A lean woman high above paused in the act of lifting a beer to her lips. Clad all in black, much of it leather, Natalia was difficult to see against the night sky. Even her wings were black, easily lost against the darkness.
"Aileen?" Her voice floated on the wind.
I waved in acknowledgment, before stuffing my hands in my pockets and moseying toward a bench.
I took a seat, stretching one arm across the back and waited. Natalia could ignore me or she could be prompt. It was always hard to say.
While I waited, I watched Natalia and her companions converse. She nodded. Seconds later she and another split from the flock, arrowing toward me where I waited.
Natalia landed in front of me, wings flared. Her companion did the same a few feet away.
"Do you have it?" Natalia straightened, her wings snapping out of view as she quirked an eyebrow at me.
I dipped my chin once.
She inhaled before slowly releasing the breath. "That was quick. I thought you'd be at least another week."
I lifted a shoulder. "I'm good at what I do."
And I was. Surprisingly. A lifetime of searching and this was what felt right. Now, if it only came with health insurance and a fat paycheck.
Her companion stepped forward; excitement, hope, and challenge mingling in her expression. "You're not lying? You really found it?"
Natalia shot her an irritated glance.
Her companion grimaced before sending an apologetic look at Natalia.
I smothered my smile as I studied the other woman. Younger than Natalia, I'd have placed her at eighteen or nineteen had she been human. With spooks it was hard to tell. We rarely looked our age.
Even without the wings, I'd have described her features as vaguely hawkish, carrying only the faint remnants of youth. She was African American with wings that I itched to touch—soft looking and brown with white spots that reminded me of a speckled owl’s. They were beautiful, even though a few downy feathers were trying to work their way free as if she was a hatchling just finishing up her molt.
"Rose," Natalia warned.
Rose spread her hands, adopting the innocent expression of teens everywhere who knew they had overstepped.
Natalia's look sharpened. "Don't even try it. You were warned to let me do the talking. If you can't obey, you have to go back to the flock."
At that, Rose looked suitably chastened. She bit her lip as her gaze fell.
Natalia's attention swung to me, vexation on her face as I tried to hide my laugh. It seemed a teen's ability to irritate the adults who looked after them was universal and not only confined to humans.
"You don't have to worry," I said on a slight snicker. "I really did get it."
Rose hopped forward a step, the movement birdlike. At Natalia's hard look, she cleared her throat and took a step back, mouthing an apology at the older woman.
Natalia crossed her arms, barely restraining her snort.
Where Rose still held the slightly awkward long limbs of youth, Natalia was entirely at home in her body. Long and lean with a scary sort of beauty that said she could fuck you up and smile while doing it, she looked like the sort who'd walk out of a bar fight carrying the heads of her enemies.
I never could tell if she was the flock's leader or just the spokesperson they'd elected to deal with me. Either way, she'd been my contact from all the way back to my messenger days.
Natalia lifted her chin, asking without words to see it.
I reached into my pocket, withdrawing the bracelet and holding it up for them to see. To the average person, it would seem ordinary, maybe even cheap and slightly tacky. Nothing in its design seemed to warrant the attention its loss had caused.
Made from a thin silver chain, the bracelet had a series of charms similar to those you’d find on a little girl's bracelet. They clacked and rattled against each other as if chattering to themselves.
To humans, its only value lay in what nostalgia its owner would feel for it.
