The back of Bridget’s neck got hot as she uttered the word kiss. Her mouth was saying the words, but the rest of her was aware of how close Ajay was.

But what King Tristan wanted she couldn’t give him, even though it meant she would die. He wanted Jancy. He wanted to ensure the blind seer’s prophecy never came true.

The word prophecy made her think of Bob. Eyes of the Forest was supposed to answer all the questions raised by the previous books. But he was even more behind schedule than he’d been with Mountains of the Moon.

She had a fleeting memory of Derrick cornering her to talk about how eager he was for the final book. There were thousands of Derricks out there. Maybe millions. All that pressure must sometimes feel like an unbearable weight to Bob.

It had been a couple of weeks since she’d heard from him, the longest gap in the years they had been working together. A few days ago, she’d sent him a list of new words, terms, and ideas she’d added to the database. She had expected a reply, if not right away, then in a day or so. But none had come.

And now it occurred to her to wonder—should she be concerned? Even at twelve, she’d noticed Bob’s plumpness, heard how he grunted whenever he went from standing to sitting and back again. The intervening years had not improved things.

Could something be wrong with Bob?

DERRICK

Mud and Moon

Yesterday Derrick had posted teasers from Bob’s first amazing chapter on the dark web and then put the full chapter for sale. Afterward, he had sprinkled hints on Reddit, suggesting that the passages came from a copy leaked during the publishing process. Now as he sat in physics class, Derrick couldn’t stop wondering how many had sold. For once, the sight of Bridget was not enough to distract him. Not even watching her and Ajay walk out together after the bell rang could divert his thoughts. He had bigger things to pay attention to.

At lunch Derrick checked the video feed of Bob, as he had between morning classes. The camera, powered by a rechargeable battery and running on cellular service, showed Bob typing away.

Derrick resisted the urge to visit his Bitcoin account. He would wait until it had been twenty-four hours. That way the amount would be even more impressive than if he had watched it come in one sale at a time. Plus he needed to give the whole thing time to gain traction. Once it did, he would post the second chapter, which was even more action-packed than the first. The screenshots were ready to be uploaded, but the timing had to be right. Too soon, and the desire wouldn’t have a chance to build to a fever pitch. Too late, and it was possible it might have peaked.