3

Today's the day.

My Flock was totally mystified. They thought I would be heartbroken, and never want to even mention Fang. But when I told them I was going to find his sorry butt they just stared at me. What else did they expect? Nudge started crying when I told her what I planned to do. Iggy sort of changed. I guess he wasn't expecting he would have to take care of the whole Flock now.

"But don't worry, Ig," I said, if only to reassure him. "I don't expect to be gone for long. After all, how hard will it be to find him? I'm not asking you guys to change places, though if you get attacked feel free to. I'll find some internet café and email you guys to find out where you are. I honestly don't think I'll be gone for more than a week." He still didn't look certain. "And Dylan can help you," I added as an afterthought, thinking of what Fang had crossed out in his letter to me.

After Fang left, Nudge gave me his old laptop. On the desktop was a small folder with a number of unpublished documents that were to go on his blog. One of them was a rough draft of the letter he had left for me. He said Dylan belonged. For some reason he took that out of the final draft.

"Max," Angel said, and I looked at her. She had guilt written all over her face. "What if…"

I knew what she was going to say before the words left her mouth. Everyone did. No one needed Angel's mind-control power to know what she was thinking. "I know he probably doesn't want me to look for him. In fact, he doesn't at all. But he left that damn folder, and that has clues as to what he's gonna be up to. If he REALLY didn't want me to find him, he should've deleted it all." I felt proud of myself for that point. It was totally true.

Dylan and Jeb were both quiet this whole time. Dylan looked melancholy, while Jeb looked flat-out confused. "Jeb," I said, and he looked me square in the eye. "If I get back and any of them are harmed. And I mean any of them, which includes Total, Akila, my mother, or Dylan, I'll finish the job the bullet started,"

He nodded, knowing that I was instilling a small amount of trust in him. He also knew that was a straight up death threat, and that I was one-hundred percent serious about this.

"Guys," I said, feeling guilty at everyone's faces. "I really won't be that long. I promise I'll only be gone a week." Besides, I added in my head, this is a good thing. It really was. The Flock needed time to get over what happened recently, and I needed time to think about everything. Not just everything that happened with Fang, but everything. Including how the rest of the flock feels about me. Angel pulling a gun on me usually doesn't show that they want me around. And, you know, me being kicked out of the Flock.

I didn't know what else to say, so I backed away. "I'll be back," I repeated. "Just one week,"