The Key (The Magnificent 12 3)
Page 61
What had he thought? That this was all a game and that no one would get hurt? Had he imagined they’d leave his family alone? The Pale Queen would leave no one’s family alone.
The elevator came to the second floor. Mack was swept along with the rest as they got out.
“Okay, now what?” Rodrigo asked.
“Mack.” Xiao put her hand on his arm.
They were all staring at him. There was no putting off the decision. A decision that might doom his family.
“Text message,” he said flatly. “Risky has been to my home. She got to my golem.”
“What? That is intolerable!” Dietmar cried.
Mack liked him for that. The German boy’s outrage was genuine.
“What do we do?” Charlie asked. And Mack liked that, too. We. What do we do?
Mack took a deep breath. “We—”
His phone rang. His phone never rang. But it rang now.
He saw the caller ID. It was the golem.
“Yeah,” Mack said.
“Mack. It’s me, your golem.”
“I know. I got your text.”
“Mack, I’m afraid. Risky has given me a second phone. I think she can use it to make me … to make me not ‘Be Ma
ck’ but be something else.”
“Listen to me: smash that phone she gave you.”
“I … I tried, Mack.”
“Smash it now, Golem. Smash it right now!”
“My hands won’t....”
Mack closed his eyes and fought down a wave of panic. “Where are you?”
“At school.”
“Listen to me, Golem. Who can you trust there? Who can you go to? Who can help?”
The golem was silent for a minute. Mack waited, eyes closed, unwilling to meet the worried gaze of his friends.
The golem came up with a name.
Mack breathed. “Yeah, Golem. That’s what you do. Right now!”
The line went dead.
“What must we do?” Sylvie asked.
With shaking fingers, Mack shoved his phone back into his pocket.