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The Curse of the King
Peter Lerangis
The fourth book in the thrilling SEVEN WONDERS series.“A high-octane mix of modern adventure and ancient secrets… I can’t wait to see what’s next.” Rick RiordanTHREE BATTLESThirteen-year-old Jack McKinley has fought impossible odds to save himself, his friends, and the world. Having already defeated the Colossus of Rhodes, hunted through Ancient Babylon, and outfoxed legions of undead, the Select have recovered three of the lost Loculi hidden in the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, only to lose one of them in order to save a life. They must now find a way to undo what has been done, to save themselves from the power that will overwhelm them-and destroy the world.TWO RIVALSNot only do Jack and his friends have to unearth these seven ancient wonders, but they also have to contend with the Massa, an organization bent on using the Loculi for evil. The Massa have taken over the Karai Institute and convinced former friend Marco to switch sides. Outnumbered, underequipped, and growing weary, Jack, Cass, and Aly come upon their greatest challenge yet-the long-lost Statue of Zeus.ONE ENEMYAs time runs out, our heroes must confront gods, relive old battles, and face-down their own destiny. Old enemies become new friends and sudden victories turn to certain defeats as the time nears for everything to change.
The Tides Turn
Copyright (#ub35ba3d4-69bd-5425-acdb-c1f9d9ddb3ea)
First published in the USA by HarperCollins Publishers Inc in 2015
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2015
HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd,
1 London Bridge Street
London, SE1 9GF
The HarperCollins website address is
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
Copyright © HarperCollinsPublishers 2015
Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers, 2015
Cover art © Torstein Norstrand, 2015
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780007586554
Ebook Edition © 2015 ISBN: 9780007586561
Version: 2015-02-05
FOR MOM AND DAD,
WHO HAVE READ EVERYTHING
SINCE THE VERY FIRST SENTENCE
Contents
Cover (#ud8cbef99-b2a8-5679-ab56-a5f995892a59)
Title Page (#u29fd29ba-46ab-50d6-a4d8-5042c6fb48ec)
Copyright
Dedication (#u5b2f3eb5-5ae2-5b99-a292-37e400c16f87)
Chapter One: The Wrath of Yappy
Chapter Two: Twerp Perps, Snalp, and the Fat Lady
Chapter Three: The Enemy of Interesting
Chapter Four: The Barry
Chapter Five: Shard Luck
Chapter Six: Aly-Bye
Chapter Seven: Down and out in LA
Chapter Eight: The Humpty Dumpty Project
Chapter Nine: Mausoleum Dream
Chapter Ten: If it Looks Like a Hoax …?
Chapter Eleven: God of Couch Potatoes
Chapter Twelve: Biiiig Trouble
Chapter Thirteen: The Fourth Loculus
Chapter Fourteen: Escape from the Nostril
Chapter Fifteen: The Dream Continued
Chapter Sixteen: A Goat Moment
Chapter Seventeen: Battle on the Mount
Chapter Eighteen: Loser, Loser, Loser
Chapter Nineteen: Deifirtep
Chapter Twenty: In the Matter of Victor Rafael QuiÑones
Chapter Twenty One: Slipping Away
Chapter Twenty Two: Massa Island
Chapter Twenty Three: Good Enough for the Cockroaches
Chapter Twenty Four: The Illusion of Control
Chapter Twenty Five: In Hexad de Heptimus Veritas
Chapter Twenty Six: Lifeline
Chapter Twenty Seven: The Seventh Codex
Chapter Twenty Eight: His Jackness
Chapter Twenty Nine: What’s a Few Million Lives …?
Chapter Thirty: Esiole
Chapter Thirty One: The King of Toast
Chapter Thirty Two: Reunion
Chapter Thirty Three: Preposserous
Chapter Thirty Four: My Sister the Monster
Chapter Thirty Five: Goon Number Seven
Chapter Thirty Six: Pull my Finger
Chapter Thirty Seven: The Meathead Starts Over
Chapter Thirty Eight: Ambush
Chapter Thirty Nine: Fiddle and Bones
Chapter Fourty: The Labyrinth and the Tapestry
Chapter Fourty One: Is not Gorilla
Chapter Fourty Two: The Teflon King
Chapter Fourty Three: Braggart, Traitor, Deserter, Killer?
Chapter Fourty Four: The Sword and the Rift
Chapter Fourty Five: Something Much Wors
Epilogue
About the Publisher
(#ub35ba3d4-69bd-5425-acdb-c1f9d9ddb3ea)
HAVING LESS THAN a year to live doesn’t feel great, but it’s worse when you’re in a cop car that smells of armpits, cigarettes, and dog poop. “Don’t New York City cops ever clean their cars?” Cass Williams mumbled.
I turned my nose to the half-open window. Aly Black was at the other end of the backseat, but Cass was stuck in the middle. Outside, music blared from a nearby apartment window. An old woman walking a Chihuahua eyed us and began yelling something I couldn’t quite make out.
“Okay, what do we do now, Destroyer?” Cass asked.
“‘Jack’ is still my name,” I said.
“‘The Destroyer Shall Rule,’ that was the prophecy,” Aly replied. “And your mom pointed at you.”
“We were invisible! She could have been pointing at …” My voice trailed off. It was after midnight, but the way they were both glaring at me, I felt like I needed sunglasses. I was beginning to think throwing that last Loculus under a train might not have been a great idea. “Look, I’m sorry. I really am. But I had to do it, or everyone would have died. You would have done the same thing!”
Aly sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s just … an adjustment, that’s all. I mean, we had a chance. And now …”
She gave me a sad shrug. We’re dead, is what she didn’t say. A genetic mutation was on target to kill us before the age of fourteen. And I had sabotaged our chance to be cured. Seven Loculi was what we needed. Now one of them was in pieces under a train.
I sank back into the smelly seat. As the car slowed to a stop in front of a squat brick police station, our driver called out, “Home sweet home!”
She was a tall, long-faced woman named Officer Wendel. Her partner, Officer Gomez, quickly hauled himself out from the passenger side. He was barely taller than me but twice my width. The car rose an inch or so when he exited. “Your papa’s inside, dude,” he said. “Make nice with him and make sure we don’t see you again.”
“You won’t,” Aly replied.
“Wait!” cried the old woman with the Chihuahua. “Those are devil children!”
Officer Gomez paused, but another cop waved him in. “You go ahead,” he said wearily. “We’ll take care of Mrs. Pimm.”
“I recognize her,” Aly whispered. “She’s the person who shows up in movie credits as Crazy New York City Neighbor.”
As Officer Gomez rushed us inside and down a short, grimy hallway, I eyed my backpack, which was slung over his shoulder. The Loculus of Flight and the Loculus of Invisibility formed two big, round bulges.
He had peeked inside but not too carefully. Which was lucky for us.
Officer Wendel walked ahead and pushed open the door to a waiting room. Dad was sitting on a plastic chair, and he stood slowly. His face was drawn and pale.
“Officers Gomez and Wendel, Washington Heights Precinct,” Gomez said. “We responded to the missing-persons alert. Found them while investigating a commotion up by Grant’s Tomb.”
“Thank you, officers,” Dad said. “What kind of commotion? Are they in trouble?”
“Healthy and unharmed.” Gomez unhooked the pack and set it on a table. “We had reports of noises, people in costume—gone by the time we got there.”
Officer Wendel chuckled. “Well, a few weirdoes in robes near the train tracks, picking up garbage. Guess the party was over. Welcome to New York!”
Dad nodded. “That’s a relief. I—I’ll take them home now.”
He reached for the backpack, but Officer Wendel was already unzipping it and looking inside. “Just a quick examination,” she said with an apologetic look. “Routine.”
“Officer Gomez did it already!” I pointed out.
Before Gomez could respond, a sharp barking noise came from the hallway. The old lady was inside, with her dog. Officer Wendel looked toward the noise.