Ugh. I really just want to post all the chapters at once, but I don't want to overindulge you people. But if you beg, I might just break and let you have them all ;)

Oh, and by the way, please forgive Fang. He's just trying to do what's right for the world. He's a good guy going through a tough time. Go easy on him.

Chapter Forty-Four

Fang

I couldn't believe this guy. He actually thought that killing off innocent people was okay? It was so sick and twisted I almost couldn't believe it.

"What would do if I called the cops and had you locked up forever in a hell-hole of a jail?" I asked. "Because that's honestly what I'm leaning toward doing."

"You wouldn't have me locked up, Fang," Jeb 2 said, laughing slightly. "I know you too well."

"You're disgusting," I told him. I couldn't do this anymore. And I had to go back to Max. I could just leave Jeb 2 here. The police would find him eventually if he wasn't moving around. Plus, it isn't like he could report me. What was he going to say? "A rogue winged kid, one of our experiments at that illegal lab, tied me up here and left me for dead!"

Yeah, right.

I walked out of the building. Once I was out of earshot of Jeb 2, I pulled out my phone and dialled the police anyway.

"Ridgecrest police," a deep man's said.

"Yeah, I have a guy here who is supposed to be dead, since he was found so in a fire, but he's here, and he's alive, and he's one of those scientist doing illegal genetic mutation."

"Where are you?" the man asked. I looked around for a sign.

"Um, right on the corner of Balsam and West French," I told him. "Next to the Blue Rays tanning salon."

"Alright, kid. We'll be right there." The policeman paused and added, "This better not be a prank. We've been after these guys for months."

"Oh, of course not!" I said. As soon as he hung up, I took off.

I breathed in the fresh, cool spring air. It felt good on my lungs after all the crap I'd been breathing in on the ground. I'd been flying for about two and a half hours, I guessed, and was just outside of Wellton—where Max's mom lived—when my phone rang. I wondered if I could answer it while flying. I carefully pulled it out of my pocket and managed to flipped it open.

"Yeah?" I said.

"Omigod, Fang?" Nudge said at a speed that would make hummingbirds dizzy. "You have to come back here right now."

"Why? What's wrong?" I said as my heart rate slowly quickened. "What happened?"

"It's Max!" Nudge said, even though I'd figured as much. "She's having her baby!"

"What? Now?" I exclaimed.

"Yes, now! And you have to come back!" she shrieked. I could tell she was crying. I spoke calmly, but firmly.

"Nudge, it's alright. Just breath for a second," I advised her. She did as I said. When she sounded better, I continued. "Tell Max I'll be there in, like, an hour. Okay?"

"Okay," she agreed shakily. I closed the phone and just held it in my hand, hoping it didn't drop. Then I summoned all my power and accelerated higher than my already pretty much maxed out speed of 100 mph. I also fed off some of the passion I felt for Max to pull me toward my destination.

Dr. Martinez and I had discussed plans for Max behind her back. She'd told me we were going to take her to a clinic where her friend had promised to help us, despite that I'd warned her that Max would be royally pissed. When I saw the building she'd told me about, I dived downward and landed smoothly on the roof of the building. I climbed down the side of the building using a ladder that was built there, then stepped through the front doors.

"Can I help you?" A pretty, young, red-haired woman said from behind a desk. I stood before her, saying nothing. I was actually wracking my brain to remember Dr. Martinez's friend's name.

"Yeah," I said slowly, trying to buy some time to think. "Can you tell me where…" It was right on the tip of my tongue. I was so close I could almost feel it there. "Stephanie Nicholson!" I exclaimed at last. "Can you tell me where Stephanie Nicholson's office is?"

"Are you her patient?" the red-haired woman asked.

"No, I'm meeting someone there," I told her. She typed on her computer for a second, then spoke, still staring at the screen.

"Dr. Nicholson doesn't have a patient right now," she told me. "In fact, this says she has the day off."

"Oh, did I say meeting someone there?" I asked, shaking my head foolishly. "I meant to say I'm getting something there. Sorry for the confusion."

"Oh, well, in that case, I'll show you to it," she said, getting up from her desk. Alarm bells were going off loudly in my head.

"No! That's alright," I said. "I wouldn't want to take you away from your post. If you could just give me directions, I'm sure I'd be fine on my own."

"Oh, alright." She gave me a short string of directions, which I followed exactly. I ended up in front of a door that said Dr. Nicolson on the front. I turned the doorknob and wrenched the door open, then closed it behind me. Max was standing, holding her stomach and leaning her head against a wall. She was dressed in hospital clothes, which I remembered to be not very comfortable. She rolled her eyes toward me.

"Look who decided to show up," she said. She sounded breathless and tired.

"Max, I'm really sorry," I told her, feeling guilty all over again. Max had that effect on people. I walked over to her and she moved her head from the wall to my shoulder as I wrapped my arms securely around her, rubbing her back gently between her wings.

"This sucks so bad," she mumbled into my shirt.

"Just a little while and it'll be over," I told her.

"I hope so," she said. Just then, Dr. Martinez and Dr. Nicholson, tagged closely by Nudge stepped back into the door.

"Fang, nice of you to make it," Dr. Martinez said. Nudge gave me a weak smile. Dr. Nicholson looked me over. She was shorter than Max, with long, wavy hair pulled back into a neat bun on the back of her head. She looked younger than Dr. Martinez, probably close to thirty. She had smooth, light skin and full lips that were currently pressed into a thin line. She leaned over and whispered something to Dr. Martinez, who nodded.

"Yes, Fang is the father," she explained.

"He sucks. Don't listen to him," Max said from my shoulder. Dr. Nicholson's attention was pulled from me to Max.

"Max, honey, how are you doing?" she asked. All she received for an answer was a soft moan from Max.

"I'm gonna say not good," I said. Dr. Nicholson glared at me. I got the sense she didn't like me much.

"Max, sweetie, come lie down," she said. I helped Max over to the little hospital bed in the middle of the room. Max lied down and let Dr. Nicholson feel around.

"Good thing you came when you did," she said, grimacing, to me. "Max, it's time for this baby to be born."

Max's head flopped back. "Finally," she said. Nudge walked over to Max's other side and tightly grabbed her hand.

"You ready?" she asked. Max looked up at her.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she said with a trace of a smile playing at her lips.

"Okay, Max," Dr. Martinez said from Max's right knee, holding her foot. "Deep breath." Max breathed. "Good. And…push!"