Page 96 of Heart of Dawn
“I don’t know,” I answered. “Can you see a switch?”
James found one in the plaque—a tiny button barely visible to the eye. Nothing happened on the first pressing, other than a click. It took my beta/engineer ten seconds to find the second button under the bench, the third on one of its legs, then fourth and final one on the ground.
With a rumble, the bench sank into the ground, taking a perfect square of ground with it into the darkness. I watched it slide off to the side, revealing a spiral metal staircase.
Ori gagged, covering his mouth and nose with his hand.
A hot, vile stink wafted out. A combination of sweet decay and rotten eggs, this place clearly hadn’t been aired out in a long time.
I listened for biters, but no sounds came from the depths.
“Right. Let’s do this. Ori?”
He opened the sack, holding the balls of honey out at me in offering.
Beep, beep!
I paused, fingers brushing a sticky orb. What the hell?
Ori looked at me, then dove into his pocket for Wendy.
A bee shouldn’t be beeping.
“Oh my stars…” Orion paled, holding Wendy by her gold chain, her egg-shaped body of orange plastic returned.
“Wendy…” Ori whispered. “What… What…” He swallowed, throat bobbing. “What’s happening?”
Fuck.
CHAPTER THIRTY
ORION
Adizzy rush bent my knees. I stopped myself from tumbling forward, Miko’s hands on me for extra support.
This wasn’t right. Where had the bee queen gone?
Wendy’s insistent beeping seemed to be a directive to look at the screen.
I did, shaking, struggling with yet another twist in this tale.
Don’t cry. Hold it together. There must be a good reason for this…
Words moved across the screen as if being typed:
Dear Orion,
I’m a virtual pet again. My queenly privileges have been revoked. I’m not sure why, but I think it means I don’t get to go back to making more honey. This must be enough. Fate has provided the tools, but no more than this.
Make it count.
Tears blurred my vision. I blinked them free. “Are… Are you…” Crap. Words failed me.
More text appeared:
I’m hoping we can stay like this. Friends. Forever.
I prefer this, to be honest.
