A SECOND LATER, two heavily armed men were in the doorway.
Lamont knew that he and Maddy were in big trouble. He’d known it the instant he saw her begin to flicker back to visibility. They had already been invisible for nearly twenty minutes—longer than any of Maddy’s practice sessions, and longer than any of his own short bursts since being revived. In his prime, he could stay unseen for hours at a time. But his powers were eroded. He had lectured Maddy about being cautious, and he had broken his own rule. Before he could think or do anything about it, he turned visible too.
As two massive guards charged up the staircase toward them, Lamont pulled Maddy to the opposite side of the balcony. He vaulted over the edge, dangling from the railing before dropping the extra six feet to the floor. Maddy was right behind him.
“They can see us!” said Maddy. “Both of us!”
“Looks that way,” said Lamont. “Move!”
Lamont pushed against a panel in the rear dining room wall. It swung open into the huge main kitchen, where white-uniformed cooks huddled over steaming pots. The cooks looked up, wide-eyed, as Lamont and Maddy raced past.
“C’mon!” said Lamont, glancing over his shoulder as the two guards burst through the kitchen door. He pulled Maddy through a back exit into a service corridor—a maze-like passage where butlers and servers could move unseen behind the walls of the mansion.
“There’s a staircase ahead!” said Lamont. Maddy followed at a dead run. They ducked down a short passage that ended abruptly in a thick plaster wall.
“Dammit,” said Lamont. “They remodeled!”
They could hear the guards approaching the last turn behind them. They huddled in the short hallway as the guards rushed past. Lamont looked up. There was a metal hatch in the wall, about three feet off the floor.
“The dumbwaiter!” said Lamont.
“The what?” said Maddy.
Lamont yanked open the door to reveal a stainless steel compartment, about the size of a large suitcase.
“Get in!” he whispered.
“You’re kidding,” said Maddy.
“Now!” said Lamont.
Maddy folded herself into the tight cabinet, her knees bent up against her chin. Lamont closed the hatch and pressed a button on the wall. When he heard the motor and cables begin to whine, he stepped out carefully into the main corridor.
When the tiny lift lurched to a stop on the second floor, Maddy shoved the door open and tumbled out into a small alcove barely big enough for a serving cart. Lamont was already there. The relocated service stairs had led him to the same spot. He kicked at a corner of the baseboard in the alcove. A section of the wall spun open. Maddy’s eyes popped.
“Who was your architect?” she asked. “Houdini?”
Lamont pushed her through the opening into the next room. The false wall spun closed behind them. They heard guards passing by in the hallway outside, but nothing behind them.
Lamont was breathing hard. Running from villains had never been his forte. He always preferred to use his wits and his powers of deception. But now he felt drained—and guilty. He had pulled Maddy into another bad situation that could get them both killed. She needed more practice. And obviously so did he.
“Where the hell are we?” asked Maddy.
The room was huge, with floor-to-ceiling windows and a lush Oriental carpet. At the far end was a massive four-poster bed. Seeing it gave Lamont a jolt. The last time he saw that bed, he and Margo were lying in it.
“It’s my bedroom,” said Lamont. “Or was.”
A small table near the marble fireplace held a tray with a wedge of cheese, a tin of olives, and a split of champagne. Maddy grabbed a small bag from a dresser top and started filling it with the fancy provisions.
“What are you doing?” whispered Lamont.
“Habit,” said Maddy. “I see food, I take it.”
Lamont moved quietly to the long side of the room opposite the windows. It was lined with wide closet doors. He opened the first door to reveal a row of expensive suits. The style was too European for his taste, but he knew exquisite tailoring when he saw it. The floor of the closet was lined with equally elegant shoes. At the far end of the hanging rod, past the suits, Lamont caught a flash of color. He shoved the row of suits aside to expose an impossibly beautiful robe. Not the kind you’d wear to the bathroom. The kind you’d wear to rule an empire. The collar was ermine, and the clasps were pure gold.
The noise from the hallway got louder. Suddenly, the main door to the bedroom burst open, slamming back against the wall as a squad of huge guards rushed through. Once again, Maddy was staring at the green beams of laser sights. But this time the men holding the weapons were not everyday TinGrins. They were elite palace guards. The best and the biggest. Well trained and terrifying.
Lamont moved quickly to the center of the room. He pulled Maddy behind him so that the laser beams danced across his chest instead of hers. He’d been in tight spots before. He’d faced down plenty of evildoers with guns. It came with the job. But now he had somebody else to protect—somebody who’d never planned on this kind of life, or this kind of danger.
And at the moment, he was fresh out of secret powers.