V.

“Death makes angels of us all and gives us wings where we had shoulders smooth as ravens claws.”

We reached the balcony of the second floor. I was freezing, barefoot and bare-chested. Below us, nearly a dozen black vehicles waited for us.

“Hold on to me,” Laine said.

“What?”

“Like you were before. Hold on to me.” He wrapped my arms around his neck and lifted my feet off the ground, then jumped over the balcony.

I yelled an obscenity at him as we fell, realizing that he was insane. But instead of hitting the ground, we took off. When I managed to open my eyes, I saw huge wings on Laine’s back, pumping easily through the chilly air.

“Wings?” I shouted.

“Yeah,” he replied, his arms wrapped tightly around me so I wouldn’t fall. “Got a problem with it?”

“I don’t, but physics does.”

“Physics is for squares,” he said, laughing.

We flew for a few more minutes, then he lowered us safely to the ground. Before letting go of me, he reached into my pocket and pulled out my wallet. “I’ll go get us some clothes,” he said, and walked into the nearest store.

I waited outside, shivering. We were on a street lined with shops selling anything from food to clothing. On our way through town, we had paused briefly to eat there, but I never thought I would see the street again.

Laine returned a few minutes later, a big smile on his face. He handed me a shirt and a pair of shoes, already dressed himself. “The lady in there didn’t like me,” he said, pulling me close when he saw I was still shivering.

“What do we do now?” I asked.

“We run,” he replied. “We get somewhere someone’ll believe us, or we make someone believe us.”

I ran my hand up his arm, finding a damp spot on his sleeve. “You were shot,” I said when I saw the blood stain. “We have to go to a hospital.”

“I’ll be fine. It’s just a flesh wound.” He smiled warmly at me, then ran a finger over my eyebrow. “Stop worry about me so much.” His eyes flicked over my shoulder, barely widening before I heard the first shot, followed by two others.

I looked down carefully. All three shots had found their mark: In my back. The pain erupted in my torso as soon as I saw the blood.

“No!” Laine yelled. He held my arms as I dropped to my knees. “Cal? Cal, look at me.” He lowered me to the ground and patted my cheek, trying to get me to focus on his pretty blue eyes.

Three more shots rang out and he fell beside me. I could barely hear the sound of yelling and footsteps as the ASS people neared. Someone was yelling at them for killing us. Why had they killed us?

Laine reached out and took my hand, his fingers bloody. The footsteps and yelling were almost behind me, but still, he smiled. And I smiled back.

They were no closer to finding Codename Black now than they were back when the Agency for the Safety of Civilians was still in operation.