Marny (19 page)

“What is my type?” he countered. Marny
Fanalua wasn’t his problem anymore, and he was done talking about
her.

“Well now, that’s a good question. For a
while, I thought it was those tall, leggy girls with too much hair.
But now, I’m not sure.”

Neither was he—not that he’d admit it to his
little sister.

“You and Sula finish up and get to bed,” he
said.

“I’m ready for a couple days off,” Sula said,
giving the bar one last polish with her towel. “This has been a lot
of work.”

“Worth it, though.” Emmie shot her a grin.
“Plus, next week Nyx is giving us a raise.”

“I am?” He tried not to smile at her
audacity.

“Sure you are. We all know you started us
low. But now that the club is a big success, you can afford to pay
us what we’re worth. Plus, we’ve got experience.”

“I’m not sure two days counts—either in the
experience or the solvency department.”

“Pessimist.” Emmie rolled her eyes at him,
then beckoned to her friend. “C’mon, Sules, this tightwad can close
up by himself.”

He shook his head, but Emmie
was right—he
was
planning to give them a raise. Next month, though, not next
week. He finished locking up, then stood in the warehouse, studying
the forest.

It looked peaceful and serene, unchanging,
but it was almost time for him to go in-game and get some more
anchor points. The longest that one of his bubble worlds lasted had
been three days, so this one was due to dissolve tomorrow. Which
was fine, since the club would be closed until Tuesday evening.

He almost went to the hidden compartments and
took out the anchor points, but a yawn grabbed him, so big it made
his eyes water. Damn, he was tired. The forest would fade away soon
enough, and he was suddenly so weary he wanted to lie down right
there on the floor and sleep.

Luckily, his bedroom wasn’t far. He trudged
into the hall and opened the door, hearing Emmie and Sula giggling
in the guest room. Tomorrow they’d leave, and he could fire up his
sim system and grab some more leaves, or maybe change over to the
meadowscape instead of the forest.

But first, sleep.

Frantic banging on his door wrenched Nyx to
consciousness out of weird, silver-lit dreams.

“Nyx! Wake up!” It was Sula’s voice, shrill
with fear.

He rolled to his feet, alertness washing over
him like he’d been doused with cold water.

“Coming!” he called. He flicked on his light,
then swiftly pulled on his jeans and a T-shirt.

The alarms around the perimeter of the
warehouse hadn’t been tripped, or he’d hear the blare of sirens.
Maybe Emmie was sick? He yanked open his door.

Sula stood there, her eyes wide and scared,
her arms wrapped around her ribs.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Emmie’s gone,” she said. “At first, I
thought she was just pranking, but when she didn’t come out, I
tried to find her. And she wasn’t there at all.”

“Wasn’t where?” Ice clutched his chest.

“In the forest.”

Damn, damn, damn.
He was such an idiot.

Why hadn’t he removed the anchors? Why hadn’t
he listened to Marny?

Maybe it was all a mistake—a
misunderstanding. Maybe Sula had a bad dream and Emmie was in the
bathroom.

He strode down the hall, checking each room,
but there was no sign of his sister. The forest stood serene and
shining in the main warehouse.

“Emmie!” he cried, senses straining.

“She’s not there,” Sula said behind him,
sniffling loudly.

He wanted to dash into the trees—but first he
needed to know exactly what Sula had seen. Or thought she had seen.
Information first, then action. Forcing himself to breathe more
slowly, he turned to Emmie’s friend.

“Come into the kitchen,” he said, “and tell
me what happened.”

Pushing down the dread swamping his thoughts,
Nyx led Sula into the back. She perched on a chair, but he couldn’t
sit. He leaned against the counter and folded his arms, regarding
her.

“I woke when Emmie got up,” Sula said. “She
opened the bedroom door and there was this noise like bells
chiming. Something about it made me want to follow that sound. It
was coming from the club—from the forest.”

Nyx nodded, a sick feeling crawling through
his gut. He was supposed to protect his sister, not let her stumble
into danger.

“Then what?” he asked.

Sula’s brows drew together. “There was
something in the forest. Some kind of white creature, moving
through the trees. Emmie went in, and it went right up to her.”

Hell. Nyx clenched his hands into fists. He
should’ve paid attention to what Marny had been trying to tell him,
but he’d been so sure the enchanted forest was safe. Nothing could
come out of it.

Except something had.

“What did it look like?” He was half
expecting Sula to tell him a unicorn had come and stolen his
sister.

“It was a big white deer,” she said. “Big as
a horse, with antlers. It bent down, and she got on it and rode
away.”

“Why didn’t you follow her?” The words came
out harsher than he wanted, but this was his sister they were
talking about.

“I tried!” Sula gave him a wounded look. “Do
you honestly think I’d just stand there while my best friend was
kidnapped by some freaky animal that appeared from out of
nowhere?”

“Okay, sorry.” He held up his hands. “I know
you care about Emmie. So you went after her.”

“I ran right into the forest, but the white
deer was gone. I called and called her name, and kept running, but
I was just going around in circles. After a while I gave up and
came to get you.”

He only wished she’d done so sooner.

“Hey, don’t cry,” He handed her a paper
towel, though he felt like crying himself. Stronger than tears,
however, was anger—at himself, at the forest, at Marny, who had
tried to warn him. “I’m going to take another look in the
forest.”

“Don’t leave me alone,” Sula cried, jumping
up. “This place is tweaked.”

He didn’t try to deny it, or calm her down.
Instead, he lengthened his stride until he was almost running down
the hall.

The trees remained quiet. A breeze stirred
the leaves, but there was no flash of white between the pale
trunks, no glimmering stag carrying Emmie on its back.

Though he knew it was useless, Nyx plunged
into the woods, calling her name until he was hoarse. He caught
glimpses of Sula standing tensely just outside the boundary of the
forest, refusing to set foot on the velvety mosses. He couldn’t
blame her.

Forty-five minutes later, he had to admit
defeat. He’d been in and out of the trees a dozen times, and there
was no trace of Emmie.

“Now what?” Sula asked, her eyes red from
crying. “Call the police?”

“And tell them what? My sister disappeared
into a magical forest riding on the back of a white stag?” Nyx sank
down on one of the barstools and rubbed his forehead.

“As soon as it’s light, I want to go home,”
Sula said. “This place is way too freaky for me.”

“All right.” Good thing the club was closed
for the next two-plus days. Though he had no idea how to get his
sister back. He swallowed down the panic rising in his throat.

There was one person he could go to, who
might know what the hell was going on. Marny Fanalua. If only he’d
been smart enough to get her messager number—but he could sleuth it
out.

Two hours later, the sun was rising, his eyes
were gritty from too little rest and staring at the screen, and
Sula was asleep, curled up on top of his bed. He hadn’t found any
answers to where Emmie might have gone, other than some old Celtic
myths about the White Stag. They couldn’t possibly be true,
though—could they?

He also hadn’t been able to ferret out
Marny’s contact info, but he knew where to find her. Intertech.

Now that it was morning, he’d head for the
immense skyscraper and track her down. Failure wasn’t an
option.

Where was Emmie?
The question scraped him until he wanted to yell
with frustration—but that wasn’t going to help anything. Instead he
shook Sula awake, helped her gather her things, then called a cab
to take her home.

“Let me know as soon as you find Emmie,” Sula
said, her voice strained.

“I will. Until I do, try not to say
anything.” The last thing he needed was his parents freaking out
all over him, on top of everything. He could solve this. He had
to.

“Okay.” Sula nodded. “I know you’ll find
her.”

Her faith in him made him feel a little ill.
What if he couldn’t find his sister? But he kept his expression
confident. Sula was freaked enough without seeing him fraying at
the edges.

The cab carrying Sula pulled away from the
curb outside the warehouse, headlights dimming as the day dawned.
To the north, the tall Intertech building was outlined in
red-tinged light. He tried not to compare it to the color of
blood.

It was only the sunrise.

June 28

A
n
irritating buzzing noise woke Marny, coming from outside her room.
She blinked at her tablet, trying to wake up enough to figure out
what was going on. Six forty-five in the morning—way too early for
a Sunday. She’d planned to sleep in. Grimacing, she pulled the
extra pillow over her head and hoped that one of her roommates
would deal with the noise.

It stopped and she let out a sigh of relief,
only to toss the pillow aside a minute later when the buzzing
started up again.

“What?” she mumbled.

It didn’t sound like a fire alarm or anything
too urgent. Had Anjah set her clock to go off, and then forgotten
about it?

Marny pushed back the covers and got up. She
didn’t care if Anjah or Wil saw her in her garish tropical-print
nightgown. It would serve her roomies right for waking her up.

A quick check of Anjah’s room showed her
neatly made bed, and no alarm ringing. Either she was up way early,
or hadn’t yet come home. Marny shook her head, but it wasn’t up to
her to police her roommate’s behavior.

Wil was sound asleep, snoring with one arm
hanging off the bed. The buzz wasn’t coming from his room either,
but from the front of the apartment. From the intercom by the door,
to be exact.

She tapped the button. “Yes?”

“Front desk calling. Is Miss Fanalua
there?”

“Speaking. What is it?”

“There’s a Mr. Nyx Spenser here, insisting he
needs to see you immediately.”

Adrenaline jolted through her, waking her up
quicker than a strong cup of tea. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

If Nyx was there, after summarily throwing
her out of his club the night before, then something had gone very
wrong.

“Can’t I go up?” Nyx’s voice filtered through
the connection. “It’s important.”

“Sir, wait. You can’t access the elevators
without an escort. Mr. Spenser!”

“I’ll be right down,” Marny said into the
intercom. But not dressed like a Samoan grandma.

She hurried back to her room, pulled on jeans
and a T-shirt, and slipped her feet into a pair of sandals. A quick
detour to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She stared at her hair
in the mirror for a second, but it was pretty hopeless, so she just
smoothed it back with her hands.

At the front door, she pivoted and dashed
back to grab her badge. It wouldn’t do for both of them to be stuck
downstairs.

The elevator seemed slower than usual. She
watched the numbers count down, trying not to fidget with tension.
When it finally reached the lobby level, the door slid open to
reveal Nyx standing there, his mouth set in a tight line. A
security guard hovered behind him—not one of Mr. von Coburg’s pets,
she was relieved to see.