Michael's face before he stabbed it with a mind sword. "Yep."
We reached Phipp's Plaza in record time thanks to Michael's black Porsche and Elyssa's supernatural driving skills. I left a handprint embedded in the door handle, happy I hadn't broken it. Sure, a wreck probably wouldn't have killed us thanks to our healing abilities, but I'd lived most of my life as a vulnerable nerd. After a terrifying ride down the spiral driveway into the giant cavern beneath the Phipp's parking garage, Elyssa slid the car into a parking space next to a giant Rolls Royce someone had apparently dipped in purple glitter paint, and adorned with decals of pink unicorns.
"G'day guvnah!" shouted the cheerful lad who cleaned up after the elephants, camels, and other assorted beasts, which arrived in the cavern via the towering Obsidian Arch set in the center of the space.
I waved back.
"Your hands are sweaty," Elyssa said as she wreathed her fingers into mine.
"Gee, I wonder why."
She laughed. "Did you decide which phone you want?"
"Yeah, I'm going with Orange." I watched the dung boy shovel a heap of crap into a wagon. "Who is that kid?"
Elyssa shrugged. "No idea."
"Does he live here? Have family? I mean, who do you have to piss off to get a job like this?"
"Why the curiosity all of a sudden?"
I gave her a questioning look. "All of a sudden? I've only been here three times. It's not like I've had much time to question the socio-economic situation of dung boys in super-secret towns built by angels and used as portals to zip from one side of the world to the other."
A deep throated laugh burst from her mouth. "Where in the world do you come up with this stuff?"
"Quite possibly the very bowels of hell."
We entered the towering doors leading into the Grotto itself. The town—if it could be called such a thing—looked like something right out of the history books. A cobblestone road known as Golden Way led past fancy shops constructed of black marble with green-slate roofs and shiny copper gutters. It had such an old world appeal, it could almost pass for an amusement park or the movie set for a film based in the days of sail-driven galleys and pirates.
Crowds of shoppers strolled casually through the maze of streets, colorful shopping bags in hand. A tired-looking sorceress led a group of excited children dressed in the green robes of elementary grade Arcanes down the street toward a store named Bixby's Arcane Supplies. A large, white wolf with blazing blue eyes nipped at the heels of straggling kids to keep them in line.
"Is that a werewolf?" I asked.
Elyssa followed my gaze. "If it was a normal wolf, it would eat the kids."
"Can you imagine how much better discipline would be at nom schools if we had werewolves?"
"Everyone would be too busy wetting their pants to pay attention," Elyssa said, laughing. She tugged my hand to keep me moving. "No time to sightsee today."
I groaned and continued on.
The sun shone brightly overhead and fluffy clouds drifted on a light breeze despite our location some hundred yards or so underground. The temperature felt pleasantly cool and warmer than the gray chilly city aboveground.
I tried not to stare like a tourist but ended up rubbernecking every few seconds as one bizarre sight after another caught my eyes. This place was just weird—juxtaposed between our reality and some other place. A sudden thought hit me like a brick wall and I stopped in my tracks. A hurrying shopper bumped into me and muttered an apology, though her pinched eyebrows and glare said something else entirely.
"What is it?" Elyssa said, turning to look through the window of the shop where we stood. A skimpy outfit made from sheer fabric hung from a very lifelike looking mannequin in the display and left very little to the imagination. "You want me to try it on?"
I imagined Elyssa's athletic curves pressing tight against the scant outfit and felt a blush creeping up my neck. "Um, actually I was thinking of something else."
"You want to try it on?" She winked. "I'm sure you'd look sexy."
I laughed uneasily. "Exactly." I took her arm and led her down the sidewalk and away from the distraction. "Actually, I remembered something you told me about this place when I first arrived. About how this place exists in our world and somewhere else."
"What about it?"
"Nightliss's people—angels, or whatever you want to call them—built the framework for this place, right? And supernaturals have