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“Long story, which I’m about to tell.” Nic launched into the story of the woman in the silver dress, the clown, and how they had interrupted his attempt to get Dio’s essence.
“That’s insane, but now we need to save her from the clown and get the essence?” I flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. “Seriously?”
Nic patted my thigh. “Yes, luv. Seriously. I am not certain the clown has found the thief yet. If so, we simply have to confront her and escape before he finds her. I doubt he’ll have much use for her if she doesn’t have the essence.
“I wonder how the clown found out what we were after.” I shuddered.
“Hard to say,” Robby replied. “It’s possible he or an agent of his returned to the museum and looked around until he figured it out. They obviously hid from the librarian, which limited their powers, but they still figured out why we were there.”
“Do you think they’ve found Dio?” The thought made my blood run cold.
“Unlikely,” Robby said.
“It won’t matter if they find Dio if they get a hold of his essence,” Nic said. “Destroying that will destroy Dio, eventually.”
“So we’re leaving?”
Nic twisted his lips. “It will take time for us to drive there. Robby and I will have to go.”
“I’m going with you,” I blurted. I scrambled to my feet and quickly stripped out of my leotard so I could change into more practical clothing, not caring that Robby was present. He’d seen me change on more than one occasion.
“Spark,” Geraint said. “They need to use their powers to go.”
“I have shadow powers, too,” I replied stubbornly as I hastily got dressed in street clothing.
“If you can meld with the shadows enough to allow me to take you through them, you can come,” Nic replied.
“You don’t think I can do it.” I bit my bottom lip and glared at him.
He smiled. “I’m hoping it takes you a little longer to figure it out, Spark. I don’t want you in danger, but I also don’t want you trying on your own to come after me and getting lost.”
“That sounds unpleasant.”
“Very. Perhaps worse than facing the clown.” Nic sounded like he was trying to dissuade me.
“Spark—” Geraint sighed and shook his head. “I can’t travel that way.”
I sucked my lower lip into my mouth and chewed on it for a moment, tempted to remain behind. Did I want to face the clown? No. Did I think I could help? I actually didn’t know. Why was I trying to go along, anyway?
“If you can figure out how to go through the shadows, you can support Prince Nic with your energy should we have to face the clown,” Robby said. “It’s not the worst idea to come along. It is unfortunate your knight can’t join us.”
Swallowing, I nodded agreement, rethinking my insistence that I dive into danger. No, if I could help Nic, I had to go.
Nic held out his hand once I finished dressing.
I quickly gave Geraint a kiss, hugged Ash, then accepted Nic’s hand.
“Meld with the shadows, princess. We don’t have a lot of time,” Robby ordered.
Taking a deep breath and shutting my eyes, I called on my shadow powers. They were easier to access every time I touched them, but that didn’t mean it was easy.
Still, I let my mind sink into the shadows, let them caress me, remembered what it felt like to be wrapped up in their cool embrace when Nic hid me in them, or wrapped me up with his shadowy tentacles. That thought brought a bit of heat to my cheeks. Then I gave myself over to the darkness, trusting Nic to keep a hold of me.
Someone sucked in a breath, and someone else swore, but their voices were muffled. I opened my eyes, but my vision had blurred. Everything was in black and white, but I couldn’t make out details.
Nic still held my hand.
“Almost, princess,” he whispered. “You can do it. Let go.”
