The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore Read Free Book Online Page A

can.’
    The Earth in front of me buzzes to life with Nine’s echoing voice. ‘Everyone come to America ASAP . Setrákus Ra has shown his ugly face over here and we’re aiming to smash it in and take him down real soon. We’ll send out another message tomorrow. Stay tuned.’
    Nine drops the red crystal back into his Chest, looking way too pleased with himself, then kind of embarrassed that he just talked into a ball. I frown. My right arm has gone ice cold, and I’m about to rip off this bracelet before putting the orbs back into the velvet bag when the Earth grows fuzzy again. Then there’s the sound of an explosion, followed by a voice I know well. It’s the same girl I heard before, the girl Six went to Spain to seek out. She’s yelling. ‘Six! You okay?’
    We hear a scream and two more explosions rock the fuzzy edges of the globe. I grab Nine’s crystal out of his chest, frantic to try to communicate with her.
    ‘Six!’ I yell. I would jump into the thing if I could figure out how. ‘It’s me, John! Can you hear me?’
    There’s no response. We hear the faint sounds of the blades of a helicopter before the globe goes silent again and the Earth’s edges grow solid. The pulsing light in India is now gone. Suddenly, the globe shrinks and reforms into the seven orbs, each of which falls to the ground.
    ‘That did not sound good,’ Nine says, scooping up the stones. He drops them back into my Chest, and take his crystal out of my frozen hand.
    Six is in trouble – the kind of trouble that involves explosions and helicopters and mountains. And all of this is happening now, halfway around the world. How am I going to get to India? Where can I get on a plane?
    ‘Six is the chick who gave you the map to the mountain? The one who abandoned you and your boy to jet off to Spain?’ Nine asks.
    ‘That’s her,’ I say, kicking my Chest shut, fists clenched tight. My head is swimming. What’s wrong with Six? Who is the other girl, the one I’ve now heard twice? I notice my arm feels strange. Hearing her voice distracted me so much I forgot about the growing discomfort there. I try to remove the bracelet from my wrist, and it burns my fingers. ‘Something’s going on with this thing. I think something may be wrong with it.’
    Nine shuts his Chest and reaches over. ‘The bracelet?’ As soon as he touches it he rips his hand away. ‘Damn! It zapped me!’
    ‘Well, what do I do?’ I try snapping my arm out, hoping I can fling the bracelet off.
    Bernie Kosar trots over to smell the bracelet, but stops midstride and jerks his head up to stare at the front door. His ears rise and the fur on his back bristles.
    Someone’s here, he says.
    Nine and I look at each other and start to slowly back into the room, away from the door. We’d been so engrossed in everything in our Chests, and in hearing the voice through the globe, that we’d let our guard down, and weren’t paying attention to our surroundings.
    Suddenly, the door is blown off its hinges. Smoke bombs fly through the windows sending glass shards everywhere. I want to fight, but the pain from the bracelet is now so intense I can’t move. I fall to my knees.
    I see a flash of green light and hear Nine shout out in pain. He falls down next to me. I’ve seen that green light before. That is the unmistakable green light of a Mogadorian cannon.

7.
    Bullets whistle by, exploding in the dirt all around us. Ella and I take cover behind the wreckage of one of the trucks. The bullets seem to be coming from everywhere, from every direction, from every angle. Ella’s been hit. The air is so thick with dust from all the commotion, I can’t even see her wounds. I gently run my hands over her body until I feel the wet, sticky blood and find a bullet hole in her lower thigh. When I touch it, she cries out in pain.
    I use the most soothing voice I can muster, given the circumstances. ‘It’s going to be okay. Marina can help you. We just need to find her.’ I