I don't own James Patterson.

"You don't trust her that much already do you?" Fang asked as we landed on the back lawn of the four story cabin-like house we found abandoned.

I looked back to see the rest of the flock circling the girl. She was smiling and laughing with joy as she did intricate aerial maneuvers. I had to admit, watching her made me realize even more how much I loved to fly. "I wouldn't call it trust. More like an understanding. She's obviously been through what we have." All of a sudden, they all did a single swoop and banked right in front of us. The girl was whistling the entire way for Iggy to follow. The girl was the first one to land.

She laughed with a high-pitched chirping sound and clapped her hands. "I can fly freely now!" Fang and I exchanged glances then waited for everyone else. They walked over and smiled. Even Iggy, the magical blind wonder.

Gazzy tugged on my arm. "Max, can we get the girl some clothes?" He blushed just a little. "She may not have boobies, but…" Oh yeah, you know, I seriously did forget about that.

Smiling,I walked over to the girl. "Would you like to come inside?" She eyed the house cautiously, which happened to remind me of a hawk on a hunt. Slowly, she walked toward the door. Lifting a cautious hand, she inserted her thumb, which actually seemed more appropriate to be called a dula, into the side of the sliding door. Pulling hard, the door gave in, and opened. She squeaked and leaped back. Yelping something along the lines of. "A trap!" Or something like that. When she found there wasn't a trap, she smiled shyly at us. Angel and Nudge giggled and ran after her. The three of them ran inside and I almost dreaded it as I saw the girl's wings flitter in and out of my view.

Walking inside, I called after them. "Watch this stuff! This isn't our house!" All I heard was a bunch of giggling upstairs and the beating of wings. Sighing, I turned to face the others. "Whatever. We don't live here." Fang sighed then walked into the kitchen. The sound of the fridge opening and jars clinking assumed he was having lunch. Iggy and Gazzy left to the living room to play some video game. Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal. God, that game was cool, but too noisy in the wee hours of the night.

Finding nothing else for me to do, I went upstairs to see what the girls were doing. All the while, I was trying to find a name for her. Calling her the girl was really getting stale. "Girls?" When I reached the second floor, I didn't hear anyone in the rooms around me. Third floor maybe? "Nudge? Angel?" I called again as I climbed the next set of stairs, looking up into the floors above. "Hello?"

"They're in your room." Total said from the top of the third set of stairs. His little stub of a black tail wagging. "Angel said something about clothes for that strange new girl to wear." He then trotted down the stairs past me. My room? Why my room?

"Guys! Get out of my room!" Okay, it wasn't really my room, but I liked to have somewhat of privacy when we are fortunate enough to find a place to stay. And I did have something of a journal in there. A small thing I picked up along the lines while flying from Washington to New York. I don't think that store is missing it very much.

"Max! We're in my room!" Nudge called from the room next to mine.

I walked into the room. "Total said you were in my room." Angel stood in front of a walk-in closet as Nudge sat on the queen-sized bed. This room must have belonged to a teenage female. The walls were a light violet with some patches of lighter rectangles spot on the walls from where posters must have hung. There was a vanity mirror in the corner with some old remnants of make-up and powder stuff. On top of a dark blue dresser was an old hamster cage that was filled with fowl smelling newspaper shreds. When we got here, the occupier was found moldy on its back within the mustard yellow cage.

Nudge smiled while she lay back on the plain white mattress. "Of course he would. He was quite miffed by you calling him a flea-bitten mutt." She unfolded her wings as she crossed her hands behind her head. I had the same picture of her in that pose above the dresser in my room. Actually, I got a picture of all of us flying over a big lake. The perfect snapshot for any crackpot journalist to get their hands on. I didn't say anything to her as I looked over at Angel. She was just standing there.

"Waiting for something?"

She smiled back at me, her wings out of her shirt, resting behind her. "Yeah, we're waiting for Kestrel. And don't worry about a journalist getting their hands on us. I'll take care of anything that happens to our flock." Her eyes glinted with a light mischievous intent. Something tells me, I'm probably going to have to have that heart-to-heart talk with her soon. Hopefully.

"Did you just call the girl Kestrel?" I asked when I realized she spoke of the girl. "You guys chose a name already?"

Nudge sat up. "Yeah. We named her Kestrel because when she flies fast, she twitters about like an American Kestrel. Her sleek form also gives her a beautiful look and those birds are really, really pretty. Don't you like American Kestrels? I like them. How come I couldn't have a name like a bird? Like Robin? No, that's too obvious. Oh! How about-"

"Did I put this on right?" Nudge's sentence was interrupted when the girl, er, Kestrel stepped out of the closet.

Well, she was dressed, but not the right way. The shirt she was wearing was one of Nudges and it was supposed to button down the front, but she accidentally buttoned it down the back. How she did, I don't know. There was a tank top underneath and it looked like she was more comfortable wearing that without the shirt. Maybe because the buttoned shirt was a long-sleeved and even though her wings fold back against her arm, you could see the pain on her face.

"Here." I said softly, walking over to her. "Let's get this thing off." Unbuttoning the shirt, I saw something strange on the back of her neck and shoulders. I looked closer and saw they were feathers! Tiny auburn pinfeathers. They went form her hairline to her back and covered a lot of her shoulders. When I saw her from the front, I hadn't noticed. "So, you have a name now? Kestrel, is it?"

She nodded. "Uh huh. Kestrel is a nice name. Do you like it?"

"Yes I do." I smiled as I answered. She was a sweet little girl. Almost like my Angel, but no one could ever take my baby's place. No one. When I unbuttoned the last button, I slipped it off her so all she wore was the black tank top.

"Thank you." With that, Angel, Nudge, and she walked out of the room. I heard their footsteps on the stairs, but it wasn't long before I heard them laughing and running footsteps.

Sitting down on the bed, I rested my head in my hands. Too much was happening today. Not all bad I guess, but there were things that needed to be found out. Just who did make Kestrel? What was that Screecher? Are Jeb and Ari in on this? Are they even still alive? What about that second Max? Did she survive the sonic explosion? What is Kestrel? Some avian being that is far greater up the genetic ladder than us?

"Max!" Angel screamed at the top of her lungs as a loud crashing sound erupted from downstairs.

I was out of the room in a flash and already falling from the top floor. The ground came fast, so I unfolded my wings to lessen the impact. When I landed, I sprinted into the living room, and saw a hole in the wall. At first, I thought it was an Eraser attack, but that's when I saw Gazzy and Iggy's sheepish grins and Fangs slightly bemused scowl. "Gazzy! Iggy! Will you stop making those stupid bombs?"

"Oh, but why Max? They make things so much easier to track you." My blood ran cold at the sound of a most unwelcoming voice. We all turned to see Ari standing in the hole in the wall.

"Ari?" I gasped more in shock that he was alive than the changes that he sustained.

He growled and held up a furry fist, claws nearly digging into his own skin. "Yeah? Like the changes you pathetic vermin?" His other fist, he held up a metal one. Automail is probably the closets word. Like that character from Full Metal Alchemist. Ari's arm was like that up to his elbow then it was normal Eraser furry skin. One of his eyes was a fake. It was one of those steel balls with a red laser for a pupil. He was missing an ear. How on earth did he sustain that much damage from Iggy's sonic bomb?

"Max, he's the only one." Angel whispered.

"Good." I whispered back. "Fang! Now!" Fang lunged from his spot, he had been moving closer while we all stared in shock. He managed to get a jab into Ari's stomach, but there wasn't so much as an oof from the guy.

What the heck? Did he get tougher skin or something too? I lunged at the guy, my wings beating to keep me in the air, with my fists outward I hit him with such a force we both went tumbling outside. Rolling once, I tucked in on my knees and jumped into the air just in time to avoid being punched in the back. "Jerk! Let me guess. Jeb did that to you, right?" I was over his head, glaring down at him. The rest of the flock was in the air, circling high above me, even Kestrel.

Ari's eyes set on the girl. "What is that?" She darted down at him, her feet out as she kicked him right in the neck. Beating her wings fast, she rose high above him before he could swipe at her. "Little pest!" He snarled at her as he unfolded his big leather wings. I was right when I said before the Erasers were getting better at flying. All Ari did was jump in the air and his wings kept him up and going! He was heading straight for Kestrel!

"Ari!" I shouted, my voice cracking like thunder. "Your fight's with me, not her!" There was no need to use my new ability, but I used it anyway. I surged forward at unspeakable speeds and slammed right into his side. This time, I finally heard the air whoosh out of his mouth and lungs. A very pleasing sound I might add, but seeing Ari changing and becoming less and less human hurt me a little.

Why did we have to fight? Why did Jeb and the other twisted scientists have to do this? What was the point?

Fang swooped down from above and grabbed Kestrel. She fought against it, but in the end, was dragged away from the battle. "I want to help!" I heard her say.

"Max! Move away!" Iggy shouted as he flew straight at Ari. I folded my wings and dropped backwards. He placed something on Ari's arm and darted away. Ari hollered something as the bomb detonated. The explosion hurt my ears as I flew again. I was almost scared to look at what was now Ari.

When I looked, I was surprised to see him alive. Then I saw why. Ari held up his fake arm, but it wasn't really an arm anymore. More like broken metal and hanging zapping wires. He tilted his head back and let out a blood-curdling howl that sounded more human than wolf. Without as much as I nasty remark, he beat his large wings and flew away. I saw blood dripping from his body as he vanished over the tops of the trees.

My heartbeat finally slowed when I was sure he wasn't coming back. "Report." I said loudly. Not yelling. For some reason, I couldn't yell. My legs felt like rubber, and not the usual way when I flew for a long time. No. My whole body was partially numb because of the changes Ari had sustained. He was losing his humanity one day at a time.

Fang came back with a struggling Kestrel. "We're fine." He let her go.

She hovered and glared at him. "I wanted to help!"

Gazzy and Angel flew close to me. "We're all right."

Iggy nodded. "Yep, did the blast hit anyone else? Max?"

"No. I'm fine."

Nudge hovered near Kestrel. "Do you know what Erasers are?"

She looked at us all and grinned. "Yeah. They're the Screechers' rivals."

Now I wasn't only numb and guilty, but now confused and very worried. Just what was the deal with this bird girl? What wasn't she telling us?