Now, I promised thing would start picking up, and I keep my promises (even if it takes a little longer than I thought). in this chapter you get something I promised a few chapters back, too:) Reviews are wonderful, I love 'em:)

Chapter 42: A Visitor

Night fell, and soon Angel, Total, Nudge, and Gazzy were curled up near the fire, fast asleep. Iggy was beginning to drift off, too. Fang and I sat on opposite sides of the clearing from each other.

I was still furious at him, for numerous reasons. First, he'd been kissing that Lissa girl (I wasn't ready to believe his side of the story yet). Second, he'd gone on a date with her, and third, he'd defended her even after she'd betrayed him. Fourth, he'd accused me of not caring about anything but myself. Okay, true, he'd known that I'd cared about the Flock, too, but he didn't seem to think that was enough.

What was enough anymore?

I moaned and placed my forehead in my hand, trying to sort things out. What was "the device"? How did it relate to Lissa, or the rest of us?

Suddenly, I heard a crack in the woods in front of me. I leapt up, tensed for action. Fang was at my side before I could even look over to warn him. I could barely make out a shadow through the trees.

"Who are you?" I demanded. "What do you want?"

"I come in peace." More rustling.

"What are you, some sort of alien, or something?" I asked, squinting to see.

A chuckle came from the woods. "Not quite, unless you count mutant human avian hybrids aliens."

The rustling was louder, until someone emerged from the shadows.

"What do you mean?" Fang asked.

The person was a boy, about our age. He had what the kids these days called "hockey hair," and it was sandy blonde. He was tall, but about an inch shorter than Fang. And, as soon as he disentangled himself from the brush, he spread out his huge, 16-foot, sandy wings.

"Answer enough?" the boy asked, smirking.

"Not quite," I said, narrowing my eyes. "Who are you? Don't make me ask again."

"They call me Experiment2012-12."

"So, you're part of Batch 2?" I asked, folding my arms.

"I guess you could say that," Experiment2012-12 said, mimicking my posture. "Let me guess. You are Experiment2012-01. And he's Experiment2012-02."

"It's Max," I growled. "And he's Fang. What about you? Don't 'they' call you anything else?"

"No," said Experiment2012-12, becoming thoughtful. "But, if I could choose…I'd say Jason."

"Jason?" I scoffed. "Dude, that's way lame."

"But I like it. Besides, Maximum isn't exactly in your average Baby Name Book."

"Touché," I said, raising my eyebrows.

"What about him?" he said, jerking his head in Fang's direction. Fang's face looked murderous.

"Fang," I said. "Now, why are you here?"

"I don't know. Same reason you guys are here, I guess. I escaped, and I came looking for you."

"How did you find us?" I asked, alarmed.

"Easy. Little fillers in newspapers. You know: the stupid UFO sightings that are so far out no one ever bothers to report them. They just use them so the page doesn't look empty. I saw one in a newspaper from Virginia, heading west. So I followed my instincts."

"Got it," I muttered. If these little clippings had anything to do with how Itex was tracking us so easily, I would scream.

"Do I have permission to stay here?" he asked, motioning with an arm to the clearing. I thought for a minute. Besides Fang's obvious hatred of the newcomer, he posed no threat that I could see. I would watch him carefully. At the first sign of possible danger, we'd kick him out. Or destroy him, as Fang so obviously wanted to do.

I didn't even look at Fang before responding; I would reason with him later. "Yes. For tonight. We'll see about the morning." I stepped to the side, allowing him access to the clearing. He smiled.

But as he passed me, I seized his arm and leaned in close.

"Stay away from my flock," I murmured viciously. His eyes narrowed infinitesimally, but he nodded once and moved to the side of the fire opposite to where Iggy and the kids were sleeping. I sat back down to continue watching, but I watched Jason instead. I made the mistake of glancing up once. When I did, Fang's harrowing glare made me shrink back the tiniest bit.