Nine's Legacy by Pittacus Lore Read Free Book Online Page B

with curving blades that I dread to see flying at me in the Lecture Hall. I also pick up some stuff I know he’s always on the prowl for, a fried circuit board here, an orphaned length of cable there.
    It isn’t until the last thrift store on my route that I get the tingly feeling that someone is watching me.
    Instinctively I make a discreet check of my iMog. There’s no sign of danger nearby. As I slip the device back into my pocket, I notice her. Standing two aisles over, next to a rack of vintage T-shirts, is Maddy.
    At first, I think it must be my eyes playing tricks on me. She’s been on my mind so much that I’m starting to hallucinate. Then Maddy holds up her hand in a shy wave and I practically bound over to her.
    “Hey,” I exclaim, trying not to sound too excited and probably failing. “What’re you doing here?”
    “Hey,” she replies, glancing around like she’s as surprised to be in a musty thrift store as I am to find her here. “I’m, uh, stalking you.”
    I grin like an idiot. “Seriously?”
    “No!” She rolls her eyes. “My dad, he’s really into antique telescopes and stuff like that. I’m just looking around.”
    “Oh,” I say, playing crestfallen. “I was actually hoping you were stalking me.”
    Maddy glances at the bags I’m holding from other stores, each of them bulging with weird shapes. “What’s all that?”
    “Science project stuff,” I say, thinking quickly.
    “For homeschool?”
    I shrug. “My uncle is weird.”
    Together we wander the aisles of the thrift store. Maddy pulls a maroon leisure suit off a rack and holds it up to me.
    “Maybe you should wear this on our date this weekend,” she says, cocking her head, trying to imagine me in the suit.
    Sandor would probably burn this suit if I dared desecrate the penthouse with its presence.
    “Would you even come outside if I showed up in this?”
    “Probably not. Here, hold it up,” she orders, and I take the suit with my free hand.
    Before I realize what she’s doing, Maddy’s held up her phone and snapped my picture. She laughs, looking at what I’m sure is my startled expression above the most hideous suit in history.
    “Perfect,” she says. “Hello, new wallpaper.”
    “Now I definitely have to buy it. You’ve talked me into it.”
    When I jokingly check the price tag, a moth flutters out from the sleeve. I drop the suit, grossed out, and Maddy laughs again. We dart out of the store, the old man behind the cash register glaring at us.
    “I hope I don’t have fleas,” I say once we’re out on the sidewalk.
    “Actually, I think I see one,” she says. She leans close, inspecting, and then gives me a quick peck on the cheek.
    She leans back and laughs again, this time at what must be the dumbfounded expression on my face.
    “See ya Friday, Stanley,” she says playfully, adding, “Take a bath.”

Chapter Fifteen
    It’s the big night.
    Sandor and I stand in the subbasement garage of the John Hancock building. Arrayed before us, each neatly tucked beneath a tarp, is Sandor’s collection of getaway vehicles.
    Really, I’ve never thought we needed more than one car. Sandor, however, has taken to collecting the things since we’ve been in Chicago, outfitting each with his various improvements. I guess Cêpans need hobbies too. He’s lucky that being a Cêpan comes with unlimited funds; I’d hate to imagine him driving a beat-up old clunker.
    Sandor pulls the tarp away from a sleek, dark red convertible. He runs a hand lovingly across the hood. Then he gives me a deathly serious look.
    “Please don’t make me regret this.”
    I grin at him, eager to get behind the wheel.
    “That smile doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.”
    Still, he opens the driver side door for me and I hop in. Sandor leans in the window as I adjust the seat and mirrors.
    “How fast are you going to go?” he asks.
    “Five miles under the speed limit at all times,” I recite. We’ve had this conversation all week, ever