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“Maybe we should wait until Dad’s here so we don’t have to repeat ourselves?”
“All right, Ember,” Mom said, and stopped asking questions.
We rejoined Nic just inside the door and headed for the kitchen. I, at least, was starving and thirsty.
***
“Conveniently,” Robby said a few hours later. “There is an art gala at the museum in a few days, and I imagine I can get us an invitation to perform if we don’t already have one.” We had all crowded into my bedroom.
“What good does that do?” Dad asked. He leaned against the wall.
We’d filled both my parents in on what had happened. Now we were trying to figure out what to do with the information we’d gotten.
“Well, the bad guys apparently don’t know why we were at the museum, and they don’t know where Dio is. So, we need another excuse to go back to the museum that won’t make it seem like we’re looking for something there. Then we can liberate that rather priceless artifact from the display while we’re there.” Robby had perched on my sturdy dresser.
“How are we going to do that?” I frowned, squirming on my bed, uncomfortable with the suggestion. Geraint, sitting next to me, put his hand on my leg.
“Our shadowy prince is more than capable of stealing back Dio’s essence,” Robby explained.
I glanced at Nic, and he nodded, though his brow was furrowed as if troubled, and I caught a hint of unease through our bond. The rocking chair creaked as he pushed it back and forth while he thought.
“You and Geraint and I will do our normal routine, and if necessary, provide a distraction. Prince Nic will take care of getting Dio’s essence back. Simple.” Robby grinned.
“You jinxed us,” I pointed out. “You know that, right?”
The jester inclined his head. “Perhaps.”
I groaned. “This is crazy.”
“What do we do about Dio?” Geraint asked once we’d had a minute to contemplate Robby’s suggestions.
“Once we have his essence, we’ll have to work quickly to get it back to him. Then we must try to find a way back to Dream,” Robby said. “If nothing else, Dio needs to return, but also, we must find Baz as well.”
“You think you know where he is?” I thought that was what Nic had said.
Robby shook his head. “I believe I know where to look, but there are still many options available to us. I suspect they’ve hidden him away in a corrupted dream, but which one, I don’t know.”
“How many are there?” I wrung my hands.
“Countless numbers of them, princess. Don’t despair, we will find him.” Robby sounded certain.
How could he be so sure? This is an impossible task.
Geraint put his arm around my waist and tugged me against his side. “It will work out, Spark.”
I clenched my jaw but didn’t argue. I’d probably spent as much time in Nightmare as Geraint had at this point. How could he possibly have any idea that it would work out? Mood souring further, I tried not to take it out on my friends.
When no one had any other questions, Robby pulled out his phone and scanned through his emails. “Your reputation proceeds you, princess. We have an invitation to perform. I’ll accept with an apology on the late reply.”
At my nod, he got up and left the room, phone to his ear.
“You all be careful,” Mom said, twisting her hands together. Dad put an arm around her shoulders.
“Yeah, we will be.”
My phone rang with Ash’s tone, interrupting anything else I might say.
“Hey, Ash,” I answered.
