The man turns to me, holding his sword low. He doesn't reach for me or make a move to me. "I led your friends here, but I'm faster. They'll be along soon."

I stare up at him. "What? What was all that about my life being promised to this Thomas guy? Aren't you going to kill me?"

He looks to his sword and blinks. "Do you want me to kill you?"

I also blink, confused. "Not... particularly."

He shrugs. "Cool." He turns away and starts walking.

"Cool?" I ask myself. I struggle to my feet. "That's it!? How do you know my name!? How do you know my mom!? Why do you have wings?"

The man laughs and turns back to me. "I can't be seen with you, Raven. So, please, let me go."

"Can't be seen with me? What the hell does that mean!?" I throw a rock at him when he turns away again.

He turns back and nearly appears in front of me. He wings ruffle as they settle at his side. "Listen closely, Raven Black. Thomas wants you dead. Most of the people with wings like mine work for him. They're going to turn you in. If they see me with you and I don't kill you, they'll know I'm a traitor. They'll tell Thomas I'm part of the rebellion."

Some relief floods through me. "You're part of the rebellion!? Me too!"

He waves me off. "Not your silly, human rebellion."

"I don't know what that means. Can't you just be straight with me? Give me one clear answer?"

He clears his throat. "Here's a clear answer... I'm not from here. There are people outside these walls, but they're human. The place I'm from is sort of... a different planet. It's a realm adjacent to this one. There's portals that allow my kind to travel through, if you can find the right one. Thomas is searching for people other than your mother. You are also someone he's searching for. But your mother was right about one thing... he will kill you. So, you need to go the opposite direction of me. As far as you can. If you see someone with wings, run. I can't tell you if all of them will be part of the rebellion or not. Don't try to talk to them. Kill them if you have to. Don't tell them your name."

"None of this makes any sense. Why are they looking for me?"

He hesitates, then nods in the direction my mom ran. "The easiest answer is her."

"Raven!"

His shoulders tense and he backs away.

I turn and find Will running towards me.

He shoves the man away from me. "What did you say to her!? What did you do!?"

The man puts his hands up and backs away. "I haven't done anything or said anything. Zoey had a dagger. I stepped in."

Will lifts his lip in a snarl. "Why? Why would one of you help Raven?"

The man takes Will in and narrows his eyes. "You know who she is." It's not a question.

Will glances at me, then shoves the man further away.

I'm about to follow as they start talking in low voices, but I'm tackled from behind.

I stumble, then steady myself. I lift my arm and spot a bunch of red hair. "Ava, are you okay?"

"Are you?"

"You're the one that got threatened by that guy."

She clears her throat. "Right. I'm good. So good. Super good."

"Good."

Rae's already glaring when she catches up. She waves at my blood on the ground. "Really?"

"What did you want me to do, drop breadcrumbs?"

"How many times are you going to make me give you new stitches!? And how were we supposed to pick out your blood in the other blood on the ground!?"

"You clearly were able to," I say.

She nods at the winged man, who is still having a quiet and heated discussion with Will. "We followed him. He could 'smell' your blood."

"Creepy," Ava says.

Alex and Erick finally catch up, both of them out of breath. Alex tugs at the bandages around his chest, wheezing.

"You should take those off," I say.

He glares and wheezes harder.

"As your doctor, I think you should take those off," Rae snaps.

Alex sighs and wanders off to unbind his chest in private.

"What's the plan?" Rae asks.

I shrug. "You're asking me? Ask Will."

He appears, as if I've summoned him.

"Where'd my friend go?" I ask, looking to where the winged man had been.

"He's not your friend. How many times do I have to tell you no more strays?"

"Where'd he go?" I repeat.

"He has business to attend to." Will side-eyes me.

"What's the plan, boss?" Erick asks, leaning on Rae even as she winces.

Will sighs and scrubs his face. "I don't know. Without electronics, I can't reach the other rebellion members. Last I heard before the power went out, everyone was going to be trying to drive the creatures out of the dome and seal it."

"So, this might be our only chance to leave?" Ava asks.

"We're not leaving," Will snaps.

"Maybe you're not, but I am."

Will stares at me. "Excuse you?"

I point outside the dome, where I can almost see the outside world. "My mom said the one that's causing all of this will set up camp at the top of some mountain outside the dome. I'm going to go see if I can stop this attack."

Will scoffs, "you believe your mother? After tonight?"

I shift from foot to foot. "Well, I believe she cares about saving herself. She said this guy wants to kill her. She'd want to kill him first, so yeah, I think she's right. I think he's up there. I think we can stop this attack in one swoop, Will." I wave behind us, at the burning city. "I mean, c'mon. They were clearly trained. This was planned and coordinated. Our tiny rebellion isn't going to stop them. And some cities don't even have fighters to protect them. If we can stop one guy, rather than an entire army, we can end this whole thing. Right?"

He turns to face the outside world. "I... guess. But I wasn't ready to leave yet."

"You think any of us are?"

He scowls. "That's not what I mean. I... was looking for someone. I haven't found them yet."

"How do you know they're even inside the dome if there's an outside?" Ava asks.

I study her. She'd been right about everything so far. It worries me more than I'll admit to anyone.

If I believe in magic, I have to believe that Ava predicted this. She knew Oliver was going to die. She knew these creatures were looking for me. So, now, does everything she say hold a deeper meaning?

If she tells me I'm going to burn my tongue on my food, is that an assumption, or does she know?

"You're staring," she says.

I shake my head. "No."

Will rolls his eyes. "I'd been tracking them. They were... somewhere else for a while. Then they were placed with a new family here in old Oregon a few years ago. It's why I... joined the rebellion."

"You told me-." I stop myself. Clearly, I couldn't read people as well as I thought. He's lied to me; I can see that now.

"So, we're leaving the dome?" Rae asks.

"I am," I say. "You're not."

She narrows her eyes. "Excuse you?"

"C'mon, Rae. You've got a life here. If you weren't moonlighting as a rebellion medic, you'd be a doctor in a prestigious hospital. You should stay."

She crosses her arms. "You're going to get yourself killed."

"Gee, thanks."

"But you're going to get yourself killed a lot faster without me there."

"Again, thanks."

"I'm coming."

I sigh, "fine, you talked me into it. I'll stay with you. Here."

She studies me. "You're going to leave as soon as I fall asleep, aren't you?"

I pause, then curse myself for pausing. "No?"

Ava snorts.

Rae settles an annoyed look on me. "Nice try."

"I'm serious. I don't think you should come."

"I agree with Raven," Erick says.

My skin prickles, but I don't argue. If it gets her to stay, I'll let him be controlling one last time, then break his larynx.

Rae looks at him. "You want to stay?"

Erick nods. "Of course. You think I want to risk my life for these assholes in here? They've always looked down on me. They think they're better than me. I'm not going to be their damn savior."

Rae starts to concede. "Well, if you think I should-." She pauses, taking me in.

I give her a thumbs up. Just agree, then I can break his larynx, and go.

Her expression solidifies. "No."

Erick blinks. "What did you say?"

She looks up at him. "I didn't stutter, Erick. I'm leaving the dome."

He shakes his head, then laughs, "that's a good one babe."

She moves to my side, arms crossing tighter over her chest. "I'm not joking."

Ava's grin is wild. "Yas, girl!" She holds her hand up for a high five, but it's in front of me.

Rae reaches out to give a high five.

Erick rolls his eyes. "Fine. I'll come too."

I choke, "what?"

Will's grin is sadistic. "I think that's a great idea."

"You what?" I hiss.

"We need the extra muscle."

"I have muscle!" I shout.

Will pokes me. "Sure, puny, little girl muscle."

For a moment, I see nothing but red.

Rae jabs a finger into my bullet wound.

"OW!"

"Cool your jets, hot shot. We're a team. No beating up our fearless leader."

"He better be fearless," I growl.

"What did I miss?" Alex asks as he approaches.

"We're leaving," Will says. "We need to go now."

"What's so urgent?" Alex asks, rubbing the back of his neck.

Erick's eyes slip down to his chest and I kick him in the shin.

"Well, for one, Raven needs her nap," Rae says, pushing me to the opposite side of Will.

"And for two, there's soldiers marching towards us," Will says, looking over our heads.

We all turn, except Ava.

From the highway, a group of soldiers is coming our way with guns in hand.

"I think leaving is a great idea," Alex says, hurrying towards the dome.

Will corrals us all into one group, keeping an eye on the soldiers while we march.

As we walk, we get caught up with a group of other people trying to leave.

We don't realize something's happening until we're nearly to the center of the group.

I keep my hand laced in Ava's as we walk with them.

Then, the first gunshots ring out.

People scream and slam backwards.

"Halt!" A voice shouts. "Anyone trying to escape the dome will be shot for treason on the order of Councilwoman Zoey Black!"

God dammit, mom.

She must've made it here before us.

"It's okay," I murmur to Ava. "I'll get you through this."

Another gunshot rings out and the ground scatters.

Someone slams into my shoulder and I scream into my teeth, staggering.

Someone else slams into mine and Ava's hands, breaking them apart.

"Ava!" I shout.

"Stay with me, Raven!" Will orders.

I plunge into the crowd, following Ava's red hair.

"Damn it! Raven!"

I snatch Ava's arm and she swings. I catch her fist. "It's me."

She relaxes. "Oh. Good. I'd hate to break someone's nose."

"Would you?" I ask.

She shrugs.

I try to backpedal to find Will, but a soldier grabs Ava and yanks her away from me.

I follow and get forced to my knees in a line of other people.

My heart stutters as I realize soldiers are readying guns. I look behind us, but past the wide expanse of no cover, there's the group of soldiers setting up on the road, readying their guns too.

They were herding us.

I look forward instead and find myself staring at something I've only seen in my dreams.

A wide expanse of nothing but vibrant, green grass and huge trees. A little ways off there's a stream. There's birds chirping as the sun starts to rise to my right. The fresh breeze rustles my hair and I feel like I'm taking my first breath.

I'm almost okay with dying now that I've seen this.

But I'm too stubborn for that.

In front of me, there's a hill. I can't tell if it's a gentle slope or a steep drop, but either is better than the open expanse behind us.

I search for my friends in the lineup and lock eyes with Will.

He nods at me, then the hill.

I nod back and grab Ava's leg. "This is going to be a bit scary," I warn her.

"We're going to be fine," she tells me, burying her face in my neck.

I rub her back. "Okay, I trust you. Just hold on." I try not to whimper as she hits my bullet wound.

She squeezes her eyes shut. "Sorry."

"It'll be over soon," I assure her. "Hold tighter."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"I'll be fine. But I can't lose you, so hold on."

She tightens her grip and I search for Will again.

There's an officer pacing up and down the row of us on our knees. He's glaring at us and screaming at us about how we've committed treason and how we can't be allowed to return to the city now that we've seen the outside.

The officer turns away from me and I leap to my feet, immediately sprinting for the hill.

A soldier raises his gun towards my face, so I kick him in the nuts with my motorcycle boot and keep running.

Unfortunately, while I'm in good shape, I have been shot, I'm wearing skinny jeans, and I'm carrying a small teenage girl.

So, I'm not at all surprised when someone latches onto my hair and yanks me backwards, throwing me to the ground.

I throw my hand out and yelp as a jolt snaps up my arm and down my spine. But I manage to push myself so I land on my back with Ava on top of me.

"Roll," I order, shoving her off me.

She obeys, just as a baton comes down at my face.

I snap sideways and the cop's baton spills dirt into the air.

I kick the cop in the ribs and he cries out, stumbling away from me. I struggle to my feet, putting my fists up.

He throws his baton to the ground and lifts it at my face. "They told me not to kill Zoey Black's daughter, but you're a pain in my ass."

He starts to pull the trigger, then his body goes rigid.

I blink, confused.

Blood trickles out of his mouth and down his chin.

I step forward, reaching to catch him, but fingers curl around his shoulder and drag him to the ground. I step back as my mom smiles at me.

"There, there, dear. Don't worry. I'm here."

I shake my head. "You ran off," I say.

"That's what I wanted to boy to believe. I knew you'd listen to me, daughter. I knew you'd do what's 'right'. I just had to wait for you."

"Why did you tell the soldiers to kill us!? I almost died! Ava-."

"None of that matters now. We need to go." She steps towards me, but I grab the cop's gun and point it at her.

"Stay back, Zoey."

She stops, glaring at me. "Put that down, child. You don't know what you're doing. And for gods' sakes, don't call me Zoey. I am your mother."

My chest heaves. The gun starts to burn. I shake my head. I toss the gun aside with a sob.

"That's a good girl," she coos.

"Don't," I hiss.

She grabs my shoulder with a cold smile. "You're too good sometimes, dear. Come. We need to go kill Thomas."

A sword plunges through her and I scream, stumbling back and tripping over the cop's body.

The two daggers slip from her hand, one of them coated in blood.

When Zoey turns, I almost expect to find the winged man.

Instead, it's a woman with bat wings. "For Thomas," she breathes. "You will not touch him. Neither will the girl." The woman starts for me.

Zoey glances at me, sluggishly, then shakes her head. "You will not touch her." She grabs the woman and slams their bodies together, forcing the sword through the woman.

She gasps, eyes widening.

"Mom," I rasp and she smiles, blood trickling down her chin.

"That's better," she says.

She whispers something under her breath in a language I hardly understand. Gaelic, if I'm right.

My mom gives me a final smile, then golden light flares out from around her. I look away before it blinds me.

When I look back, the woman, and my mother, are gone.