Page 21 of Wrongfully Magicked
Whatever I was expecting, it wasn’t to find a tech’ers wet dream. The room is decked out with computer monitors virtually taking up a whole wall. Some of the monitors are cobbled together to reflect one large image, while others are smaller and off to the side. One thing that they have in common is that each of them has information scrolling past so fast that I can barely register the images and words before they are gone.
And in the middle of the chaos is Darby.
Something about his stillness raises the hair on the back of my neck, and I have to force my feet to enter the room. I cast an uncertain look at Porter over my shoulder, only to find the door closing shut behind him as he leaves.
Alrighty then.
I hesitantly edge into the room, coming to a stop next to Darby. He doesn’t even acknowledge my presence, and my shoulders slump in dejection.
Not that I can blame him.
I reluctantly turn to look at him, and my breath catches in my lungs. The person sitting in the chair isn’t Darby—it’s Corsair, the tech god, as Charlotte used to call him. His eyes glow avivid blue, and I swear I can actually see the computer monitors reflecting streams of data deep in their depths.
He’s fully plugged into the system, retreating from the human world. While it’s not unusual for tech’ers, the more they remain connected to the digital realm, the more they lose touch with reality.
After the news about his sister, Darby has completely checked out.
My heart shatters, knowing that I’m the one responsible for his condition. Unable to look at him, I focus on the monitors, the screens blurry from my tears. I clear my throat and tell him about the Charlotte I knew and loved.
“After a particularly nasty confrontation with my family, I crawled to my room to lick my wounds. That’s when I first realized that my family was actually trying to kill me. Hmmm…I must have been seven or eight? Anyway, when I got to my room, the computer beeped and began talking to me. Messages really. Jokes mostly.
“It took weeks before she even told me her name was Charlotte. She started to help me evade my family, telling me what rooms to avoid when they were on the rampage and when to get out of the house.” I release a shuddering breath and roll my shoulders, trying to ease the tension creeping up my spine. “She was an amazing tech genius. At first, I thought her family sold her. It didn’t take long to figure out that the Kerringtons snatched her off the streets. She was trapped just as much as I was.”
I cross my arms to stay warm, a chill taking up residence in my bones as I get lost in the past. “We were going to escape and get out together. We created these elaborate plans. I squirreled away money, even stole things from the house for cash. She helped me get names and contacts for people who could get us new identities.”
I barely even notice when the screens stop moving, but I don’t turn to look at Darby. I can’t and still talk. “Unfortunately, there was one thing we didn’t take into account.”
“She was caught.” Darby’s voice is a low rasp that slides along my nerve endings.
I take a shuddering breath, then nod. I want to go to him and offer him comfort, but I don’t think I could take his rejection again. It’s all I can do to stand here and finish my story. “We didn’t take into account that she wasn’t the smartest tech’er on my parents’ payroll. Communication with her just stopped. I was frantic. As much as I wanted to find her, I didn’t have the ability. I even cornered my older cousin Stuart, trying to weasel the information out of him, but I only received a beating for my trouble.”
I’m unaware that my fingers are digging into my arms until the pain brings me back. I lick my dry lips, my chest feeling tight as I continue. “After some digging, I found someone to help. I handed over the money I’d set aside. With stolen passwords and keycards from my family’s companies, I snuck in to rescue her.”
I scrub my eyes, wishing I could scrub away memories from that night as well. “My name allowed me to enter the company in broad daylight, and I easily slipped past security. I headed toward the restricted area, and that’s when things went to shit. The tech’er I hired was the same person who caught your sister. He was setting a trap for me as well. You see, I was supposed to be caught breaking and entering and killed—a tragic accident.”
I snort at the absurdity, rubbing my chest when it feels like my heart is breaking all over again. “At the last second, your sister sent me a warning—a small message on a door scanner that said, ‘Run.’ She helped me escape the building by diverting security and unlocking doors. I argued with her, pleaded with her to come with me.”
I swallow the knot in my throat, trying to remember how to breathe. “She said it was too late. They killed her body. The only place she exists now is in the machine. She said if I was ever her friend that I would run and live for both of us and never look back. Before I left the building, she told me I needed to destroy my phone so they couldn’t track me, and I should never try to contact her again…that she couldn’t protect me anymore.”
I stare blindly down at the floor, the weight of my failures heavy on my shoulders. “Over the years, I’ve tried to go back for her. I paid hackers for information on her. I purchased spells from mages to get her out of the machine and transfer her somewhere safe. Only, no one could find anything about her. It’s like she disappeared.”
I clench my fists at my sides, turning to glare at him. “That hacker, the one with the laugh—he calls himself Jackal. He’s been stalking me since I left. Although it’s stupid, I like to think your sister is still alive somewhere, helping me from the inside by erasing me from the system, but maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part and she was assimilated into the system a long time ago.”
Darby searches my face like he’s not sure he believes me, but a spark of hope gives his eyes life once more.
“It’s been five years since I last saw any sign of Charlotte. I stopped trying to get her out when I realized that by trying to protect me, I was just exposing her to Jackal. He was weeding her out of the system and systematically erasing her.” I rub the spot between my eyes, but it does nothing to relieve the tension. My next words are barely audible. “If I thought it would help, I would trade my freedom for hers in an instant.”
Before he has a chance to say anything, the computers beep. He glances away, quickly scanning the monitors, then swears. “You need to go.”
I flinch at his harsh tone, stumbling back when his anger slams into me. I swallow hard, the hollow sensation in my chest threatening to consume me. His fury is nothing more than what I deserve, but it leaves me completely gutted.
I back away as he angrily smashes buttons on the keyboard. The monitors flicker, fill with static, then go dark. Darby leaps out of the chair and storms toward me, and it’s all I can do not to flinch.
Instead of hitting me as I expected, he grabs my arm and drags me from the room. “We have to hurry. Your family is upstairs and demanding the return of their long-lost, beloved daughter.”
When his words catch up to my brain, I find myself sprinting with him. We burst into the main room, and the rest of the guys straighten abruptly.
“We need to bug out.”
