“We have to choose?” Gazzy squeaked. He looked at Fang, then at me. Then at Ari.
Crap, I thought.
“I’ll go with Fang.” Iggy’s face was expressionless, but his voice hurt my heart. Shocked, I was glad he couldn’t see my face.
I swallowed, unable to talk.
“I’m going to stay with Max,” said Nudge unhappily, putting her hand in mine. I squeezed it, but I saw how she looked at Ari out of the corners of her eyes. She didn’t trust him, didn’t want him with us.
“I’ll go wherever Angel goes,” Total said. “If I must.”
The Gasman and Angel were silent. Angel must have been communicating with him telepathically because he shook his head and looked like he was concentrating hard. Finally Angel nodded her head decisively and nudged Total off her feet to come stand next to me.
“I’m going with Max,” she said.
“Yeah, whatever,” said Total grumpily, flopping back onto Angel’s feet.
“I’m going with Fang,” said Gazzy. I stared at him in astonishment.
Ari was the only one left, a glaring outsider to our family.
“No-brainer,” Ari mumbled, coming to stand by me. His face was starting to heal very fast, the way our wounds did. “Max.”
Please, please, don’t let me regret this, I prayed to a higher power. I mean, any more than I already regret it.
“Fine,” said Fang, slinging on his pack.
“Fine,” I said, tilting my chin up, wishing with all my strength that he wouldn’t do this, and making darn sure he couldn’t tell I was wishing it.
And that was that. The flock was split in two. And I really had no idea if I would ever see Fang and his group again.
63
A sign of leadership? Facing your remaining flock with a calm face and a confident air when it’s all you can do not to barf your guts up in the snow from stress and misery.
Half my flock was gone. Fang was gone. My right-hand man. How could he do this? Didn’t he need me?
I straightened my shoulders. I didn’t need him. Not anymore.
“Okay, guys,” I said to Nudge, Angel, and Ari. And Total. I could see that Nudge and Angel were trying to keep stiff upper lips. Possibly Ari and Total, but it was harder to tell with them.
“I can’t believe they went,” Nudge said, typically blurting out something I was thinking but would never say aloud. “We shouldn’t split up. We promised to never split up again. We need to all stick together.”
Tell that to Fang. “It’s not what I hoped would happen, but we’re fine,” I said authoritatively.
“What are we going to do now?” Angel asked. “Do we have a plan?”
I gave her a lofty look. “There’s always a plan. How many times do I have to tell you guys?” Come on, Max, pull a plan out of your hat, quick.
Go to Europe.
Oh, thank God. Goddess. Whatever. The Voice finally had something constructive to say and not just more fortune-cookie crap.
“We’re going to Europe,” I said firmly. I handed out packs, and only then realized that Ari or I would have to carry Total, mostly. Neither Nudge nor Angel would be able to take his weight for very long.
Great. I just had to hope that Ari wouldn’t eat Total.
“Europe!” Nudge sounded excited. “I’ve always wanted to go to Europe! Where are we going? I want to see the Eiffel Towel!”