Beautiful Darkness
Page 76

Miss Hester watched in bewilderment, shaking her head. "Redcoats."
The thing about Link was, he never asked for details. He just went with it. He went with it when we tried to cut a real tire to make a tire swing. He went with it when I made him help me build a gator trap in my backyard, and every time I stole the Beater to chase a girl the rest of the school thought was a freak. It was a great quality in a best friend, and sometimes I wondered if I would do the same for him if things were reversed. Because I was always the one who asked, and he was always the one who was game.
Within five minutes, we were rol ing down Jackson Street. We made it al the way to Dove Street, when we pul ed over at the Dar-ee Keen. I checked my watch. Amma would know I was gone by now. Marian would be waiting for Liv at the library, if she hadn't missed her at breakfast. And Mrs. Wilson would've sent someone to drag Link out of the bathroom. We were running out of time.
The actual plan didn't come together until we sat down with greasy food on greasy yel ow trays at our greasy red table.
"Can't believe she ran off with Vampire Boy."
"How many times do I have to tel you? He's an Incubus," Liv corrected.
"Whatever. If he's a Blood Incubus, he can suck your blood. Same difference." Link shoved a biscuit into his mouth while he rol ed another one around in the pool of gravy on his plate.
"A Blood Incubus is a Demon. A vampire is something in a movie."
I didn't want to do it, but there was something I had to get out on the table. "Ridley's with them, too."
Link sighed and crumpled up the biscuit paper. His expression didn't change, but I knew he was feeling the same knot in his stomach I had in mine. "Wel , that blows." He tossed the paper at the trash can. It hit the rim and fel onto the floor. "You're sure they're in the Tunnels?"
"That's what it looked like." On the way to the Dar-ee Keen, I told Link about the vision, but I left out the part about how I saw it in my bathroom mirror. "They're headed for some place cal ed the Great Barrier."
"A place that doesn't exist." Liv was shaking her head, checking the rotating dials on her wrist.
Link pushed away his plate, stil covered with food. "So let me get this straight. We're gonna go down into the Tunnels and find this moon outta time with Liv's fancy watch?"
"Selenometer." Liv didn't look up from copying numbers from the dials into her red notebook.
"Whatever. Why don't we tel Lena's family what's goin' on? Maybe they can make us invisible or lend us some crazy Caster weapons."
A weapon. Like the one I had with me right now.
I could feel the curve of the Arclight in my pocket. I had no idea how it worked, but maybe Liv did. She knew how to read the Caster sky.
"It won't make us invisible, but I have this." I held the sphere above the shiny plastic table.
"Dude. A bal ? Seriously?" Link wasn't impressed.
Liv was stunned. She reached out tentatively, her hand hovering. "Is that what I think it is?"
"It's an Arclight. Marian gave it to me on Al Souls. It belonged to my mom."
Liv tried to hide her irritation. "Professor Ashcroft had an Arclight al this time, and she never showed it to me?"
"Here you go. Knock yourself out." I dropped the sphere into Liv's hands. She held it careful y, as if it was an egg.
"Careful! Do you have any idea how rare these are?" Liv couldn't take her eyes away from its glossy surface.
Link sucked down the rest of his Coke until he hit ice. "Anyone gonna clue me in here? What's it do?"
Liv was mesmerized. "This is one of the most powerful weapons in the Caster world. It's a metaphysical prison for an Incubus, if you know how to use it." I looked at her hopeful y. "Which, unfortunately, I don't."
Link poked at the Arclight. "Like Incubus kryptonite?"
Liv nodded. "Something like that."
There was no doubt the Arclight was powerful, but it wasn't going to help us with the problem at hand. I was out of ideas. "If this thing can't help us, how do we get into the Tunnels?"
"It's not a holiday." Liv handed me the Arclight reluctantly. "If we're going to get into the Caster Tunnels, it has to be through one of the Outer Doors. We can't go through the Lunae Libri."
"So there are other ways in? Through these Outer Door things?" Link asked.
Liv nodded. "Yes. But only Casters and a few Mortals, like Professor Ashcroft, know where they are. And she's not going to tel us. I'm sure she's packing my things right now."
I had expected Liv to have the answer, but it was Link who came up with it. "You know what that means?" He grinned and put his arm around Liv. "You're final y gonna get your chance. Time for the Tunnel of Love."
Fairgrounds after the fair were just grounds. I kicked a clump of dirt and weeds.
"Look, you can stil see the indentations where the rides were." Liv pointed, Lucil e trailing behind her.
"Yeah, but how do you know which rides the marks are from?" It seemed like a good idea at the Dar-ee Keen, but now we were standing in an empty field.
Link shouted and waved from a few yards away. "I think this is where the Ferris Wheel was. I can tel by al the cigarette butts. That old carny was chain-smoking al day."
We caught up with him. Liv pointed to a black patch in the distance. "Isn't that where Lena saw us?"