I shake my head. “I’m staying here. The fight is just beginning. But you have to follow the plan: Evacuate Badger and his mother.”
My father steps down to put his arms around me. He hugs me firmly and says in my ear, “I just want you to be safe.”
I lean back and look him in the eyes. “I’ll be safe. I promise.”
He gets back into the car, strapping himself in and starting the motor. Rolling the window down, he asks, “You’ll come meet us in Roswell?”
I nod automatically and then, looking down, shake my head. “No, Dad. I won’t be coming.”
He nods sadly. “Don’t forget that I love you, Junebug,” he says.
“I won’t forget. Love you, too, Dad.”
Putting the car into reverse, he backs up slowly into the gravel drive. In the backseat, Holly pushes Badger’s little head down, and leans over out of sight. The housemaid points the way out to my dad, he flicks the lights on, and with a roar tears around the circle, scattering Avery and his guards as he shoots by them and up the driveway. Their escape is so sudden that no one reacts for a few seconds, and by the time shots are fired in their direction, they are too far away to be hit. Wheels screech as the Hummer knocks down the security gate, and continues on, taking a turn onto the main road and disappearing behind the trees.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see three shapes slip into the far end of the garage, and I dive for cover behind one of the remaining cars. I pull the scalpel from my back pocket and push up the blade. I’ve never stabbed anyone before, but after what I’ve seen tonight, I’m ready to take out a whole army with just this one tiny blade. My heart beats like mad as I wait for a sound.
A voice pipes up, echoing hollowly through the vast room. “It’s us, silly!”
I rise and peer out over the top of the car, to see Nome walking toward me with Kenai beside her and Miles on her other side.
“We come in peace, oh wielder of deadly medical tool,” jokes Kenai, and lances something large toward me. I drop the scalpel and catch the crossbow in the same hand. “And here’s your knife,” Nome says, holding up my bowie in its sheath.
I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face. Shaking my head in disbelief at seeing my three favorite people together, I gesture with my head toward the chaos outside. “Ready to fight some brigands?”
52
MILES
WE MOVE OUT OF THE GARAGE TOWARD THE BATTLE, and I can’t distinguish between the clan members and the army guys, with the animals just blurs of movement in their midst. In the dark and the driving rain, the mixture of fur, camouflage, and mud make it hard to see anything at all.
“Do we shoot to kill?” yells Kenai.
“No,” calls Juneau, strapping the belt Nome hands her around her waist, and holstering her bowie knife. “Shoot to maim.”
“But, Juneau, these are the guys who killed our dogs. Kidnapped us. Kept us imprisoned,” shouts Kenai above the noise.
“Shoot to maim!” Juneau repeats.
“They’re probably wearing Kevlar,” I shout at her.
All three turn to look at me with blank expressions. I guess Kevlar’s not in the EB. “Bulletproof vests,” I say. “It’ll be covering their chests and backs.”
“Okay,” yells Juneau. “Then aim for the arms and legs, Kenai. Nome, slingshot to the faces.” And they’re off, Juneau with her crossbow, Kenai with a powerful-looking mini-bow and arrows, and Nome with a slingshot and some sharp-looking rocks.
Seeing Juneau and her friends fight is like watching some crazy ninja film where everything is choreographed. It’s like they’re one person—every move is synchronized with the others.
I lag behind, not daring to fire. I’m scared I’m going to hurt someone on our side. I don’t know how Juneau and her friends are doing it, but out of the darkness I hear yells and screams of pain as they pick off one guard after another.
Not far away from me, a one-on-one battle rages between one of Avery’s guards and a big guy who was introduced to me back at the camp as Cordova. The guard must have run out of ammunition because he’s using the gun like a club, warding off the knife-wielding hunter. Meanwhile, a cougar-looking cat paces back and forth behind the guard, as if waiting for its turn to fight.
And then it dawns on me. The animals are actually fighting with the clan.
But that doesn’t make any sense. Juneau told me about one of her clanspeople being killed by a bear—they kept one gun in case of animal attack. The clan can Read animals. But the only influence over them I’ve heard her speak about is her and Whit’s recently discovered ability to direct Poe to one place or another.