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Fang and I exchanged a look. This was a little scary. Actually, a lot scary.
“Um, what do you mean, exactly?” I asked Angel. Okay, so she can pick up on most people’s thoughts and feelings. But this was the first I’d heard of her sending a thought.
“I just asked her, in my mind,” Angel said absently, straightening the bears’ small white wings. “And she said okay. And she bought it for me. I’m going to call it Celeste.”
“Angel, are you saying that you influenced that woman so she would buy you the bear?” I asked carefully.
“Celeste,” Angel said. “What’s influenced?”
“To have an effect on something or someone,” I said. “It sounds like you sort of made that woman buy you the bear-”
“Celeste.”
“Celeste, whether she wanted to or not. Do you see what I’m saying?”
Angel frowned and shrugged, looking uncomfortable. Then her brow cleared. “Well, I really wanted Celeste. More than anything in the whole wide world.”
Like that made it okay.
I opened my mouth to explain the life lesson that was screaming to be learned here, but Fang caught my eye. His expression said, Save it, and I shut up and nodded, waiting to hear his thoughts later.
And now, back to our mission. If only I had one freaking clue as to how to find the Institute.
We stopped and bought falafel for lunch, keeping an eye out for danger as we walked along eating. Angel tucked her bear-Celeste-into the waistband of her pants so she’d have both hands free.
Angel is only six, and God knows her upbringing hasn’t exactly been normal. Still, I thought she was old enough to know the difference between right and wrong. I thought she knew that influencing that woman to buy her Celeste was wrong. But she had done it anyway.
Which I found disturbing.
I winced and grabbed my temple just as the silky Voice said, It’s just a toy, Max. Kids deserve toys. Don’t you think you deserve a toy too?
“I’m too old for toys,” I muttered angrily, and Fang glanced at me in surprise.
“Did you want a toy?” the Gasman asked, confused.
I shook my head. Don’t mind me, folks. Just talking to my little Voice again. But at least my head didn’t hurt nearly as bad this time.
I’m sorry it hurts sometimes, Max. I don’t want to hurt you. I want to help you.
I clamped my lips together so I wouldn’t answer it. When I wanted information, it was silent; when I didn’t want to hear from it, it got chatty.
It was almost as irritating as Fang.
93
I was starting to seriously freak out. Everywhere we went, something from the Other Side got to me. If it wasn’t a voice in my head, it was a TV screen in a window. It was a hacker kid in a subway tu
“We’re surrounded,” I muttered, staring at the toes of my boots as we walked along.
I felt Fang do a 360 next to me.
“We’re wasting time,” I finally said in frustration. “We need to find the Institute. Discover our histories and destinies. We don’t need to go to toy stores. We’ve got to get serious about this.”
All in good time, Max.
Fang started to answer me, but I held up a finger- one sec.
You need to learn how to relax. Relaxation facilitates learning and communication. Studies have shown it. But you’re not relaxing.
“Of course I’m not relaxing!” I hissed under my breath. “We need to find the Institute! We’re ru
The others had stopped and were watching me with alarm. Fang was probably ready to drag me to the fu
I was totally losing my mind, right? Something had damaged my brain-I’d had a stroke or something, and now I was hearing voices. It made me different from the rest of the flock. Too different. I felt alone.
Just one voice, Max. Not voices. Calm down.
“What’s wrong, Max?” asked the Gasman.
I took a deep breath and tried to get a grip. “I feel like I’m about to explode,” I said honestly. “Three days ago, Angel said she’d heard there was more into about us in a place called the Institute, in New York. More info. This could be what we’ve always wanted to know.”
“ ‘Cause we might find out about our parents?” Iggy said.
“Yes,” I answered. “But now we’re here, and really weird things are happening, and I’m not sure-” With no warning, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
“Hello, kids!”
Directly in front of us, two Erasers leaped out of the doorway of a building.
Angel screamed, and I instinctively grabbed her arm, jerking her back hard. In a split second, I had swung around and we were racing down the sidewalk at top speed. Fang and Iggy were behind us, Nudge and the
Gasman on either side. The sidewalks were full of people, and it was like an obstacle course.
“Cross!” I yelled, and darted into the street. The six of us whisked between two passing taxis, whose drivers honked angrily. Behind us, I heard a loud thunk! and a startled, half-choked cry.
“Bicycle messenger took an Eraser out!” Fang shouted.
Can you giggle while racing for your life and protecting a six-year-old? I can.
But two seconds later, a heavy clawed hand grabbed my hair, yanking me backward, right off my feet. Angel’s hand was ripped out of mine, and she screamed bloody murder. You think you understand those words-bloody murder? Trust me; you don’t.
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Without pausing, the powerful Eraser swung me up over his shoulder. Talk about being dead meat.
I smelled his harsh animal smell, saw his bloodshot eyes. He was laughing, happy to have caught me, and his long yellow fangs actually looked too big for his mouth. Angel was still screaming.
Bloody murder!
I kicked and yelled and hit and punched and scratched, but the Eraser just laughed and started tearing down the sidewalk while people stared. “Is this a movie?” I heard someone ask.
Nah-this is too original for Hollywood. They do sequels.
Lifting my head, I saw Fang, dark and determined, streaking toward us. He was keeping pace, but he wasn’t catching up. If a car was waiting, I was a goner. I struggled as hard as I could, chopping at the Eraser, punching and scratching, and it was infuriating how little effect I had on the beast. Had they been bred to have no pain receptors?
“Fang!” I bellowed, seeing him even farther away than he had been. We were outpacing him. Dimly, I could still hear Angel’s high-pitched shrieking. Every nasty swear word I knew came pouring out of my mouth, punctuated with punches and chops and kicks. The Eraser didn’t even slow down.
The next thing I knew, we were going down, suddenly and with no warning, as if someone had cut the Eraser’s legs out from under him. He hit the ground with a sickening thud, and I cracked my head against the sidewalk so hard I saw fireworks. My legs were pi
He didn’t move. Had he knocked himself out? How?
I scrabbled back into a trash can, snapped onto all fours, and stared at the Eraser. He was completely still, his eyes open and glassy. Blood trickled out of his mouth, which had morphed halfway to a wolf’s snout. A few curious people had paused to watch us, but most kept on walking, talking into their cell phones. Life as usual in New York City.
Fang roared up and pulled me hard to my feet, starting to drag me away.
“Wait!” I said. “Fang-I think he’s dead.”
Fang looked from me to the Eraser, then nudged his boot against the still form. It didn’t move, didn’t blink. Still holding my hand, Fang knelt and put his fingers against the Eraser’s wrist, wary and alert for movement.