Two Schools Out - Forever

92

I should have known.

Maybe, deep down inside, I had known. Maybe that was why I had never been able to trust Anne, to relax. Or maybe that had just been my total paranoia coming in handy again.

"You're the lead dog?" I asked Anne, then shook my head. "No, I can't even pretend to be surprised. Nothing you guys throw at me could surprise me anymore."

"Let's put that to the test," Ari said tightly. His whole body was rigid, his eyes bloodshot. His ragged claws were curling up into his palms over and over.

"Down, boy," I said, expecting him to snap at any second.

"It's not like that, Max," said Anne, her face sincere and concerned. "I wanted to be part of your becoming. You're not just an experiment. To me, you're almost like a daughter." Her eyes were warm and pleading. I thought of all the nights she'd tucked us in, the many disastrous attempts to put dinner on the table. How she'd bought us clothes, books, art supplies. She'd held Nudge when she cried, she'd patched up Gazzy's skinned knees.

You know what? I'd done all that stuff too. And I was better at it. And, bonus, I wasn't evil.

"I'm guessing that almost is the operative word here," I said. "Part of my becoming? Congratulations. You're part of my becoming pissed off." I realized how crushed Gazzy, Nudge, and Angel would be when they found out Anne was in this mess even deeper than the spawn of Satan, Jeb himself. Suddenly I'd had enough, more than enough. I shook my head, subtly loosening my wing muscles. "You can't even make decent cookies," I told her, and then jumped straight up into the air, the way we'd practiced so many times. With one bound, I was over their heads, and then I unfurled my wings and pushed down with all my might. I almost clipped them-I have a thirteen-foot wingspan. I soared up to where my flock was waiting.

"Vamonos," I said. "There's no one here but people to leave."