There was counter seating and booth seating and we were able to take our pick, since everyone else in town was gawking at the fire. I ordered a burger, and Diesel ordered something called The Big Green, which it turned out meant they emptied the kitchen onto as many plates as it took and tried to cram them onto the small booth table. It was the equivalent of ordering half a cow at Fat Bubba’s Steak House. Eggs, pancakes with real maple syrup, bacon, hash browns, sausage, English muffin, and whatever else was buried under the eggs and potatoes.
Diesel shoveled it all in and got a maple-glazed cruller on the way out.
“Impressive,” I said to him.
“The food?”
“That, too.”
We walked back to the Sphinx and stared at it.
“I’ve got nothing,” I said to Diesel.
“It bothers me that Hatchet and Fire Woman are here, and we’re not seeing them.”
“Are we talking about Deirdre Early or Anarchy?”
“I’m counting on them being the same person.”
“Works for me. We haven’t seen Wulf, either.”
“I’m sure he’s here, somewhere. He’s probably napping in his Batmobile, waiting for the moon to come out.”
“You don’t like him.”
“There was a time when I admired and envied him. His skills came earlier than mine. But we made different life choices, and it’s placed us in an adversarial position.”
There were some guys and dogs playing with Frisbees on the lawn of a neighboring fraternity.
“Is that Alpha Delta?” I asked Diesel.
“Yeah. It’s the fraternity that inspired
“It’s also mentioned in a lot of references as having a secret tunnel to the Sphinx.”
Diesel looked at the Sphinx, and he looked at the frat house. He shrugged and set out across the grass. “We’ve run down every other ridiculous idea, and some of them got us to this point. We might as well run down
“No stone unturned,” I said, jogging to keep up with him.
He went straight to the front door and walked in, with me trailing behind. Two guys turned to look at us.
“Is Scott here?” Diesel asked.
“Yeah, somewhere.”
“I’ll find him,” Diesel said. “Thanks.” And he walked toward the back of the house and down a staircase.
“How do you know where to go?” I asked Diesel.
“They’re all the same,” Diesel said. “There’s always a guy named Scott, and there’s always a downstairs party room. And if there’s a tunnel, it’s not going to originate on the second floor.”
The downstairs party room was deserted at this time of the day. The light was dim and the room smelled like beer and salami. It had a bar at one end. Some leather couches. Photographs, banners, plaques, and paddles hung on the walls.
I opened a door to a utility closet and found a trapdoor in the floor. “Trapdoor,” I said to Diesel.
Diesel poked his head in and looked down at the door. “Shows promise.”
There were flashlights on a shelf in the utility closet. We each took one, closed the door to the closet, eased ourselves through the trapdoor, and descended into the cramped, dark sub-cellar. Copper water pipes and electrical cables snaked overhead, the floor was dirt, and a metal box sat in a far corner.
I wasn’t feeling wonderful about where I was at present, and I
“How about if I go back to the closet and stand guard,” I said to Diesel. “And you can push on.”
“Not necessary,” Diesel said. “No one knows we’re down here.”
“Did I ever mention my slight claustrophobia?”
“Yes. Did I ever mention my
I’d broken into a sweat, and my brain was screaming,
“It’s going to be okay,” he said. “You’re with me. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you.”
“I don’t want you to get too offended by this, but that’s not doing it for me. I’m having a panic attack. I can’t breathe. I’m suffocating. It’s too much dirt. There’s dirt everywhere.”
He pulled me flat against him, and he kissed me. His lips were soft, and his tongue touched mine, and I felt heat move through me. His arms wrapped around me, pressing me into him, the kiss deepened, and when he broke from the kiss, I wasn’t thinking about being buried alive under the Alpha Delta house anymore. I was thinking I wanted more kisses. A lot more. In fact, I wouldn’t mind if he put his hand on my breast. I wouldn’t even mind if he slipped his hand inside my…
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“What?”
“Do you still feel panicky?”
“You kissed me because I was having a panic attack?”
“Yeah. Did it work?”
I kicked him hard in the shin.
“Are you sure it’s not that time of the month?” Diesel asked.
I smacked the heel of my hand against my forehead. “Unh! Men.”
He grabbed my wrist and tugged me along a narrow tunnel. At least, I’m pretty sure it was narrow, because I had my eyes closed, but every now and then my arm brushed against the side. After what seemed like an hour but might have been minutes, Diesel stopped and I could sense the flashlight on me.
“You can open your eyes now,” he said. “We’re at the end of the tunnel. We’re going up.”
Praise the Lord.
Diesel climbed the ladder first. He shoved the overhead door open, and light flooded into the tunnel. I was so relieved, I almost burst into tears. I scrambled up the ladder after him and found myself inside what had to be the Sphinx. I’m not sure exactly what I’d expected, but it wasn’t what I found. I’d hoped it would be like Cleopatra’s barge, but it looked more like the Alpha Delta taproom.
One of the walls contained a fresco depicting St. Peter holding the keys to heaven. Odd for an Egyptian-themed temple, and in direct contrast to the opposing wall, which featured a poster of Jane Fonda as Barbarella.
“I like this fresco,” I said to Diesel. “It doesn’t completely belong in the room, but it’s very handsome.” I ran my hand across it and felt the energy. “And it’s empowered.”
Diesel moved next to me. “Can you isolate the part that’s empowered?”
I traced the fresco with my fingertip. “It’s the key.” I looked more closely. The Lovey Key was embedded into the fresco.
Diesel saw it, too. “Obviously, Wulf or Hatchet has passed through here, and the key must have attached itself on contact.”
I scanned the room. “How did they get in? You couldn’t open either door.”
“They probably came the same way we did.”
“A chubby guy in full Renaissance regalia and a man who looks like a vampire just walk into a frat house and let themselves into the dungeon under the taproom?”
“It’s a fraternity. You’d be surprised how often that happens. I know. I belonged to a fraternity.” He pressed the key and-
The door opened onto a narrow winding staircase positioned between the outside wall and the inside wall. I followed Diesel into the staircase, and when we were halfway down, the door closed with a click. I retraced my