Mike raced for the water, rinsing his feet. After a minute, he walked toward me, with a big smirk pasted across his face.
“What?” I asked. “Have you found a way to swim out? ’Cause once we’re on the outside, I’ll gladly take a boat, plane, helicopter, blimp, hang glider…or even a hot air balloon to get home. I’m not picky.”
Curiosity twinkled in his eyes as he leaned closer. “You’re dying to know what I thought about our kiss, aren’t you?”
“Boy, you are so full of hot air, I bet we could float right on outta here.”
Mike winked. “C’mon! I know you’re dying to find out what I thought.”
“Isn’t that a little on the conceited side? Maybe you’ve been on one too many magazine covers. Besides, I bet you’re wondering what I thought.”
A grin curled across his lips. “Okay, maybe you have a point, but you know I’m always a gentleman, so ladies first.”
Ignoring us and our flirtatious bickering, Orthon knelt next to the cavern wall and touched a keypad under the dirt. After he tapped a few strange symbols on the keypad, a silver door materialized right in front of him.
I blinked. It was way too cool how it just appeared into thin air like that.
Orthon turned and looked at me. “This is the secret entrance into the city.”
I nodded and then felt a tug on the back of my shirt.
Mike’s green eyes flickered. “Wait! Don’t leave me hanging. What did you think?”
Of what? The all-consuming, amazing, breathtaking, knee-weakening kiss? I glanced over my shoulder. “It was…” I paused and smiled. “…intense.”
“What do you mean, intense? In a good way or a bad way?”
I smirked. “You figure it out.”
“Oh, I already know the answer.” He flashed me a grin, showing off his perfect white teeth. “I don’t know why you can’t just admit it.”
A whirring sound filled my ears as I peered in the doorway. I gripped Mike’s hand and quickly changed the subject. “Check it out.” A tunnel with thousands of tiny lights in the ceiling revealed a moving walkway stretching into the distance.
“Whoa!” said Mike, his voice echoing off the cave walls.
Orthon motioned. “This is our high-speed skywalk. It will take us straight into the city. Come aboard.” He walked back over to the control panel, and turning his back on me, fussed with the codes.
I caught Mike’s gaze as he smiled at me—not with a best friend kind of smile, but more like he was smiling at a woman who’d swept him off his feet. Our kiss flashed through my mind. Capturing Mike’s attention had never felt better.
Orthon motioned to me. “I shut it down for a minute so you can hop on while I disable the Fabiansisto transmitters.”
I hadn’t a clue what he meant, but I nodded anyway. He walked off, and I stared down at the long, narrow sheet of gleaming glass and three-foot-tall rails. “So this thing is like some kind of ride? Where’re the seatbelts, shoulder restraints, and leg bars?”
Mike laughed. “Forget that stuff, Casey. What’s the fun in being all strapped in like a fighter jet pilot? So, Orthon, how do I get on this thing? Never mind. I’ll just jump the rail.” He looked around for good place to jump onto the skywalk. “Oh, wait. There’s a latch here.” He swung the gate open and held out his hand.
His hair hung in clumped strands, and his face was streaked with dirt. It didn’t matter, though, because to me, he’d never looked better than he did in that moment.
Beaming, I intertwined my fingers with his as he pulled me against his strong chest, lowering his lips on mine for another kiss. He cupped my face and parted my lips with his tongue. My tongue met his and danced in perfect unison. There I was in the middle of an Independence Day alien takeover, but I was all smiles inside. I could almost hear my mom’s voice: “Teenagers don’t take a darn thing seriously.” Pulling away, I met his gaze. “This is nice, but we’ve bigger things to worry about.”
“Don’t worry, Casey. The people from Glasstropolis are going to whip the enemy’s butt, get Jack back in a flash, and send us home in a taxi, though I’d prefer a limo with some pretzels and drinks, ya know?”
I wrung my hands. “I just hope we can trust them.”
Mike drew me closer, pressing his finger against my lips. “Shhhh. He’s coming.”
Orthon leaned over the rail, his glance darting from me to Mike. When I didn’t say anything, he just pointed forward. “We have a fifteen-minute ride. One more thing, and then we are on our way.”
I nodded and placed my palms on the glass walls as I moved forward, seeking safety where there was none. It reminded me of the moving sidewalk we’d ridden at the airport just a week ago. Wherever we were headed, we were on our way. There was no turning back; even if we wanted to, I doubted Orthon would let us. I tried desperately to hope against hope that I would soon be reunited with Jack and then my family, rather than give in to the nagging voice telling me to knock the alien over and make a run for it. But I couldn’t. Orthon was our only hope when it came to saving Jack. I couldn’t wait to rescue Jack and find our way back to our own time or planet or dimension, our own real world.
Gazing down, I could see the cavern floor through the ultra-thin glass. I was almost certain there was no way it could crack, but then again, my whole adventure had tested everything about what I thought I already knew. I stomped my feet, and the glass seemed pretty solid. Mike glanced over his shoulder, and I said, “Try not to embarrass me when we get there, okay?”
He smiled. “No promises.”
Of course not, I thought, smiling back at his perfect smile.
To Be Continued…
(see next page for next cover)
Trapped in the Hollow Earth Novelette Series Omnibus Edition (Books 1 - 4) Page 33
