The sun was setting and the flock had dragged the old fire pit out from the disuse of the garage. They'd thrown leaves and wood on until the fire lit the entire backyard of the house.

Ivy was currently sitting next to Lucy, playing rock, paper, scissors. The game was so simple, but Ivy couldn't help but love it. She'd never really played games before, so all day she'd thought of basically nothing except this small pastime. When they'd finished their chase across the beach (She had never ridden a horse before, and it was like flying) and gone back to the house for dinner, she went directly to Lucy and challenged her to another duel. Thankfully, the other young girl had been more than willing to continue their tournament.

Sabine walked over to them holding a paper plate of sliced watermelon. She set it next to them on the bench and squatted in front of them. "Who's winning?"

"Me," Ivy said confidently.

"Not for long," Lucy muttered.

Sabine smiled with that brilliant light of hers. If Ivy had thought Sawyer was like a star, Sabine must have been the sun. She was so bright, so full of life. She was excited about everything, always laughing and making the most of every situation.

Lucy nabbed a slice of watermelon from Seb's plate and bit into the tip, pink juice spilling onto her lip. "Hey, has anyone seen Luke and Carter?"

Ivy glanced around their little circle of benched, scanning for the two boys. Sure enough, they were both missing.

✵✵✵

Carter stood at the edge of a cliff, a veritable two hundred foot drop below him (60 meters). He leaned cautiously over the edge, examining how far he'd have to fall if he failed.

"Relax," Luke crooned from beside Carter. "I did it and as you can see, I am fine."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head somewhere along the way?" Carter replied. "It would explain your brain damage symptoms."

"Very funny." Luke slapped him on the back. "Seriously though, this is how Sawyer taught me to fly. He says everyone learns differently. He tried to teach me from standing on the ground, but I couldn't do it. Like you."

Carter was brought back to the beach not one hour ago, when he'd asked Luke to teach him to fly. Luke had tried to talk him through it, but no matter how hard he beat his wings he couldn't get more than two inches off the ground. He probably should have asked Sawyer now that he thought about it. Sawyer probably wouldn't have asked me to jump off a cliff.

"Get over your jitters," Luke said again. "You told me you like roller coasters, right? This is like that. It's like the huge drop at the beginning to get momentum for the rest of the ride. You can do this."

Carter took a deep breath and scooted closer to the edge until his toes stuck over the margin. The feathers of his wings fluttered against each other in the light breeze. "I can do this," he whispered to himself.

Luke suddenly whooshed past him, the slight wind generated by his wings pulling Carter's blond hair into his face. The boy who was now a wolf leapt off the precipice and spread his wings in the night air. He hovered for a few seconds before the wind caught his feathers and lifted him towards the clouds. He loosed a howl that sent chills down Carter's spine. Luke sounded so happy and free when he flew... that was all Carter wanted.

Carter took another breath and leaned forward on the balls of his feet. It wasn't much, but it was enough for gravity to grab him by the shoulders and pull him away.

He tried to stay calm and keep his wits about him. However, the drop of his stomach sent his mind into a panic. Every thought he'd been determined to keep in his head flew away, and he froze up. His instincts took over. Though his arms and legs buckled at his sides, his wings seemed to move on their own. They spread wider, wider than he knew they could go, and angled themselves to slice through the wind like a sword. He was carried farther down like he'd been yanked by a rope before he stooped back into the air and next to Luke once again.

"That was crazy!" He called. "Did you see that? Look at me, I'm flying!"

"Not just flying," Luke said knowingly. "You shifted. Look at yourself."

Carter craned his neck to look over his shoulder, but noticed instantly that it was harder than usual. His muscles were almost too acute, and so fast. He whipped around, finally seeing the joint where his wings met his shoulder blades. His body had changed, he was more canine, and covered in shaggy gray fur.

"A wolfhound," Luke commented. "I like it. Looks like we're both Lupines, then."

"This is incredible!" Carter whooped, "I feel so good! So unburdened! I swear I'm going to do this every day until my powers disappear and I fall out of the sky."

"Please don't fall out of the sky. I would be sad."

That caught Carter off guard. He supposed he knew that people cared about him, and that people might be sad if he died, but no one had ever expressly said it out loud before. It felt different, knowing someone wasn't afraid to admit out loud that Carter was special to them.

He tried to keep the emotion out of his voice as he said, "Maybe we should head back. We didn't tell anyone else we were leaving so they're probably worried."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Luke ceded. "Follow my lead." He tilted his wings and careened to the right, Carter mimicking his movement and following suit.

Heading home.

✵✵✵

"We don't have enough rooms for everyone to get their own," Sawyer started, "So it looks like we will be sharing." The truth was, with the current situation and mysterious threat of Morrison over their shoulders, he didn't want anyone sleeping alone. "I hope I am correct in assuming Sabine will want to be in a room with Lucy and Ivy," Sawyer gestured to the redhead and she nodded in agreement as the two younger girls clapped excitedly, "Which means that Alvira and Madison can take the room next to theirs."

The two girls fistbumped from the bench they sat next to each other on.

"Which leaves the four of us," Sawyer pointed to himself, Atlas, Luke, and Carter, "To decide who's sleeping where."

"I'll sleep with Carter," Luke volunteered.

"And I'll sleep with Luke," Carter seconded, "But in a platonic way, because what he said sounded weird." Luke shot Carter an ambiguous look, but Sawyer decided to ignore it.

Sawyer glanced at Atlas. "That leaves us."

Atlas shrugged. "I'm cool with that."

"Lovely. Everyone can do their own unpacking because you are big children and can take care of yourselves." Sawyer clapped his hands together. "You are dismissed. Go."

He and Atlas lugged their bags through the hallway to their shared room on the bottom floor. It wasn't meant to be a bedroom originally (this small house was not built to shelter nine people) but with the help of a spare mattress and a couch it easily became one. The two boys sat on opposite sides, Atlas doing something Sawyer couldn't see over the book he was reading.

"Hey, Sawyer?" Atlas said quietly from his side of the room.

"What's up?" Sawyer lowered his book to his lap and met Atlas' eyes. The blond was fidgeting with his sheets, a suspicious look in his eyes.

"What are you worried about?"

"What makes you think I'm worried?" Sawyer fired back, suddenly on guard. Had he been that obvious?

"Well, I was talking with Alvira today, and she told me she noticed you and Madison talking the other day." Atlas looked a bit wary bringing up a sensitive topic around Sawyer, but was clearly used to being unafraid. In fact, he was probably used to people being afraid of him. Sawyer couldn't deny that the boy was intimidating; he was tall enough that he had to duck to go through doorways, to say nothing of his strength. "No one knows what you two talked about, but Madison seemed really upset when she came back in. Then, Sabine and Madison came back from a trip to the mall both looking like they'd seen a ghost. Now you've barely talked all day. So what's up?"

Sawyer bit his lip, trying to think of what he could tell Atlas. VOID had been on his mind all day. For nearly the entire drive there, he'd been replaying his time in DC over and over in his head. Everywhere he looked he saw Cora's face, her brown eyes and kind smile. But he couldn't tell the others that; he'd seen some of their faces when VOID was mentioned. They were terrified out of their minds. And they should be, he thought ruefully, VOID doesn't mess around. Some of the new people, though they were more at risk from simple ignorance, did not need any death threats hanging over their heads after such a life-changing event such as finding out they had wings. "I guess I'm just worried generally. I now have two kids who will be living in my house, I have three new Aviads in the flock, I have college next year. I've got a lot on my plate."

"Alvira thought you might try to avoid the question by bringing up college." Atlas scooted closer. "What's really going on?"

Sawyer breathed a low laugh. "There's no getting past the two of you, I guess."

"Just stop dodging the question and open up. You can't hide whatever it is forever."

Sawyer snapped his book shut and gave Atlas a serious glare. "I can try." He stood up and flicked the light switch off. "I'm going to bed early. No doubt some people will be up late telling spooky stories or something so if you're not tired yet, you can go hang out with them. You won't wake me up if you come back in."

Sawyer lay down on his couch bed and was silent, though he never closed his eyes. After a few minutes of silence, He heard shifting as Atlas stood up and exited the room.

I guess I will be sleeping alone, he thought bitterly. 

A/N: So that was chapter 10! Point out errors, vote and comment, etc... 

I'm sorry for the late update. When I started this I was so determined to have regular updates, but life is really just doing all it can to make sure I don't have time to write. Hopefully I will find some time in the near future, but for now it looks like updates will come slower than ever... 

Anyways, hope everyone's life is going okay and just always remember that becoming a demon is a valid career choice 

Thank you