Max whirled around and kicked Seamus in the stomach, pushing him backwards so that he fell down. He advanced on Seamus, fists raised. Nemo had never seen his stony face before. He was seriously angry, and wasn’t going to back down.
Blood soaked the front of Seamus’s shirt as he prepared to meet Max. Nemo saw him ball his hands into fists, and when the sound of buzzing increased, she knew he was going to try once more to use his Legacy against them.
At the same time, another glowing item struck the floor by Max’s feet. He yelped as whatever it was exploded, dancing away from the flames that licked his jeans. Nemo ran to him and grabbed his hand.
“Come on,” she said, dragging him towards the elevators.
“But—” Max objected.
“You can kick his ass later,” Nemo said. “I promise.”
The doors of one of the elevators were open. Nemo pulled Max inside and hit a button at random, aiming for a high floor. As the doors slid shut, something crashed against them. One of Boomer’s little bombs, Nemo thought as the elevator started up.
“Where are we going?” Max asked. “And why? I almost had Seamus.”
“Yeah,” Nemo agreed. “You did. But what were you going to do with him?”
Max looked at her. “Pay him back for being a traitor,” he said, as if this was the stupidest question she could ask.
“And after that?”
Max shrugged. “I hadn’t gotten that far,” he said.
“Exactly,” said Nemo. “Think about it. We don’t have anywhere to stick him. We don’t have anyone to help us. Everyone who works here is freaking out.”
“For good reason,” Max said.
“For very good reason,” Nemo agreed. “My point is, we’re on our own, at least until Nine shows up again. And we have more important things to do than beat the crap out of Seamus and Boomer. Besides, if those two are here, there are probably more of them. Like Freakshow.”
Max made a face. “That girl is bad news,” he said.
“Right,” Nemo said. “So let’s try to stay away from her and do something useful, like find Sam.”
“We don’t have any idea where he is,” Max reminded her. “He might not even be here.”
“I think he is,” said Nemo. “All of this is happening here for a reason. I think Sam is here, too.”
“Okay,” Max said. “But there are like two thousand rooms in this place. He could be anywhere. And I’m guessing he’s not by himself.”
“Probably not,” Nemo admitted.
“And right now Seamus and Boomer are probably warning whoever is with him that—”
“I get it,” Nemo interrupted. “We’re still going to go look for him.” She patted her pocket, where she had stored two syringes containing the parasite antiserum. Nine had two as well, and whichever of them found Sam or Six first was supposed to administer it to them.
“I’m not saying your plan is bad,” Max said. “But like I said, there are more than two thousand rooms here and only two of us.”
“Housekeeping,” Nemo said.
“You mean like maids?” said Max.
“I hate that word,” Nemo said. “It sounds like they’re servants or something. But yeah, them.”
“How are they going to help us find Sam?”
“The housekeeping staff know everything,” Nemo said. “They’re in and out of these rooms all day long. And trust me, if they see anything weird, they remember it. My cousin Ha worked in a hotel last summer, and she had some crazy stories about what went on there.”
The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Nemo stepped out. They were on the sixty-third floor. It was deserted. But at one end she could see a room door propped open with a housekeeping cart.
“I’m surprised anyone is still working,” Max remarked as they walked towards the room.
“News probably hasn’t reached up here yet,” said Nemo. “This place is huge, and it’s not like the hotel is on fire—yet—so anyone who hasn’t been downstairs might not have any clue about what’s going on.”
They reached the room. From inside the sound of water running spilled out into the hall. Nemo stepped in and peered into the bathroom. A young woman knelt next to the tub, scrubbing it and humming along to a popular song that was just audible. She wore headphones. Max, looking around Nemo, said, “No wonder she has no clue the place is under attack.”
Nemo wasn’t sure how to get the girl’s attention without startling her, so she knocked on the bathroom door. The girl turned around and frowned.
“Hi,” Nemo said, trying to sound as friendly as possible. “I was wondering if you could help us find our friend. He—”
“What?” the girl said, removing the earphones.
“We’re looking for someone,” Max said impatiently. “Our friend Sam.”
“If he’s a guest here, you can ask at the front desk,” the girl said. “They’ll connect you.”
“Yeah, that might be a problem,” Max said. “See, there are these things attack—”
“The thing is, we’re not entirely sure he’s here,” Nemo said. “We’re hoping you might have seen him, though.”
The girl laughed. “Do you know how many people are staying in this hotel?” she said. “Thousands.” She sighed and glanced at the tub she was scrubbing. “And I think I’ve pulled their hair out of every drain in the place.”
“Gross,” Max said.
Nemo looked at the girl’s name tag, which was affixed to the front of her shirt. “Basia,” she said. “Um, this is kind of embarrassing. But Sam is actually my boyfriend.”
Max snorted, and Nemo shot him a dirty look. “Was my boyfriend,” she said. “See, he kind of ran off with this girl. And I think he brought her here.”
Basia was shaking her head, obviously about to tell them that there was nothing she could do to help. Before she could, Nemo burst into tears. “And it’s my birthday and he’s supposed to be here with me,” she wailed.
Basia’s face softened. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know what that’s like. It’s terrible.”
“It is,” Nemo said, forcing tears from her eyes. “And all I want to do is tell him that I don’t need him because I’ve got somebody way better.”
“Me?” Max said hopefully.
“Chad,” Nemo said. “My ex’s best friend.”
Basia laughed. “You go, girl,” she said. “But I don’t know the names of anyone in these rooms. Maybe if you have a picture of this guy. Sam, right?”
Nemo nodded. “I don’t,” she said. “I could describe him, but he looks like a lot of other guys.”
“But maybe you’ve seen the girl,” Max said. “She’s kind of hard to miss. Thin. Pink hair. A little on the weird side.”
“Room 7192,” Basia said instantly. “I don’t know if the guy you’re looking for is with her. She wouldn’t let me in to clean, so I don’t know who’s in there. But she ordered a ton of room service, and I had to cart all the dishes away.” She frowned. “You don’t forget people when they do stuff like that.”
“7192,” Nemo repeated. “Thanks. Oh, and you might want to see about leaving early. But be careful when you go downstairs, okay? Don’t go outside until you know it’s all right.”
“What’s going on?” Basia asked, suddenly looking worried. Her eyes went wide. “Is it a terrorist attack?”
“No,” Nemo said quickly. “There’s just a lot of . . . commotion . . . going on in front of the hotel. Some kind of accident, I think. It’s just safer for you to avoid it if you can. Is there another way out?”
“There’s an exit in the basement,” Basia said.
“Use that,” Nemo said. “On second thought, maybe stay up here until you know it’s safe. Okay?”
Basia nodded. She was already taking out her cell phone and dialing someone.
“Come on,” Nemo said to Max as she left the bedroom.
“Shouldn’t we tell her exactly what’s going on?” Max said. “You probably scared her to death.”
“She should be scared,” Nemo said. “And we warned her.”
Outside the room, she took hold of the cleaning cart and wheeled it in front of them.
“What do we need that for?” Max asked.
“You ever heard of the Trojan horse?” Nemo said.
“Sure,” said Max. “Supposedly, a million years ago the Greeks tricked somebody into letting them into their city by building a giant wooden horse and hiding soldiers inside of it. The people thought it was a gift, brought it into the city and, bam, soldiers everywhere.”
“It wasn’t a million years ago, and the city was Troy, but yes, that’s basically it,” Nemo said.
“What does a wooden horse have to do with this cart?” said Max.
“This cart is a lot like a wooden horse,” said Nemo as she stopped at the elevators and pressed a button.
“Except it’s not wooden and it’s not a horse,” Max pointed out.
Nemo lifted the top of the cart, which held things like little bottles of shampoo and tiny wrapped soaps. Underneath was an area partially filled with wadded-up sheets and towels. There was more than enough room for two people to hide inside.
The elevator came and they got in.
“Okay, but how are we going to get Magdalena, or whoever is in there, to bring the cart inside?”
By the time the doors opened on the seventy-first floor, Nemo had thought of an idea. She just needed a little bit of good luck to make it work.
She got it when she saw some dishes sitting on the floor outside of a room. She pushed the cart over and swept the toiletries from the top of it onto the floor.
“Get in,” she said to Max.
“What about you?” Max said.
“Someone has to push this thing,” Nemo explained. “I’m going to take it to the door of 7192 and tell them room service is there.”
“What if they didn’t order any room service?” Max argued. “I mean, this is kind of a weird time to be doing that, what with those monsters running around. I think they have bigger things to worry about than scarfing down some burgers and fries.”
“Have you got a better idea?” Nemo asked.
Max thought for a moment. “No.”
“Then get in.”
Max did. Nemo shut the top and arranged some dishes over it. They had metal cloches on them, so it wouldn’t be immediately obvious that there was no food. And the room’s occupants had left enough food on the plates that they at least smelled like a meal.
“If they open the door, I’m ramming this cart into whoever is standing there,” Nemo told Max as she wheeled him down the hall. “And if they tell me to leave it, you wait until they bring it inside. Then jump out and—”
“And what?” Max said.
Nemo thought. “And keep them busy until I can get in there and help you,” Nemo finished.
“This is the worst plan you have ever had,” Max said as Nemo turned a corner and headed for the part of the hall where room 7192 was. “You’re going to get us killed.”
Nemo ignored him, mostly because she was afraid he was right. But she was also right—it was the only chance they had to get into that room and see if Sam was in there.
She reached the door of 7192 and hesitated a moment. Then she knocked. A moment later a girl’s voice said, “Who is it?” It wasn’t Magdalena.
“Room service,” Nemo said, keeping her voice steady.
There was a pause. “Did one of you idiots order room service?”
Nemo heard several male voices answer her, all of them denying ordering anything. Nemo thought quickly. “It’s complimentary pizza,” she said.
It was a ridiculous ploy, and she was tempted to turn the cart around and get out of there before either a stranger opened the door and she had to make up something about having the wrong room or one of her enemies answered the door and she and Max would be in for the fight of their lives.
There was more conversation from behind the door. Then it swung open. Freakshow looked out at Nemo. Behind her, Nemo caught glimpses of Ghost and Spike.
It took Freakshow a few seconds to recognize Nemo. “What the—”
Nemo shoved the cart into the girl, using her telekinesis to give it extra momentum. Freakshow flew backwards, knocking into Spike. They fell to the ground, and Nemo wheeled the cart into the room and slammed the door behind her.
She flung up the top of the cart, sending dishes flying.
“Now!” she shouted.
CHAPTER SIX
SIX
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
SIX COULDN’T SEE THE THING THAT HAD WRAPPED its tentacles around her and was squeezing the life from her, but she fought against it with everything she had. She was somewhere dark, and cold, and every cell in her body screamed out in torment. It was as if she was on fire from the inside, like some terrible poison had suffused her veins and was pumping through her with every beat of her heart. She tried to breathe, but no air entered her lungs.
“Fight it!”
She heard the voice calling to her through the dark. It was familiar, but the pain racking her head made it impossible to think. She could only feel.
“Fight, Six!”
Whatever monster was trying to kill her redoubled its efforts. Only now she realized that it wasn’t anything outside her body. It was inside, and it was trying to claw its way out. It wanted to be free of her. But it also wanted to take her life with it, leaving her an empty shell.
She wasn’t going to let that happen. Whatever it was attempting to kill her, it was going to have to try harder than that. Even if she couldn’t see it or touch it, even if she had no idea what it was, she was going to be victorious.
“Come on.” The familiar voice sounded again in her ear. She felt something touch her arm. The prick of metal. Something thick and syrupy flooded her veins.
Then it was as if an electrical connection had been made. Somewhere in her brain, sparks fired. She felt the thing that was trying to control her pull away. It was afraid. Running. But there was nowhere for it to go. More connections formed. More sparks flew. It was as if a switch had been flipped and the machinery of her mind had come back to life.
Lights flickered behind her eyes. The tentacles binding her slid away. She could breathe. Then she felt the familiar sensation of her Legacy returning, suffusing her with power like warmth spreading throughout her body. She focused her energy, picturing it as a ball of swirling light the color of flames. Then she sent it throughout her body, chasing the darkness and filling her with dazzling brilliance.
She opened her eyes.
She was lying on the floor. Nine was kneeling beside her. He held a syringe in his hand, and he was looking down at her with an expression of concern that quickly turned to a grin of triumph.
“All right, then,” he said. “I guess we can tell the doc her antiserum works.”
“What did you do?” Six asked. She felt tingly all over, a little light-headed, but better than she remembered feeling in days.
“I think we killed the thing in your head,” Nine answered. “Or at least slowed it down long enough for you to come back. How do you feel?”
“Weird,” Six said, sitting up. “But actually pretty good.”
“Do something,” Nine said. “You know, with your Legacies.”
Six looked around. She had no idea where they were at first. Then she remembered—the show. They were backstage, surrounded by props and pieces of equipment. She focused on one of them, a wooden box about three feet high and just as wide. She lifted it up easily with her telekinesis, then set it down again. Then she tried going invisible. She barely had to even think about it before she blinked out. When she reappeared again she was smiling. “Looks like I’m back,” she said.
Then she remembered other things. “What happened to Eleni?” she asked. “And that—whatever it was.”
“Still out there somewhere,” Nine said. “We can deal with her next. I was more concerned about you.”
“Aww,” S
ix said. “You care.”
Nine snorted. “Hardly.”
Six touched her head. “It’s still in there,” she said.
“They’ll take it out back at HGA,” Nine said. “The one in Sam, too.”
“You have him?” Six said hopefully.
Nine shook his head. “Nemo and Max are looking into it,” he said. “But I’m not sure he’s even here. He could be anywhere.”
Six’s elation at having her Legacies back faded a little.
“Don’t worry,” Nine said. “We’ll find him.”
Six nodded. “What’s going on here anyway? What are the Mogs doing? And how did they manage it? Those things weren’t exactly tiny. Someone had to have helped them set this up.”
“Lexa did some snooping after you called us,” Nine said. “Turns out the Saturn Hotel is owned by one of Helena Armbruster’s companies.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
“My guess is they’ve been planning this for a while,” Nine continued. “Maybe with the help of someone inside Cirque des Étoiles.”
“But those things are huge,” Six said. “Where have they been keeping them?”
Nine shook his head. “How about we ask them when we catch them?” he said. “Speaking of that, are you up for getting going?”
He stood and offered Six his hand. She allowed him to help her to her feet.
“How do you feel?”
“Are you going to ask me that every five minutes, Dad?” Six said.
“Keep that attitude and there’ll be no ice cream for you, little lady,” Nine said, shaking his finger at her.
“I feel fine,” Six said. “Where to now?”
“We should probably follow the fire and the screaming,” Nine said.
They walked back into the arena. In the time that they’d been backstage, the fire department had arrived and was putting out the dozen or more fires blazing around the place. Seeing Six and Nine, one of the firefighters trotted over.
“You can’t be in here,” she said. Then she looked again. “Hey—you’re the Garde! What are you doing in here?”
The Legacy Chronicles: Killing Giants Page 5