Seven Wonders Book 3 by Peter Lerangis

need to return the Loculi and close the breach,” Cass said. “But here’s the bonus—if the Loculi are put back into the Heptakiklos, and their energy is in balance, moob! We’re cured. We have long, happy lives as superbeings and awesome people.”
    Our words hung in the air. Dad looked at each of us for what felt like a long time. “And you believe all this?”
    â€œWe’ve seen the evidence,” I said. “Cass has talon marks from the griffin. We made the Colossus of Rhodes rise from rocks. We traveled to Ancient Babylon in a parallel world progressing at one ninetieth the speed of our own.”
    Cass had pulled open his shirt to show the griffin scars, but Dad was shaking his head. Both of his heads, actually—my eyes were starting to see double. I shook it off, but my head felt weird.
    â€œWhere are these things—the griffin, the Colossus, the ancient civilization?” he asked. “If all this happened, why wasn’t it in the news?”
    â€œAll destroyed,” I explained.
    Dad took a deep breath. “Look, I am so grateful that you’re alive. I know you’ve been through a lot. But I’m a man of science. I don’t doubt that these things happened, in some form. Many miraculous things happen. But all of them are explainable by physics, biology, brain studies, perception.”
    â€œSo you think we’re seeing things?” Aly said.
    Outside the room, I saw people in white lab coats racing to the operating room. We were running out of time, fast. And I was starting to feel queasy.
    I scooped up Torquin’s backpack, then took Dad’s hand. “Come with me, okay?”
    Bewildered, Dad followed me out of the office, down the corridor, and outside. Aly and Cass ran behind. From the end of the hallway, I could hear the strains of a ukulele playing “Oh! Susanna” accompanied by a voice that was a cross between a foghorn and a complicated belch.
    We left the building into the silence of the Mongolian steppe. The sun was beginning to set, and the early-evening chill soothed my aching head. I set the pack down against the glass building and took out the canvas bags holding the Loculi.
    â€œCan you see what’s in here?” I said, opening the bag that contained the Loculus of Invisibility.
    â€œNo,” Dad said. “There’s nothing.”
    I reached down into the bag until I felt the surface, keeping a careful eye on my dad’s reaction.
    As I disappeared from sight, he jumped backward. Cass and Aly each took one of his arms. “Jack?” he murmured. “What the—?”
    â€œI’m still here, Dad,” I said. “I am going to reach out and take your hand now. When I do, the power will transfer. You will see me and the Loculus, but you and I will be invisible to everyone else.”
    I touched his hand, and he gasped again. “Aly?” I said. “The other Loculus, please?”
    Aly took the Loculus of Flight from the other bag and approached Dad and me, hand outstretched. “Hang tight,” I said, clasping my hand around his wrist. “To Aly and to me. Really tight.”
    Dad grasped Aly’s hand. She began to rise, pulling him off the ground. He was heavy, and she went slowly, maybe about six vertical feet.
    â€œYeeeaagghh!” Dad cried out. His legs were dangling beneath him, his eyes wide as satellite dishes. “Set me down! Set me down!”
    Cass was cracking up. “Oh . . . oh . . .” he said, nearly choking on laughter. “Sorry . . . this is the funniest thing I’ve ever not seen.”
    Aly brought us down gently. When we were sure Dad was stable on his feet, we returned the Loculi to their bags. He was breathing shallow and hard. “What . . . just happened?”
    â€œThose,” I said, “are the first two Loculi. The third, we’re pretty sure, is a Loculus of Healing. We need to find it