Michael Vey: Rise Of The Elgen Part 11

"That." He pointed to my b.u.t.t.

Taylor started laughing as she pulled something off me. It was a refrigerator magnet in the shape of an Idaho Spud with the words IDAHO COUCH POTATO printed across it. "How is that sticking to you?" she said.

"Wait," I said, taking it back from her. I put it on my stomach. It stuck. Then she peeled it off me and placed it against my cheek. It stuck there too.

"Wow," Taylor said. "You're like a magnet."

Ostin stared in amazement. "Not like. He is a magnet. Doesn't surprise me with all that electricity running through him."

"But I've had electricity in me my whole life. Why am I suddenly magnetic, too?"

"You must still be getting more electric."

The words. .h.i.t me like a bucket of ice water. I felt as if I'd just been told I had less time to live.

"But why is he becoming magnetic?" Taylor asked.

Ostin rubbed his chin. "Let's see," he said slowly. "How do I explain this to a cheerleader?"

Taylor bristled. "How would you like a cheerleader to permanently scramble your brain?"

"No, don't!" Ostin said, holding his hands in front of him as if he could block her waves.

"She's not going to do that," I said.

"Don't count on it," Taylor said.

Ostin still looked terrified. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

I shook my head. "Just explain the magnetism."

"Okay," he said. "It works like this. Electric currents are magnetic. When you coil an electrical current around a core, the magnetism becomes stronger. In your case, your body is the core, and as you have millions of nerves and veins, which are carrying your electricity, it creates a ma.s.sive coil. So it makes sense that you're becoming magnetic."

"Great. So now I'm going to have things sticking to me?"

"Like me," Taylor said, taking my hand.

I couldn't help but smile.

Just then Jack shouted through the front door, "Come on, our ride is here!"

"What do we do with the guards?" Taylor asked.

"Leave them," I said.

"Tied up?"

"Yeah. Someone will find them eventually."

Outside, Mitch.e.l.l was standing next to Jack, watching everyone climb out of the truck. "Who are all these people?"

"Friends of mine," Jack said.

He pointed at me. "You're the kid who shocked us."

"His name is Michael," Jack said.

He turned back to Jack. "You took him instead of me?"

"Listen, Mitch. I'll tell you what's going on later. But right now we've got to get out of here before they find us."

"Before who finds you?" Mitch.e.l.l asked.

"I'll tell you when we get to your house."

"We're going to my house?"

"Yeah. We need a place to hide out for a few days. Are your parents home?"

"They're never home."

A large FedEx truck pulled in next to us.

"We gotta go, Mitch," Jack said. "C'mon, everyone. Get in."

Jack and Mitch.e.l.l climbed in the front, and Jack rolled down the window. "Hey, Abi. Want to sit up here?"

She smiled at him. "Thanks, but I better sit next to Zeus. He's still in pain."

"Right," Jack said, sounding disappointed.

"I'll sit up front," Wade said. "The three amigos ride again."

"Nah," Jack said. "You're too big. How about you, Grace?"

She shrugged. "Sure."

Zeus opened the tailgate and climbed into the narrow s.p.a.ce between the backseat and the door. Abigail walked up next to him. "Do you mind if I sit here with you?"

His eyes brightened. "No, of course not." He scooted back as Abigail climbed in.

As I shut the tailgate, I noticed that two truck drivers were standing in the dark near the back of the van, examining the shredded lift. One of them pointed to the bullet holes.

"Really, it's time to go, guys," I said, climbing into the middle seat with Ian and Taylor. Ostin, Wade, and McKenna were in the row behind us.

"Hit it," Jack said.

Mitch.e.l.l pulled out of the truck stop and headed east toward the freeway.

As we were climbing the freeway on-ramp, I said, "Hey, McKenna saved the day back there. Give it up for McKenna."

Everyone clapped.

"Thanks," McKenna said. "But everyone helped. Ostin distracted the guard."

"Thanks," Ostin said, looking pretty pleased. "I just saw an oppor-"

"And how about Jack's driving?" Taylor said, interrupting Ostin's speech.

"All in a day's work," Jack said.

Ostin turned to McKenna. "That really was awesome how you did that. How hot can you get?"

"At the Elgen laboratory they measured me at about two thousand Kelvin."

"Holy cannoli," Ostin said. "Two thousand Kelvin!"

"Who's Kelvin?" Wade asked.

Ostin rolled his eyes. "Kelvin is a thermodynamic temperature scale. Two thousand Kelvin is more than three thousand degrees Fahrenheit. That's almost twice as hot as fire." He turned back to McKenna. "You are hot. In more ways than one."

"Thanks," she said, smiling.

I didn't have to turn back to know Ostin was blus.h.i.+ng.

"So much for your 'voice,'" Jack said.

I frowned. "I know. I'm sorry, everyone. He seemed legit."

"I believed him too," Taylor said.

"I would have put money on it," Ostin said. "I mean, it still makes no sense. Why would they have gone to the trouble of getting us cars, leaving money for us, and then attacking us? Why didn't they just trap us at the salon or along the road?"

"Maybe it was too public," Taylor said.

"True," I said. "But they could have attacked us when we got the cars. There was no one around."

Ostin added, "And those guards acted like they'd never seen your cell phone before."

"And why did they ask where we got the Hummers?" Abigail said.

"What are you guys talking about?" Mitch.e.l.l asked.

"You have no idea how much you don't know," Jack said.

It was nearly midnight when we reached Mitch.e.l.l's house. Even though Wade had said that Mitch.e.l.l's dad was "loaded," I didn't realize just how well-off his family was until I saw his place. He lived in a ma.s.sive, well-lit two-story Colonial-style house with tall gothic columns in front, wings on each side, and a cobblestone driveway that wound past a carefully manicured yard up to a fountain and front door.

"This is Mitch.e.l.l's house?" I said.

"It looks like the White House," Ostin said.

"Is the butler going to answer the door?" McKenna said.

"We don't have a butler," Mitch.e.l.l said. "He quit."

Jack said, "We're going to be hanging out in the pool house."

"You have a pool?" Ostin asked.

"He's got a pool and a pool house," Wade replied.

There was a four-car garage to the side of the house, and Mitch.e.l.l opened the third door by remote and pulled in. When the door had shut behind us, Mitch.e.l.l said to Jack, "Okay, what's going on? You said you'd tell me."

"Let's go inside first," Jack said. "We don't know if we were followed."

Mitch.e.l.l looked afraid. "Who's following you?"

"Bad people you don't want to meet," Jack said.

"They won't come here, will they?"

"Only if they find out we're here," Grace said.

Mitch.e.l.l turned to Jack. "She's kidding, right?"

Jack shook his head. "Nope."

We got out of the car, and I opened the tailgate for Zeus and Abigail. As they got out, Zeus put his hand on Abigail's back. "Thanks, Abi."

She smiled. "Anytime."

Jack was standing on the other side of the car looking at them. I could tell he was bothered.

"This way," Mitch.e.l.l said. "The pool house is in back."

The pool house was located behind the main home, next to a large barbecue area with an atrium and a rock fountain. The backyard looked like something out of a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. I didn't know Idaho even had places like that.

The house had an electric keypad entry, and Mitch.e.l.l pressed a few b.u.t.tons, then pushed open the door. Inside, we all looked around in amazement.

"Your pool house is bigger than my whole house," Taylor said. "Way bigger."

The pool house was two stories high with a loft and an outdoor balcony. Mitch.e.l.l gave us a quick tour. On the main floor was a large, open dining room, kitchen, bathroom, master bedroom, and two guest rooms. Upstairs, in the loft, was a television room with a fifty-one-inch plasma TV, two beanbag chairs, a long, wraparound sofa, and a foosball table. On the far side of the room, past the sofa, were two bedrooms connected by a bathroom. The walls were covered with paintings of lighthouses.

"It even smells good," Abigail said. "Like flowers."

"I could live here," Taylor said, still looking around.

"It's almost as nice as the academy," Zeus said.