You guessed it — neither. Instead, I dropped one of my cups of coins. Easily a couple hundred dollars. Fang seemed more upset by the spillage than by the looming threat of evil.

“Hello, Max, Fang,” said Dr. Gunther-Hagen, smiling as he watched Fang scramble to recover his winnings. “Strange seeing you here. I didn’t think you were the gambling types.”

“We’re not,” I said. “Fang, leave that money for some poor soul who really needs it,” I said, all Mother Teresa again. Except I didn’t leave my cups of cash behind.

I stepped out of the elevator, squinting in the bright light. “Why are you here?” See, this is where my lack of social graces comes in handy. I don’t waste time and energy on thinking of what the nice thing to do is.

Dr. Hans’s eyebrows rose. “I’m here for a professional convention, being held at one of the resorts. But why are you here? Where’s the rest of the flock?”

“At Ripley’s,” I said. “So, what, you saw us and decided to just pop in, say hi?”

“Yes,” said Dr. Hans pleasantly. “Is Dylan with you? How is he progressing?”

“Dandy!” I lied again. “We left him over at one of the craps tables. That way.” I pointed back to the elevator. “I’m sure he can’t wait to see you!”

“We have to go,” said Fang, putting his hand on my arm.

“Wait, please,” said Dr. Hans. “I’m happy to have run into you. I wanted to reiterate what I said in Africa. And I wanted to make sure you received my offer for Iggy. Is it not compelling? You could give him the gift of sight, in return for a little cooperation. You could be invaluable to my project because — well, you’re a miracle, really.”

Gosh, a miracle! It had been ages since someone called me that. Actually, no one had ever called me that.

“You planning to turn Max into another one of your mistakes?” Fang asked, his face cold and still.

Dr. G-H looked around, as if realizing what a public place this was. He gestured us over toward some isolated benches in the entry plaza. “The apocalypse is coming. You’ve been on a mission to save the world. Do you understand how you’re supposed to do that?”

Okay, the details on that had been sketchy, but I wasn’t about to admit it.

“By having you chop off one of my wings to see if it grows back? I don’t think so.”