“We will ride all of the escalators,” I say before taking a look at the Door and stepping through it.
Chapter Eleven
Riley
“He’s really fucking hot,” Mickey says.
“Oh, very hot,” Joy concurs.
I chuckle. “He’s single for life, I believe. God of love and sex or something. Oh, and war.”
“That sounds a bit… scary… but also hot,” Mickey says. “I don’t think I’d have the stamina to keep up with him. I could just lie there, though. Have you seriously stayed with him for days and not tapped that?”
“I would tap that,” Joy comments.
“I wouldsotap that,” Mickey agrees. “And you haven’t, Riley?”
“Nope,” I say as I watch the Door.
Why do I feel a little bit anxious? I mean… if he doesn’t come back, what does it matter? It’s not like a god from another realm was just going to permanently live in my apartment… and why would I want him to? My life can finally go back to normal. I can just go back to being boring and working at the library with nothing to do.
Kit cries and I assess her in disbelief.
“Did you evenlikehim?” I ask.
She jumps off my shoulder and walks up to the Door as she watches, like she’s eagerly waiting for him to return.
“It’s already been five minutes,” Mickey announces.
“He’s never done anything fast; I’m not surprised he’s lollygagging around,” I say.
Mickey sits down and before long he lies down in the middle of the field. “Look… there are clouds.”
“Yeah, there generally are,” I say while I stare at that doorway, but I feel no fluctuation of magic from it as if he’s coming through.
“What do you think Torin’s world is like?” Mickey asks, still lying on the ground and watching the clouds. Glancing over, I see that Joy appears to have gotten tired of standing as well and is sitting on him like he’s a chair.
“It clearly doesn’t have technology,” I say, realizing that I never really asked him what his world is like or why he left it.
I continue to watch the Door while Mickey takes this opportunity to nap. Enough time passes that Joy gets bored and heads off on a walk for a bit before returning just to give Mickey a kick. “Work is calling.”
“Joy, noooo. I was having the best dream of my life. Pedro Pascal told me I was cute. He toldmethat I’m cute!” Mickey whines. “How long’s it been?”
“Over an hour,” I say. “You ever gone through a Door?”
“Hell no. I can barely make it through my front door in the morning. Riley, don’t you dare. You have no idea whether you’ll make it back.”
I lift my chin in determination. “I will.”
“Riley, come on, it can’t be healthy to never fear anything! Like what the hell is wrong with you? Don’t you dare go!”
I grab Kit, and without a second thought, I step through the Door.
I don’t really know what I was expecting, but the spacious and beautiful hallway I find myself standing in wasn’t it. The floor is made up of something that looks like marble which glistens when the sun hits it through magnificent windows. The ceilings are tall and the windows stretch up nearly to the top of them.
“Holy shit, Kit… I think he’s the real deal. I’m pretty sure one tile of this flooring costs more than my whole apartment,” I say while I start down the hallway, pulling in all the sights as I go. The room I step into is immense, with a huge table that could easily seat thirty people. Beyond it, the room opens up into a large area where I could envision balls being held. The ceiling has been painted in golds and silvers, showing a portrait of a god who looks very much like Torin astride a strange-looking creature that is far weirder than the subway.
“This place is stunning,” I comment, absolutely amazed. As I walk, my footsteps echo around the beautiful room before I come to a large hallway, even grander than the one I’d found myself in when I arrived. I push open the first door and find it filled with long chaises and chairs covered in what looks like velvet. Hell, his reading nook is larger than my entire apartment.
