Chapter Seven

  “Henry!” Ethan screamed. “Get me down!”

  The maiam perched itself on one of the metal rafters, clutg him with only the cws of foot so that he dangled helplessly forty feet above the floor. fident that I couldn’t reach it up there, it raised him up to eye level and licked its lips.

  “Hold ohan!” I yelled. I needed a way to get up there, but how?

  The pyground! It was old and looked like it would colpse if a mouse coughed on it, but it was tall enough that it almost reached the ceiling. I ran for it, my shoes exploding with blue light again. I could feel the magic sapping my ughter, but I jumped anyway.

  The magic bsted out of my feet, and I rocketed upwards. Twisting in midair, my feet hit the dusty pstic tube te below the ceiling. Before I could charge up again, though, the tube lurched — and the ehing began to colpse.

  “ fkes!” I yelled, and thrust off from the tube as hard as I could. I shot upwards, fingers stretg out to grab the rafter above, with nothing below but a forty-foot drop. Once up there, I could monkey bar my way across until—

  I missed.

  Gravity began to pull me down mere inches below the rafter. Thinking fast, I whipped Sptsy out, extended her to full size, and swung her up over my head. With only a fra of a sed to spare, she hooked over the top of the rafter, halting my fall. The maiam froze in surprise a few rafters away, dangerously close to french kissihan.

  “That’s right, mothercrumpet!” I yelled. “This party’s not over yet!”

  It hissed angrily ahan down on the rafter beside it. He couldn’t bance like it did, though, and immediately rolled over the side.

  “Henry, help!” he screamed, holding on with one hand.

  “Yeah, getting there,” I said, hoisting myself up to grab the rafter with my left hand, freeing my right to fight with. “Just don’t let go for a couple minutes, okay?”

  “ARE YOU SERIOUS?”

  The maiam hissed at me in challenge, and I began to realize what I’d gotten myself into. I’d fought hundreds of maiams, but never while hanging from the ceiling. The maiam cmbered around effortlessly with its freakishly long limbs. I was in its territory, its element.

  This was going to be iing.

  It came for me, and I threw myself out of the way. The maiam’s cws sshed through the air where I had just been, and then sprang nimbly out of my reach when I swung back with Sptsy. I growled in frustration, and chased after it as fast as I could, one hand over the other like I was on the monkey bars at school.

  “Henry, I’m slipping!” Ethan yelled.

  “If you fall, try to nd on your butt,” I called to him, not taking my eyes off the maiam.

  The maiam hissed as I drew closer, swinging Sptsy and missing again. The stupid thing dodged me so easily it was embarrassing. It had the advantage up here, and it khat. The only thing hurrying it was Ethan. Si couldn’t drain ughter from a corpse, it needed him alive just as much as I did, which meant it had to finish me off before he fell.

  It lunged for me, teeth snapping, and I barely mao get out of the way. It didn’t let up, though, ing for me again and again. I looked nervously at Ethan. I wouldn’t be able to reach him from here if he fell. The maiam made its way toward me with murder in its eyes. I couldn’t fight it like this. If I wao win, I ain the advantage.

  Not knowing what else to do, I swung Sptsy — not at the maiam, but at the rafter itself. The metal was old, and the ehing shook from the impact. The vibrations surprised the maiam, making it stumble, but it still didn’t fall.

  So I grabbed its arm.

  It shrieked when my fingers ed around its wrist, and I let go of the rafter with my other hand. It tried to shake me off, but I wasn’t going down unless I took it with me. Hissing, it raised its other hand to swat me away, and that was all I needed. I yanked on its arm as I hard as I could, and its feet were jerked free of the rafter. My stomach shot up into my throat — because suddenly we were both falling.

  Hitting the ground was one of the most painful experiences in my life. It was like every iny body was being punched by a fist going a hundred miles an hour…that was made of crete…with a thin yer of moldy carpet c it. Sptsy bounced a spinning through the air, nding too far away for me to reach. My magic surged through me, doing its best to fix the damage, but it still hurt enough to make me almost bck out. Raising my hand, I saw my bright white skin fading to a duller gray. My hair and paintmarks must have been turning bck too. I was low on ughter. Dangerously low.

  Gritting my teeth, I ighe sudden wave of exhaustion as best I could and struggled to my feet. I needed my inhaler. You ’t imagine what being drained of ughter feels like if you haven’t experie. It’s not like physical hunger. It’s more like…like a piece of your soul, yourself, is missing. I couldn’t stop my hand from shaking, but I mao pull the inhaler from my pocket — just in time to be tackled from behind.

  “No!” I yelled, watg my inhaler bounce across the floor.

  I rolled onto my back, and the maiam threw itself at me. I thrust both my legs up, kig it into the air so that it crashed to the floor te away. Scrambling to my feet again, I sed the room. Sptsy y on the floor just a few feet away, but I couldn’t see my inhaler.

  “Henry!” Ethan’s screamed. “I’m slipping!”

  There! I spotted it lying on the floor halfway across the building. I took a step toward it, but then a cold hand grabbed me by the ankle. I fell, hitting the ground hard. My head spun, but I focused through it and kicked savagely out behind me. I felt the maiam’s nose der my heel, and it let me go, retreating with an angry hiss.

  The monster gred at me with eyes filled with hate as I groped for Sptsy. Could I fight it like this? Hurting, dizzy, lightheaded? I needed ughter! The maiam crouched down as if to pound then made a mad dash for my inhaler.

  “Eggpnt fondue!” I yelled. Snatg Sptsy, I got to my feet and raced after it.

  The maiam moved on all fours faster than I could have run even in top dition. I was so tired that my legs felt like I was weari blocks for shoes. It grabbed the inhaler off the floor, turning it over in its hands. It could smell the ughter inside, but didn’t know how to get it out. Finally, it gave up and just put the ehing in its mouth.

  “Hey!” I yelled. It turo look at me. “That’s mine!”

  Pulling Sptsy behind my head like a baseball bat, I hurled her across the building as hard as I could. She became a humming brown blur and struck the maiam square i, knog it to the ground. My inhaler came flying out of its mouth.

  The maiam screeched in anger and sprang back to its feet. Together, we raced each other for the inhaler. I was close enough to get there first this time, even exhausted as I was. I stretched out my hand…

  And ran right past it.

  The maiam grabbed the inhaler with a triumphant howl. It turned around to see what I was doing — just as I smmed Sptsy into its face. It colpsed, and when it tried to get back up I put a foot on its back.

  “My name is Hea Rider,” I said down to it. “You tried to eat my inhaler. Prepare to die.”

  I raised Sptsy.

  “May you find joy in the life, Harriet.”

  I brought the hammer down, crushing its head. Thick bck goop spttered across the floor, and its body jerked and shook as it defted. I was barely paying attention, though. My inhaler was sitting on the flht in front of me, covered in disgusting maiam slobber, but undamaged. Falling to my knees, I put it to my mouth and pressed down on it over and ain until it was empty. Laughter flowed into me. I could feel my colors ing back. It wasn’t much, but it would keep me alive until I got home.

  “Oh, thank the whoopie cushion in the sky,” I murmured.

  “Henry!” Ethan yelled. “I- I ’t hold on…much…”

  I looked up just as Ethan’s fingers slipped from the rafter and came plummeting down. Chocote gravy, I’d fotten all about him! Getting to my feet with newfound energy, I charged my shoes with pain and jumped! I flew through the air, blue hair whipping behind me, and we collided fiftee above the ground. I ed my arms around him, twisting so that he nded on top of me whe the cold, hard floor.

  For a few seds I just y there with him on top of me.

  “Am I alive?” he finally asked.

  “I hope so,” I said. “Because if you’re dead, that means I am too, and Heaven looks…disappointing.”

  With a groan, he climbed off of me and stood up. “It’s dead, then?”

  “As dead as dead be.” I held out my hand. “Help me up, will you?”

  The magic I’d used to save him was taking its toll, leaving me exhausted again. When I got home, I was going to empty my stash of inhalers and then take the mother of all naps. With Ethan’s help, I was able to stand up on wobbly legs.

  Theomped on my foot.

  “Ow!” I screamed, grabbing my foot and falling back down in the process. “What was that for?”

  “For using me as bait, you psycho!” he yelled.

  I frowned. “Fair enough, I guess.”

  After a minute of nursing my poor foot, I stood back up.

  “e o’s go home.”