Spark - ARC by Anthea Sharp Page B

memory, but better than nothing.
    He dropped his gaze. “Anyway. Good luck, Spark.”
    “You too.” She stepped forward and hugged him.
    After a startled second, Aran’s arms came around her, sure and solid, erasing the residue of the Terabins’ touch.
    Then Burt cleared his throat, Aran let go, and the crowd of fans surrounded her again.
    “Goodbye,” she said, so quietly he probably didn’t hear.
    He lifted his hand, and then she lost sight of him as Burt and Joe steered her toward the VIP exit.
    “Time’s up,” Burt called to the crowd. “Head down the road to the Burkesville Mega-Gamma Center tomorrow, the next stop on Spark’s tour. See you there!”
    She made herself smile and wave at the fans until the door closed behind her. But her other hand was tightly clenched around a small, pink stone.
     
    ***
     
    The redcap goblin, along with two of his kin, bowed low before the midnight throne.
    “Has the hour come for us to depart, my lady?” he asked.
    The Dark Queen leaned forward. Her pale hands flexed, fingernails biting into the tangled vines. Her smile glittered, sharp as shattered diamonds.
    “Yes,” she said.
    The sibilant word echoed through the clearing. Moon-colored moths fluttered up, startled, only to be caught and devoured by stealthy, dark-winged bats. The court musicians played a low, sorrowful melody, and the night breeze stirred the shadowed oak leaves.
    “The mortal moon wanes to darkness,” the queen said. “Step aside, Codcadden, and I shall open a portal.”
    She drew a sharp black thorn from her robes, then gestured to one of the faerie handmaidens beside her throne. Eyes dark with knowledge, the maiden came and knelt before her ruler. The Dark Queen gently cupped her handmaiden’s cheek, a world’s wealth of sorrow in her face. Then, without a word, she took her thorn and plunged it into the maiden’s heart.
    A single drop of blood fell upon the velvet-green moss. Silver light emanated upward from the spot, forming an unearthly, radiant ball. The faerie maiden breathed a last sigh and folded like a torn cobweb.
    “Make haste,” the Dark Queen said to the goblins. “Fetch me the boy ’ere the new dawn wakes, and breaks this dearly won enchantment.”
    “Yes, my queen,” Codcadden said.
    He carried a worn leather sack, and his evil smile matched the fierce knives strapped to his belt. Roughly, he pushed his companions into the glowing sphere, leaped in after them, and was gone.

CHAPTER NINE

     
    A ran didn’t bother going to sleep. He sat on the lumpy sofa, the blue flicker of his tablet the only light in the Chowneys’ garage. Too much soda surged through his system to relax, so he was wasting time following links to all Spark’s appearances. Not that he’d show up at any of them, but there was something strangely comforting about knowing where she’d be over the next couple weeks.
    The VirtuMax tour would spend a few more days in the area, then head all over the country, basically. Which would be cool, if she had the time—or freedom—to actually visit the cities she appeared in. Too bad she’d missed seeing his hometown.
    At least she had a rock as a souvenir.
    A rock. Aran shook his head. What had he even been thinking? At the time, it seemed like a romantic gesture, but in hindsight he was embarrassed. I have a prime crush on you, so here’s a stone I picked up. Weak. It was probably in the bottom of the hotel’s trashcan by now.
    Enough Spark obsessing. He flicked his tablet to one of his favorite music streams, turned up the earpods, and let the heavy beat and electric guitars anesthetize his brain. Despite the caffeine and sugar pumping through him, his eyes closed, weariness weighting his bones.
    Silence, and the feeling of being watched, woke him. With a yawn, he glanced at his tablet. Midnight, exactly, and for some reason his music had cut off. But that wasn’t all.
    An eerie glow was forming in the middle of the garage. It looked like a digital