Nevermore: The Final Maximum Ride Adventure

“WHO DOES THAT guy think he is?” Fang exploded after Dylan was out of sight.

“Seriously!” I was as cranky as a wet cat and pacing furiously. “What the heck does he think he’s doing barging into my house”—I gestured dramatically—“in the middle of—” I locked eyes with Fang. He raised an eyebrow, and his smirk sent a buzz through my whole body. “In the middle of the night. Trying to freak everyone out?”

I yanked an upturned table back over and slammed the door Dylan had left open.

“Max,” Fang said cautiously. When I turned around, there was uncertainty on his face. “Do you think he might’ve really seen something? His vision is crazy sharp, isn’t it?”

“Oh, please,” I huffed. “It’s not that great. And I don’t know if he’s short-circuiting or what, but he’s clearly not the brightest bulb right now.”

Fang nodded and bent to right an overturned chair. One of the reasons Fang and I work so well together? He keeps his mouth shut when I’m in fire-breathing dragon mode. Unlike Blondie down there.

At that point, I’d almost gotten used to Dylan strapping us in for his own personal roller-coaster ride of highs and lows, complete with lingering nausea at the whole rotten experience. This, however, was on a whole new level.

I was made to protect you, he’d said, his sea-blue eyes begging me to trust him, still full of that same fierce drive he’d shown when I’d taught him to fly, not so very long ago. But that dopey innocence, which had seemed almost endearing then, was nowhere in sight now.

I shook my head. I couldn’t afford to be sentimental. Not anymore. Sentimentality is for suckers. And a sucker, I ain’t.

Harden your heart.

Done. My heart is a freaking diamond. Only less glittery.

I bent to help Fang pick up the pieces of glass from the shattered window, and I couldn’t help staring down at the havoc Dylan was already wreaking on our little paradise. The place had gone from zero to sixty in minutes, and I watched as he herded dozens of hysterical kids into the ultra-secure underground cave system.

Abuse of privileges. Mom was gonna freak.

“Gazzy!” I shouted when I spotted him moving along in his bobbing gait. “Nudge!” Iggy was with them, consoling Ella as they hurried toward the caves. Even Total was barking anxious orders at Akila in their dog language. “You guys, he’s delusional. Cuckoo. There’s nothing to worry about!”

In the chaos, they didn’t seem to hear me.

“Oh, no,” I fumed. “This. Will. Not. Stand.” Making a mess was one thing. Hijacking my flock was another. “Wait, where’s—”

“Angel.” Fang pointed at the ragged-looking ball of feathery fluff zooming toward us through the trees.

She was sobbing as she crashed into my arms.

“Whoa,” I said, cuddling her close. “It’s okay, Ange. You’re okay.”

Angel shook her head, her soft curls framing her tear-streaked face.

“You guys have to get to the caves,” she said, hiccupping. “It’s coming. Dylan saw—”

“Yeah, I’m going to put a stop to that,” I reassured her.

“No!” she wailed, her blue eyes wide with fear. “Dylan knows what he’s doing. I saw things when I was in that lab, Max. Horrible things.” Her little face contorted, and my mother-bear instincts raged. As soon as we get off this island, I swore, I am going to hunt down those sickos who hurt my baby.

“But we’re never going to leave here, Max. We can’t leave. You promised!” Angel cried, reading my mind.

I wiped the tears from her face and cupped her tiny chin in my hands. “It’s okay, sweetie. Deep breaths. What did you see in the lab?”

“I saw trees falling over like dominoes. This place, coated in ash. The light comes first, then the sound. And you and Fang, blown out of the sky.” Fang’s dark eyes flicked to my face, but he didn’t move. “When we landed, it seemed familiar, but I wasn’t sure. It all makes sense now, though. Dylan is right—the sky is falling.”

It’s time, the Voice inside my head said. Listen to her, Max.

82

THE WORLD WAS ending, and we were in paradise.

I knew I should join the others, kiss away the rest of humanity, and spend the next fifty years snuggled up to my winged prince charming, finally free.

Fang and Angel were both studying my face closely. I shook my head slowly. I knew this was the decision that would define my life.

I just didn’t have it in me to die like a coward.

“I’m flying back to the States,” I said. “Now.” I stepped past them, out onto the limb between the tree houses. Below, the jungle was quiet, the leaves rustling softly. Except for a few small figures I could see at the cliffs in the distance, everyone was already safe in the caves. If I was going to do this, if I was going to walk away from my flock, maybe forever, I had to go before I lost my nerve.

“What?” Angel looked horrified.

“Are you sure?” Fang asked, his face trusting and true.

I nodded, trying not to look into his eyes, trying not to think about what I was leaving behind. “If the toxin has been engineered like my mom said, there has to be an antidote. Or maybe Mark was lying. Maybe the contagion hasn’t been released. Maybe we can stop the psychopaths before they release the bug. But if it is released… Well, at least we can warn people.”

Angel shook her head. “Max, you don’t understand what you’re up against.”

“Look, it’s not like the odds haven’t been stacked against me before,” I said, trying to sound reassuring. “I always come out all right in the end, don’t I?” I didn’t say what everyone else was thinking: that it might actually be the end this time.

“Please don’t do this now,” Angel pleaded, reaching for my arm. “We have to get to the caves. Fang, tell her! We’ll be safe, I promise. Just come with us.”

Listen to her, the Voice repeated. Go.

I’d been obeying my Voice for so long, trusting whatever it said, even when it seemed to be mocking my existence. But I couldn’t do it this time. Not when the consequences were so major.

“I can’t, sweetie,” I said to Angel. “I’m tired of running from the unknown. If this threat is real, I’m going to face it, whatever it is, with the rest of the world.” I looked at Fang, standing next to her. I’m sorry, I mouthed, my heart breaking.

But Fang walked out to the limb and took my hand. He brought it to his lips and, without taking his smoldering, coal-black eyes from my face, said, “I’m with Max.”

“Fang, no, you can’t,” I said. If this really was it, the end of the world, I couldn’t ask this of him.

“Yes, I can. We’ll fly back to face 99%,” he said, nodding at me.

I stared at Fang for a long moment. It felt like we were one person.

“I’m with you,” he repeated solemnly.

“But it’s not them!” Angel shrieked from the ledge. “Aren’t you listening? All the preparation Dr. Martinez and Pierpont and Jeb and all the other whitecoats did, poking and prodding and testing us, shooting us up with God knows what to make us immune—it was all totally pointless! It’s not coming from 99%. It’s coming from the sky.”

Fang shrugged. “Then we’ll face the thing in the sky. Whatever it is, we’ll face it together.” He gave my hand a squeeze, and tears streamed down my face.

“You’ll die here!” Angel cried. “You’ll both die, falling, just like what I saw.”

I looked down at her, not sure how to explain myself. “Angel, I was supposed to save the world,” I said quietly. I paused for a moment, realizing the gravity of that statement, and then stood up straighter, suddenly more sure of myself than I’d ever been. “I was supposed to save the whole world—not just the ‘special’ ones, not just the ones who have the protection of some multibillionaire. So if the rest of the world has to die, I have to go down with