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  Chapter Thirty Two

  Ethan looked at Jade, then at the glowing gem in his hand, and then at me. I could see the fusion in his eyes, but he was a smart guy. Even if he didn’t have any idea what was going on, he could still follow instrus.

  “I, uh,” he said hesitantly, “wish you would stop Henry?”

  I spun to face Jade, but she had already crossed the distaween us. With a glowing hand, she spped me across the face, ung me all the way across the cil chamber. A surge of energy tore through me at her touch, like the world’s worst static shock, and I smmed into the wall hard enough to crack the wood.

  You’re in trouble, Legion, I thought. If I were you, I’d probably skip town.

  As soon as Jade saw me struggling to my feet, she came for me again. Her feet hovered a few inches above the ground, and her long bck hair flowed this way and that as if she were uer. I had just enough time to throw myself out of her way before she reached me, and immediately whirled around to give her a taste of Sptsy. Jade’s hand shot out, knog the hammer out of my grip as easily as if I were trying to hit her with cotton dy and sweet dreams. Legion gaped in amazement as the massive hammer flew across the room and cttered loudly to the floor.

  Then Jade reached out with her other hand, and…

  Ohhh, I thought, heart sinking into my stomach. This is gonna suck.

  A pilr of green fire bsted out of her fiips. I tried to dodge, but the r inferno still mao clip my left arm, and I was sent spinning across the cil chamber like a jetpack figure skater. I crashed into one of the raised desks, and somewhere uhe ringing in my ears I heard Patricia scream.

  Legion looked down at my arm, where the sleeve had been pletely scorched away. The skin was an arming shade of red.

  So, how do you feel about giving up? I thought helpfully. Because I’m game if you are.

  Of course, Legion ignored my advid forced me bay feet. The pain in my arm was nothing to it. This wasn’t Legion’s body, and that meant that so long as I had this stupid roy head, I would keep fighting until there was literally nothi of me.

  And I wasn’t the only one, I realized. Jade hovered down below me, expression bnk. Now that Ethan had that neckce, she would be under his trol until—

  “You!” I yelled, spinning toward Ethan. “Give that to me!”

  Mothercrumpet! How could I have been so stupid? Of course Legion would choht then to start paying attention to me again! Gritting my teeth in anger, I made to sprint over to Ethan—

  And then Aesop clocked me over the head with Sptsy.

  I crumpled to the floor, my arms and legs as limp as soggy spaghetti. Aesop, in true lepre fashion, had mao not only steal my on when I wasn’t looking, but sneak up behind me as well. And if the bump on my head was any indication, he might just have a future pying professional baseball.

  “Don’t just stand there!” he yelled across the room. “Get her!”

  Legion tried to stand me up again, my limbs wobbly and weak, but I was forced back dowwo teenage boys fell on top of me. My arms were forced behind my back, and all my legs could do was kick uselessly behind me as my two best friends pinned me to the floor with all the efficy of a SWAT team.

  “Your wish,” Jade said, as her light slowly faded, “has been granted, Master.”

  I looked up just in time to see her body fade into a shimmering green cloud of mist, which floated across the room to be absorbed by the jade neckce that Ethan had left on the floor.

  “Wait!” Ethan excimed, beginning to stand up. “What just—”

  “Don’t let go of her, you moron!” Aesop snapped.

  “But Jade…”

  “Just shut up!”

  Relutly, Ethan stayed where he was, which was good because Legion would have ripped Aesop’s head off if he had loosened his grip even a little. I wasn’t worried about Jade. Well, okay, I was worried, just not about this. She’d be fine once she’d had a couple hours to recharge.

  Legion looked forward when we heard the sound of footsteps. Grandpa Teddy was holding his hip in obvious pain as he limped toward us, but the fire in his eyes made the look he’d given Ichabod earlier seem dht friendly by parison.

  He smmed his e down into the floor half an inch away from my fad growled, “You will tell me what is going ht now!”

  I grinned wickedly up at my grandpa. “You will uand soon, . Soon you will all uand!”

  “WHAT HAVE YOU DOO MY GRANDDAUGHTER?”

  “No more and han what was doo us.”

  “Answer my question!”

  My grin widened. “Do you really want to know? Then look at yranddaughter’s true face.”

  Grandpa Teddy paused in fusion, but then narrowed his eyes. My N.O.S.E. still sat on my face, invisible. He reached out, grabbed hold of it, and ya off.

  A look of pure horror covered his face when the pendant materialized into view.

  “No,” he whispered.

  “What is it?” Aesop demanded. “What’s wrong with her?”

  Teddy didn’t answer. He reached out without hesitation and grabbed hold of the amulet on my forehead.

  “You think you’ve won?” I sneered as he began to pull. “We ot be stopped. We ot be predicted. Our revenge will—”

  In one swift motion, he ripped the stone pendant off me like a band-aid. I gasped in relief, feeling the unwele sciousness leak out of my skull like air from a tire. Then exhaustio over me, and I id my head down on the floor.

  “You let her go, boys,” Grandpa Teddy said, sounding just as tired as I felt. “She should be all—”

  “I wasn’t doalking.”

  I gasped, panic chasing away my fatigue, and tried to stand up — until the knife was rammed into my back.