Marny (20 page)

“He’s okay,” she said, waving her badge at
the guard. “Guests are permitted, right?”

“Usually you need to notify the front desk in
advance,” the security guy said.

Nyx gave her an imploring look. She could
tell he was doing everything possible to contain the tension coiled
through his body. His fingers were curled into fists and he
balanced lightly on the balls of his feet, as if he were about to
explode into action. He looked like a fighter—which she supposed he
was, with his black belt in judo or whatever.

“Next time, I’ll do that,” she said. “Can he
come up now?”

“All right,” the guard said. “But follow
protocol in the future.”

“I will. Thank you.”

Nyx practically bolted into the elevator.
Marny kept a pleasant expression on her face for security’s
benefit, but the second the door closed, she turned to Nyx.

“I can tell it’s not good,” she said, then
glanced at the camera mounted in the upper corner of the elevator.
“But hang on just a minute.”

Nyx gave her a terse nod and stared at the
glowing readout as the numbers flashed by. He stayed silent as she
led him down the hall to her apartment, his footsteps quiet and
deadly, like a lion on the prowl.

“Is it safe to talk?” he asked softly as the
apartment door slid closed behind them.

“Maybe. I’ll put the water on to boil, and
then you tell me what’s going on.”

The sound of the electric kettle wouldn’t
completely mask their conversation, but it might discourage any
casual listener manning the security boards.

Nyx followed her into the kitchen, and as
soon as the hiss and gurgle of heating water filled the space, he
spoke.

“My sister’s missing. And I owe you a huge
apology.” He glanced down at his hands, then back at her. The edge
of panic lurked in his eyes. “I should have listened when you told
me the forest was dangerous.”

She bit her tongue.
I told you so
wouldn’t
help anything, and Nyx was clearly paying a high price for not
heeding her warnings.

“Your sister—the blonde-haired girl at the
juice bar?”

“Yeah. According to her friend, a creature
came out of the woods and carried Emmie away.”

“Crap. What kind of creature?” This was
severely bad. If the Dark Court was involved—well, Nyx’s sister
might be next in line for blood sacrifice.

“A white deer. I did some research, and in
Celtic mythology, the White Stag is some kind of messenger between
the worlds or something.”

“Okay. That makes sense.”

“How?” He reached out and grabbed her arm.
“How does any of this make sense? Tell me what you know.
Please.”

She gently pulled away and took a breath.
Honesty time. Hopefully the sound of the bubbling electric kettle
would be enough interference. What she was about to reveal could
get all of her friends in trouble—plus put way too much power in
the hands of Intertech, if anyone overheard. Well, overheard and
believed her wild tales.

“The game of Feyland opens a gateway to the
Realm of Faerie,” she said, leaning forward and keeping her voice
low. “Not like happy-happy fairyland, but the place of the old
tales and ballads. Magical, and dangerous.”

He didn’t scoff at her, to his credit.
Instead he blinked a couple times, processing the information, then
focused back on her. “So how do I go to this Realm place and get my
sister back?”

“Yeah—that’s the question. Usually people go
in-game and then transition into the Realm. I think you’ve been
doing that without realizing it.” Or perhaps he’d known something
was off, but not understood the peril.

“So I can log in to Feyland, play the game,
and find my sister that way?”

“Maybe.” She frowned, thinking. “But your
sister didn’t get sucked in by playing a sim game. She went into
the Realm via the forest in your club.”

“Dammit.” He began to beat his fist softly
against the counter. “It was supposed to be safe.”

The kettle shut off with a loud ding, and the
sound of boiling water subsided to a quiet simmer.

“Dealing with the fey folk is never safe,”
Marny said. “We need to go to your club and figure it out from
there. Maybe the forest will let us through.”

She still had plenty of questions for him,
but this wasn’t the place.

“Right,” he said, some of the desolation
leaving his voice. “Come on.”

“Let me put on some real shoes and grab my
jacket. Give me a minute.”

It wasn’t quite cold enough to warrant her
coat, but she felt like she needed the extra layer of protection.
She didn’t mention her knife, but she took the time to grab it out
of her underwear drawer and strap the calf sheath on under her
jeans.

As she and Nyx stepped out of the apartment,
Marny caught sight of a black-garbed figure at the end of the
hallway. One of von Coburg’s guards. He stood with his hands
clasped behind his back, obviously staking out the elevator. She
hoped it wasn’t on account of her and Nyx, but the cold feeling in
her gut suggested otherwise. Nyx must have felt her tense up,
because he shot her a look.

“What is it?” he asked, leaning close. His
breath tickled her ear.

“Top-dog security,” she replied. “Your early
morning visit is a little… unusual. Made them suspicious.”

The proof that Intertech was watching her so
closely made the hairs on her arms prickle, but there was nothing
to do except brazen it out.

Nyx put his hand on the small of her back.
“Keep walking. And trust me.”

She made herself stride forward. Nyx kept
pace, still touching her. It should have felt annoying, but instead
the light pressure of his hand was oddly steadying.

A few paces from the elevator, the guard
straightened and gave them a fake-looking smile. “Good morning,
Miss Fanalua. A bit early to be having guests, don’t you
think?”

She didn’t bother replying, but kept heading
for the gleaming doors.

“Not so fast.” The guard moved directly in
front of them. “The boss wants to know what brings Onyx Spenser to
Intertech.”

Onyx, was it? She sent him a sidelong
glance.

Nyx wore an easy smile that made his face
look even more handsome. He slipped his hand around her waist and
snugged her up against him.

Half of her wanted to bolt out of his grasp,
but she went with it, guessing where he was going. And, though she
was reluctant to admit it, he felt good—all lean, hard muscle. He
smelled like coffee and salty skin, and she breathed shallowly,
trying not to inhale too deeply of his scent. Something inside her
flopped around like a fish at the end of a line, and she tried to
ignore the bright and flailing sensation.

“I had to come,” Nyx said. “I met this girl
at my club, and she ran off like Cinderella, so I tracked her down.
Lucky me, she agreed to come out for breakfast.”

He gave her a warm smile, and she glimpsed
the spark of mischief in his eyes. He was enjoying this! She almost
pulled out of his embrace, but they had to continue this little
charade until they got out of the building and away from the
surveillance cameras.

The guard narrowed his eyes. “She doesn’t
seem like your type.”

“And you seem like a judgmental ass,” she
said under her breath.

Nyx squeezed her in warning. “Sometimes, when
you meet the right girl, you just know.”

Way too sappy. She elbowed him a little, and
his smile widened.

“So,” Marny said to the guard. “Can we go get
our omelets and coffee now, or what?”

“There’s a great waffle place a few blocks
down.” Nyx lifted his hand and smoothed her hair back behind her
ear, like he really was falling for her.

She resisted the urge to bat his fingers
away. It was irritation she felt, not attraction. Right?

“Sounds good,” she said. “Do they have fresh
berries and whipped cream?”

Her stomach gave an embarrassing rumble,
which added to the veracity of their banter about breakfast.

The guard glared at them and made an annoyed
sound in the back of his throat.

“Fine,” he said at last,
stepping back toward the wall. “You two
lovebirds
enjoy your day.”

He gave the word a sarcastic slant, and Marny
pushed down her stab of annoyance. Was it really so unlikely that
someone like Nyx would find her attractive?

As they waited for the elevator, Nyx kept his
arm around her. The doors slid open, and she stepped inside first.
The warmth of his touch lingered, and she tried to forget how nice
it had felt. Instead, she crossed her arms and leaned against the
brushed metal surface of the wall.

“Hey.” He settled beside her and nudged her
shoulder with his own. “Don’t go all hedgehog on me.”

“Do I look blue to you?” She slanted him a
look, wondering if he’d pick up on the old game reference.

He laughed and leaned comfortably closer.
“Did you watch our Flail stream, that time we played Sonic and kept
drowning for a week straight? That was so tweaked.”

“It made me like you more,” she admitted.
“You could fail and still laugh at yourselves. Not that I followed
your stream all that much.”

“Of course not. Watching two decent-looking
guys play old-school games is so boring.”

“Some of us have better things to do,” she
said, as her cheeks warmed. “Although I guess that friend of yours
isn’t too hard to look at.”

She felt his laughter, but any reply he might
have made was cut off by the ding of the elevator arriving at the
lobby. The doors slid open, but before she could step out, he
linked his arm around hers. It was just for show, of course.

Damn the warm glow that
filled her. She wasn’t supposed to react like this to a guy. She
was Marny—strong, capable, independent. Not a girly-girl who was
dependent on some man to make her feel good about herself.
Pfft
to that.

“So your full name is Onyx?” she asked as
they headed past the front desk.

“Yeah. Named after a gemstone. My sister’s
name is Emerald. Emmie.” His voice tightened.

“What, are your parents mineralogists or
something?”

“No, but my mom’s name is Opal. I guess they
decided to go with the theme.” He held the door open, then followed
her onto the sidewalk.

The air felt heavy, and Marny glanced up.
Although the sky overhead was blue, clouds massed at the horizon. A
storm was coming.

“I hope you don’t mind a rain check on
breakfast,” Nyx said. “I’ve got some fruit and stuff at the club. I
know you haven’t had anything to eat.”

Now that they were out of the Intertech
building, the urgency had returned to his voice. He leaned forward,
scanning the street for a cab.

“That’s fine,” she said. There were way more
important things at stake than waffles.

It didn’t take long for them to grab a cab
and make it down to Club Mysteria. Nyx unlocked the door and Marny
stepped into the hushed cavern of the warehouse. Dim sunlight
sifted through the high windows, and without the strings of fairy
lights and the flashing dance floor strobes, the place seemed
almost drab.

Especially since there was no sign of the
enchanted forest.

“Dammit!” Nyx’s shout echoed across the
stained concrete floor and bounced off the blank walls.

Whatever magic Club Mysteria had hosted was
gone.

N
yx
balled his hands into fists. He wanted to punch something: the
walls, the bar, the empty air where the forest should have
been.

It was gone, and so was Emmie.

Panic and self-loathing clogged his throat
and he bent over, the pain of losing his sister slicing through
him.

“Hey. Breathe.” Marny put her hand on his
back, and he realized he’d been making an ugly choking noise.

With effort, he straightened and hauled in a
breath.

“I know it seems dire,” she continued, her
voice steady and calm. “But your sister isn’t the first mortal to
stray into the Realm.”

“What do you mean?” He shrugged off her touch
and glared at her. “You actually know of other people who have
disappeared like this? Why didn’t you tell me?”

If only she’d forced him to believe her, none
of this would have happened.

“You weren’t listening,” she said. “And all
of the people I know who were sucked into the Realm returned and
were fine, okay? We’ll get your sister back.”

“How?” He waved an agitated hand at the empty
warehouse. “You said we had to go in through the forest. And it’s
gone.”

“Then we start by re-conjuring it. You know
how to do that, right?”

“Yeah. I can. But what if
it’s not the
right
forest?”

Damn, he was sounding like a
whiny kid. He closed his eyes for a second and let out a deep
breath.
Calm down, idiot.
Marny was there to help, and she didn’t deserve to
be on the receiving end of a tantrum. No matter that there were
good reasons for him to be on the edge.