Alien vs. Alien

go with them and hand yourself over on a freaking platter with a big bow wrapped around you? First they will torture them in front of you, so you do every evil thing they want you to do, which I guarantee will involve kidnapping your sister and brothers, my baby and all the other hybrid babies, and that’s just for starters. Then, after you’ve stupidly done exactly what they wanted and expected you to do, they will kill Jeff and Chuckie in front of you and laugh while they’re doing it. Or have you forgotten everything that happened in Paris?”
    I made eye contact with Abigail. “Who’s they? Clarence, someone else, Clarence and someone else?”
    “Just Clarence,” Abigail shared. “He’s enough on his own right now.”
    “What’s pulling Naomi toward him?”
    “Just Naomi,” Abigail said. She sounded disgusted. “You know, because she’s decided that you, Jeff, Christopher, and Chuck are all morons.”
    “I don’t think that!” Naomi sounded indignant. “I just—”
    “You’re just reacting emotionally instead of with any form of logic or sense. Yeah, I get it.”
    “You race off like this all the time,” Naomi said. Only she sounded a little truculent . . . and a lot less frantic.
    “Yeah, I do. Here’s the key point, and I’d like you, in particular, to pay close attention to the next things I say. Per the very enemies we are fighting right now and my track record, when
I
do it, I’m right. Per the track record the rest of
you
have when you all run off like idiots, you’re almost always wrong. Trust me, you’re worse than wrong right now.”
    “But . . . they’ll hurt them.”
    “No duh. You think I like this any more than you do? Or that Richard does? Or anyone else? This isn’t the time or place for self-sacrifice. This is the freaking time to prove that all the damn time and effort Chuckie’s put into training and prepping the two of you hasn’t been a complete and utter waste of his time.”
    “Charles wouldn’t want you to sacrifice yourself for him,” White said gently. “He’s not that kind of man. And you know it.”
    “But what if they do kill him?” Naomi whispered.
    “Then he dies so you live. I’ve known him more than half my life. He’s been my best friend since we were thirteen. And I guarantee I still know him better than anyone else does, even you. And I promise you this—you doing the exact opposite of what he’s trained you to do and, I know, told you to do will be the real thing that kills him, physically and emotionally.”
    She looked almost convinced, but not quite. Time for the big gun. “Unless, of course, this is all an act and you’re really in league with the bad guys and want to go with Clarence so you can watch him hurt Jeff and Chuckie.”

    Yi

CHAPTER 57

    N AOMI’S EYES FLASHED. “You know that’s not what I want.”
    “Yeah? Prove it.”
    “Sis,” Abigail said quietly, “you need to calm down.”
    “This from the person who’s affected by emotions, I might add.”
    “Yeah, and Sis? Kitty’s ready to beat the crap out of you if you don’t pull it together. And she can do it. Let’s not fight with the person we’re supposed to go to for guidance and leadership in this state of emergency.” It was clear Abigail was reciting something Chuckie had drilled into them.
    Naomi took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay.”
    “Don’t let her go,” I said to White and Jeremy. “Just in case she’s faking us out and wants them dead.”
    Naomi glared at me again. Good. Anger was a better emotion for her than fear and panic right now. I turned my back on her. Let her stay pissed off. And focused on me instead of Clarence’s threats.
    Still couldn’t make out anyone visually, though the trees and bushes were really taking a beating. This was a National Park—I was sure Clarence was amassing a host of major fines, but a park ranger arriving, or whatever division patrolled here, wouldn’t help the situation.
    “So, Abby, what actually happened?” If I squinted, I could just make out several Peregrines and some Poofs, large and in charge. They were definitely not fighting with each other.
    “We were finally done with our version of patrolling the Festival when James told us we could start looking for Jeff and Chuck. Then we all got a big emotional message from you, the guys took off, and we searched.” She was quiet for a moment. “We couldn’t find them. So I think Clarence is lying.”
    “No, they have them.