which of you will help me spin, thus further in the world to win?”
“I will.” He took a step forward. It seemed that the old woman was their next quest-giver.
“Tam, no.” Jennet caught hold of his arm. “It’s too dangerous.”
“All the more reason for me to do it.”
A half-remembered bit of story snagged at his brain. Something about pricking a finger and falling into a deep sleep… Well, if he did, Jennet would just have to blast the old spinner by herself.
“We’ll do it together,” she said. There was a stubborn set to her jaw that said she wasn’t backing down.
“Heh!” the old woman said. “Four clever hands will lead you into faerie lands.” She stood and gestured to the wheel.
Tam perched on the stool and set one foot on the pedal. His booted foot looked cumbersome and strange beside the delicate wood. Hopefully he wouldn’t break the thing.
“Ok.” Jennet took up the downy stuff the old lady had laid aside. “Ready?”
He nodded and pushed down with his toes. The wheel began to spin. Jennet eased bits of the fluff forward between her hands, a look of concentration on her face. The thread they made wasn’t smooth, but lumpy and awkward-looking. As it wound onto the wheel, it was obvious where the old lady’s spinning had stopped, and theirs began.