A Symphony of Starlight by Allison Pang

Author:Allison Pang [Pang, Allison]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allison Pang

Chapter Ten

“Abby, wake up.” Ion’s voice. Ion’s touch, gently shaking my shoulder.

“This is happening entirely too often,” I grumbled, my eyes fluttering open. “Where the hell are we now?” The question was vaguely rhetorical. The bars rippled as though they were made of water, shining beneath the glow of myriad tiny jellyfish rolling past. “Ah. We’re in a bubble, I see.”

“Something like that,” Brystion agreed, shifting to sit beside me. “At least they let the three of us stay together.”

“Only three?” I sat up and saw Phin was curled up by my feet. “What about Didi?”

“She got away,” Phin said, yawning. “Guess those wings came in handy.”

“And we’re clearly in a holding cell,” Ion said.

I shivered. I had some rather bad memories of being trapped in a bubble like this, hidden within an enchanted painting and unable to free myself, thanks to Maurice. Ion and Melanie had worked together to save me, but I still didn’t care for the reminder. Out of instinct, I tried to flatten myself away from the shadows, as if they might contain the sharks of my nightmares. I sagged to the ground when nothing happened. “What about Paganini?” I finally croaked out, turning toward Ion. If I could ignore where we were, I’d manage.

“They took him somewhere else. He was pretty beat to hell when the bouncers dragged him away. I’m not sure what they did with the violin, though I certainly hope they keep it away from him.”

“I doubt we’re in for anything good,” I said. Then I remembered Nobu’s soul stone. I jerked my hand to my back pocket and sagged with relief. It was still there, so at least we had that much. I tapped my fingers on my leg and got to my feet. My stomach didn’t feel any worse for wear given everything else that had happened, but I needed to pee. There didn’t seem to be any facilities for such a thing in this little room, though, so all I could do was hope someone would come for us soon.

“It looks like this is a short-term cell. How long was I out?” I asked.

“About thirty minutes or so.” Ion placed a hand on my belly. “They need to bring us something to eat and drink. At least for you. But I think you’re right: We’re simply waiting for them to release us, or at least tell us what’s going on. Maybe Didi was able to find help.”

“Well, it’s not like there’s an OtherFolk embassy. Or is there?” I pondered the thought.

“Yes, actually, there is,” Phineas said. “With any luck Didi went straight there. What happened upstairs could potentially be the start of an international incident. We’ll need some experts on our side for sure.”

“Hopefully the Japanese police won’t be officially involved,” I said, recalling Nobu’s advice to me. “I didn’t enter the country legally. I don’t even have my passport with me, and it’s not like I can simply glamour myself away like you guys can.”

We all sighed then. I wasn’t above feeling a little sorry for myself, even if I knew it wasn’t going to help much.

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