Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

59

"Gosh, Fang, you romantic fool," I said sarcastically. "How incredibly sexist-pig of you."

He snorted in exasperation but didn't look as dumb doing it as you'd think. "Not as a boyfriend, you idiot! I meant as a member of this flock! God, full of yourself, aren't you? I mean, either he goes or I go. I'm not going to stay while you let someone who's tried to kill both of us, more than once, stay!"

"I know if I think about it, I'll figure that sentence out," I snapped. "But I don't have to choose between you! People change, Fang. Face it, he helped save our lives. He worked with Angel. And while we were there, he let me in on some of the stuff going on at the School."

"Yeah, and I'm sure he had no ulterior motive for that! I'm sure he's not wired, not tracking us, not telling everyone where we are right this second! I'm sure seven years of brainwashing and training just wore off once you batted your eyes at him!"

I gaped at him. "He's seven years old, you jerk! And I'm not batting my eyes at anyone! Not you, not him, not anyone! He doesn't even think like that!"

I'd never seen Fang so angry. His lips were pressed tightly together, and the skin around his mouth was white.

"And I'm sure you're making the biggest mistake of your life!" he shot back. Years of living in hiding, flying under the radar both literally and figuratively, meant that even now, when we were both spitting fire, our voices were low, pitched to reach only each other. "Ari's a killer!" Fang said. "He's toxic! They've polluted him and screwed him up so much he can't even think. He's a total liability, and you're out of your mind if you think it's fine that he's here!"

I hesitated. He was my right-hand man, my best friend, the one who always, always had my back. He'd die to save me, and I'd throw myself in front of a train for him without a second's thought.

"Okay," I said slowly, rubbing my temples. "I really think he's changed, and his expiration date is gonna kick in soon, anyway. But I know his being here is bumming everyone out."

"You picked up on that, huh, Sherlock?"

My eyes blazed. "I'm trying to meet you halfway, nimrod! I was going to say let me think about it. In the meantime, I'll keep an eagle eye on him. First sign of anything suspicious, I'll kick his butt out myself. Okay?"

Fang stared at me in disbelief. "Are you nuts? Did they finally send you around the bend? Ari needs to go now!"

"He doesn't have anywhere else to go! He helped us, remember? They're not gonna let him back in. Plus, I keep telling you, he's only seven years old, no matter how big he is. How's he gonna survive?"

"I don't give a crap," Fang said icily. "I'm fine with him not surviving at all. Remember this?" He yanked up his shirt to show the pink lines of his healed scars, the ones from when Ari had sliced him up like a tenderloin and almost made him bleed to death.

I shuddered just thinking about that awful day. "I remember," I said quietly. "But I can't just kick him out into the cold with no place to go, no way to survive. Not knowing that the whitecoats will be gunning for him now. It's only for a few days-just till he expires."

It felt weird saying it like that. Like retire. Expire. All different words for die. He was seven years old and wasn't going to live to see eight.

And his first seven years had sucked, big-time.

Fang poked me hard in the chest.

"Hey!" I said.

He leaned very close, several inches taller than me, and got right in my face. But this time he didn't kiss me.

"You're making your worst mistake," he snarled. "And it's gonna cost you. You'll see."

With that, he turned and jumped off the porch, not even hitting the ground before his wide, dark wings took him soundlessly into the night.