Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23 Chaos erupted around Amy. "Look— that rock's opening!" "There's a door!" "Why couldn't we see that before? It was so perfectly hidden from—" "Run!" Amy couldn't tell who was saying what. There wasn't time to think about any of it. One minute she was sitting beside Nellie, both of them craning their necks and trying to see what was happening on top of the cliff. The next minute she was sprinting toward the open door alongside Madison and Reagan Holt. It was like her body knew what to do even before her brain registered what her eyes were seeing: Door. Elevator. Dan. Hamilton. Eisenhower. The two Holts and Dan were all sprawled on the floor of the elevator, far apart from one

艾美周围一片混乱。 “看——那石头裂开了！”“有一扇门！”“为什么我们以前看不到呢？” 它是如此完美地隐藏着——”“快跑！”艾米听不清谁在说什么。 没有时间去想这些。 前一分钟她还坐在内莉旁边，两人都伸长脖子，想看看悬崖顶上发生了什么事。 下一分钟，她和麦迪逊·霍尔特和里根·霍尔特一起冲向敞开的门。 就好像她的身体在大脑记录下眼睛看到的东西之前就知道该怎么做了：门。 电梯。丹。汉密尔顿。艾森豪威尔。 两个霍尔特和丹都躺在电梯的地板上，彼此相隔甚远

another. Amy couldn't make sense of that, not while she was trying to run, dodging tombstones. "Out of the way, loser," Reagan said, swinging her elbow toward Amy's face. "Hamilton and Dad came back for us." "And Dan came back for me," Amy muttered, ducking the elbow. She was already down low enough— and close enough—that she decided to dive in through the elevator door. Someone landed on top of her: Reagan? No—it was Natalie. Then Reagan and Madison crammed in behind her, pushing Amy farther back. Amy's right ear was squashed against the wall, and Natalie's hand was shoved over her left ear. But she could hear a mechanical beeping sound and then an automated voice: "Elevator will not move from this spot without at least one representative from each Cahill branch. Step to the mirror for retinal scan. Ekat?" "If you please," Alistair said coldly from outside the elevator. There was a shuffling about—Amy caught a glimpse of Mary-Todd stepping out and

另一个地方。艾米搞不懂这是怎么回事，她一边跑一边躲着墓碑。 “滚开，笨蛋，”里根一边说，一边用胳膊肘指着艾米的脸。 “汉密尔顿和爸爸回来找我们了。” “丹回来找我了，”艾米嘟囔着，躲开了胳膊肘。 她已经够低了——也够近了——于是她决定从电梯门钻进去。 有人落在她身上：里根？ 不，是娜塔莉。然后里根和麦迪逊挤在她后面，把艾米推得更远。 艾米的右耳被压在墙上，娜塔莉的手按在她的左耳上。 但她能听到一声机械的哔哔声，然后是一个自动的声音：“没有卡希尔每个分公司至少一名代表，电梯不会从这里移动。” 到镜子前做视网膜扫描。 Ekat ?”“如果你愿意，”阿利斯泰尔在电梯外冷冷地说。 一阵拖沓的脚步声——艾美瞥见玛丽-托德走了出来

Alistair stepping in. The elevator beeped again. "Approved. Janus?" "Out of my way," Jonah said. Amy couldn't see, but she thought maybe he was yanking Madison and Reagan out of the elevator and shoving himself in. "Approved," the automated voice said. "Lucian?" "Present," Ian said. He must have moved over in front of the eye scanner because the automated voice said, "Approved. Tomas?" "Oh, no," Eisenhower objected. "There are two Lucians on this elevator right now because Natalie is over there hiding at the back. That's not fair. One of you has to leave." "Is it fair that there are two Holts?" Alistair asked. "You and Hamilton?" "That's different," Eisenhower said. While Eisenhower was complaining, Hamilton stepped up to the mirror.

阿利斯泰尔进来了。电梯又响了。 ”批准。Janus ?”约拿说：“你们不要挡我的路。” 艾米看不见，但她想也许他是在把麦迪逊和里根从电梯里拽出来，然后把自己塞进去。 “批准了。”自动发出的声音说。 “卢西恩?”“现在，”伊恩说。 他一定是在眼睛扫描仪前走了过去，因为自动声音说：“批准。” 托马斯?”“哦，不，”艾森豪威尔反对道。 “现在电梯里有两个卢西亚人，因为娜塔莉躲在后面。 这不公平。你们中的一个必须离开。” “有两个霍尔特，公平吗？”Alistair问道。 “你和汉密尔顿？”“这是不一样的，”艾森豪威尔说。 当艾森豪威尔在抱怨时，汉密尔顿走到镜子前。

"Approved," the automated voice said. "Madrigal?" "What?" Alistair exploded. "Madrigals aren't a Cahill branch!" "Madrigals?" This was Eisenhower. "Madrigals are evil!" "Everybody hates Madrigals!" Ian cried. The voices blended together, the indignation and fury rising with each word. It was the most unity Cahills had shown in five hundred years. Except when the other branches united to kill Mom and Dad, Amy thought with a shiver. She was tempted to yell, "I hate Madrigals, too!" just to throw everybody else off. "Dan told me in China that he was a Madrigal," Jonah said, his stage voice somehow cutting through the other's screams. "Dan, you want to pretend that again? Think you can fool the elevator?" Lie, Amy thought desperately at her brother. Deny it. Act. It's not safe to tell the truth right now. Smashed in the back of the elevator, Amy couldn't even see Dan. She hoped he was standing

“批准了。”自动发出的声音说。 “情歌?”“什么?”Alistair爆炸了。 “牧歌不是卡希尔的分支！”“牧歌的?”这就是艾森豪威尔。 “牧歌是邪恶的！”“每个人都讨厌牧歌！”伊恩哭了。 他们的声音混在一起，每说一个字，愤慨和愤怒就越高涨。 这是卡希尔五百年来表现得最团结的一次。 除了当其他树枝联合起来杀死爸爸妈妈的时候，艾米打了个寒颤。 她很想大喊：“我也讨厌牧歌！”只是为了甩掉其他人。 “丹在中国告诉我，他是牧歌里的人，”乔纳说，他在舞台上的声音不知怎么地盖过了对方的尖叫声。 “丹，你想再装一次吗？” 你觉得你能骗过电梯吗？”撒谎，艾米绝望地看着她哥哥。 否认。的行为。现在说真话不安全。 在电梯后面被撞得粉碎，艾米甚至看不到丹。 她希望他还站着

close enough to the mirror that he could rise up on his tiptoes a little and secretly set off the retinal scan. "I am a Madrigal," Dan's voice rang out boldly from the front section of the elevator. "My whole family is Madrigal. Even Nellie's a Madrigal. But it's not what you think. We're—" He was trying to explain. Amy thought her heart might burst, listening to her brother. He was so brave. And so foolish. The grumblings around them turned darker and even more menacing. "No!" Eisenhower bellowed. His voice was louder than anyone's— he was at the front of the elevator but had turned around. "I will not be on a team with Madrigals! I refuse!" The others cowered away from Eisenhower's fury, so Amy could see over them. She saw Eisenhower grab Dan and lift him up, ready to toss him out of the elevator. "No!" Amy screamed, shoving forward. But her shout got lost in the automated voice

离镜子足够近，他可以踮起脚尖，偷偷地启动视网膜扫描。 “我是一首牧歌。”丹的声音大胆地从电梯的前部传来。 “我全家都是牧歌。 连内莉都是牧歌。但不是你想的那样。 我们——”他试图解释。 听着哥哥的话，艾米的心都要炸裂了。 他是如此勇敢。太愚蠢了。 他们周围的嘟囔声变得更加黑暗，甚至更具威胁性。 “不!”艾森豪威尔大声。 他的声音比任何人都大——他在电梯前面，但转过身来。 “我不会和牧歌队在一个队！”我拒绝!”其他人都躲开了艾森豪威尔的怒火，这样艾米就能看到他们。 她看到艾森豪威尔抓住丹，把他举起来，准备把他扔出电梯。 “不!”艾米尖叫着向前挤去。 但她的呼喊被自动的声音淹没了

calling out, "Approved. All present and accounted for." Eisenhower must have lifted Dan past the retinal scan at exactly the right angle. This seemed to startle Eisenhower, who took a step back, half in and half out of the elevator. Everything happened fast after that. Nellie broke past Mary-Todd Holt and stabbed something into Eisenhower's right arm. Amy saw a flash of silver. Was Nellie using her snake nose ring as a weapon? Nellie screamed, "You let go of Dan," just as the pilot tugged on Eisenhower's left arm. "Sir, sir—" the pilot began. Are they crazy? Amy wondered. Thinking they can fight against Eisenhower Holt with a snake nose ring and good manners? But Eisenhower dropped Dan with a thud. He stepped back to face his attackers. He grabbed Nellie with his right hand and the pilot with his left and swung them toward each other, as if he intended to slam their heads together. "Nellie!" Amy screamed, pushing forward. She

喊道：“批准了。所有人都到齐了。” 艾森豪威尔一定是以正确的角度把丹抬过视网膜扫描。 这似乎吓了艾森豪威尔一跳，他向后退了一步，半进半出。 从那以后，一切都发生得很快。 内莉冲破玛丽·托德·霍尔特的阻拦向艾森豪威尔的右臂上捅了什么东西。 艾米看到一道银色的闪光。 内莉把她的蛇鼻环当成武器了吗？ 就在飞行员拽着艾森豪威尔的左臂时，内莉尖叫道：“你放开了丹。” “先生，先生——”领航员开始说。 他们疯了吗？艾米想知道。 以为他们可以用蛇鼻环和礼貌来对抗艾森豪威尔·霍尔特吗？ 但是艾森豪威尔砰的一声把丹扔了下去。 他后退一步面对攻击者。 他用右手抓住内莉，用左手抓住飞行员，把他们甩向对方，好像要把他们的头撞在一起似的。 “内莉!”艾米尖叫着向前推着。 她