BooksBarbecue
Back Saving the World Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. Prologue
  2. Part 1
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. 34
  37. 35
  38. 36
  39. Part 2
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47

Which no one ever could have predicted in a million years.

An overwhelming clump of Flyboys surrounded the back of the truck, furry faces frozen into identical sneers. Nudge swallowed, pretending to be braver than she was.

The crowd shifted restlessly, and Nudge saw that it was parting to let someone through. Max? Her heart jumped at the possibility. Even Max trussed up, in bad shape, thrown into the truck with them, would be fabulous, such a welcome—

It was Jeb!

Nudge felt a twinge around her heart as she looked at the face that had formed so much of her childhood. Jeb had rescued them. Then he’d died—or they’d thought he was dead. Then he had shown up again, clearly one of Them. Nudge knew that Max hated him now. So Nudge hated him too.

Her eyes narrowed.

From behind Jeb an Eraser, a real Eraser, stepped out to stand next to him. It was Ari! Ari, who had also been dead and then not really. Ari was the only real Eraser they’d seen in days and days.

Nudge put a bored expression on her face like she’d seen Max and Fang do a thousand times. Yeah, yeah, Jeb and Ari, she thought. Show me something new.

Someone else stepped out from behind Ari.

Nudge’s eyes widened, and her breath seized in her throat. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Instead her lips silently formed one word: Angel.

Nudge searched Angel’s blue eyes, but they seemed like a total stranger’s. Nudge had never seen her like this.

“Angel!” Gazzy’s face looked happy but at the same time concerned.

“Angel?” Nudge finally spoke, fear trickling like ice water down her neck.

“Time to die,” Angel said in her sweet little-girl voice.

36

36

“This is too easy,” Fang muttered, frowning at the ground two thousand feet below us.

“I was thinking the same thing. They did everything except leave gigundo yellow arrows saying This way, folks!”

We’d flown in a mammoth circle and had picked up tire tracks within an hour. It looked like a big truck, lots of wheels, and it had left desert sand on the highway for almost half a mile. We couldn’t think of any other reason a truck would have been hidden off-road and then driven out. Unless it belonged to, like, cactus poachers. Sand collectors. A movie crew.

This being the middle of Freaking Nowhere, USA, there was only the one road for miles and miles. So, one road with clear tire marks headed in one direction. Gee, obvious much?

“And we’re falling for this because of our sudden, unexpected regression into unbelievable stupidity?” I said.

Fang nodded grimly. “We’re falling for it because we’ve got no other choice.”

“Oh, yeah. That.”