“Okay, I’m seeing a lot of plastique, and it’s wired to a detonator,” I said. C-4 by itself is actually pretty stable. It needs something to ignite it before it will explode. “But what’s in these big metal tanks?”
“It’s marked VX—
“Is that a cute French way of saying we’re surrounded by a completely lethal gaseous nerve agent?” I asked.
Angel nodded unhappily.
Perfect. A quick glance around showed almost as much poison gas as explosives. “When the C-4 detonates, the VX will be released too,” Dylan realized.
“All those people above us,” I said, the full horror slowly sinking in.
“These sewer pipes go all over,” said Gazzy. “Some of them go out into the ocean, and some go into Belgium and Germany. They’re really old, and they all seem connected. They’ll carry the poison pretty far away, and it’ll seep up through drainage grates.”
“Is there any way to dismantle the timers?” Fang asked.
“They’re complicated,” Gazzy said, “but I’ve seen them before. I wish Iggy were here.”
“We can grab him,” I said, but Fang shook his head.
“When I left him, he and Nudge were circling back with Maya to find the gang. We’ll never reach them in time.”
“What does that timer say?” I asked.
Gazzy looked. “Seven minutes.”
“Is that enough time for you to kill it?” Fang asked.
“I think so,” Gazzy said. He traced a set of colored wires from one timer to the next. “I can probably do it in about five minutes. I’ve always wanted to work on one of these.”
I was torn and looked at Fang. He understood: Gazzy could stay and try to save everyone, possibly sacrificing himself in the process… or I could order him out of here, saving my whole flock but sentencing thousands of innocent people to certain death.
It was my call. Because I was the leader.
I’m great at thinking on my feet and making snap decisions, but this—this was a big life-or-death choice. I felt stuck. And every second counted.
Dylan touched my back gently, as if to tell me that he knew it was hard, but he’d understand whichever way I went. At least, I hope that’s what he meant.
“I think Gazzy should stay,” Angel said, looking up at me. “And I’ll stay with him, to help. I’m not as good as Iggy, but I can do whatever he tells me to.”
“No, not you too,” I said.
“I’ll stay,” said Fang. “With three of us, we’ll make it work.” He turned to Gazzy. “Get going. Be fast but careful.”
“Fang is right,” said Dylan.
I realized I couldn’t fix this situation. I couldn’t make the perfect decision that would save everyone. I had to trust their instincts. And I had to do what I could.
“We need to go warn everyone in the plaza,” I said, trying to kick my brain into gear. “We need to get as many people out of there as possible.”
I didn’t say it, but we were all thinking the words
Angel nodded. “Yes. You guys get going!” She looked at me one last time. “It’ll be okay, Max. I’ll be with you always, no matter what. And Max—I believe in you.
73
DYLAN AND I raced down the tunnel as fast as we could. I was overjoyed to see the shaft of light coming from the open manhole.
“How do we fly up through that?” Dylan asked as we skidded to a halt.
I grabbed a ladder rung set into the cement wall. “We climb!”
Once we were out, the normalcy of the street scene made what we’d encountered below seem even more surreal. Without worrying who might see us, we launched ourselves into the air and rocketed back to the stage in the middle of the Place de la Concorde.
Iggy and Nudge—no Maya in sight—were still flying, performing for the audience. Onstage, I saw an older teenage girl, talking into a headset, walking around, smiling.
