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See? I’m not running. I’m not scared of you, stranger.
The breeze picked up, pushing at my back as I strode, head high, toward the main street. Nature herself urged me out of danger, and who was I to deny her?
Walking alongside normal city folk eased a chunk of my tension away. Out in the open, the city was full of the angelic races that resided in the Divine Cities across the world. Above me, the Volare’s nearly invisible barrier glinted at the edges. I stared wistfully.
Imagine having access to wings. Just imagine. I could rise to the Volare, cross that magical barrier, and soar my way through the city.
No trains.
No buses.
No looking over my shoulder to check if a stranger was following me.
I could just melt into the sky and glide away.
Still lost in my head, I turned a corner and knocked straight into a laughing teenage boy with translucent dragonfly wings stretched open.
The edge of his delicate wing pressed against my shoulder, curling. Threatening to snap.
“Woah!” I exclaimed, stumbling back. “Tuck those away when you’re in the street, idiot.” Only the drunkards or the morons walked through crowds with their wings out like that.
His three friends, all with fae features, reacted instantly in my favor.
“Marcus, we’ve been telling you that all morning. It’s really rude,” admonished the boy with black feathers for hair.
The third boy nodded in agreement and casually emitted blue fog, while the girl toyed with a vine that twisted up her arm and tangled with her long magenta hair.
She glanced at me. “Sorry. We’re from up north in bum-fuck nowhere, and we’re not used to any type of city. We applied for the trials for Hartfall University that start tomorrow, so we’re just getting a feel for the area before we all die in the tests.” She stuck her tongue out, mocking her own nihilism.
Feather-boy smacked her arm lightly. “Don’t be so cynical. No one’s died in the trials in over fifty years.”
Yeah. It’s painfully obvious they weren’t from around here. I glanced between all of them and mumbled, “Do you always talk this much to strangers?”
I began to edge around them, using the opportunity to check over my shoulder.
The girl ignored me, giving him a flat stare. “Right. And we’ll just pretend there isn’t a psycho attacking people on campus.”
Maybe it was my recent scare with the stranger. Maybe I was just curious. But I’d never heard of anything happening in Hartfall. Elite schools like that just didn’t allow scandals to escape their polished marble walls.
Moving into their circle again, I asked, “What psycho?”
Now who’s small-townsy, Gray?
She shrugged. “Someone’s been attacking students over the summer. Super creepy. Anyway, can you tell us where we can get the best cup of coffee? I hear it’s always polite to ask the locals.”
Attacking students? But Hartfall is one of those private colleges for the archangel families and the most powerful fae…
But those people weren’t my priority, and now I had a completely new opportunity. I gave her my best casual smile. “Actually, I’m headed to the best coffee place right now. Follow me.”
The kids were too trusting. It was a little scary seeing how easily they trailed along. Not that I was scamming them—but imagine if I was!
I could have been the Great Scammer of Manhattan, Stealer of Child Money. These kids would be screwed in that case.
They were lucky I was simply Gray Wilder, Finder of Things and Shameless Walking Plug for My Best Friend’s Cafe.
As we went on, they were more than happy to tell me all about themselves. Another dangerous habit that could get them in trouble, and exactly what an unethical person would take advantage of.
The girl’s name was Ember. The boy with the wing problem was Marcus, and feather hair was Maddox. The quiet, dour one was Sawyer.
