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“Be careful—she can be prickly. Her name is Priscilla.”

Holly Maslak, Viktor’s wife, comes out of the building with a smile.

“Hi, Priscilla.” Maya crouches down, her voice soft. “You’re a beautiful girl. Will you come say hello or do you want to kill me?”

“I’m serious, Maya—be careful. She’ll bite if she feels threatened.” Holly moves closer to us.

“She’s not going to bite me. Are you, pretty girl?” Maya is still talking in that soothing voice, watching the white bird who’s watching her suspiciously. She takes a step closer to Maya and then stops. Maya doesn’t move, and neither do Holly or I. Priscilla seems to be sizing us all up. Then she takes three delicate steps to Maya and stops, so that the two of them are almost nose to nose.

And then Maya smiles, that same beautiful smile that attracted me the night we met. It nearly takes my breath away and for a moment I feel incredibly jealous that it isn’t directed at me.

Okay, how fucked up is it that I’m jealous of a bird?

“You’re so pretty,” Maya whispers. “Can I give her a treat?”

“We try not to do that because then they can get aggressive.” Holly seems shocked that Maya and Priscilla are just hanging out.

“Then I will be her friend from afar,” Maya says, getting to her feet.

“You’ll be a lot happier with Shadow,” Holly says, leading us inside. “She’s a⁠—”

“—peregrine falcon!” Maya squeals when she spots the beautiful bird.

“Yes, she is. We’ll introduce you two and then our falconer will take her outside so you can see her in action.”

“I am so excited!” She turns to me and throws her arms around my neck, kissing me soundly. “Thank you—this might be my favorite date ever!”

I kiss her back. “You’re welcome.”

Then she hurries after Holly, and they talk about the birds.

I’ve never thought about birds much one way or the other, but her excitement is contagious. Now I’m curious about the falconry experience. Holly said it’s something new they’re offering after the vandalism they had earlier this year where several of the birds were killed and they had to completely rebuild. I seem to recall donating five hundred bucks, but I didn’t know exactly what it was for—Viktor asked and I gave him some money.

Now that I see exactly what it was for, I’m a little embarrassed that I didn’t ask more questions. If for no other reason than to understand what happened.

“Oh, she’s gorgeous,” Maya breathes as we approach the falcon.

Jay, the falconer, has her on his arm and the bird doesn’t seem at all intimidated or even mildly interested in us.

“Her name is Shadow,” Holly says. “She was spared during the break-in, thankfully.”

“What happened is so awful,” Maya says softly. “Jayne told me about it.”

“It was rough,” Holly says, nodding. “But we’re back up and running. I’m so grateful to everyone on the team who donated to help us get back on our feet. My grandmother started the sanctuary and she left it to me, so it means a lot.”

Eventually we wander outside and Jay hands Maya a thick leather glove to protect her arm from the falcon’s claws. Then he hands her what looks like raw chicken, and she holds out her hand. He whispers a command to the bird who takes off like a bat out of hell.

“Look how majestic she is,” Maya breathes. “Are you taking pictures, babe?”

“I sure am.” I quickly get out my phone and open the camera.

Shadow flies off into a nearby line of trees, circles them, and then heads back toward us.

“Just keep your arm still,” Jay says to her.

Sure enough, Shadow flies in and lands delicately on Maya’s arm and devours the meat in two big bites.

“This might be the coolest thing I’ve ever done!” Maya whispers, watching the bird with wide eyes. “Can we do it again?”