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He scrambled onto the bank and held out his hand to help me up. I ignored it and got out by myself.
“What are you doing here?”
We spoke at the exact same time, the exact same words. He answered first.
“Saw you go down,” he said. “Followed you.”
I tried to shake some water off. “I got a message from Angel,” I said, scanning the tunnel. “She says there’s massive danger down here, something too big for us to fix or deal with.”
“So of course you immediately came down.”
“Yeah. That’s the way it works in the flock,” I said. “And you just left Nudge, Iggy, and Total alone up there?”
Dylan shook his head. “Fang and Maya showed up, just as you took your dive. They said they’d stay with them.”
Max? Angel’s voice trembled inside my head.
I turned this way and that, as if I could get a trajectory on a thought. Where are you? I asked her.
There was a long pause, then Angel said, This way.
I just slowly tried to follow her thought, and when it felt right, I started walking.
“What kind of danger? Did she say?” Dylan asked quietly.
I shook my head, trying to listen. The water trickled by in the middle canal. I heard the skittering of small feet, heard the clicks of insects. But nothing else.
This way…
“I think she’s nearby,” I said softly, frustrated. “It’s not clear. She’s not giving me directions.”
“Max.” Dylan took my arm. “Are you sure that you’re hearing Angel?”
I stopped in my tracks.
After a moment’s reflection, I nodded. “It sounds like her,” I said. “And not many people can send thoughts.”
Dylan hesitated, looking around. “It’s just… If this is a trap, it’s a really good one.”
Max?
I hadn’t felt Angel seem this frightened in… forever.
Where are you? I thought. What’s going on?
I can’t ever tell you, Max, Angel responded. Not ever. Just that now I know for sure what kind of evil they’re capable of.
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WE’RE COMING, ANGE, I thought. Later I’d find a way to get her to tell me what they did to her.
The concrete was smooth, wet, and slimy, requiring careful foot placement. My heart was pounding, and I felt jittery with dread. At first I thought the dull roar I heard was water rushing somewhere. But as we walked, I realized it was the sound of the crowd above us. The rally was heating up.
Which meant time was running out.
“I hope these tunnels are sturdy,” Dylan whispered. “There are probably five thousand people up there. At least.”
I nodded. I couldn’t tell exactly what was happening, but the waves of sound swelled and receded as the crowd got more and more excited about the Doomsday Group’s message.
