James Patterson: The Final Warning

“I prefer canine-American,” said Total. “When’s that pie coming? I’m starving.”

“What about me?” Nudge asked, puttingIggy’s hand on her face.

He smiled. “You’re sort of a chocolate-milk-slash-coffee color,” he said in wonder.

“Like, mocha,” saidGazzy.

So there you go.Iggy had a new, unexpected skill, like Nudge. Would we all develop them? Surely nothing more could happen to Angel- she was pretty much already loaded for bear in terms of special powers.

The rest of us would have to wait and see.

Then the doorbell rang, and we all leaped up. Dinner!

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 huge kaboom! 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.

“Report!” I said, then instantly choked on the fine dust that filled the air. I started coughing hard, tears streaming down my face, and every time I took a breath, I sucked in more dust and coughed more.

“I’m okay,” said Nudge, crawling out from the hallway where she had dived.

“I’m okay,” saidIggy, though I couldn’t see him. Then a pile of dust and debris moved on the floor, and he stood up, looking as if he’d been flocked. Like a Christmas tree.

“Okay here,” saidGazzy, and he started coughing too.

“What was that? ” my mom asked, sounding shocked.

“Everyone all right?”Jeb asked, brushing stuff off his shoulders.

Amazingly, we were all fine, except for minor scrapes, cuts, and bruises. Total looked as if he’d been breaded in preparation for frying. IfGazzy hadn’t seen that wire, we all would have resembled pizzas ourselves: flat and messy.

“But what was that?” my mom asked again. She looked totally freaked out and kept patting everyone down for broken bones.

“A welcome wagon?” I said, already gathering our meager belongings. “Okay, everyone. Let’s scram before the cops show.”

WE SPLIT UP from Mom andJeb, then met them fifteen minutes later at an inconspicuous motel out on the highway. They drove, and we flew overhead, looking for anyone tailing them. We didn’t see anyone, and I guessed that whoever set up the bomb assumed it had worked and that we had all been eliminated. No one had tried to blow us up in a while, and we were all a little shaken. It was a reminder that danger could come from anywhere, anyone.

After brushing themselves off as much as possible, Mom rented a room, andJeb rented the one next door. We waited till the coast was totally clear, and then the flock and Total sneaked in. Maybe we’d be safe here for a little while.

That night, my mom and I stayed up talking after everyone else had gone to bed. I curled up on the couch next to her and tried not to imagine what my life would have been like if I could have been talking to her like this all the time.

“Who could have done that?” she asked, still looking upset and troubled.

I shrugged. “It could be anyone. Any of the bad guys, any of the good guys who are really bad guys, anyone working for any of them. Maybe the government gang didn’t want to take no for an answer.”

She shook her head. “I still feel that no matter how overbearing they are, how much they don’t understand the situation, they’re on the level. I don’t think they were behind this.”

“Do you trustJeb?” I asked her.

“I do,” she said slowly. “But I also think you should always be on guard. With everyone, all the time.”

I nodded. “I’m not sure what we’ll do, after this.”

“The government school still not holding any appeal for you?” She smiled.

“No.”

“You’re always welcome at home,” she said, and took my hand.

I shook my head. “I wouldn’t do that to you- at least not too often. Anyone who helps us winds up getting hurt. Like tonight, for example.”

“Still. Never forget you have a refuge.”

“Okay,” I said with a smile. “I wish we could hang out like this more often.”

“Me too. There’s so much I want to talk to you about, so much I don’t know.” She hesitated. “Is there something going on between you and Fang?”

My eyes went wide, and I felt heat flush my cheeks. “No. What do you mean?” I said unconvincingly.

My mom stroked my hair and tried not to look worried. “Just be careful,” she said, and kissed my forehead. “There are other kinds of pain besides physical.”

Oh, like I didn’t know that.

“YO, MAX.”

Fang. Fang’s voice. I blinked and sat up fast, grabbing the sheets. “Wha’?” I panted. “What’s, what’s-”

“Let’s take a little spin.” Fang motioned outside. I looked around. The girls were sleeping in this room, boys in the other. Outside, the night was deep but bright with moonlight.

“Why?” I whispered.

He smiled unexpectedly, and my heart gave a little squeeze. “Because we can.”

Sadly, I usually don’t need a better reason than that. Fang eased himself through the motel door and ran off into the night, while I quickly pulled on jeans and a jacket. Then I followed him, raced toward the dark part of the parking lot, and launched myself into the air.

My wings snapped out, full and strong, through the big slits in my jacket. I dipped several feet until my feathers gathered the air like sails, and then I rose powerfully over the rooftops of this quiet DC suburb. I smiled as I cut through the night sky, Fang a thousand feet above me, barely outlined by moonlight. In seconds I had reached him, full of the exhilaration that comes with free flying, flying for pleasure. Instead of for escape, for example.

We wheeled through the chilly air, not speaking, leaving the town far behind.

Soon we were near the ocean, close to Chesapeake Bay. Swooping lower in wide circles, we saw a small unused dock jutting out into the water. With unspoken agreement we coasted lower, finally making a sneaker-pounding running stop down the length of the dock. Scarcely breathing hard, we sat on the edge of the dock, leaving our wings outstretched to cool off. There was no room- one of Fang’s wings overlapped one of mine.

“This is pretty.” My feet dangled at least a yard above the water.