governments is always worth it,” Max said.
“It’s what we do,” Angel said. “But…” She gave everyone a hard stare. “In order to topple governments, you need to get a good night’s sleep.”
I awoke too early on the day of the rally because I’d dreamed I had an anvil on my chest, making it hard to breathe. I opened my eyes to find that I really did have a weight on my chest. The dim blue nightlight outlined a pair of pointy, fuzzy ears.
Io leaned down and whispered, “I can’t sleep.”
I patted the space next to me and she hopped off, turned in a circle three times, then curled up and closed her eyes. One paw reached out and rested on my arm. Soon gentle snores filled the air. Ridley, on her perch in the alcove, blinked once at me. I made a face back, then tried to sleep. I knew the rally was going to be hard.
I just didn’t know how hard. Or how high the price would be.
CHAPTER 88
I’d never seen so many people from the City of the Dead in one place, ever. Industry Park was a huge rectangle of dirt, with some depressed bushes and a couple of broken benches—not the kind of place you wanted to hang out. Opes didn’t even crash here unless they didn’t have a choice. But it was the biggest open area in the city, and since everyone was coming, that was what we needed.
There were many, many Opes, no doubt hoping for food or begging opportunities. There were tons of regular people, too—clean people wearing nice clothes, talking on phones, looking insecure about having wandered into the wrong side of town. On the sidelines, raggedy street performers juggled, spit fire, walked on stilts, hoping to pick up a few spare coins for their talents. I was pretty sure no one here had any idea what was coming. It wasn’t going to be a picnic, and sure as hell was no circus.
So far I hadn’t seen anyone from any of the Six, and I hoped they wouldn’t come. Nothing was improved by adding the Six. The Flock thought they could win against them somehow, but that sounded like a Rainbow fantasy.
Now the crowd started murmuring, looking at the large stage that had been set up with towers of speakers on each side. Where had all this stuff come from? I saw some words stenciled in white on a speaker and squinted, using my hawk-vision to see.
It said: “Property of the Pater Family. Use only with permission.”
Had Pietro helped them? Was that what he had wanted to tell me at Tetra? I prayed the Flock hadn’t gotten those speakers from Giacomo, because if so, they were full of dynamite or something.
As for me, I was with Clete toward the back of the crowd, on top of an enormous statue of McCallum. I’d flown here before dawn, and Fang had brought Clete. I felt better knowing that Clete was secure up here. He hated crowds, and this one was turning into a doozy.
“There’s so many people,” Clete said, sounding nervous. He shifted anxiously on McCallum’s wide stone shoulders. Below us, even more people streamed in through the park gates.
“When are you supposed to do it?” I asked.
“When Angel gives me a signal,” Clete said. “She said to be sure to wait for her signal.”
“Okay. And… you’re positive it’ll work?”
“Yeah, I’m positive.” Clete opened his computer and looked at the cracked screen. “I have two different programs. Well, three, but two we’ll use today.” His fingers clicked on the keys.
On the buildings around Industry Park, huge vidscreens were showing their usual fare: stories about people being loyal, cartoons about animals following the rules, and harangues by McCallum.
Attention shifted from the screens to the stage when Angel appeared, motioning for people to quiet down. She tapped the microphone to make sure it was on.
“Many of you may have heard about the revolutionary Maximum Ride,” she began loudly, and a chill went down my back right between my wings. That was my mom. The revolutionary Maximum Ride. Someone I’d idolized and looked up to… until I found out she was my mom. Then I treated her like crap. Huh. Weird.
“But you may not have seen her,” Angel continued. “She’s been in one of the deadliest high-security prisons that any government has. She has defied death, not just once, but many times. And she defied death to be here with you today.”
People started clapping. Clete followed along, and