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stomach into flight. Damn. That was so not a good thing. What could he possibly want?
    "I wanted to make sure you were all right after being locked in that tunnel. And you didn't give me your cell number."
    She flopped on the bed. "What? Oh. Here it is." She rattled off the number of her cell. Although she rarely used it, she'd rather her phone calls were private and off her mother's radar. "And yeah. I'm fine. I wasn't really locked in."
    "So what do you call it then? I'd planned on asking you about it today, except you left so quickly, I didn't get a chance."
    "Sorry about that. Not to worry, I'm fine," she said lightly. Silence stretched between them. She took a deep breath. She shouldn't say anything. She should keep her mouth shut. "I might go back there."
    "What!"
    She winced. "You don't have to shriek. God, you sound like a girl."
    "Great. Thanks for that." She could almost feel his glare through the phone.
    She rolled her eyes and sat up. "There's something weird going on. I want to check it out."
    "And get locked in permanently next time?"
    "Yeah, now that's one of those weird parts I don't understand. How could you have been passing by at exactly the right moment? Not to mention how could you have opened that door? When I tried, it was locked up tight."
    The ensuing silence was ominous. The tone of his voice dropped, giving it a dangerous edge. "You tried to open the door? When?"
    "Right after you got me out, remember Then again after school. I wanted to explore the entrance, only I couldn't open the door. It had a weird lock on it."
    "I'd imagine that's to keep people out. Did you ever consider how dangerous it might be to go back to that place?"
    "Uhm." She grinned. "Not really."
    "Are you always this impulsive?"
    She shrugged. "Yeah, maybe."
    "I can't believe it. You need a keeper." Outrage shimmered through the phone.
    "Like that's going to happen," she scoffed. "And if you don't have any other reason for calling, I'll say good-bye now." She didn't feel like getting chewed out by him any more than she did by one of her teachers.
    "Wait. Look, please don't go back into the mine. It's dangerous. I don't want you to get hurt or lost."
    Storey lifted an eyebrow and stared down at the phone. He didn't? How'd that happen? "I won't. I'm used to doing things alone."
    "I don't care." Exasperation slipped into his voice. "Please don't go alone."
    "I have to. There's no one to go with me."
    "I will. I'll go with you."
    ***
    He hadn't said that, had he? That way? Damn. Yes, he was supposed to get close to her, only he hadn't wanted to get close to her. The night sky had deepened, darkened to obsidian. What he really wanted was to protect her from doing something foolish that could impact both their dimensions. But what that could be, he didn't know. Humans had an insatiable curiosity and a self-destructiveness that horrified his people. If they killed themselves off, it wouldn't impact his people. If they killed the planet though, both sides would die.
    For that reason, his government had worked hard at not letting Storey's people know they existed. His home had to be protected from the uncontrolled humans. A veil separated their worlds and all access to crossover points had to go through a major vetting process. Only the best of the scientists were allowed over and only with a strict security detail. In this way they could keep watch over the Earth in the human's dimension.
    Their shared planet had to be protected. They just didn't know how at this point. The population of his world was less than one percent of Storey's yet still spread across the same area, so hidden surveillance was the only way.
    Everything had been in happy harmony for ages, until this. No treachery was involved. Just a simple accident and a scientist had lost something that could put both worlds at risk. A team had been dispatched immediately. They'd followed the inherent energy of the ancient tool to its location only to watch as one of the