Then it all disappeared.

CHAPTER 19

HEAT

1

The world vanished around them, and when it came back again, Michael and Sarah were inside a dimly lit cave. The walls were made of black stone.

“Oh man,” Michael said with a groan. He sat up and crawled to the closest wall of the cave, leaning back against it. “I’ll be one happy dude if I never see another animal in my life. Especially the ones that turn into demons.”

“Amen to that.” Sarah was sitting on the opposite side of the rocky space, and it was hard for him to look at her—she was pale and bloody. “Or a forest. Or a hallway. Or a stone disk.”

“I’d love to see a cheeseburger right about now, though.” His stomach rumbled with hunger.

“Don’t torture me.”

He looked deeper into the cave, down a long corridor. There was an orange glow coming from within that felt warm and cozy. Michael pictured little dwarves living back there, sipping tea and eating some hearty stew.

“How in the world did we survive that?” Sarah asked.

“Because of you” was Michael’s answer. “Because you didn’t panic, and you found a way out.”

Sarah was quiet a moment, as if she was thinking. “It wasn’t that hard, you know. It’s almost like in some spots they left us a way to hack free, in others they didn’t.”

“Don’t be so humble. You’re just really good.”

She didn’t respond, seemingly lost in thought again.

Michael gave her an expression of exaggerated wonder. “Seriously, when did you become a superhero? You’re like Batman meets the Hulk.”

“You have a gift for making a compliment sound like an insult.”

“I do my best.”

Sarah smiled. “Come on. Let’s start exploring—we know we’re going to hit a bunch of crap, and I want to get it over with.”

Michael sighed. Even though they’d gotten a meal and a few hours of sleep before the demon attack, he was exhausted. And the hunger pangs made even the rocks scattered across the ground look slightly appetizing.

“No thinking, though,” Sarah warned. “Let’s just keep moving.”

“Okay.” Michael knew she was right. Getting busy was definitely the answer.

But he didn’t move right away. Something she’d said—about the Path leaving almost obvious weak spots here and there—had triggered some thoughts. It seemed related to the creepy voice he’d heard so many times—the voice saying his name and telling him he was doing well. What could be the purpose of that? What did it mean? It seemed to fly in the face of everything they were doing. The whole point of the VNS sending them into the Sleep to find the Path and the Hallowed Ravine was so they could lead the VNS to Kaine. The VNS wouldn’t know if he was doing well until he found Kaine—who was supposed to be hiding.

Didn’t that make the Path a firewall, put in place by Kaine to keep people out?

Yet …

“Cat got your tongue?” Sarah finally said.

Michael wiped at his tired eyes. “What’s that?”

“Cat got your tongue?”

“What does that mean?”

“Huh? You’ve never heard that before?”

Michael stretched his arms, trying to psyche himself to get up. “Yes, I’ve heard it. But I’m pretty sure it’s something old people say.”

“Whatever. Why so quiet?”

“Just thinking about things. About the Path. Kaine. Everything.”

“Didn’t I just say no thinking?” Sarah said. “Not that I really meant it.”

Michael smiled and nodded, but he was even more unsettled now. The Path didn’t add up. Again, if it was supposed to keep them out, then why did it have places in the coding that seemed meant to guide them? Even the concept of a trail in the first place. Michael had been so busy trying to stay alive, he hadn’t thought about it like that before.

And the more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed. “The Path” was an odd name for programming that was meant to keep you out. Maybe it wasn’t a firewall after all. Maybe it was something else entirely.

2

With another groan from the aches and pains, Michael forced himself to stand up. Then he pointed toward a long corridor at the rear of the cave, seemingly the only way out. “What do you think is back there?”

“Lava.”

She said it so quickly Michael was surprised. “Really?”

“Yeah. I think this is a volcano—the black rock is cooled magma.”

“So a big river of molten fire could come bursting through this tunnel at any second?”

“That sounds about right.”

It just kept getting better and better, Michael thought. “Ha. Well, we’ll show them. We won’t wait—we’ll walk right into it like a couple of bumbling idiots.”

Sarah gave him a weary grin.

“You look terrible, by the way,” Michael added.

She glared at him, though it didn’t last long before turning into a smile. “I can’t possibly look any worse than you do.”

“Don’t worry. You still look pretty, just in a terrible sort of way.” It sounded dumb, but he really meant it.

“Thanks, Michael.”

After all they’d been through, there was a bond between them that he couldn’t imagine feeling with anyone else. “When this is all over,” he finally said, “I really want to meet out in the Wake. I promise I’m even better-looking in person.”

“And I’m probably worse.” She laughed, a sound they both needed to hear.

“I wouldn’t care. I swear I wouldn’t. That’s what’s so great about the Sleep. I know who you are inside, and that’s all that matters.” He’d never said something so cheesy in his entire life.

“That’s actually really sweet, Michael.”

He blushed. “Plus, I bet you are hot.”

“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes but kept her gaze trained on Michael. “It’s a deal—as soon as we finish saving the VirtNet—a day out in real sunshine.”

“Deal.”

She shifted, then pushed herself up to her feet, groaning. Michael understood all too well—parts of his body that he hadn’t known existed the day before were screaming in pain.