Seven Wonders Book 2: Lost in Babylon Read Online Free Page B

Size gazillion wide. With feet in them.
    I ran to them, grabbed the ankles, and pulled. The legs slid out—Ohio State Buckeye sweatpants—and then a ripped-up KI polo shirt.
    From above, Fiddle shouted at me to give him CPR. How did you do CPR? I wished I’d taken a course. All I could think about were scenes in TV shows—one person blowing air into another’s lungs.
    As I lowered my mouth toward his, he snorted, swatted at me, giggled, and snored before his eyes flickered open from a deep sleep. “Jack? Hey, bro. I didn’t know you cared.”
    â€œWhat the—how—you were—we thought—” I stammered.
    â€œSpit it out,” Marco said, sitting up. “I’ve got time. I’ve been waiting for you. It gets boring here all alone.”
    He was in no harm. He’d just taken shelter for some rest. I helped him up and bear-hugged him. “Woooo-hooo!”
    Footsteps pounded the dirt behind me. Aly and Cass ran down a path from the lower side of the ridge. They had taken the long way around.
    â€œDudes!” Marco yelled. “And dudette.”
    As they jumped on him, laughing, squealing about how happy they were to see him alive, I stepped back. My initial jubilation was wearing off as quickly as it had come. Our reaction seemed somehow wrong.
    I watched his face, all pleased with himself, all happy-go-lucky returning hero. Everything we’d been through, all the hardship in Rhodes, the abandonment, the awful visit to Ohio—it all began to settle over me like a coat of warm tar. I flashed back to the last time I saw him, in a room at a hotel in Rhodes. With Cass lying unconscious on a bed.
    He’d skipped out on us. As if flying off with our only chance of survival was some kind of game. He hadn’t cared about anyone at the Karai Institute. Or how many lives he’d turned upside down.
    â€œBrother Jack?” Marco said curiously, staring out at me from the hugfest. “’Sup? You need a bathroom?”
    I shook my head. “I need an explanation. Like, when did you come up with the idea to find a Loculus by yourself? Just, whoosh, hey, I’ll go to Iraq and be a hero?”
    â€œI can explain,” Marco said.
    â€œDo you have any idea what we’ve been through?” I barked. “We just got back from Ohio.”
    â€œWait. Did you—go to my house?” he asked, his eyes widening,
    I explained everything—our trip to Lemuel, the visit to the house, the expressions on his mom and dad and sister’s faces. I could see Marco’s eyes slowly redden. “I . . . I can’t believe this . . .” he murmured.
    â€œJack, maybe we can talk about this later,” Aly urged.
    But Marco was sinking against the trunk of a pine tree, massaging his forehead. “I—I never wanted to go home. I remember how painful it was for Aly when she tried to call her mom.” He took a deep breath. “Why did you go there? Why didn’t you just follow my signal here? That’s what I thought you’d do.”
    â€œYour tracker malfunctioned,” I said. “It was off for a couple of days.”
    â€œReally?” Marco cocked his head. “So you risked everything and went to the States? For me? Wow. I guess you’re right, I do owe you an explanation . . .”
    â€œWe’re all ears,” Aly said. “Start from Rhodes.”
    â€œYeah . . . that hotel room . . .” Marco said. “It was hot, the TV shows were all in Greek, Cass was asleep. All I wanted to do was take a break. You know, hop on the old Loculus, maybe scare a few goats and come right back—”
    â€œGoats?” I said. Cass was in a coma!”
    â€œDumbest thing I ever did. I know,” Marco said. “I’m a moron. I admit it. But it gets worse. So I’m flying around, and I get distracted by this little island called Nísyros. Looks like a volcano