Hawk - James Patterson Page 0,86

said. “Remember? That we’re planning? It’s tomorrow and I’ve gotten confirmations from a lot of people that some of the main players will be there. I want Hawk to help identify them. And she has to be with Clete when he brings the city down.”

“Why does she have to be with Clete?” I asked, my eyes narrowing.

“Clete functions better when Hawk is around,” Angel said. “And I need him to be in the middle of the rally. So that’s where Hawk will be, too. It’ll be taking place in the city’s largest open space—Industry Park. We’ve worked hard to get the word out.”

I snatched the rest of the chocolate bar. Angel didn’t deserve it. “I don’t want her there,” I said. “And you shouldn’t, either, if you cared at all about the safety of the Flock.” With that, I stomped off, the chocolate suddenly bitter in my mouth.

CHAPTER 85

Hawk

Did Angel have a dark side? I really wanted to ask one of the Flock but didn’t want to piss anyone off… especially Angel if she did have one, because something tells me it would be super bleak. If she was really like she seemed, then she might be my favorite person ever, which of course, just makes me more suspicious of her. Nobody can be that good. Not in my experience.

I mean, she can’t be my favorite person ever, anyway, because I still have my lab rats. And Nudge. Nudge was definitely in the top two grown-ups who were my favorite—neither of which were my parents.

Max—well, Max just got on my nerves.

I was headed to the Care Center when Fang appeared out of the shadows so suddenly I took a swipe at his face. He dodged it easily, which only made me more irritated.

“Yeah?” he said cautiously.

“Creeper!” I said. “Don’t just lurch out of the shadows at people!”

One side of his mouth rose slightly. He smiled even less than I did, which was saying something. “I’ve always lurched out of the shadows at people. It’s what I do. There’s someone above that wants to talk to you,” he said, pointing up to the narrow opening that led to the outside world.

I crossed my arms and tried to stare him down, but it didn’t work. “Who could possibly be above that wants to talk to me? Everyone I know is down here.”

“It’s that kid from the meeting of the Six,” Fang said. “The one whose dad took a shot at him. He came here in an ultralight about an hour ago.”

Pietro? He had made it out of there alive, after all! How had he found out about Tetra? I looked at Fang’s dark eyes, wondering if Pietro’s coming here meant Tetra was in danger. Having any one of the Six here could be bad news. Fang must have seen the worry in my eyes.

“Is he your friend?” Fang asked.

I frowned. “He was when we were kids.” The truth is, I didn’t know what we were now. There was a weird kissing moment, but I also couldn’t say for sure that he wasn’t a cold-blooded murderer. Both things made the question of whether or not Pietro was my friend pretty complicated.

“Go talk to him.” Fang said.

So far, nothing the Flock had told me to do had been bad. Crazy and dangerous, sure. But not bad. They hadn’t steered me wrong. They seemed to mean everything they said. Even Max.

“Fine,” I said, and took a couple steps before I jumped up in the air and snapped my wings out with a satisfying whoosh. When I glanced down at him, he had a weird look on his face. What was it? I soared through the opening into the night air and then I realized what I’d seen on his face.

Pride.

I landed—I’d been working on landing silently and gracefully, like the Flock.

“Hawk,” came a voice out of the darkness. “Thanks for coming.”

I didn’t answer him right away, instead just looked at Pietro, trying to get a read on him. Had he really been trying to overthrow his dad? If he had, then this was a dangerous meeting—not only for me but for Tetra. As far as I knew, no one in the City of the Dead knew about Tetra. I certainly hadn’t. How had Pietro found it?

“What do you want?” I asked.

“I wanted to tell you… something.”

I turned and walked out into the desert. Unlike the City of the Dead, where it was never really night, out here nighttime was a deep, velvety blackness, with no