Page 52 of Wicked Deeds

Gwen’s hands flew to her ears, her mouth dropping open, eyes wide as she watched the reactions. Knowing Damon was famous and seeing the reality when he was surrounded by fans, was a bit of a mind-fuck. I’d seen it enough times now to get used to the adulation, but it wasloud. Loud enough that the instinctive part of your brain interpreted the sound as danger as much as appreciation.

I had no idea how rock stars got up on stages in front of tens of thousands of people screaming at them. Maybe all they felt was the enthusiasm and love. Knew how to ride the emotion to fuel their music.

Damon, I knew, would have preferred to stay out of the spotlight, but he did whatever he needed to do for Riley Arts and he did it well, charming the crowd with the full wattage version of his charm-the-universe smile and waiting the noise out. After a minute or so, the roaring and applause died down enough to let him make his speech, congratulating Lia Wang, the woman who’d won the right to play him, before taking his place in one of the two game chairs and logging in.

The crowd roared again as theSerenity Fallstitle sequence started to roll on the massive screen set at the back of the stage, filling the back wall above the level of the game chairs and then split into two, showing Damon and Lia’s individual views of the game. Damon’s avatar appeared in the familiar room at the hostel, looking down on the market, ready to start his adventure. Lia, in a different room, was doing the same.

Neither of them wasted any time. But as Damon left the hostel and entered the market, looking to buy some extra equipment, I faded back a little. I didn’t need to be in the front row. I’d playedSerenity Fallsquite a bit. It was the game that had led to me meeting Cerridwen, but I enjoyed it enough that I’d pushed through those associations to play quite a bit with Damon. And it was one we’d tried with Callum, though he seemed to prefer historical games. Gwen had loved the game and we’d played several sessions since our first one. Gwen was a bit rusty, though improving fast enough I could tell she would be great if she practiced enough.

Damon’s bout with Lia was scheduled for an hour. The Righteous programmers had developed a separate shorter route through a few key sections of the game. The full version ofSerenity Fallscould take months to play through. An hour was only a taste, though I was sure it would be a close contest.

But I’d spent a lot of time in game clubs watching other people play and supporting Nat back in the day. It had never been my favorite activity and it still wasn’t. Not even when it was Damon. Surely no one would mind if I went to the bar? Nobody would pay any attention to me with Damon playing on stage.

I cast a glance over my shoulder toward the nearest bar. I knew my way around Decker’s and security had cleared the club before we arrived. I felt like being normal for once. The bar was about twenty feet away. Maia would still be able to see me.

I sidled over to her. “I’m going to go get a drink.”

She frowned. “Someone can bring you one.”

I shook my head. “It’s fine. It’s just over there.” I pointed to the bar. “You can see me from here. And everyone’s watching the stage. No one will bother me.” Decker’s had a couple of floors, but the two top ones were for VIPs or pro team gaming. The second floor was filled with rows of gaming booths on each side of several long hallways. Those were open to anybody who paid the fee.

The first floor, once you got past the entry where people paid their fee, checked gear, and were scanned in to confirm their rank if they were pros, was one big square with the main gaming stage at the far end. There were a few larger gaming booths along each side, strategically interspersed with bars. The rest of the floor was set up with seating to watch the main stage or the screens streaming games from the other floors if people chose to stream. Though tonight, those were all showing the main stage. Now that Damon and Lia’s game had started, the seats were all full, with more people standing behind the seats. From what I could see, there weren’t many people at the bars.

Maia scanned the crowd and then the bar, lips pursed. I gave her my best version of puppy dog eyes. If she said I had to stay put, I’d stay put. But my pathetic look must have worked.

“Don’t go anywhere else,” she said, sternly. She tapped my wrist. “And use your panic button if you need to.”

“I won’t need to. But I won’t leave the bar,” I promised. “Watch Damon. This should be fun.” He and Lia were now walking out of the town toward the first bridge.

That was one of the first tests inSerenity Falls. Also the part of the game that had led to me finding out Fae were real. I had no particular desire to see the circle of rocks where Cerridwen had hidden a summoning rune again, so I turned on my heel and wriggled my way through the crowd to the bar.

As I expected, nobody paid me much attention. A few people nodded as I walked past, but no one tried to block my way or start a conversation. The bar itself only had a couple of people waiting to be served.

I slid into a space between a tall blond guy and a shorter one with spiky red hair who looked barely old enough to be able to play at Decker’s—which was an eighteen-plus club—let alone buy a drink. The bartender, a pretty black woman, was checking his ID with a scanner, a skeptical expression on her face. Her eyes were a coppery shade too metallic to be natural. Her long thin braids echoed the metals, dyed shades of bronze, copper, and gold. Her makeup was the same colors. In her black uniform she looked like a futuristic goddess.

She took my order of straight whiskey with a nod, asked my preference as to brand, and smiled approvingly at my choice before pouring it into a heavy glass and putting it down in front of me with a bowl of the little spicy things Decker’s always served with booze to make you drink more.

I pulled out my datapad to pay and she shook her head. “Mr. Decker said you drink free tonight, Ms. Lachlan.”

I hid the wince at the fact she knew who I was. “Thanks.” A few years ago, Nat and I would have been more than happy to score free drinks at Decker’s but now, when I didn’t need it, it felt weird.

But Damon was making Decker’s plenty of money with his appearance tonight and by running the tournaments, so I guessed it worked out.

I took a sip, letting the whiskey’s smoky burn distract me from the restlessness I knew was leftover adrenaline from the last few days. Between Gwen and nixlings and afrit, the week had been crazy. And it wasn’t over yet.

“How is the whiskey?” the blond man asked.

“Not bad,” I said absently, not really looking at him. I had no particular desire to make small talk with a random stranger.

I took another sip, starting to turn away, looking down to try to let him know I wasn’t interested, preparing to go back to the others if he wanted to pester me.

The stranger held up a hand. “Not so fast, Maggie Lachlan.”

My head snapped up. I knew that voice. Knew in the pit of my stomach, rapidly turning to ice, all the pleasant warmth of the alcohol vanishing.

He was wearing dark smoked glasses, which was not a completely unusual fashion choice in a game club. But as I watched, the glass cleared, leaving me with a clear view of completely black eyes. No whites, just bottomless pools of darkness.

The face was unfamiliar, but I knew those eyes. All too well.

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