“6A.”

From Pittacus Lore’s Lorien Legacies: The Rise of Nine.

As the struggle between the Loriens sent to earth both for their protection and our salvation grows, John (Four) and his friends are desperate to find and unite all the remaining Garde.  Following a clue from the internet, Six, Marina, and Ella have arrived in India where they meet the shape-shifting Eight who also has the helpful ability to teleport.  Eight joins the three girls and they discover a powerful secret weapon of sorts: a Loralite stone that allows the Garde to travel across the globe from stone to stone.  Meanwhile, John and Nine have been captured by dirty FBI agents, which presents a host of problems for the two fists-over-finesse aliens, but it does allow the pair the chance to find out where the Garde’s two human friends (Sam and Sarah) are being held captive.  When John and Nine escape, they disagree on where to head next based on the information they discovered and the fight quickly escalates until they both experience a vision that sends them on the way to join the other members of the Garde.  All of the teens are unsure what is coming, but each one can sense that something earth-threatening is quickly coming into play, and they are the only ones who can stop it.

The third book in the series uses lots of action and character trial-by-fire to develop a story that is constantly moving.  The narration bounces from character to character as the story develops which adds to the suspense, but it can be slightly confusing to keep the fonts separate early in the book.  The Rise of Nine is a wild ride that brings science fiction and action together for a non-stop story; it is able to hold its own as a book, but works best as part of the series.