Six laughed. It hurt. She coughed.
“I thought you told Lexa you were fine,” said Nine.
“I didn’t want you to worry,” Six said. She tried to turn her head. “Where’s the Mog?”
Nine looked around. “Gone,” he said. “Probably ran off when she saw me coming.”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Six said, coughing again.
“We need to get you out of here,” Nine said, sliding his hands under her and lifting her up.
“You don’t have to carry me,” Six said. “I can walk.”
But she couldn’t. Now that she was no longer alone, her body finally demanded rest. She gave in, closing her eyes and letting exhaustion sweep over her. All her worries—Eleni, the monsters, Sam, the parasite—retreated as she shut down. It felt as if she was falling into thick blackness. She surrendered, her head falling against Nine’s chest, and the world went dark.
CHAPTER FIVE
NEMO
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
NEMO HEARD THE FLIES BEFORE SHE SAW THEM.
She and Max were standing in the lobby of the Saturn Hotel, where Nine had told them to wait while he investigated what was happening in the tunnel connecting the hotel to the adjacent arena. Judging from the throngs of panicked people running through the lobby from that direction, Nemo guessed that whatever it was, it was bad. Several people had stumbled through covered in blood, and she’d heard the word “monster” used more than a few times.
The hotel staff didn’t seem to know what to do. A couple of security guards had come through, heading in the direction of the screaming, but hadn’t returned. The desk clerks were huddled behind the counter, looking at one another with dazed expressions as frenzied guests demanded answers.
“Looks like we got here just at the right time,” Nemo remarked.
“Or the wrong one,” said Max. “Do you hear those roars?”
Of course Nemo heard them. They seemed a lot like the roars of the monsters Magdalena had let loose in the bunker. Nemo had no doubt these sounds were coming from something even worse. Part of her wanted to go see for herself, but another part—she liked to think it was the more cautious part, and not the more fearful part—told her to stay where she was and wait for Nine to come back.
That’s when the buzzing became impossible to ignore. At first, she had thought the sound had something to do with all the commotion in the tunnel. Now she realized that it was coming from inside the hotel. And it was getting louder.
“What is that?” she asked, looking around.
The elevator doors at one end of the lobby opened and the swarm blasted into the room, a black cloud that seemed to explode, filling the air with the incessant hum of wings. Walking out of the elevator after the flies was Seamus. He strode into the lobby with his hands held up, magician-like, an expression of sadistic joy on his face as he watched people trying to swat away the insects he’d called together to form his army.
When he saw Nemo and Max standing there, his expression changed. He scowled. Then he moved his hands, pointing them at his former friends. The flies coalesced into a smaller ball and barreled towards Nemo and Max like a cannonball. Instinctively, Max and Nemo raised their hands and formed a telekinetic barrier. The flies struck it, many of them falling to the floor dead. The rest broke apart, swirling off to regroup under Seamus’s orders.
“I’m getting better at this,” Max said, grinning.
Seamus attacked again, this time forcing the flies to make several different balls. Nemo and Max turned in circles, trying to deflect all of them, but there were too many to fight simultaneously. Within seconds Nemo found herself at the center of a buzzing cyclone, with flies crawling over her face. Their tiny wings and legs scratched at her lips and eyes. She swatted at them, feeling them crush beneath her fingers. The sensation was almost worse than the actual attack, and yet the awfulness of it was enough to make her want to run from the hotel.
Which was exactly what Seamus wanted. Only when Nemo was able to get close to the lobby doors could she see that something worse awaited her if she left, as many of the guests had discovered. Outside, the real monsters were waiting. Three huge dinosaur-like creatures were in the street in front of the Saturn Hotel. People who had run out there trying to get away from one horror were now confronted with a worse one, as the things were blocking their escape. Dozens of people stood in frightened knots as the monsters circled them, seeming to herd them.
Nemo didn’t know what to do. Wiping more flies away from her eyes, she turned back to see what Max was doing. Seconds later, the flies lifted away from her face and disappeared. Nemo shuddered, wiping the few remaining ones off her. She didn’t know why the flies had given up, but she was relieved that they had. She scanned the lobby, looking for Max.
She spied him on the floor, on top of Seamus. They were fighting. Max appeared to have the upper hand, as he was straddling Seamus’s chest and punching him in the face. Seamus was blocking the blows with his hands and attempting to throw Max off. At first Nemo wondered why Max had resorted to fighting Seamus physically. Then she realized that the surprise and distraction were likely what had stopped Seamus from using his insect telepathy, at least temporarily.
She ran over to where the boys were fighting, determined to help Max subdue Seamus. But before she could get there, something hit the ground nearby and exploded, startling her. She stopped and looked around. On the other side of the lobby, near the check-in desk, stood one of the boys she’d encountered in Utah. Boomer. He was dressed in the same black clothes, and watched her with the same peculiar expression of disinterest that she remembered from before.
Boomer picked something up from the counter, a glass paperweight shaped like the planet Saturn. Hefting it in his hand, he held it out in front of him as it began to glow, first a pale yellow and then a fiery orange. He had turned it into an explosive device.
He threw it. But this time Nemo was ready. She reached out with her telepathy, grabbing the orb and hurling it back at Boomer. His expression changed from one of bored indifference to one of fear as he saw his own missile coming at him. Just in time, he ducked, and it hit the wall behind him, exploding in a shower of sparks that sent Boomer falling to the ground, his arms over his head.
Nemo used the distraction to cover the distance between her and the boys. The momentum of that skirmish had changed. Seamus, bigger than Max, had managed to get out from underneath him. Now they were grappling like wrestlers, Seamus’s arms around Max’s middle. Then Max threw his head back, slamming it into Seamus’s nose. Blood spurted and Seamus let go, bringing his hands to his face and swearing forcefully.
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.