Boots snuggled up under his arm and gave a big yawn. Boots...the Bane...right now they were so alike that the entire Underland could misinterpret the prophecy and mistake them for each other. But what would happen when the Bane grew up in a year or so? Would it become the monster predicted in the prophecy, or an entirely different creature? He hoped Ripred would do a good job raising it.
Although even if Ripred did all the right things, it might be out of his control. Gregor's parents were great, and here he was, a rager. He was going to have to be very, very careful not to get into any fights now that he was home. He wished he'd talked to Ripred more about their condition. "Next time I go down there —" Gregor thought, and a jolt went through him. Because he suddenly knew there would be a next time. He was too tied up in the Underland now, there was too much he cared about: finding Luxa and Aurora and Temp and Twitchtip, if they were still alive; protecting Ares; helping the friends who had helped him. Gregor paid the driver from the last of the money Mrs. Cormaci had given him.
The elevator was out of order, so he hauled Boots up the stairs. They came through the front door and made it about three steps into the room before his dad caught them in his arms. In minutes, the whole apartment was up. His mom was kissing him, Lizzie was swinging on his hand, his grandma was calling from the bedroom. A million questions were flying at him, but he must have looked whipped, because his mom took his face between her hands and said, "Gregor, you need to go to bed, baby?" And that was exactly what he needed.
The next morning he told the whole story. He softened some of the bad parts, because everybody looked so scared. "But it's okay. Boots wasn't the baby. It was the Bane. So there's no reason the rats would want her now," said Gregor.
"I not baby. I big girl," said Boots, who was sitting on her dad's lap, lining up little plastic animals along the arm of the couch. "I ride bat. I swim. Temp seepy. I tell flutterfly tiny, tiny toes."
"And what about you, Gregor?" said his mother.
"Well, I had my chance to kill the Bane and I didn't do it, so I don't think the rats will come looking for me." He didn't tell her that the Regalians might. "Oh, hey, look what I brought for Mrs. Cormaci. It's a clock. She's been so nice and all, and you know how she loves all those old clocks —"
Gregor pulled open the pack, and a cloud of money floated out. Confused, he emptied the pack on the sofa. There was the clock, all right. But Vikus had ordered them to pack it in money. All those wallets in the museum must be a lot lighter now, because there were literally thousands of dollars in cash on the sofa.
"Oh, my goodness," said his grandma. "Now, what are we going to do with all that?"
"We're going to pay off the bills," his mom said grimly. Her face softened. "And then, we're going to have Christmas."
And they did. They had to rush around like crazy to pull it together, what with Christmas being the very next day, but who cared? Gregor, Lizzie, and their mom went shopping. His grandma and Boots watched Christmas specials on TV, while his dad cleaned up Mrs. Cormaci's cuckoo clock.
Even after the money had been set aside for the bills, there was plenty for Christmas. First they took the old metal laundry cart out and loaded it up with groceries. For a few weeks, anyway, Gregor would not have to feel tense when he opened the kitchen cabinets. Then the guy on the corner who sold trees gave them one half-price, since he was about done for the season, anyway. Lizzie stayed home to help decorate the tree, while Gregor and his mom shopped for presents. He had a hard time getting his mom anything that was a surprise since she wouldn't let him out of her sight.
"Mom, it's not like some giant rat is going to come after me in the middle of Eighty-sixth Street," he said. "There's a million people out."
"You just stay where I can see you," she answered.
He finally managed to get her a pair of earrings while she was buying everybody socks.
That evening, when Mrs. Cormaci came by with an armload of presents for them, Gregor answered the door.
"So, you're finally up and around, Mister," she said.
At first Gregor didn't know what she was talking about; then he remembered he was supposed to have had the flu. "Yeah, that pretty much wiped me out."
"You're thin as a rail," Mrs. Cormaci said, and handed him a plate of Christmas cookies. Gregor wished he had a picture of her face when she opened the clock. He could tell it blew her away. "Oh, my! Where did you get this?"
There was a pause.
"In one of those places that has old things," said Lizzie.
"An antique shop?" said Mrs. Cormaci.
"Oh, no, just a secondhand place," said his dad. In a way, it was true.
When she left, Gregor carried the clock home for her. She was chattering on about her kids flying in the next day and tickets she'd gotten for some Broadway musical when she stopped short. She was staring at Gregor's feet.
Gregor looked down. The boots were a mess. Badly scarred from Ares's claws, streaked with blood and squid slime, one toe bent in. Before he could think up a story, she spoke.
"Well, looks like you're getting a lot of use out of those," she said.
Gregor didn't answer. He couldn't lie to her again; she had been too good to them.
"You know, one day you're going to realize you can trust me, Gregor," she said.
"I do trust you, Mrs. Cormaci," he mumbled.
"Do you? Flu. Hmph," she said. "I'll see you next Saturday." She shook her head and closed the door.
The tree was decorated, the fridge was packed, the stockings were hung, everyone was in bed except Gregor and his mom. They were wrapping presents in his room. When they were down to the last few, he left her to finish while he tiptoed in to tidy up the living room. His dad was snoring peacefully on the pulled-out sofa —maybe that medicine would help after all. Their coats were in a pile on the floor where Lizzie had dumped them so they could hang their stockings on the coat pegs by the door. As he gathered them up, the cell phone fell out of his coat pocket. He stuffed it back in and felt something.
There, lying flat along the bottom of his jacket pocket, was the prophecy Nerissa had given him. It had been there all day, but he hadn't noticed it. What had she said? He was supposed to reflect on it? He wasn't sure what she'd meant.
Gregor unrolled the scroll and held it in the Christmas tree lights. Something was wrong with the prophecy. It took him a moment to realize it was written backwards. He traced the title from right to left with his fingers, deciphering the words. "The Prophecy of Bane" — no wait! The last word wasn't "Bane." It was "Blood."
He released the top of the scroll and let it snap shut as his mom came into the room with a big pile of presents.
"You ready for this?" she said.
Gregor slipped the scroll in his back pocket and held out his arms. "Sure," he said. "Ready as I'll ever be."
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks to my terrific agent, Rosemary Stimola, my extraordinary editor, Kate Egan, and Scholastic Press's amazing editorial director, Liz Szabla, who takes such excellent care of Gregor both on the page and in the world. Much appreciation goes also to the wonderful folks at Scholastic, especially Elizabeth Eulberg for being my guide and escort into the land of public appearances.
Special love to my dad, Michael Collins, who passed away last year. He was instrumental in the creation of this series and continues to be at my side as Gregor con-tinues his journey. He will fly with me always. And for my mom, Jane Collins, ongoing gratitude for her thoughtful input and enthusiastic support of these books.
Thanks also to my friends and family for their encouragement, their excitement, and their habit of walking into bookstores around the country and talking up Gregor the Overlander in voices too loud to ignore.