Chapter 39
IN AN INSTANT, I was back in Kentucky—and back in time.
In fact, Mel had her cell phone out.
“Wow,” she said. “I was just about to call you.”
Apparently I had picked up a few extra minutes and landed in yesterday before Mel had gone into the horse barn to make her phone call to me in New York. If I had yet to save the world from the wrath of Number 2, at least I was saving Mel some minutes on her dad’s monthly phone bill.
Mel threw her arms around my neck and hugged me like she never wanted to let me go—or to let me go anywhere ever again. To be honest, the idea of mucking horse stalls with Mel for the rest of my life sounded like the most totally awesome thing I have ever imagined and, as you know, I can imagine some amazingly incredible stuff.
I savored the moment. For a full five seconds.
“So, how about you don’t do that again,” Mel said as we came out of our embrace. “One Daniel is hard enough to keep up with.”
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“You mean other than being worried sick about a certain Alien Hunter?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m fine. Dad says we’re totally safe here. His whole squad is camped out in the house, in the barn, out in the fields. And they’re decked out with all kinds of ray guns and junk they’ve confiscated from extraterrestrial outlaws.”
I had a hunch I had already seen most of the alien weaponry they were armed with at some point in time, when it had been aimed at me.
“I need to check in with Xanthos,” I told Mel.
“What do you want us to do?” asked Joe.
Yes, my “squad” was in Kentucky, too. Joe was chowing down on a bucket of Extra Crispy KFC, a box of Colonel’s Crispy Strips, and a tub of Popcorn Chicken. Emma was over in the paddock, petting a pony. Willy and Dana were in the barnyard, standing beside Joe.
Holding hands.
“What’s next, Daniel?” Dana asked, trying to seem nonchalant.
I knew Dana wasn’t just asking about what was going to happen next in our battle against Number 2. She was wondering what came next for us.
Before I could answer, she said, “Think about it. In the meantime, Willy and I are going for a walk.”
“We are?” Willy looked pleasantly surprised.
Dana cuddled up closer to him. “You want to see what’s behind that horse barn, don’t you?”
Willy’s face went beet red. “I guess. I mean, if it’s okay with you, Daniel.”
“Sure,” I said. “We have time. I need to check in with Xanthos, work up a plan.”
“A plan might be good,” Dana said, giving me a look. Then she leaned up to whisper something in Willy’s ear.
His face went from beet red to I-just-ate-a-pound-of-jalapeño-poppers red.
“Are you okay?” Mel asked as I watched Dana and Willy, strolling hand in hand, disappear behind the barn.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m fine.”
“You sure? You don’t mind Dana and Willy’s nonstop PDA activity?”
“That? Nah. I’m cool. I couldn’t care less about them. Hey, I have a world to save, remember?”
Mel faked a smile and acted like she believed me.
Heck, I didn’t believe me, either.