Max shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe I don’t really have one in me. Maybe Magdalena just wanted me to think I did.”

Spike shook his head. “Uh-uh,” he said. “She made a big deal about it. You’ve got one, all right.”

“Then maybe it’s not working,” Max said. “I don’t know.”

He hoped Spike would let it go. He didn’t.

“Or maybe someone figured out a way to stop it,” Spike said.

He was looking around on the floor. Now he bent down and picked something up. It was a hypodermic needle.

“What’s that?” Freakshow said.

“Looks like somebody got injected with something,” Spike said. He waved the syringe back and forth. “Any idea what was in this?” he asked Max.

Max thought about denying knowing anything. But he knew they wouldn’t believe him anyway, so he took another tack. “It’s supposed to be something to slow it down,” he said. “Until we can get him back to HGA.”

“Did they give it to you too?” Spike asked.

Max nodded.

“Well, it seems to be working,” Spike said. “So it will probably work on Sam, too.” He looked at Freakshow. “We need to let Magdalena know. If Sam is back to normal, he’s dangerous.”

“And if they got it into Six, she’s even more of a problem,” Freakshow added, taking out her phone and texting furiously.

Max looked at the floor. He’d tried to help, but now things were even worse. He hoped Nemo was having better luck.

Nemo ran down the corridor of the hotel. She was almost to the elevators, when she realized that she had no idea where she was going. She stopped and looked behind her. Spike and Freakshow weren’t following her. This was more a worry than it was a relief. It meant that they didn’t think they needed to.

She almost went back. Leaving Max alone with the two of them didn’t sit right with her. But she needed to get help. As much as she hated to admit it, her and Max’s Legacies were no match for Spike’s. And even though Freakshow’s Legacy wasn’t something that could flat-out hurt them, it was even more terrifying. She knew the girl had used it on Max, and it killed her to think of what he might have seen, might even be seeing right now. He’d put himself at great risk creating an opportunity for Nemo to get away. She was determined not to waste it.

She took her phone out. Now she regretted not sending Nine a text letting him know what she and Max were doing. But she would fix that now. When she saw that she had one from him, her heart leaped.

I HAVE 6. ON OUR WAY. WHERE R U?

Even though she was worried, she laughed at his use of textspeak. She started to reply, when the elevator doors dinged. She looked up just in time to see Seamus and Boomer coming out.

“Going somewhere?” Seamus asked.

Nemo turned and ran. Her phone slipped from her hand and fell to the carpet, where she accidentally kicked it and sent it sliding even farther out of reach. There was no time to bend and retrieve it, so she left it behind, cursing her clumsiness as she tried to outrun the two boys, who were hot on her heels. She swore as she saw Seamus pause to pick her phone up and slip it into his pocket.