The monster roars, enraged, and swats at Nine with its other hand. Nine runs along to the underside of the creature’s forearm at just the right moment, avoiding the impact. He’s fast and he’s stuck to the Mogasaur, moving farther and farther up his arm like an annoying little bug. I’m not sure what he’s going to do when he gets to the beast’s head. If I had to guess, I’d bet Nine doesn’t know yet either.

“John!” someone shouts from behind me. “John! Release me!”

I turn around to see Five struggling across the grass on his knees. We’d left him there all tied up with the ropes we got from the coast guard boat. He doesn’t have his blade weapon or his ball bearing to change his skin to metal, so Five’s about as harmless as he’ll ever be.

“Oh, hell no,” Sam says, glancing at Five.

“I know what that thing is,” Five says, reaching us. He sits back on his knees, his hands bound in front of him, and looks up at me. “I know how to kill it. I can help you.”

“Tell me,” I say.

“Setrákus Ra calls it the Hunter,” Five says quickly. “He was building it while I was still on board the Anubis. It has Loric pendants in its eyes and can use them to sense the location of any Garde. There’s no retreat, we have to kill it.”

As Five speaks, Nine reaches the crux of the Hunter’s shoulder. The beast gives up on trying to swat him off. Now, it tilts its spiny head over and tries to swallow Nine whole. Nine responds by jabbing the broken end of one of the metal poles straight up into the roof of the monster’s mouth. The creature whips its head away and howls.

Next to me, Daniela moans. Sam kneels down next to her and rubs her back. “Come on, uh, do what John said,” Sam tries, but Daniela’s only response is to groan. He looks up at me. “We need to figure something out! If you guys have some new badass powers, now is the time to use them!”

“He needs to go for the eyes, John,” Five insists, ignoring everything but me. “Let me free. I can help you.”

“Why the hell should I trust you?” I ask.

Five’s expression darkens. I see him strain against his bonds, testing them. He looks up at me, and I can tell he’s making a concerted effort to control his anger.

“Because I could break out of these if I really wanted to,” Five answers me. “But I won’t. You saved my life, John, and no matter what you think, I’m not like him.”

I know exactly what Five’s talking about. Setrákus Ra and Pittacus Lore. Mercy followed by betrayal.

“I want to help,” Five growls. “Let me help.”