Zoe reached over and shook me. “Arcade, what is happening to you?” She put her hand over my heart and immediately pulled it back like she’d just touched a hot stove. “Hey! That crazy thing is blazing again!”

The Triple T Token had come back to life, hotter than ever!

“Uh-oh!” I pulled the token out from under my shirt. The thing was smoking! “I guess we know what’s coming next . . .”

“Fan it! Blow on it! Cool it down!” Zoe waved her hands so wildly she shook the bike carriage.

I held the token out from my body.

Glitter swirled up from the floor of Elijah’s pedicab carriage. It heated my face, like the sparks from the campfires we used to build in Virginia. The shiny pieces popped and snapped.

“Got any marshmallows?” I asked. Zoe smacked me in the arm.

“I’m not ready for this, and you’re delirious from heat. Let’s ignore it. Please.”

“Zoe. I feel like I’m going to explode! That’s a little difficult to ignore! And you know that the doors—”

I didn’t have to finish, because the elevator doors materialized right in front of us in the carriage. They were gold, with orange and red flames projecting on them as if they were a movie screen. A golden coin slot popped out of the middle.

“We gotta go,” I said to Zoe. “You know we gotta go.”

Zoe buried her head in her hands. “Where? Where to this time?”

I stood, licked my fingers, and reached for the fiery token. I pulled it off the chain. “I don’t know. I never know. But if it works the same way it always does, Elijah won’t miss us at all.”

Zoe gathered her backpack and stood up. “Ugggggh. I hope there’s drinking water where we’re going.”

I carefully placed the token in the coin slot and jumped back when there was a loud POP! The doors opened. A cool breeze from air-conditioning hit our faces. Two large water bottles sat on a small table in the middle of the elevator.

“Hmm. Looks like it heard you, Zoe.” I stepped in. My sister followed. I grabbed a water bottle off the table, twisted the cap off, and gulped down the icy water. “Ahhhh. Refreshing.”

Zoe reached for her bottle, but as she did, the doors closed, and the elevator lurched, knocking it off the table. And then the car plummeted.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH! HOLD ON, ARCADE!”

“HOLD ON TO WHAT?” I dropped to the floor. The elevator jerked up and down. Loud noises that sounded like we were in a construction zone assaulted my ear drums. Dust seeped in through the crack between the doors. Zoe and I covered our mouths with our hands.