WARNING: badly written but a rewrite is up on my page
WORTH | When Lorna Jackson's brother is missing, she tries looking for him. But instead, she finds someone who will change her life for the better.
❝ So what is your type? ❞
❝...
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27. Mellie
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Lorna's jaw dropped. The central section of Aeolus's fortress was as big as a cathedral, with a soaring domed roof covered in silver. Television equipment floated randomly through the air —cameras, spotlights, set pieces, potted plants. And there was no floor. Leo almost fell into the chasm before Jason pulled him back.
"Holy—!" Leo gulped. "Hey, Mellie. A little warning next time!"
An enormous circular pit plunged into the heart of the mountain. It was probably half a mile deep, honeycombed with caves. Some of the tunnels probably led straight outside. Other caves were sealed with some glistening material like glass or wax. The whole cavern bustled with harpies, aurai, and paper airplanes, but for someone who couldn't fly, it would be a very long, very fatal fall.
"Oh, my," Mellie gasped. "I'm so sorry."
She unclipped a walkie-talkie from somewhere inside her robes and spoke into it: "Hello, sets? Is that Nuggets? Hi, Nuggets. Could we get a floor in the main studio, please? Yes, a solid one. Thanks."
"Nuggets? That's making me hungry." Lorna clutched her stomach.
A few seconds later, an army of harpies rose from the pit —three dozen or so demon chicken ladies, all carrying squares of various building material. They went to work hammering and gluing—and using large quantities of duct tape, which didn't reassure Lorna. In no time there was a makeshift floor snaking out over the chasm. It was made of plywood, marble blocks, carpet squares, wedges of grass sod —just about anything.
"That can't be safe," Jason said.
"Oh, it is!" Mellie assured him. "The harpies are very good. "
Easy for her to say. She just drifted across without touching the floor, but Jason decided he had the best chance at surviving, since he could fly, so he stepped out first. Amazingly, the floor held. Lorna gripped his hand and followed him.
"If I fall, you're catching me."
"Uh, sure."
Lorna held out her hand for Piper to hold.
Leo stepped out next. "You're catching me, too, Superman. But I ain't holding your hand."
Mellie led them toward the middle of the chamber, where a loose sphere of flat-panel video screens floated around a kind of control center.
A man hovered inside, checking monitors and reading paper airplane messages. The man paid them no attention as Mellie brought them forward. She pushed a forty-two-inch Sony out of their way and led them into the control area.
