Almost At The Top- Book Four in the United Series

Chapter Twenty Two

Max's POV:

I walk up to Reyna and Clarisse and put my hands on their shoulders.

"Hey, girls. Can I talk to you two for a second?" I ask them. They both nod their heads and follow me away from the others.

"I think us three should go find One," I explain quickly.

"Why us?" Clarisse asks and I shrug my shoulders.

"You two are the toughest people I've met, and Reyna, we're going to need your leadership skills," I explain to them. Reyna and Clarisse glance at each other and shrug their shoulders.

"Okay. When are we going to tell everyone else?" Reyna asks me.

"As soon as possible. So, now," I answer. Reyna, Clarisse, and I make our way back to the others and Clarisse shouts for everyone to listen. I smile at her and look at everyone else.

"Reyna, Clarisse, and I are going to find One," I inform everyone bluntly. There's a murmur of agreement and I glance at Hilde, who looks grateful and more happy than I've ever seen her.

"We'll be leaving as soon as possible. And Malcolm, we're going to be needing that tablet that tracks the Garde," I tell everyone. Malcolm nods his head and digs through his bag for the tablet. He soon finds it and hands it to me. I thank him and turn it on, quickly spotting the world map and the jumble of blue dots in Mexico, which is where we are. I scan the tablet and quickly spot the lone blue dot in what looks like New Mexico. I smile and show Reyna and Clarisse.

"Alright. We should go," Reyna orders. Before I can even blink, I hear Percy whistle loudly. I'm not sure why at first, but before I know it, three figures swoop down from overhead. I look up and spot three pegasi landing gracefully in front of Reyna, Clarisse, and I. The first one I notice is Blackjack, Percy's horse. I walk up to him and softly stroke his mane.

Hey, Queen. What's going on? Blackjack asks me and I roll my eyes at him. As a daughter of Poseidon, I'm able to talk to horses since my dad created them in the first place.

"Okay you three, we need you to take us to New Mexico," I tell the three pegasi.

Sweet.

Okay.

Doughnuts!

"Not now, Blackjack," I snap at him but I can't help but smile as I hear Percy laughing beside me.

"Okay, girls. Get on. Next stop, New Mexico," I tell Reyna and Clarisse. They both climb onto the backs of one pegasus and I'm about to get onto Blackjack when I remember Percy standing beside me.

I turn to him and give a huge bear hug. He hugs me tightly and I know that this isn't going to be the last time I hug him like this.

"Be careful, Max," Percy whispers to me.

"Don't worry, Perce. I will. And thank you," I whisper back, then break apart from him and climb onto Blackjack. I sigh and soon enough, Reyna, Clarisse, and I are soaring through the sky. I hold onto Blackjack as he flies me to New Mexico. I look down at the tablet and see the lonely blue dot, still sitting there alone in New Mexico. Gods, she must be so scared and alone, having no idea where any of us are, even though she knows all of us are alive.

We're going to find her and bring her back alive, no matter what happens.

John's POV:

"Okay, everyone. I also have an announcement to make," a deep male voice calls to is. I look up and see Reynolds, Eight's Cêpan, facing all of us. He looks kind of upset, like he doesn't want to do this.

"Everyone has to take a...truth serum," Reynolds announces. Everyone but the Cêpans glance at each other.

"A what?" Nine asks.

"A truth serum. It's a liquid injected into you that will force you to tell the truth until a certain amount of time," Reynolds answered. My brows furrow in confusion. Why do we need to take a truth serum?

"And why do we need to do this?" I questions. Reynolds sighs, glancing at all the other Cêpans.

"The ruling elders asked us to give this to you all once you've reunited, just to...prove your loyalty," Reynolds answers hesitantly. There's a murmur from the crowd.

"'Prove our loyalty'? They think that we're going to betray them?" Six asks, a slightly anger tone to her voice.

Reynolds sighs. "No, they were just being cautious. They were putting the fate of the entire world in nine children's hands, they wanted to make sure that they could trust them," he answers. I look down for a bit. I mean, then again, we never expected Five to betray us, but he almost killed Eight and Nine in Florida and helped the Mogs capture Max on the Anubis. I don't think anyone else is a traitor, but it doesn't hurt to try.

"Okay. We'll do it," I tell Reynolds. He brightens and digs into a bag he found in the Loric sanctuary and pulls out a large bag full of hundreds of syringes, each containing a blueish-like liquid. I shuffle nervously on my feet. I don't want to do this, but then again- I have nothing to hide. I'm not keeping any secrets from any of these people. I'm not sure about everybody else, though. What about Adam and the experiment he was in with One? Or Ivan betraying Max and I on the Anubis?

"Okay, we'll all do it one by one. You can choose who you want to ask you the questions, just as long as they'll ask the right ones," Reynolds tells us all. I sigh and look around at everyone, who are all quickly glancing at the person they want to question them. I just hope Max gets here before I have to do it.

Max's POV:

This is not what I was expecting.

Reyna, Clarisse, and I have arrived to New Mexico and we're directly at One's location. Blackjack and the other two pegasi are waiting for us a couple hundred yards away, and we are pretty dam excited to finally find One.

But not here.

Towering above us is the one and only Dulce Base, the place where John, Nine, Six, Sam, Marina, Eight, Adam, Malcolm, and I had a huge fight with the Mogadorians. The base where Six was captured and Setrákus Ra disguised as her and stabbed Eight. The base where Ella discovered her Dreynen legacy. The base where One is being kept right now.

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