N AN INSTANT, all my warm fuzzies were replaced by stomach-churning fear and guilt. I hadn’t been there. Something had happened, and I’d been locking lips with Fang out in the desert. Howstupid could I get? This was exactly why I shouldn’t do stuff like that!

We came down fast, hitting the ground hard in a running stop that kicked up dust. The front door flew open; Gazzy ran out.

I grabbed his arms. “What happened?”

“Max! Fang!” Gazzy yelled. He swallowed. “I thought you were gone! I thought they had gotten you!”

“No, no, sweetie. Just a little nighttime spin,” I said quickly. “What’s going on? Why’s everyone up?”

Nudge and Iggy came out next—where was Angel? My heart seized just as she appeared, with Total behind her. Thank God.

Suddenly it was quiet, the kind of quiet you have out in the desert in the middle of the night when everyone around you goes silent at the same time. Nudge, Iggy, Gazzy, Angel, and Total focused on me and Fang, their faces upset.

I looked from one to the next. They were really freaked, but they weren’t trying to escape anything. They weren’t bloody. They hadn’t been in battle in the past twenty minutes.

“What. Is. Going. On?” I asked very deliberately, searching their eyes.

“It’s, uh…” Nudge began, then cleared her throat. She glanced at the others, then tried again, meeting my gaze bravely. “It’s your mom, Max. Dr. Martinez. She’s been kidnapped. She’s gone.”