[Lorien Legacies 03.0] The Rise of Nine Read online

  ‘Okay,’ Six says. ‘That is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.’

  Eight teleports to her side and stands there, head cocked to the side as he scratches his chin, like he’s judging a show. Our heads snap back to the golden doorframe. The hands and feet are continuing their steady pace. Wait. There are two of him now! The one standing next to Six claps, opens his palm, and the piece of gold contracts and zips back into his hand. Immediately, the second Eight disappears.

  ‘Impressive,’ Crayton says, clapping his hands slowly and loudly. ‘ That will come in very handy sometime soon. At the very least, you will make an excellent distraction.’

  ‘I used it to sneak out of our house a few times,’ Eight admits. ‘Reynolds never figured out what I could do. Even before he died, I was always trying to figure out how to do the most with my Legacies.’

  Crayton throws Eight’s clothes to him, and picks up my Chest. ‘Now, we really need to get going.’

  ‘Aw, come on,’ Eight says, pulling on his pants. As he hops about, he bats his eyes at Crayton and says in a wheedling voice, ‘I just got my Chest back. Can’t I get reacquainted with it? I’ve missed it so much.’

  ‘Later,’ Crayton says curtly. When he turns towards us, though, I can see he is smiling.

  Eight drops the piece of gold inside the Chest and pulls out a green crystal, stuffing it into his pocket. He closes the Chest and picks it up with a dramatic sigh. In his most pathetic voice he says, ‘Oh, all right. Our reunion will just have to wait. Follow me, everybody.’

  ‘How often has Setrákus visited you in your dreams?’ Crayton asks. We’ve been walking more than five hours and we’re making slow progress up the mountain. Eight is leading us up a winding path that is more ledge than road. There’s a thin blanket of snow everywhere, and the wind is brutally strong. We’re all freezing, but Six protects us with her Legacy, pushing the wind and snow out of our way. Weather control is one of the more useful Legacies, that’s for sure.

  ‘He’s been talking to me for a while now, trying to trick me and get me to lose my temper,’ Eight says. ‘But now that he’s on Earth, it’s a lot more frequent. He taunts me, lies, and now he’s trying to get me to sacrifice myself so that you all can go back to Lorien. He’s been getting to me more than usual lately.’

  ‘What does that mean, exactly? “Getting to you”?’ Crayton asks.

  ‘Last night in a vision he showed me my friend Devdan hanging from chains. I don’t know if it’s a vision of something that’s actually happening or just a trick, but it’s really messing with my head.’

  ‘Four sees him, too,’ Six chimes in.

  Eight spins around with a surprised look on his face and walks backwards, his mind clearly putting the pieces together. His foot comes dangerously close to slipping off the ledge, making me gasp and reach out nervously. But he never wavers as he continues. ‘You know, I think I saw him last night. I forgot about it until now. He has blond hair? Tall guy?’

  ‘And better looking than you? Yup, that’s him,’ Six says with a smile.

  Eight stops backpedaling and looks thoughtful. The drop off to our left is almost two thousand feet. ‘You know, I always assumed it was me, but guess I was wrong,’ he says thoughtfully.

  ‘Assumed you were what?’ I ask, willing him away from the edge.

  ‘Pittacus Lore.’

  ‘Why would you think that?’ Crayton asks.

  ‘Because Reynolds told me that Pittacus and Setrákus were always able to communicate with each other. But now that I know Four can, too, I’m confused.’

  Eight starts walking forwards again when Ella asks, ‘How can anyone be Pittacus?’

  ‘Each of us is supposed to take on the roles of the original ten Elders, so I guess that means one of us will take on Pittacus’s role,’ Six explains. ‘Four’s Cêpan told him so, in a letter. I read it myself. Eventually, we’re supposed to become even stronger than them. That’s why the Mogs are moving so quickly now, before we become more dangerous, better able to protect ourselves and attack them.’ She looks over at Crayton, who is nodding as she speaks.

  I feel like I’m the only one who knows so little – nothing, really – of my history. Adelina refused to tell me anything, to answer a single one of my questions, or even hint at what I would one day be capable of. Now, I’m so far behind everyone else. The only Elder I even know of is Pittacus, never mind knowing which one I might become. I just have to believe I’ll figure out who I am when the time is right. Sometimes, I get sad when I think about everything I wish I already knew and when I think about what my childhood should have been. But there’s no time for me to mourn what can’t be changed.

  Ella comes to walk with me, brushing her hand against mine. ‘You look sad. You okay?’

  I smile at her. ‘I’m not sad. But I am mad at myself. I’ve always blamed Adelina for why I haven’t developed my Legacies the way that I might have. But look at Eight. He lost his Cêpan, but took what he had and just kept working at it.’

  We walk together in silence for a few more minutes, until Eight speaks. ‘Do you ever wish the Elders had given us our Inheritance in locked backpacks instead?’ Eight says, switching his Chest to the other arm.

  I look guiltily at Crayton. I move to take my Chest from him, but he just pushes me away gently.

  ‘I have it for now, Marina. Soon enough I’m sure you’ll need to bear its burden alone, but I’ll help while I can.’

  We walk for another few minutes until the path along the ridge suddenly ends at a steep cliff. We’re a few hundred feet from the peak, and I stare over the Himalayas spread out on my left. The mountains are vast and seem endless. It’s a breathtaking sight, one I hope I’ll remember forever.

  ‘So, now where?’ Six asks, looking skeptically up at the mountain. ‘There is no way we can go straight up the peak. There don’t seem to be a lot of other options, though.’

  Eight points at two tall, hulking boulders leaning against the mountainside, and then clenches his hand. The boulders separate, revealing a curved stone staircase that winds around and leads inside the rock face. We follow Eight up to the stairs. I feel both claustrophobic and vulnerable. If someone follows us, there’s no way out.

  ‘Almost there,’ Eight says over his shoulder.

  The stairs are so cold; their iciness seeps up through my feet and body. They finally lead us to a huge rock cavern that has been carved out of the mountain.

  We pour into it, gazing around in awe. The ceiling is a couple hundred feet high, and the walls are smooth and polished. Carved deep into one of the walls are two sets of vertical lines several feet high and spaced five feet apart. A small blue triangle sits between the two lines, with three more curved lines carved horizontally above it.

  ‘Is that supposed to be a door?’ I ask, following the lines with my eyes.

  Eight steps aside, to let all of us see better. ‘It’s not supposed to be; it is a door. It’s a door to the far corners of the Earth.’

  14.

  I pull my hoodie up over my head and hunch my shoulders. Nine’s wearing a dirty Cubs cap and cracked sunglasses, items he found in the train yard where we jumped off. After an hour’s walk south, we’re standing against the wall of a platform, waiting for another train. This one is elevated. The el, as Chicagoans call it. The Chests in our arms stand out against the other passenger’s briefcases and backpacks, and I do my best to act casual. Bernie Kosar sleeps comfortably inside my shirt, now a chameleon. Nine is still kind of pissed that I was skeptical that anyone would put a safe house in such a densely populated area. I know Henri would never have chosen such an exposed place.

  We don’t speak as the train rumbles into the station. Bells chime, the doors slide open, and Nine leads me into the last car. When the train pulls away, we watch the city of Chicago slowly grow closer.

  ‘Just enjoy the view for now,’ Nine says. He looks more and more at peace the closer we get to the city. ‘I’ll tell you more when we get off.’

>   I’ve never been to Chicago before. We pass what feels like a million apartment buildings and houses as we clatter through the different neighborhoods. The streets below are full of cars, trucks, people, dogs being walked, babies being pushed in strollers. Everyone looks so happy, and safe. I can’t help but wish I were one of them. Just going to work or school, maybe for a walk with Sarah to get a cup of coffee. A normal life. Such a simple idea, but it’s almost impossible for me to picture. The train stops, people stream off and others push to get on. The train gets so crowded that two girls, a blonde and a brunette, are forced to stand practically leaning over us.

  ‘Like I said,’ Nine says, smiling happily, ‘just enjoy the view.’

  After a few minutes, the blonde kicks the Chest under my feet. ‘Ow! Jeez, guys. What’s with the ginormous boxes?’

  ‘Vacuum cleaners.’ I’m nervous and Nine’s story from the other night is the first thing that pops into my mind. ‘We’re, uh, salesmen.’

  ‘Really?’ The brunette asks. She looks disappointed. I sag a bit; even I’m a bit disappointed in my fictional life.

  Nine takes off his cracked sunglasses and elbows me in the ribs. ‘That was a joke. My friend here, he thinks he’s so funny. Actually, we work for an art collector and we’re taking these artifacts down to the Art Institute of Chicago.’

  ‘Oh, yeah?’ the blonde asks. The two girls glance at each other and look pleased. As she turns back to us, she tucks her hair behind her ear. ‘I’m a student there.’

  ‘Seriously?’ Nine says with a pleased smile.

  The brunette bends down, looking curiously at the intricate carvings on the lid of my Chest. I hate that she’s so close to it. ‘So, what’s inside? Pirate treasure?’

  We should not be talking to them. We shouldn’t be talking to anyone. We’re no longer just teenagers trying to blend in with the humans around us. We are alien fugitives who just destroyed a fleet of government vehicles. There’s a bounty on my head and I bet they’re putting one together for Nine right now. We should be hiding in the middle of nowhere, back in Ohio, or even out west. Anywhere but sitting on a packed train in the middle of Chicago, flirting with girls! I open my mouth to say that the Chests are empty, to make them stop asking questions and leave us alone, but Nine talks first. ‘Maybe my friend and I could swing by your place later this evening. We’d love to show you what’s inside then.’

  ‘Why don’t you just show us now?’ the brunette asks with a pout.

  Nine looks left and then right. He’s really hamming it up. ‘Because I don’t trust you yet. You two are kind of, ah, suspicious. You know that, right? Two beautiful girls like you, you’re right out of a spy movie.’ He winks at me. It suddenly dawns on me; he’s just as bad around girls as I am. He overcompensates and looks kind of ridiculous doing it. It makes me like him more, even if he is totally embarrassing us both.

  The girls look at each other and smile. The blonde digs into her purse, scrawls something on a scrap of paper and hands it to him. ‘The next stop is ours. Give me a call after seven and we’ll think about hooking up with you guys somewhere later. I’m Nora.’ I’m stunned his stunt worked.

  ‘I’m Sarah,’ the brunette says. Of course that’s her name. I shake my head. If that isn’t a blinking sign that we must end this conversation now, I don’t know what is.

  Nine reaches his hand out to shake theirs. ‘I’m Tony, and this handsome stud next to me is Donald.’ I clench my teeth and give them a polite wave. Donald?

  ‘Cool,’ Nora says. ‘Well, talk to you later.’ The train stops and they get off. Nine leans over and waves to them through the window. After the train pulls out of the station, Nine chuckles to himself. He is looking very smug.

  I elbow him in the ribs. ‘Are you nuts? Why would you deliberately draw that kind of attention to yourself – to us? You had no right to drag me into your stupidity. And, why in the world would you do anything to encourage them to look at our Chests? Let’s hope any girl stupid enough to buy your crap is too stupid to think too hard about any of it!’ I liked him a whole lot better when he just looked like a loser.

  ‘Calm down, Donald. You think you could keep your voice from squeaking so loud? It’s no big deal. Nothing is going to happen to us here.’ He leans back, hands folded behind his head. When he speaks again, though, he doesn’t sound so puffed up. ‘Sandor would have been so damn proud of me just now, you know? I bet you’d never know it, but normally, I’m crazy nervous around girls. And the more I like them, the worse it is. No more. After what I’ve been through this past year, nothing really scares me anymore.’

  I don’t respond. I slump down in my seat and watch the city get taller and taller, the architecture more interesting. There are playhouses, shops and beautiful restaurants all wrapped in glass. Some of the buildings shine so bright in the sun I have to shield my eyes. Cars clog the roads below us, their honks reaching us up on the track. No place could be more different from Paradise, Ohio. Our train stops and starts up again through two more stations, then Nine tells me to stand up. We’re next. A minute later we’re walking east on Chicago Avenue, each of us carrying our Chest under an arm. Lake Michigan is straight ahead.

  When the crowd around us thins, Nine says, ‘Sandor loved Chicago. And he thought it was smart to hide in plain sight in a city like this. No chance of sticking out, always a crowd to disappear into, that kind of thing. I mean, think about it, where are you more anonymous than in a busy city?’

  ‘Henri would never have allowed it. Being in a city like this would have freaked him out. He hated being anywhere he couldn’t keep an eye on anyone who might have an eye on us. On me.’

  ‘And that’s why Sandor was the best Cêpan that ever lived. He had rules, of course. First and most important, “don’t be stupid.” ’ Nine sighs. Amazingly, he has no idea how infuriating, how insulting this talk about Sandor is.

  I’m pissed and I don’t care who knows it. ‘Oh, yeah, if Sandor was so great, why did I find you in a Mogadorian prison cell?’ I feel horrible the minute I say it. Nine misses Sandor, and we’re in the last place they spent real time together, where Sandor told Nine he was safe. I know how powerful that kind of assurance is.

  Nine stops dead, right in the middle of a busy corner with people streaming past us. He steps up to me until our noses are inches apart. His fists are clenched, not to mention his teeth. ‘You found me in that cell because made a mistake. It was my mistake, not Sandor’s. And you know what? Where’s your Cêpan? You think yours was so much better than mine? Wake up, idiot! They’re both dead, so I really doubt one was so much better than the other.’

  I feel bad for what I said but I’m sick of Nine trying to bully me. I push him away. ‘Back off, Nine. I mean it. Just. Back. Off. And stop talking to me like I’m your little brother.’

  The light changes and we cross the street, both of us fuming. I follow him onto Michigan Avenue and we walk in silence. At first I’m too angry to pay attention to my surroundings, but slowly I become aware of the skyscrapers above me. I can’t help it. This city is awesome. I look around. Nine sees me admiring the city, his city, and I can feel his mood softening.

  ‘You see that big black one with the white spires on top?’ Nine asks. He looks so happy to see this building I forget I’m pissed at him. I look straight up. ‘That’s the John Hancock Center. It’s the sixth tallest building in the country. And that, little brother, is where we’re headed.’

  I snatch him by the arm and pull him to the side of the sidewalk. ‘Wait a minute. That’s your safe house? One of the tallest buildings in the city is where you think we’re going to hide? You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s nuts.’

  Nine laughs at the incredulous look on my face. ‘I know, I know. It was Sandor’s idea. The more I think about it, the more brilliant I realize he was. We stayed here for over five years, no problems. Hiding in plain sight, baby, hiding in plain sight.’

  ‘Right. Are you forgetting about the part where you got caught? W
e are not staying there, Nine. Not a chance in hell. We need to go back to the train, figure out a new plan.’

  Nine rips his arm out of my grip. ‘We got caught, Donald, because of someone I thought was my friend. She’d been working with the Mogs and I was too stupid to notice. She betrayed me and I couldn’t see beyond her nice ass, so Sandor was captured. I watched him being tortured, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. The one person I loved more than anyone in the world. In the end, the only thing I could do for Sandor was put him out of his agony. Death. The gift that keeps on giving.’ His sneer can’t hide the pain in his voice. ‘Fast-forward one year and I see your ugly face outside my prison cell.’ He points up at the John Hancock Center. ‘Up there, we were safe. It’s the safest place you’ll ever be.’

  ‘We’ll be trapped,’ I say. ‘If the Mogs find us up there, there’s nowhere to run.’

  ‘Oh, you’d be surprised.’ He winks and then walks towards the building.

  All of a sudden I am very conscious of just how many people are going by us. I’m nervous as hell, without a single clue where else I should be or go. One thing I know for sure, the Mogadorians keep getting better at blending in, so I have zero confidence we’d even know it if one just brushed by. This thought terrifies me so much I literally twitch as it occurs to me. And I have to assume there are thousands of cameras all over Chicago, and with the Mogs and the government working together, the Mogs probably have access to them. Great. We’re on some predatory Candid Camera and there is nothing we can do about it. Inside, anywhere inside, is going to be safer than standing around out here. I put my head down and follow Nine.

  The lobby is amazingly luxurious. There’s a grand piano, leather furniture, and sparkly chandeliers. At the far end I see two security desks. Nine hands me his Chest and takes off his cap. One of the security guards is a large bald guy who is seated behind the desk, until, that is, he sees Nine. Then, he lets out a howl and leaps to his feet.