Of course, if I could have taken off, I’d have been a little speck in the sky by then. But I couldn’t let those yo-yos see my wings, and within seconds I was in the woods anyway.
I ran through the underbrush, smacking branches out of my way, glad I was wearing shoes. I had no idea where I was going.
Behind me I could hear a couple of the bozos yelling, swearing, threatening. I wanted to laugh but couldn’t spare the time. I was steadily increasing the distance between us.
Then I heard a loud bang! from the shotgun, and tree bark exploded around my head. That stupid gun.
Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking? Are you wondering if I noticed the similarities between this asinine situation and my dream? Well, yeah. I’m not an idiot. As to what it all meant, well, I’ll work on that later.
In the next second, there was another bang, and almost simultaneously a sudden, searing pain in my left shoulder. I gasped and glanced over to see blood blossoming on my sleeve. That idiot had actually hit me!
Then sheer bad luck made me instantly trip over a tree root, fall on my hurt shoulder, and slide crazily down a steep slope, through bushes, underbrush, vines, and rocks. I tried to grab anything, but my left arm couldn’t move well, and my right hand scrabbled uselessly.
Finally, I tumbled to a stop at the bottom of an overgrown ravine. Looking up, I saw only green: I was covered by vines and shrubs.
I lay very still, trying to catch my breath, trying to think. Far above me, I heard the wild boys yelling and shooting again. They sounded like elephants crashing through the woods, and I tracked them clearly as they ran right past where I fell.
I felt like an ogre had just beaten me all over with a club. I could barely move my left arm, and it hurt like fire. I tried to stretch out my wing, only to suck my breath in hard as I found out it had been hit too. I couldn’t see it well over my shoulder, but my big clue was the screaming pain.
I was scraped all over, had lost my windbreaker, and, if I wasn’t mistaken, I was sitting in a patch of poison ivy.
Slowly, I stood up, smothering gasps of pain. I had to get out of here. I checked the sun and started working my way north. I swallowed a groan as I realized that Nudge and Fang were no doubt wondering where the heck I was.
I had messed up big-time. Angel was waiting for me too—if she was still alive. I had let them all down.
On top of it, I was hurt pretty bad and had gun-toting maniacs after me. Crap.
I scowled. It’s in my nature to fight for the underdog. Jeb had always told me it was my fatal flaw.
Jeb had been right.
23
“Fang? I’m really hungry, you know?” It had been almost an hour since Max had left them. Nudge still didn’t understand exactly what had happened, where Max had gone.
Fang nodded curtly, then motioned with his head. Nudge banked slightly and followed him.
They were coming up on some cliffs, flat on top and made of striated rock. Fang headed toward a shadowy indentation, and Nudge started backpedaling to slow down for a landing. This close, the indentation turned into a broad, shallow cave, and Nudge ducked a bit as she set down inside.
Fang landed almost silently beside her.
The cave went maybe fifteen feet in and was about twenty feet wide, tapering at both ends. The floor was sandy and dry, and Nudge sat down thankfully.
Fang took off his backpack and started handing her food.
“Oh, yes, yes,” Nudge said, ripping open a bag of dried fruit.
Fang waved a chocolate bar in front of her, and she squealed happily. “Oh, Fang, where did you find this? You must have been hiding it—you didn’t say anything, and all this time you’ve had chocolate, and oh, God, it’s so good . . .”
Fang gave her a little smile and sat down. He bit into his chocolate and closed his dark eyes for a few moments, chewing slowly.
“So where’s Max?” Nudge asked a few minutes later. “Why’d she go down there? Shouldn’t she be back by now? Aren’t we supposed to go all the way to Lake Mead? What are we gonna do if she doesn’t come back soon—” She stopped when Fang held up his hand.
“Max saw someone in trouble, down below, and went to help,” he said in his quiet, deliberate voice. “We’ll wait here for her; Lake Mead is right below us.”
Nudge worried. Every second counted. So why were they stuck here? What was Max doing that was more important than Angel? She finished her last dried apricot and looked around.
Okay, now that Fang mentioned it, she could see the blue edge of Lake Mead off to her left. Nudge stood up; her head barely touched the ceiling. Their cave had a fairly wide ledge on either side of it, and she walked out on the left ledge to see the lake better.