“It’s about time,” Magdalena said. “I thought you would never get here.”

CHAPTER TEN

SAM

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

NINE WAS COVERED IN WHAT LOOKED LIKE BLOOD and oil.

“It’s not mine,” he reassured Sam, who was staring at him with concern. “Well, not all of it. Turns out, those things are part machine. But only part. The other part is real bitey.”

Sam had encountered him while racing towards the Saturn Hotel. Actually, he’d had to stop because a dead grindle was blocking the street. Then Nine had appeared, climbing over the side of it, looking like the victim of a hit-and-run.

“They’re called grindles,” Sam said.

Nine turned and looked at the scaly-hided monster lying behind him. “Grindles? That’s actually kind of cute. Too bad they have such shitty attitudes.” He turned his attention back to Sam. “Also, how do you know that?”

“Magdalena told me,” Sam answered.

“Oh?” said Nine. “You two been chatting?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Well, you look like you feel better,” Nine said. “Which I assume means Nemo and Max found you.”

Sam nodded. “But then Ghost showed up and teleported me away. Like I said, long story.”

“Well, it worked on Six, too,” Nine said. “So yay for science.”

“Where is she?” Sam asked.

Nine glanced towards the Saturn Hotel, where a grindle was clinging to the side. He pointed. “I’m guessing on about the sixty-eighth floor, give or take.”

Sam followed his gaze. “We have to get up there,” he said. “Magdalena’s on the roof. And Eleni has a Legacy now.”

“That part I knew,” Nine said. “And that’s super great for everybody. But you’re going to have to handle that one on your own, at least for the moment. There’s another one of these things a couple of streets away. I should probably go kill it. Stop it? Whatever you do to something that’s part animal and part robot.”

Sam nodded. “Go.”

“I’ll get there as soon as I take care of Mr. Grindle,” Nine said.

He ran off, leaving Sam to scale the dead grindle to get to the other side. When he did, he saw the gaping wound in its side and the mechanical innards visible through the gore. He hesitated a moment, then focused on the machinery. He told it to move. When one of the grindle’s claws twitched, he jumped back, surprised. But it gave him an idea, and as he turned and ran the rest of the way to the Saturn Hotel, a plan formed in his head.

At the hotel, he slipped through the crowd of police and clueless gawkers and raced through the lobby to the elevators. As he rode up to the roof, he prepared himself for whatever he might find. He was feeling like his old self, but part of him feared that it wouldn’t last and his Legacies would falter at the worst possible moment.

When he reached the top floor, he dashed down the hallway to the exit, surrounded by the sound of an emergency alarm clanging a warning. The door to the roof was open, and when he stepped outside he found himself in the middle of a battle.