I didn't want to do it, but there was something I had to get out on the table. “Ridley's with them, too.”
Link sighed and crumpled up the biscuit paper. His expression didn't change, but I knew he was feeling the same knot in his stomach I had in mine. “Well, that blows.” He tossed the paper at the trash can. It hit the rim and fell onto the floor. “You're sure they're in the Tunnels?”
“That's what it looked like.” On the way to the Dar-ee Keen, I told Link about the vision, but I left out the part about how I saw it in my bathroom mirror. “They're headed for some place called the Great Barrier.”
“A place that doesn't exist.” Liv was shaking her head, checking the rotating dials on her wrist.
Link pushed away his plate, still covered with food. “So let me get this straight. We're gonna go down into the Tunnels and find this moon outta time with Liv's fancy watch?”
“Selenometer.” Liv didn't look up from copying numbers from the dials into her red notebook.
“Whatever. Why don't we tell Lena's family what's goin’ on? Maybe they can make us invisible or lend us some crazy Caster weapons.”
A weapon. Like the one I had with me right now.
I could feel the curve of the Arclight in my pocket. I had no idea how it worked, but maybe Liv did. She knew how to read the Caster sky.
“It won't make us invisible, but I have this.” I held the sphere above the shiny plastic table.
“Dude. A ball? Seriously?” Link wasn't impressed.
Liv was stunned. She reached out tentatively, her hand hovering. “Is that what I think it is?”
“It's an Arclight. Marian gave it to me on All Souls. It belonged to my mom.”
Liv tried to hide her irritation. “Professor Ashcroft had an Arclight all this time, and she never showed it to me?”
“Here you go. Knock yourself out.” I dropped the sphere into Liv's hands. She held it carefully, as if it was an egg.
“Careful! Do you have any idea how rare these are?” Liv couldn't take her eyes away from its glossy surface.
Link sucked down the rest of his Coke until he hit ice. “Anyone gonna clue me in here? What's it do?”
Liv was mesmerized. “This is one of the most powerful weapons in the Caster world. It's a metaphysical prison for an Incubus, if you know how to use it.” I looked at her hopefully. “Which, unfortunately, I don't.”
Link poked at the Arclight. “Like Incubus kryptonite?”
Liv nodded. “Something like that.”
There was no doubt the Arclight was powerful, but it wasn't going to help us with the problem at hand. I was out of ideas. “If this thing can't help us, how do we get into the Tunnels?”
“It's not a holiday.” Liv handed me the Arclight reluctantly. “If we're going to get into the Caster Tunnels, it has to be through one of the Outer Doors. We can't go through the Lunae Libri.”
“So there are other ways in? Through these Outer Door things?” Link asked.
Liv nodded. “Yes. But only Casters and a few Mortals, like Professor Ashcroft, know where they are. And she's not going to tell us. I'm sure she's packing my things right now.”
I had expected Liv to have the answer, but it was Link who came up with it. “You know what that means?” He grinned and put his arm around Liv. “You're finally gonna get your chance. Time for the Tunnel of Love.”
Fairgrounds after the fair were just grounds. I kicked a clump of dirt and weeds.
“Look, you can still see the indentations where the rides were.” Liv pointed, Lucille trailing behind her.
“Yeah, but how do you know which rides the marks are from?” It seemed like a good idea at the Dar-ee Keen, but now we were standing in an empty field.
Link shouted and waved from a few yards away. “I think this is where the Ferris Wheel was. I can tell by all the cigarette butts. That old carny was chain-smoking all day.”
We caught up with him. Liv pointed to a black patch in the distance. “Isn't that where Lena saw us?”
“What?” I stumbled over the word us.
“I mean, saw me.” She blushed. “I think that's where the popcorn machine blew up when she walked by. Before she popped the clown's balloon and made the little children cry.” How could I forget?
It was hard to find the impressions in the ground under the tall grass. I bent down and pushed the weeds out of the way, but there was nothing. Just a few paper snow cone cups and tickets. As I stood up, I felt the Arclight heating up in my pocket again, and a dull buzzing. I took it out of my pocket, and it was glowing a clear blue.
I waved Liv over. “What do you think this means?”
She studied the sphere, watching the color intensify. “I have no idea. I've never read about them changing color.”
“What's up, kids?” Link wiped the sweat off his forehead with his ratty Black Sabbath T-shirt. “Whoa. When did it start with the mood ring action?”
“A second ago.” I don't know why, but I started walking slowly, a few steps at a time. As I walked, the glow of the Arclight grew stronger.
“Ethan, what are you doing?” Liv was right behind me.