"HELLOOO, KATE!" RATCHET said, then whistled. "I think my senses just short-circuited."
Fang cringed. Well, this was going to be fun. He had wanted mostly older kids so he wouldn't have to worry about them, and now he had to deal with freaking flirting instead.
Kate Tan Wei Ying had finally arrived on the scene, and the girl was a bombshell. She had thick, glossy black hair that wouldn't stay tucked behind her ears, supermodel cheekbones, and an easy smile. And she had her own cause, it turned out.
"You're what?" Ratchet looked horrified.
Kate laughed and pushed her hair off her shoulder. "I'm vegan," she repeated. "I don't eat meat, seafood, or anything that comes from animals, like milk or butter or eggs."
Ratchet looked at Fang like, First freaking sushi, now this? Fang shrugged. "I'm glad I booked us into nice digs." He plopped down on one of the beds and started flicking through the channels. "I hear the hotel grub is pretty sweet."
"You guys can still get room service," Kate said good-naturedly. "I brought Tofurky Jerky to snack on."
She was the opposite of razor-tongued Star, and given the look Star was shooting her, it was a little weird that they were friends. But then, maybe freaks just tended to find each other. And Kate and Star were certainly freaks. Ratchet was one thing—the tough street kid who had extrasensory skills. The girls were… something else.
Fang sighed. He should've just gone with guys. Way less complicated. He tried to focus on the news and not think about the fact that she would be here soon.
"And now back to Channel Seven News on the Hour," said an announcer, and then two talking heads filled the TV screen. "A new environmental group is garnering attention worldwide." A concerned woman with perfectly coiffed hair leaned forward slightly. "But what does their name mean, Dan? The Doomsday Group?"
Fang sat bolt upright. He turned up the volume, waving the other kids to be quiet.
Dan shook his head gravely. "We have very little information on the group at this time, Sheila. Calls to the organization have not yet been returned. I want to stress that, at present, no allegations have been made against the group, but its name is certainly attracting attention."
Sheila consulted her notes. "Our European correspondent is standing by in Paris, where a Doomsday Group rally took place earlier. Perhaps she can provide us with a keener look into the group's motivations. Sofia?"
The camera cut to a woman standing in front of the Eiffel Tower, her khaki trenchcoat flapping in the wind. "Greetings, Sheila," she said with a French accent. "This is Sofia Tabernilla reporting from Paris, where the so-called Doomsday Group has been very active today."
Behind her, Fang saw smiling people chatting with passersby and handing out leaflets.
"Sofia?" Sheila asked, pressing her fingers to her earpiece. "Can you tell us what the group is distributing?"
Sofia frowned. "Flyers. Notices." Sofia held one up and read from it: "This is the group's slogan, printed here in English, French, German, and Dutch. It says, ‘The Earth or Us.'
"I'm here with one of the key organizers of the Doomsday Group rally, though the group professes to have no leader. Beth, can you tell us more about your group's message and your goals as an organization?" Sofia held the microphone out to an older-looking teenage girl.
"Our goal is to bring everyone to the One Light." She had one of the sweetest voices Fang had ever heard, but her eyes were what drew him in. "It's an invitation for change. We plan to take control for the betterment of the earth."
"Take control?" Sofia Tabernilla asked, but she was smiling serenely at her. Beth nodded, smiling back.
"Think of it as an earth cleanse. It will be beautiful. Follow us. Follow us and be free." She looked directly into the camera, and Fang was mesmerized. The group would save him. Beth would save him. She would help him forget all the harsh—
Star clicked the remote, and the theme song for Project Runway made Fang jump.
His head was buzzing. He felt happy and calm. He felt like everything was going to be beautiful. He shook his head.
Something was seriously wrong.
A group that had sprung up out of nowhere and already had international coverage? Talking about cleansing the earth and taking control? The Doomsday Group set off every antennae of alarm Fang had.
A quick online search for the Doomsday Group revealed surprisingly little, as if it had sprung up suddenly, fully formed. There was no mention of it at all two months earlier, but clearly its members already numbered in the thousands.
Fang sat back. He had his mission.
Someone had to figure out what the Doomsday Group
was up to and just how bad it was. It was time for Fang to step up and be a leader, the way Max always had.
A familiar ache filled his heart, and he promptly squelched it. No time for that now. He had too much to do. She wasn't the only one with a mission to save the world.
Now it was just a question of who would save it first.
