Hawk - James Patterson Page 0,93
hitting some rungs before landing some twelve feet below. My ribs took another blow and I cried out, the pain squeezing around my chest like an iron band. I looked up as the tank’s treads crushed half the manhole cover into place, flattening it like tin foil.
Weeping, I crawled deeper into the darkness, the truth surrounding me like a cold wind.
Clete was dead.
CHAPTER 92
I gave myself three minutes to get my shit together, broken ribs, dead friend and all. If I gave myself more than that, I’d panic. And I couldn’t afford to do that, down here in the dark. I was shaking, panting, felt dizzy and sick. In the darkness I could hardly see my wing, but I knew it had a big rip in it, my feathers were stained dark with blood. My heart was practically banging against my ribs; whenever I moved, my broken ribs ground together and it was impossible to not gasp with pain.
I had only one thought: Clete was dead! I’d known him practically my whole life, had slept near him every night I could remember.
Shit! Wiping snot from my nose, I whispered every swear word I knew. Then I stood shakily. I had to find the Flock. Taking off my loose jacket, I folded my wing in tight, then tied the jacket around it and my broken ribs. Could I even fly? I wasn’t sure.
Above me I still heard screams, pounding boots, metal hitting metal, metal hitting bone. I heard the shouts, even louder than the screams: “Stop the Six! Stop the Six!”
Okay. I was beneath Industry Park. I needed to get somewhere clear where I could try to take off. Clete’s body was still up there. I couldn’t do anything about that. Keeping close to one curved wall, I headed north.
As I moved through the city’s tunnels, I tried to think my way through this. Where had Max and Angel gone? Where was the rest of the Flock? They were probably all carrying bombs, right? I wasn’t sure—they hadn’t included me in a lot of the rally planning. Did they not trust me? I remembered Max’s words about how I was a rookie who would get them all killed, and I winced. She hadn’t been wrong. I hadn’t known what to do or how to protect Clete, and now he was dead, gone forever.
Was I supposed to meet everyone back at Tetra?
“Stop the Six! Stop the Six!” the crowd was still chanting, despite the soldiers coming at them. There had been tens of thousands of people there. None of the Six’s armies could beat that many people, especially if they didn’t have guns. So the mob might actually be able to do something. But what? The soldiers above were only lackeys. The real power behind the Six was safely ensconced somewhere, no doubt.
The only way to stop the Six was to—storm their palaces? Actually, only three of the Six—Chungs, Diazes, and Paters—had shown up with muscle today. They were the ones to focus on. I thought of Pietro, disguised, hanging out in the crowd, helping that Ope, even though he could’ve been killed trying. I thought of Giacomo, telling Pietro not to have anything to do with me.
Well. I knew whose palace I wanted to see stormed.
CHAPTER 93
Max
“Did you see her?” I asked Iggy. We were flying south, away from the rally. Rally! Try riot! Those armies had been told to go in and slaughter hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent people. People whose only crime was wanting clean air, clean water.
“You’re asking the wrong freak, obviously,” Iggy said dryly, and I rolled my eyes because duh, I knew that. Of course Iggy didn’t see anything.
“Yeah, sorry.” I dropped back to Angel and Nudge. “Did you guys see her?”
“No,” Nudge said, looking concerned. “One minute she was on the statue, the next, she was gone. They both were.”
“So maybe she took off, flew off somewhere,” I said. I scanned the skies around us, but tamped down on the rising panic, refusing to let myself worry. Phoenix had made it clear that she didn’t need any advice from me, so, whatevs. It hadn’t been my idea to have her up on that statue of the huge nimrod.
“Hm,” said Angel, obviously listening in on my thoughts.
“You guys ready?” Gazzy came closer and opened his vest to reveal more small bombs than I’d known about.
“Did you see where Phoenix went?” I asked him.
“No,” he said. “But she’s tough, I’m telling you. Wherever she is, she’s