This summary section includes Chapter 35: “Three Teabags in the Life of Nathan Marcusovich,” Chapter 36: “Nikita”, Chapter 37: “Cobalt Alley,” and Chapter 38: “Money.”

After Nathan flees the Council building, he runs until he finds a more secluded place to hide. This proves to be an unoccupied weekend home. The boy picks the lock, raids the cupboards, uses the shower, and sometimes naps in the bed, but he sleeps outdoors in the woods at night. Nathan thinks back to a book that Celia was reading for him. It was about a Russian prisoner exiled in Siberia. Nathan begins to use the Russian patronymic for his name and starts calling himself Nathan Marcusovich.

After ten days of hiding out, Nathan knows he must find Bob, who will lead him to Mercury. He must be careful because he is convinced that his new tattoos are tracking devices. Worse yet, Bob lives at the end of Cobalt Alley, the same street where the Council building is located.

Nathan thinks that Cobalt Alley might be spell-protected, so he is hesitant to walk to Bob’s house at the far end. Instead, he lurks in the shadows across the street from the Council building, hoping to flag down Bob in person.