but close to a good area.”
“Okay,” Iggy said, and started to climb the rusted, filthy metal rungs.
“Why?” Rain protested, not sounding like herself at all.
“Please, Rain, just do it,” I said firmly.
“To get some dope,” she said, and started to climb.
Whatever. Nudge went through next, then a dark, furious-looking Fang, who was guiding Moke by a firm hand at the base of his neck. Behind us, I saw the very dim lights of a pair of scouts, checking to make sure the tunnels were clear.
“You go,” Gazzy said, digging around in the pockets of his big leather belt.
“Clete?” I said and motioned him upward. I hadn’t heard any shouts or gunfire, so I was assuming it was okay up there.
Now I heard the scouts shouting, the faint sounds of their booted feet running toward us.
“Come on, honey,” I said to Calypso and picked her up so she could grab the first rung. She started to climb. “I can smell dope!” she said excitedly.
“You,” Gazzy said, motioning toward the rung.
“I’ll go last,” I said. “Hold those hoods off for a while.”
“Hawk, I’ll take care of these guys. You go, see what’s happening up there.”
There was nothing I could do. I started to climb.
I was almost to the top when Gazzy’s blond head appeared at the bottom of the ladder and he started scrambling up. “Go, go, go!” he said, pushing at me. I practically jumped up the next meter and then leaped to my feet.
There was a boom! Followed by the sounds of tiles and plaster falling from the tunnel ceiling. Gazzy shot out of the manhole, slammed the cover back in place, then sat on it.
A second later the cover hovered several inches above the manhole. Gazzy hung on tightly. It dropped back into place with a clang, and Gazzy got up and dusted off his pants.
“Now where to?” he asked.
CHAPTER 57
An excellent question. I looked for Nudge and saw her standing shoulder to shoulder with Fang, who was gesturing angrily, sometimes pulling at his long black hair. Nudge’s cheeks turned pink as she, too, began to argue.
It was so late—probably hours after midnight. I bet Ridley had her head tucked under her wing somewhere high and dry. I was glad she was safe and not caught up in this mess.
I was tired down to my bones, almost faint with hunger, and so thirsty that I was ready to drink the gross water from the pothole in the street. Clete looked super unhappy, too. His kind of normal routine had been shot to shit tonight.
I went over to him. “Hey, honey. How you doin’?”
There was misery in his eyes.
“I know you’re tired,” I said. “And hungry and thirsty?”
He nodded, shifting his weight from one foot to another.
“Well, I couldn’t have done this without you,” I said. “You’re my hero.”
He looked at me, a little smile on his lips.
Fang threw up his hands and stalked off. Nudge called after him and he stopped but didn’t come back or even turn around. He was ready for flight.
Looking back at our weird group, I saw that Iggy had taken charge of Rain, was talking to her, making sure she didn’t wander off. Oh, my god, Rain’s eyes, I thought again. Gazzy was on Moke duty—he still didn’t know who any of us were and kept asking for more dope, only coming along with us strangers because we promised him more. I was hanging on to Calypso. She was pretty small for her age, barely to my waist. Of course, I’m weirdly tall. We were all hunkering down in the deep entrance of a building, on a lonely, abandoned street with no lights. I’d eaten here a bunch of times, had made deals here… back when I flew alone.
“Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do,” Nudge said, gathering us in closer. “We, meaning all of us, are going to take your friends to a safe house. There’s room for Clete and these three can dry out there, with good folks. So, Hawk is going to carry Calypso.”
What was this place she was talking about? I pretty much knew every inch of the City of the Dead, and I hadn’t seen anywhere like that. A safe house, with good folks? Ha!
“Iggy is going to carry Clete,” Nudge went on, and Clete’s face went white. “Fang is going to carry Moke, and I’ll have Rain. Gazzy’s going to take rear point with all weapons ready. Got it?”
“Yeah,” I said. “But where are we going?”
“We’re leaving the City