Feyland: The Dark Realm

Chapter Thirty-Two

Two days. Two days. Jennet couldn’t get the words out of her head. Halloween was the day after tomorrow. Where was Tam? Was he all right? She hadn’t heard from him in too long.

“Miss Carter. Pay attention please.”

She jerked her gaze to the front of the classroom. Mr. Davis, the ever-grumpy math teacher, was pointing at a problem on the screen, clearly expecting her to solve it.

“I’m sorry, sir,” she said. “I wasn’t paying attention.”

Admitting her mistakes made her squirm, but it was better than trying to fudge her way out of them. Feyland had taught her that much.

“I expect more than that, young lady.” Mr. Davis scowled at her. Then he leaned forward, as though he were seeing her for the first time. “Go talk to the nurse at lunch. You’re not looking well.”

No kidding. Every morning for the last week, a paler and thinner Jennet had looked back at her from the mirror. Getting up was hard - she felt as though she hadn’t slept at all, tiredness weighted her bones so heavily.  And last night…

She shivered. Last night she had heard The Hunt, close and insistent. The cry of hounds and horns had woken her, and she had spent the rest of the night curled under her blankets, clutching her old teddy-bear.

The teacher was obviously waiting for a reply, so Jennet nodded. “Yes, Mr. Davis, I’ll do that.”

Not that the school nurse could do anything.

She needed Tam. Needed to get back in-game. Needed to face the Dark Queen and defeat her, once and for all. If only she didn’t feel so weary.

Getting from one class to the next left her out of breath. By the end of the school day, she felt bruised and exhausted. At least she was so slow the hallways had cleared by the time she made her way to the doors.

It was grey outside, and cold. She pulled her coat closer and took small sips of the air. If she breathed too deeply, she’d get a coughing fit.

The grav-car was waiting beside the curb. As soon as George saw her, he jumped out of the car and opened the side door for her. Wow. She must look even worse than she’d thought.

“Miss Carter?” His words burbled, as though he were speaking underwater.

The sidewalk stretched and wavered in front of her, and she suddenly had no balance. Was she flying? Was she floating?

Then strong hands caught her, clasping her upper arms and keeping her from falling. She stumbled forward, and landed against Tam’s chest. Tam. Thank the universe.

She closed her eyes, and felt his arms slip around her. Warm. Safe. He smelled of fresh soap and, faintly, the dust of the Exe.

“Tam,” she mumbled. “I was so worried. What were you—”

“Sh. I’ll tell you later. Come on, let’s get you in the car.” His voice held a tender note she’d never heard before.

She pried her eyelids open, and saw Tam exchange a look with George - a look of concern and mutual understanding, as though she were highly breakable. She would have objected, but it was too hard to think of the right words.

Tam lifted her onto the seat, and she saw George nod at him.

“Tam’s coming with us.” It came out a whisper, but she needed to be sure they understood.

“Of course, Miss,” George said.

“I’m right here.” Tam took her hand. “No worries.”

 # # #

 Fear hammered through Tam’s chest as he studied Jennet. Dark shadows smudged under her closed eyes, her skin was translucent, and she weighed barely more than air. No wonder the barriers between the worlds were growing thin. The Dark Queen was obviously sucking out Jennet’s energy, and fast.

They had to defeat the queen. Today.

They should have done it earlier, that much was clear. It was his fault that Jennet was in such rough shape - but there was no time for regrets now. Only action. And he had done what he had to, made the only choices he could.

The grav-car slid to a stop in front of Jennet’s house, and the driver turned back to look at Tam.

“Perhaps we should summon an ambulance.” George’s voice was concerned. “Just in case.”

Tam swallowed hard. They had to get in-game as fast as possible - but George didn’t know what the hell was going on, or how that would help. All he saw was Jennet, looking like she was thinking of dying.

“Ok,” he said. “But it’s not an emergency.” Yet.

“Then I will call a non-emergency team in.” There was a touch of wry humor in the driver’s voice, as if joking about it would keep the fear at bay.

“Alright, you do that. I’ll take her upstairs.” Tam brushed the back of his hand over Jennet’s cheek. She felt as soft as the sky. “Hey,” he whispered, “Wake up.”

Her eyes fluttered open, pale blue, and she took a deep breath. “Are we there?”

“Almost.” He knew what she was asking. Not if they were at her house, but if they were in Feyland. “You up to walking?”

Behind her eyes, he saw determination. Saw her summon her strength. “Yes. Just…”

He helped her, one hand under her elbow, one at her back. Balanced her as she got out of the car, supported her while she stood on the walk. He tried not to act like he was half-carrying her. It must have worked, because George gave them both a relieved look.

“I’m still making that call,” he said.

“Good.” Because there was always a chance that he and Jennet would lose. Not that Tam would give that thought any room in his brain.

Gently, he turned her toward the house. As soon as the door closed behind them, she teetered. He swept her up in his arms. Good thing she didn’t weigh much.

“Hey,” she whispered.

“Hold still,” he said quietly. “It’s just the quickest way to get you to the game room.”

He settled her into the sim chair, locked the door, hit the jammer button, and then plugged in himself. Game. On.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

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