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I followed JayJay into the tunnel with slow, careful steps over the uneven ground. No matter how much I’d craved my parents’ validation, it had never come. Not when I’d made dinner because they were running late, or cleaned the house because they had an important deadline, or won my high school’s prestigious fashion award. That was just the expectation.
The light from my flashlight swept over the dripping ceiling. A plinking tune echoed through the tunnel as the condensation rained onto the floor.
Something niggled at the edge of my fuzzy brain. “Hey.” I tapped on my wristport as I plodded ahead. “Do you have coverage? We should send a com to Sisip.”
JayJay scowled as he checked his wristport. “Wait here.” Then he stormed back the way we’d come.
I rammed my mittens into my jacket pocket and tried not to roll my eyes at his dickish behavior. One minute, he was my sweet savior, the next, he’d turned King Kong. A hellsna’s shriek confirmed that he’d reached the cave entrance to attempt to get reception.
Later. I’d thank JayJay later. As soon as we stopped. Just because I’d been raised on a diet of neglect and emotional detachment didn’t mean it defined me. I’d praised my coworkers a million times over on past jobs, especially ones that involved sequins. We wouldn’t have been out here in the first place if I hadn’t been so stubborn about delivering the bakery owner his stupid hat at this weekend’s market.
“I’ve alerted Sisip to our location. I believe the message transmitted.”
I jumped, startled by his booming voice. How had I not heard him approach? I rummaged through my pocket, searching for the necklace I’d placed there earlier. I’d taken it off when Geo’s dogs wouldn’t stop jumping at the little elephants every time the bells jingled.
Shit, Geo’s dogs! TeyTey’s going to kill me. I should’ve picked them up already. She wasn’t their biggest fan, but her sons would be all over the extended stay. A smile cracked my chapped lips.
“Hey, JayJay, c’mere and give me your wrist.” I chuckled at my idea even as his forehead ridge dipped. He lifted his arm without question.
“It’s not your fault, but you’re scaring the bejeezus out of me with your silent stalker walk.” I wound the necklace twice around his huge wrist. “Consider this my early warning system.”
His forest-green eyes widened in surprise. Or…pleasure? “Ginger, are you gifting this to me?” One enormous fingertip dwarfed the tiny elephant he jostled.
A shy smile softened all his rocky edges, and deep in my stomach, a spark stirred. When he tucked his chin into his massive chest and lifted the necklace-turned-bracelet to eye level, my insides gushed. That was not at all the reaction I’d expected after stealing his stealthiness.
“Yeah, sure, JayJay. Consider it a gift.” Although I meant to be cheeky, my voice broke, and my mouth went dry, choked up that such a towering man had turned so tender. I shifted away to find relief from the unfamiliar swish warming my belly and moved deeper into the mountain.
Unburdened, I carried nothing more than my flashlight. Still, each dragging step pained me, and our progress through the dark tunnel was sluggish. Yellow light flickered against the porous black walls in a puppet show of eerie shadows. The tiny sponge-like holes were brittle and broke when I pressed my throbbing finger against one, dulling the texture, but they looked like an overpriced loofah I’d bought once. Ahead, JayJay jingled, his smooth strides turning jerky as he slowed to match mine.
I tied my coat around my waist and pushed up the sleeves of my thermal shirt. The growing heat, blissful as it was, didn’t counter the fact that the muscle spasms in my legs were becoming unbearable. I needed rest. We’d been walking for over an hour, but with my nerves shot, I’d never get any sleep in a narrow tunnel open to unknown predators at both ends.
The air grew more humid, and JayJay’s deep breaths turned to contented rumbles beside me. Just when I thought another step might break me, the rough-sided tunnel we’d been following dipped and opened into a lush valley, as if someone had inserted an oasis into the mountain. A warm orange glow lit the space.
I gasped and clutched JayJay’s hand. “Holy shit!”
“Bless the goddess Sola.” JayJay dropped to his knees. “It’s like home.”
Am I dreaming?
A solid squeeze from JayJay’s warm hand anchored me to reality.
Long vines dotted with trumpet-shaped flowers stretched like cobwebs throughout the enormous chamber. Spiky blue cucumber-type plants climbed the walls, and under my feet, an ocean-colored mat of moss carpeted the ground. I walked toward a bright glow bouncing off the moss’s trampoline-like surface. Heavy tropical air filled my lungs, and the tinkle of dripping water echoed, verdant and alive. It was the opposite of the frigid temperatures just a short distance away. The diversity of life displayed astounded me.
JayJay purred beside me like an overgrown cat.
“Are you purring?” I stumbled in the soft moss, clutching my cramped thigh. Heat lashed my face from the yawning crevice that opened below. JayJay jingled my only warning before he yanked my wrist, and I slammed into his solid side.
JayJay released his grip. “It’s not water. It’s magma.” Then he scowled. “And I’m not a cat. Rock Dwellers have a rumba in their chests.”
Holy crow, that explained the sweat. Deep inside a vertical canyon, a river of molten magma wound through the Starry Mountains.
“It’s a volcano,” JayJay stated as if just clueing into something much bigger.
“Yeah, I figured that one out on my own.” From where JayJay deemed safe, I stared into the river of magma, mesmerized. My eyelids started to droop. The sauna-like heat zapped what little strength I had left. I peeled off my long-sleeved shirt, leaving me in a DIY tie-dyed tank top.
JayJay stared, fixated for the length of a breath before he planted his gaze firmly on the ground. Then he loosened some vines from the volcanic rock wall, exposing a space large enough for the both of us to shelter in. “Come, you need rest and water.”
I yielded to JayJay’s commands and let him tug me across the sea of bouncy moss to the cavern wall. “You holding out on me?” How the hell did he know that there would be a little cave behind all those vines?
