Page 91 of It takes a Psychic

Leona shuddered. “If you hadn’t grabbed Roxy—”

“Try not to think about it,” Oliver said.

“Right.” Leona strode toward the gazebo and the spiral staircase. “Like I’m not going to have nightmares about sailing into a crematorium. Let’s get out of here.”

Roxy chortled and looked back at the river to Alien hell.

“No,” Leona said. “You don’t get another ticket for that ride. But I promise that when we get home I’ll take you on a very cool boat cruise.”

“How are you going to do that?” Oliver asked. “Illusion Town is in the middle of the desert.”

“I’ve got a plan.”

He smiled. “Plans are good.”

Chapter Forty-One

The ancient staircase wound upwardfor what must have been the equivalent of three or four stories. It was a tedious climb because, as was always the case in the Underworld, the steps were a little too wide and a little too far apart to be comfortable for humans.

The other issue, Oliver knew, was that he and Leona had been through a lot recently. The five hours of sleep he had gotten last night had restored his senses, but he needed more rest in order to get back to normal. Same with Leona. Luckily, they had started out in good shape, but they could not keep going indefinitely. He had to get them somewhere safe, preferably off the damn mountain, by day’s end.

“Do you think the Aliens ever figured out how to build elevators?” Leona grumbled at one point.

“If they did, we’ve never come across one,” Oliver said.

“Then again, would we recognize an Alien elevator if we did find one?”

“There is that.”

“I wonder—” She rounded another twist in the staircase and stopped. “Here we go.”

“Aboveground ruins?”

“No. A hole-in-the-wall exit sealed by a vault door. No telling what’s on the other side.”

Oliver followed her around the final twist in the staircase and saw that she was looking up at a mag-steel door in the ceiling. A vintage ladder provided access. That meant that at some point in the past—evidently decades earlier, judging by the ladder—someone else had discovered the exit and secured it with a locked door.

More unknowns.

“Just one surprise after another here in Lost Creek,” he said. “I’ll take a look.”

Roxy had been bouncing up the staircase under her own steam. She chortled and her ears perked up.

Leona glanced down at her. “Little adrenaline junkie. I would have thought you’d had enough excitement for one day.”

Roxy was practically vibrating with anticipation.

“She doesn’t look worried,” Leona said. “That’s a good sign.”

Oliver reached the heavy trapdoor and studied the lock mechanism. “This is old. Era of Discord tech, or maybe even earlier.”

Leona studied the door. “I wonder if it was intended to be an emergency escape hatch for Vance.”

“Maybe.” He tested the door. “It’s locked.”

“Want me to open it?”

“Thanks, but I’ve got this.”

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