I didn't know which. And I didn't care.
I rose higher and higher. The thrill of weightlessness was so exhilarating that it drove all thought from my mind. Wind whispered over me, seemed to part for me, opened for me new sights few people would ever see or experience.
And still I climbed.
The temperature dropped exponentially. I plunged into a roiling cumulus cloud and the world briefly disappeared. I was surrounded in ice crystals which was at once serene and mildly disorienting. I shook my great head where the crystals had collected. They broke free and fell away.
The cloud opened and soon I was flying parallel with it, rising and falling with its amorphous contours, like a fighter plane over a desert floor. The movements of my wings were minute, so minute I wasn't consciously aware of making them. The moon shone over my shoulder, reflecting brightly off the cloud's pale surface. My shadow kept pace, rising and falling. A monster's moon shadow. Wings outstretched, flapping almost lazily, I was a massive creature.
The sky above me was clear, filled with millions upon millions of glittering stars. I focused on one such star and flew toward it. What would happen if I just kept on flying? No doubt the deep vacuum of space would wreak havoc on my flying. With no air, I would float aimlessly and endlessly.
I shuddered at the thought.
The cloud dispersed and a great sweeping hillside appeared beneath me, dotted with brightly lit homes. I thought of Fang. The man was a killer, of that there was no doubt. He was also a fugitive. Once, long ago, I had made an oath to uphold the law and bring such fugitives to justice.
But that was then....
...and this was now. Now, I had some dirty secrets of my own, didn't I? Now I had taken one life and was responsible for a second.
Victims of circumstance, Fang had said. I agreed to an extent. Victims were not given a free pass to hurt others.
I flapped my wings languidly, riding along a powerful jet stream, which propelled me forward powerfully, effortlessly. Fang, aka Aaron Parker, aka Eli Roberts (his assumed name) was a beautiful man. There was a reason my sister seriously had the hots for him.
I nearly laughed at the thought that this flying creature could have a sister. And then I almost laughed at the thought that this flying creature could laugh.
Life is weird.
The clouds below opened and I saw a small plane flying beneath me, buzzing laboriously even as I flew effortlessly and silently. Its lights flashed, in accordance to aviation law. There were no laws for giant flying monsters. I was beyond law. I could give a damn about laws, anyway.
To an extent.
I still had a life to live and children to raise and food to put on the table. By necessity, I had to play by the rules of man.
Yes, Fang was a beautiful man. He was also my closest friend. But everything had changed, hadn't it? He was no longer my anonymous friend who I could open up to about everything. He had a face. A history. A troubled history.
He was also, of course, a world-class stalker.
And a killer.
Shit.
Below, I spotted the Hollywood sign, the word so tiny that by all rights I shouldn't have been able to read them. But I could. Giant vampire bats had eagle-like vision.
I dipped a wing and turned to starboard slowly, a great arching turn that took a full minute. The sky was my playground. The clouds my jungle gym.
I completed my turn and innately headed home, following an inner guidance system that was so inherent that I didn't doubt it or question it.
It's good to be me sometimes.
I headed back to the Embassy Suites.
Chapter Seven
I was answering emails on my laptop and watching Judge Judy emasculate this deadbeat dad when my cell phone rang. I picked it up from the coffee table and looked at the faceplate: Caller Unknown.
I almost didn't pick up. By nature, I don't like Caller Unknown calls. What are people hiding?
The phone rang a second time. And as it did so, an electrical sensation crackled along the length of my spine. As if a ghost had run an ethereal finger down the center of my back.
I shivered. I knew to pay attention to such sensations. Such sensations were strong indications that something important was going on.
The phone rang a third time. Yes, I use old school rings, even for my cell phone. Phones are supposed to ring, dammit. Not sing Christina Aguilera's failed national anthem attempt.
Now Judge Judy was really laying into this asshole again. Reminding him he was the child's father. That he had responsibilities. She also let him know what she thought of him. Trust me, she didn't think very highly. I loved every second of it.
The phone rang a fourth time. My phone will ring five times before it goes to voicemail. The buzzing along my spine continued to crackle. The fine hair on my forearms was also standing on end.
Something's wrong, I thought.
My email was unfinished. Judge Judy continued her verbal berating. I looked at the time on my phone. I had to pick up my kids in a few minutes. Normally, I would have let the call go to my voicemail.
Normally.
"Answer the phone."
The words came from behind me. Except behind me was a wall. I jumped off the couch, screaming and gasping. The voice was soft and whispery and it scared the shit out of me.
I answered the phone, still scanning the room, still scared shitless. Who had spoken to me?
"Hello," I said, feeling my heart beating somewhere near my throat. I was alone in the house. I was sure of it. I would have heard someone enter. I would have sensed someone entering.
There was no response from the other end of the line. I headed for the hallway. Scanned it. No one was here. Now from the line I could hear faint breathing. And as I searched the bedrooms and bathroom, I said hello again. And when I got to my own bedroom, a voice finally answered.
And it was the tiniest voice I had ever heard.
"Hi." A girl's voice. Maybe five. Maybe less.
I paused, doing a quick mental rundown of all my nieces and nephews. Although I was not as close to some of my sisters and brothers as I wanted to be, I rarely received a call from any of their children. Still, I could not think of a niece this young.
"Well, hello," I said. "And who is this?" I asked, my own voice rising a friendly octave or two. I glanced in my room. My house was completely empty.
So who had spoken to me?
I didn't know. But I let it go and wrote it off to stress. After all, these past few weeks had not been without their trials. And last night....
Yes, last night.
Last night still had me reeling. Had it really happened? Had I really met Fang?
I had. Oh, yes, I had.
The little voice spoke again over the phone. "I'm Maddie."
"Hi Maddie," I said, switching my focus from the strange voice to the little girl. Just about all the hair on my body was standing on end.