Nevermore: The Final Maximum Ride Adventure

Jeb. She forgot her anger for a moment. “You were creating another Ari?”

“I swore this time I wouldn’t fail. I would be a good father….” Jeb’s voice caught in his throat. “And he would be a good son. I would retire from my work with the School and care for him with all my heart.”

And despite everything, Angel couldn’t help but feel the tiniest twinge of pity. Here Jeb was, a fully grown man, sobbing over his dead son.

“You have to understand, Angel,” Jeb pleaded. “I had only the best in mind. Just one new Ari. Then it would end.”

“But it didn’t end,” Angel whispered, thinking of the flying mutants they’d battled for months.

“Well, of course there were many less-than-perfect attempts,” Jeb conceded. “But Dr. Gunther-Hagen is an incredibly brilliant geneticist. With his help, I made Ari bigger and better than ever before, seamless and strong. Finally, I had my son back.” Jeb wasn’t crying anymore. He sounded almost triumphant.

Triumphant, and something else.

Angel felt the dread building in her stomach.

“The not-Aris were useful, too,” Jeb said. “Not as sons, but as warriors, designed for one mission, and one mission only.”

“Mission?”

When he spoke, Angel could hear the cold serenity in his tone. “To eliminate Fang.”

28

“WHAT?” ANGEL FELT her skull prickle all over and her hands go numb. The air around her felt like it was vibrating, and she rested her head against the plastic wall of the dog crate, breathing deeply.

With darkness consuming her vision, she couldn’t see Jeb’s face, but she could picture it clearly: the laugh lines around his mouth, a bit of stubble on his jawline, and his eyes—intelligent eyes that she had once known so well, that she had trusted, that even Max had trusted. The eyes that seemed well meaning, even when he was screwing everything up.

She must’ve misunderstood him.

“Wait—what?” she said again, shaking her head to clear it. “Eliminate Fang… as in, kill Fang?”

“That’s what the 99% Plan is all about,” Jeb said simply.

He sounded calm. Creepily, eerily calm. The calm that comes with absolute certainty. It was terrifying.

“Isn’t 99% about sparing the mutants?” Angel tried to keep her voice as calm as Jeb’s, though her body was shaking all over. “How can that mean killing Fang?”

“It’s about the good of the planet versus the good of the people, Angel,” he explained in an indulgent tone, as if they were talking about why she needed to share with others or conserve water. “You know I love Fang like another son.” It was true—she had thought he did. Angel instantly regretted pitying him earlier.

“Then how could you do this?” Angel asked, her voice rising. “I’ll forgive you, Jeb,” she said suddenly. She touched her eyelids again, choking back tears. “I’ll forgive you, and everything that happened with Ari won’t matter anymore. You can turn it all around. Just don’t do this.” She was gripping the bars of her cage, pleading with him.

Jeb was silent for so long that Angel held her breath, a twinge of hope swelling in her.

Then he sighed heavily. “No. He’s too dangerous now. If he remains alive, his life will become a living hell.”

“But why?” Angel demanded.

“Hans will see to it. Remember back in Dr. Gunther-Hagen’s lab, when Fang almost died?”

She nodded. It was one of her worst memories, even worse than the ones from when she was really little, in the School.

“As a result of those tests, Hans has recently discovered something truly extraordinary about Fang’s DNA.”

“What kind of discovery?” Angel asked bleakly. Jeb had no answers, no explanations—only more vague justifications. She felt empty.

“Something amazing,” Jeb replied with such bright enthusiasm that Angel wanted to hit him. They were talking about the reason for Fang’s death. “Something that would change the world.”

Suddenly, the soft padding sound of footsteps reached Angel’s ears. Someone was coming toward them.

“Yes, Angel, something that would change the world,” a cool female voice said. “And now we need to find out if you, sweetie, have the same… defect.”

Angel felt like she was going to throw up.

She knew that voice.

Dr. Martinez, Max’s mom, was at the School.

29

“REMEMBER, FIRST IMPRESSIONS are key,” Total told me sagely.

I stared. “Total, there is no first impression. I’ve been living with the guy for like three months, for Pete’s sake.”

He flapped his little black wings and sniffed. “Well, excuse me for trying to help with your—might I remind you—first-ever date with Dylan.”

Rolling my eyes, I attempted to get a brush through my ratty hair for the umpteenth time. “It’s not even a date.” I sighed. “Dylan and I are chaperoning Nudge and Sloan.”

“I bet Nudge would accept my advice graciously.”

“Perfect! So go talk to Nudge, then!”

Total whined. “But unlike you, she already knows the ins and outs of being a normal teenager. You’re the dysfunctional one here.”

I scowled. “Fine. Give me advice.”

“Ask nicely.”

“Total.”

“Sheesh, no need to get all snippy,” he said, pouting as effectively as a Scottish terrier can pout. “Just remember: No one likes a self-absorbed person. Always direct the conversation back to your date.”

“I already know everything about my… about Dylan,” I said. I sighed again and wound my hair into a lopsided bun, then tried to jam in a couple of the chopstick-y things that Nudge uses for her hair. Welcome to the glamorous life of Maximum Ride, ladies and gentlemen.

“Also, personal hygiene is a must,” Total continued.

We both looked at my messy hair, my stained jeans, my beat-up sneakers.

“I’ll get Nudge to choose an outfit for you,” he muttered.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, trying not to panic. Do I need to repeat how awful I am at this—this normal girl stuff? No. I don’t believe I do.

But Sloan was a fifteen-year-old boy. I don’t care how nice the guy might be, that’s a walking hormonal disaster waiting to happen, in my book. There was no way I was just going to sit there and let him whisk Nudge away by herself, so to keep it from being horribly awkward, Dylan and I were double- whatevering with them.

Kill me now.

“So what movie are you crazy kids seeing, anyway?” Total asked fondly.

“Blood City III: The Massacre.” I’d read the summary of it online, and frankly, it sounded like the directors had just decided to film my life.

“Perfect!” Total crowed, wagging his tail. “A horror movie! You can cling to Dylan during all the scary parts.”

Flabbergasted, I gaped at him. “First of all, sexist pig much?” I said. “I don’t buy into the whole damsel-in-