23
NICO
Logan squared his shoulders.
“Okay.” He faced the others, pushing up his sleeves. “I did my part, and we figured out who the skeleton was. Now I want proof.”
Nico crossed his arms. “Proof of what?”
Opal cleared her throat, drawing the spotlight. “I promised Logan that if he helped us, we’d tell him everything we know about figments.” She spat the next words quickly. “And the Darkdeep.”
“You did what?” Nico shook his head in disbelief. Tyler closed his eyes, and Emma covered her mouth.
Opal spoke in a low, firm voice. “It was the only way to get him to help. Plus, Logan wasattackedby a figment. It wouldn’t be right not to explain. It’d be cruel.” She caught Nico’s eye and held it. “He thought he was losing it. Can you imagine if you went through the Darkdeep and didn’t know what happened?”
A resigned expression stole over Nico’s face. “You’re right. Done is done.”
“Thanks for your approval,” Logan said sarcastically. “Nowexplain. What is that vortex? Tell me you guys aren’t jumping into it for fun.”
Emma winced, then coughed into a fist. Opal glanced at the ceiling while Tyler started whistling tunelessly. Nico had the good grace to blush.
Logan shook his head. “Unbelievable.”
“Itisunbelievable,” Emma said. “At first it was fun. We createdamazingthings. Then … well … it stopped being fun. Now we don’t know what to think about it.”
Logan held up a hand. “Start from the beginning.”
Opal did. Step by step, she walked Logan through what they’d discovered in Still Cove. The cave. The island. The houseboat. The swirling pool down in a basement that shouldn’t exist. Logan already knew about the tunnel, and he’d run like a jackrabbit from the robot ogre, but the truth about figments took his breath away. When Opal finished, he sat down heavily in a folding chair, staring at nothing.
Nico actually felt a little sorry for him. “It’s a lot to absorb at once.”
Logan’s head jerked up. “I want to see it.”
Nico frowned. “You already did. Volg-Mordan nearly chopped us to pieces.”
“Not a figment. I want to see the Darkdeep again.”
Opal cringed. “We agreed on no more tests until we figure out how it really works.”
“I don’t want to gointhe thing.” Logan actually shivered. “You guys are insane for doing that. I … I just need to see it again. To prove to myself that it’s real.” His voice cracked slightly. “Please. It’s important.”
Nico glanced at Opal, who nodded, as did Tyler and Emma.
“Fine, Logan.” Nico slapped his hands together. “Fair is fair. We’ll go tonight.”
“What is going on?” Opal whispered.
They were standing on the ridge, not far from where they’d encountered the rhino. It had taken a few hours for everyone to check in at home and sneak away again. The cove was bitterly cold, with only the moon and their phone lights to see by. Nico had expected to find the island empty. It wasn’t.
Down by the pond, the place was lit up like a dance party.
“How many do you see?” Tyler stared at the twinkling lights. “I count six figments near the water alone. They look like trolls holding torches.”
“Three stormtroopers ran into the woods.” Emma pointed to the dark forest. “They’re whacking trees with lightsabers. And there’s some kind of sparkling blob stuck in the creek.”
“Oh, good gravy.” Tyler pressed a fist to his chin. “By the entry stones—is that a glow-in-the-dark gummy bear? Bouncing here and there and everywhere?”
Logan turned incredulous eyes on Opal. “These things show up all the time, and you guys just hang out here?”
