THE FLOCK STOOD out of sight of the door whileJeb answered it. A short guy in a red shirt stood there holding a large stack of pizza boxes.Jeb paid him, and the guy handed over the pizzas and hurried back to his car. Mom took the boxes, andJeb shut and locked the door. The flock came out of hiding as if we were Munchkins and the good witchGlinda had just showed up.

“Yes, yes, yes,” Nudge breathed, almost jumping up and down. The incredible smell of pizza filled the room.

Mom put the boxes on the table and opened one. “Who got the extra pepperoni and mushrooms?”

“Me, me!” I said, feeling my stomach rumble.

My mom reached into the box, andGazzy grabbed her arm and said, “Wait!”

“Get away from that pizza!” I orderedGazzy, moving closer. “Yours is probably next.”

“No,” saidGazzy, a stricken look on his face. “Look!” He pointed into the pizza box, and when I looked closely, I could see a tiny bit of green wire sticking out from under the thick Sicilian crust.

“Take cover!” I yelled, and then we all dove.

Everything flashed brilliant white, and then a hugekaboom! practically punctured my eardrums. I was lying on the floor behind the couch, and Fang was behind me, his arms around me, one hand covering my face. There was a bit of crackling, and then the weird post-explosion silence that sounds much louder than ordinary silence. Slight fluttering sounds told me that bits of stuff were floating to the ground.

“You okay?” Fang said, but my ears were blown and muffled, and it sounded as though he was speaking through a pillow. I nodded and scrambled up.