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I stopped rocking and patting. I would know that voice anywhere. I separated myself from Ella. "Jeb."
"Where's Mom?" Ella pleaded.
"Come on. I'll take you to her." Ignoring Jeb, I led Ella down the hallway toward the infirmary. I stopped outside her door, unable to resist looking through the glass to make sure she was still there and still all right. Ella and Jeb hurried in, and I hung back. Ella, at least, deserved some time alone with Mom. Already they were crying.
Smiling, feeling warm, dry, happy, and relatively safe, I headed back to the cafeteria. A dark, quick movement caught my eye, and I saw Brigid hurrying around a corner, her face tense.
I know spying on people is wrong and an invasion of their privacy, but fortunately I've never had a problem with that. I walked silently down the hall until I was close enough to the corner to peer around it at my nemesis.
Brigid was talking to some suits, gesturing earnestly with her hands. I pulled back. Suits always make me nervous.
I couldn't hear what they were saying, so I started to leave—but then someone else walked up to them and shook everyone's hands. Brigid greeted him, and the suits smiled and nodded.
It was Mr. Chu.
Beware of Mr. Chu, the Voice commanded like a foghorn booming inside my head. And maybe Brigid.
Maybe? I asked the Voice, incredulous. I would say, definitely.
Wouldn't you?
Epilogue
JUST LIKE HEAVEN
THE WIND SWEPT through my hair, and I closed my eyes, coasting on a thermal current, feeling the sun warming my face and my feathers.
Fang was above me, moving his wings in perfect unison with mine. We were holding hands: his was reaching down, and mine was reaching up.
Most of the flock was swimming in the ocean below us, in the shallow bay off the coast of Oahu. Some dolphins had joined them, no doubt lured by Angel. I could hear the flock's laughter, hear the cheerful chirping of the dolphins as they leaped out of the water.
"I'm glad Mom and Ella are home again safe. And I guess Jeb is—somewhere else." I didn't know whether Jeb was evil or not. He was totally confusing. Maybe I would never know.
"And I hear Total's off planning his and Akila's upcoming wedding," Fang added with a slight grin. "Guess what? You're maid of honor. Can't wait to see you in a poufy dress."
I ignored the jab. "Here's a more interesting piece of information: Brigid's at a news conference," I said. "I confronted her after I spotted her earlier. She said she was going to expose Mr. Chu."
"We'll see," said Fang, sounding somewhat disinterested, to my surprise and delight. "I guess we're finally alone"—a tiny smile curved his lips—"for the immediate future."
"Huh," I said, my heart kicking into high gear. "Huh. That's… nice."
Very, very carefully, Fang lowered himself even closer to me. I could almost feel his breath in my ear. We'd never flown this close to each other before. A delicate electric quiver ran down my spine.
Below us, a small golden head bobbed up and down in the water. I loved seeing Angel so happy, so carefree, not doing anything particularly evil at the moment.
"She really is special, isn't she?" I mused.
"Yes," he said. Fang switched hands, and I shook mine, trying to get some blood back into it.
"Maybe she really is the key to everything," I said, "whatever everything is. She keeps saying it's all about her. Maybe it really is."
"Max." Fang let go of my hand. "Right now, it's really all about—us."
He swooped down to the right in a big semicircle, ending facing me. Slowly we climbed upward, until we were almost vertical, flying straight up to the sun.
While carefully synchronizing our wings—they almost touched—Fang leaned in, gently put one hand behind my neck, and kissed me. It was just about as close to heaven as I'll ever get, I guess. I closed my eyes, lost in the feeling of flying and kissing and being with the one person in the world I completely, utterly trusted.
When we finally broke apart, we looked down at the others, who were way far below us now. Angel was shading her eyes, looking up at us with a big smile. She was sitting on a dolphin's back, and I hoped soon someone would explain to the dolphin that he shouldn't let Angel take advantage of his good nature.
