“Let me help.” Because worst case, Lambert would use him as bait for one of the others—Jordan, most likely. And with Jordan, he’d get Maisie, as he’d intended in the first place. Maisie, who had built a city Darkside. And then Coll, who would hold out a little longer because the nightmares in the Scrape wouldn’t want to eat him.
“Are you going to protect me and David?” Mirren demanded. “I found you in a tiny hole in New York, living off favors from people like Chuck.” She shook her head.
That gold sand once again curled up Rook’s legs. He made to grab for the column, but he was yanked back into a straight jacket made from the stuff of dreams.
“So much power,” Rook said, “and still you’re his pawn.”
“Power comes from controlling your fate,” Murs said. “And that’s exactly what Mirren is doing. Shall I wake and fetch your father while you hold him?”
Mirren cocked her head toward Rook. “Are you sure he’s worth an exchange for my son, my father’s own grandchild?”
“Oh yes,” Murs said. “Absolutely.”
He didn’t notice how that assertion made Mirren’s jaw twitch, but Rook did.
Bitter pill, ain’t it, sweetheart?
***
This was it. Jordan’s heart pounded so hard that her breathing was shallow. She even held lungfuls of air extra long, to be able to hear over the bass blood-beat in her head. It’d been a few hours since Maisie’s call and was now just past midnight.
“They entered a secure Rêve belonging to Didier Lambert not fifteen minutes ago,” Fawkes said over the phone, now on speaker so Vince could listen, too. “My contact gave me both the number and the security code to enter. Chimera is waiting at the boundary for the official okay to breach, but Lambert has expressly forbidden it. Word is he’s coming in person to handle the trespassers himself.”
They had to get Malcolm out before Lambert got there.
“Do you know if there’s a child present?” she asked. Chances were good, if the Rêve was indeed Lambert’s.
“No idea without entering,” Fawkes said. “Be careful, just in case.”
“We will,” she said, although the nightmare kid was probably tougher Darkside than any of them. Jordan glanced at Vince, who’d been brooding since they’d returned. “Are we ready to go?”
Vince looked up from the console they’d been setting up for the past hour. Darren had given Vince the idea for a remote setup, and he’d gone to the SpiderSly building and had appropriated the necessary equipment, a new line just out of R&D called Shut Eye, calibrated for the Agora. The downside was that if they used this setup, there would be a record, not only that Vince had accessed the Agora without the proper permissions but that he’d descended into the secure Rêve in question. It meant he’d be openly breaking laws, the repercussions of which would suspend his company’s shared dreaming license and make him incur jail time, as well.
Jordan had halfheartedly tried to argue in favor of Darren’s brain drain, but Vince had silenced her with a sharp look.
“Jordan,” Fawkes said, “I think you should go in alone. It’d be less antagonistic for Mirren after what happened in the other Rêve.” Fawkes referred to Vince attacking Mirren. With so many variables, antagonism was the last thing they needed.
Jordan watched Vince go back to studying the screen without comment. Lambert had killed his father. There was no way he was going to hang back and miss this chance.
“We’ll be okay.” She’d push Vince into the Scrape again if he got out of control. Wouldn’t it be grand if he took the Mirren monster with him? “We got this.”
“The goal is for you all to simply wake from within the Rêve. If Chimera gets involved, that might not be possible,” Fawkes told her. “I’ll be among them to see if I can give you an out. Just in case, Coll is in position in the Scrape if you escape that way. And Maisie is waiting in Maze City. We all
“Are you going to protect me and David?” Mirren demanded. “I found you in a tiny hole in New York, living off favors from people like Chuck.” She shook her head.
That gold sand once again curled up Rook’s legs. He made to grab for the column, but he was yanked back into a straight jacket made from the stuff of dreams.
“So much power,” Rook said, “and still you’re his pawn.”
“Power comes from controlling your fate,” Murs said. “And that’s exactly what Mirren is doing. Shall I wake and fetch your father while you hold him?”
Mirren cocked her head toward Rook. “Are you sure he’s worth an exchange for my son, my father’s own grandchild?”
“Oh yes,” Murs said. “Absolutely.”
He didn’t notice how that assertion made Mirren’s jaw twitch, but Rook did.
Bitter pill, ain’t it, sweetheart?
***
This was it. Jordan’s heart pounded so hard that her breathing was shallow. She even held lungfuls of air extra long, to be able to hear over the bass blood-beat in her head. It’d been a few hours since Maisie’s call and was now just past midnight.
“They entered a secure Rêve belonging to Didier Lambert not fifteen minutes ago,” Fawkes said over the phone, now on speaker so Vince could listen, too. “My contact gave me both the number and the security code to enter. Chimera is waiting at the boundary for the official okay to breach, but Lambert has expressly forbidden it. Word is he’s coming in person to handle the trespassers himself.”
They had to get Malcolm out before Lambert got there.
“Do you know if there’s a child present?” she asked. Chances were good, if the Rêve was indeed Lambert’s.
“No idea without entering,” Fawkes said. “Be careful, just in case.”
“We will,” she said, although the nightmare kid was probably tougher Darkside than any of them. Jordan glanced at Vince, who’d been brooding since they’d returned. “Are we ready to go?”
Vince looked up from the console they’d been setting up for the past hour. Darren had given Vince the idea for a remote setup, and he’d gone to the SpiderSly building and had appropriated the necessary equipment, a new line just out of R&D called Shut Eye, calibrated for the Agora. The downside was that if they used this setup, there would be a record, not only that Vince had accessed the Agora without the proper permissions but that he’d descended into the secure Rêve in question. It meant he’d be openly breaking laws, the repercussions of which would suspend his company’s shared dreaming license and make him incur jail time, as well.
Jordan had halfheartedly tried to argue in favor of Darren’s brain drain, but Vince had silenced her with a sharp look.
“Jordan,” Fawkes said, “I think you should go in alone. It’d be less antagonistic for Mirren after what happened in the other Rêve.” Fawkes referred to Vince attacking Mirren. With so many variables, antagonism was the last thing they needed.
Jordan watched Vince go back to studying the screen without comment. Lambert had killed his father. There was no way he was going to hang back and miss this chance.
“We’ll be okay.” She’d push Vince into the Scrape again if he got out of control. Wouldn’t it be grand if he took the Mirren monster with him? “We got this.”
“The goal is for you all to simply wake from within the Rêve. If Chimera gets involved, that might not be possible,” Fawkes told her. “I’ll be among them to see if I can give you an out. Just in case, Coll is in position in the Scrape if you escape that way. And Maisie is waiting in Maze City. We all
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