“You’re right,” I said, my throat feeling tight. “I’m sorry. Actually, I do think that our e-mail got through, because Nudge is brilliant at that stuff. And he’s Fang. They’re on their way. I know it.”
Silence.
“You lie really well, Max,” Nudge said approvingly.
I laughed. “I’ve had a lot of practice. But seriously, I do bet they’re on their way.”
“How could they cross the ocean?” Ari asked, not meanly, just wondering.
“Maybe they got tickets on a plane, like us,” said Angel.
“Or maybe they stowed away on a plane,” suggested Nudge.
“Or maybe they, like, flew up into the sky, waited for a jet to pass by, then dropped down onto it and held on,” I said dramatically, and we all laughed. I imitated Fang hanging on to a jet, mouth open from the wind drag.
Their chuckles seemed to make the walls recede a bit and the darkness not quite so dark.
The loudspeakers were most annoying when they were in English because we couldn’t help listening. The Director—or Crazy Old Mom, as I liked to think of her—was again spouting something about the future of flawlessness.
“She is a seriously negative woman,” I said.
“I’m sorry, Max,” said Nudge. “I know she wasn’t what you were hoping for.”
“Yeah.” I smiled wryly. “‘Delusional mass murderer’ wasn’t really on my list.”
Again I wanted to wail with disappointment, but I swallowed it down. I had finally found my mother, and she was my worst nightmare. This was really just too bitter to bear. On top of that, Nudge was trying to comfort me. It was my job to comfort her. Usually the only person who comforted me was Fang. Who had deserted me.
A slight scratching sound in the shadows made us all prick up our ears.
“Rats,” said Nudge nervously.
But it wasn’t rats. A tall figure appeared in the distance. We all went on alert, ready for a fight, since flight was out of the question.
A voice spoke.
“Max,” Jeb said.
And now my day of horror was complete.
90
“Well, well,” I said, using every bit of strength I had to make my voice sound chipper. “Fancy meeting you. Come here often? How’s the food?”
Jeb moved closer, till he stepped into the dim circle of light given off by the amber emergency fixture. He looked just the same—maybe more tired than usual. I guess torturing kids takes it out of you.
He gave me his trademark smile tinged with sadness. “Actually, no one knows I’m here.”
I made my eyes round. “Gosh, I sure won’t tell anyone!”
“So you met the Director?” he asked.
My facade crashed down, but I struggled to keep it together. “Yes. And what a picnic she turned out to be. Three billion women with ovaries on this planet, and I had to get the one voted ‘most likely to become a delusional psychopath’ as my mom.”
Jeb knelt down on the filthy stone floor, looking at me. I felt Angel wound tightly with tension next to me and wondered if she was picking up anything from Jeb. He hadn’t acknowledged the others, including Ari.
“You can still save the world, Max.”
A sudden wave of exhaustion almost sucked me under. I wanted to roll up into a fetal position and stay there for the rest of my life, which I hoped would be mercifully short. I had been working so hard for so long, going at 140 percent. I had pretty much hit rock bottom.