They emerged into a small clearing in the forest. There wasn't nearly enough room for a helicopter to land, from what Alden could see. He expected to keep moving, but Viper took a seat on a nearby root and waited. Alden sat down too, as far away as he dared.

"Olet taas kuollut," came a whisper from nearby.

Viper twisted around in shock, raising his gun. Alden froze in terror.

Rook emerged from the shadows, slinging her rifle over her shoulder. "That was sloppy," she remarked calmly.

"Jesus, Tess," Viper grumbled. He holstered his pistol. "Even tonight?"

"Always."

"Bravo, you win, I didn't clear the fuckin' LZ." Viper sat back down again. "One of these days I'm actually gonna shoot you."

"On that day, you will have your first miss." She looked at Alden as if she were examining a dead fish. "I didn't realize we had cargo."

"Boss needs a sample, and he was convenient."

Rook leaned against a tree. "They will cut him up," she added. Alden couldn't hear a single note of sympathy in her voice. Was she on his side? If not, why bring it up?

"Probably. Once we unload him, it's not our job anymore. We'll finally be out of this boring-ass town."

"It is better than the deserts."

"I just want anywhere we don't have to put up with so many civvies," Viper grumbled.

In the distance, Alden could hear the drumbeat of an incoming helicopter. It was getting loud, fast. He tensed up. Was this his moment to run? Viper and Rook seemed distracted. Once the chopper arrived, did he have any hope of escaping?

Alden rose up just a centimeter. Instantly, he found himself staring down two barrels. Both Viper and Rook had drawn their weapons.

"Don't." Rook glared at him. "I do not feel like running right now."

"It's been a long-ass day," Viper added.

Alden sat back down. "Aren't I important, if you want me in a lab somewhere? You can't shoot me."

"Sure we can. There's plenty of places you can shoot a man without him dyin' anytime soon. Tessa knows all of them. If you want to try to run, you'll learn a couple too." Viper looked up at the sky and thumbed his radio. "Snakecharmer, python."

Pause.

"Snakecharmer, we're set for dust-off. Drop it. Over."

The helicopter hurtled into view. It raked across the canopy with the nose tilted up, braking hard and fast. It came to a stop just above the small clearing. Two ropes were thrown out either side, unspooling and dropping down to the forest floor.

Viper hauled Alden to his feet. They crossed to the ropes, where both Rook and Viper produced small metal clamps that hooked into their combat vests.

"Hang on tight," Viper grunted. Alden grabbed onto his chest with all the strength he could muster. Viper clamped them onto the rope.

"Viper set."

"Rook set," came a reply from the other side of the chopper, barely audible under the beating thump of the chopper blades. At her echo, the helicopter lifted into the sky, taking them with it. The ropes slowly retracted upward, steadily carrying Alden toward the open doors.

Until that point, Alden had vaguely hoped Rika might burst out of the trees and lay them both low, just as she had with Jessica. As Alden thought back through all the events since he'd arrived in Rallsburg, he was slowly coming to believe Rika was as impenitent and callous as most of her former friends seemed to believe. Since they'd met on the train, Rika hadn't ever really done anything to help him. She'd spoken a lot about helping, and allowed him to follow her, but beyond letting him awaken, what had she actually done for him?

Alden had helped Rika out indirectly. Just by being around, he'd noticed that a lot of people had tended to treat her with a little less outright hostility. He'd provided her with an excuse and a shield. Despite his shortcomings with magic, he'd actively tried to help her in every scheme she cooked up, or the danger she'd been facing in town from both the magical and the mundane. Rika had told him fate had put them together, and he'd believed it wholeheartedly.

Now that he was in actual trouble and his life was dissolving before his eyes, Rika was nowhere to be found. The one friend he'd believed he made left ran out and abandoned him in the middle of the worst moments of his life. Alden was totally alone, and being dragged away to what would certainly be the end of his life.

It felt like the end of his life, being pulled up to the helicopter while holding desperately onto Viper for dear life. Alden would never see his family again, or his friends. Not that he had any friends, apparently. Maybe this was for the best. At least he might actually contribute something, being tied up in a lab at Malton. His life would have meaning, even if it was just to advance some cause he didn't know or care about.

They were thirty feet or so above the roof of the forest when Alden spotted something. There was a shape flitting among the treetops somewhere behind them. The helicopter had just tilted forward, gathering speed as it turned east. Alden strained his eyes. The moonlight was strong and the lights on the helicopter were all turned off. He could just barely make out a figure speeding toward them through the air.

It could only be one person. Alden remembered—he did have friends.

His only hope was to make sure Viper and Rook didn't notice. They were more focused on the quickly approaching landing skids of the helicopter. Viper was reaching his hand out to grab it early, and Rook mirrored his action. Neither of them were looking down, and Viper was barely holding onto Alden now that they were so far up in the air. Alden could let go at any moment.

He had to signal her. Alden plunged into his mind, delving for the elemental magic Rika had taught him. There was the fire, sputtering away and waiting to spring into life wherever he desired it.

Alden flung it wide, as far as he could reach. Every inch further from himself made it more difficult. The strain was tremendous for the small amount he was conjuring.

A few dozen feet in front of her, he spelled out a single word with licks of flame. They dissipated instantly. He couldn't maintain them, or he'd black out completely.

HELP

A flicker of light blinked twice in response. Alden tensed. The helicopter skid was only a few feet up. Viper's grip around his waist loosened as he reached for it.

The figure in the trees sped up, rising slightly and darting toward the helicopter as fast she could.

Alden's heart was pounding so hard he felt like his head would explode. He was about to do something utterly insane and suicidal.

But if he didn't, he'd be dead anyway.

Alden pushed off Viper and let go.

"What the fuck?" Viper screamed. His eyes shot down to catch Alden's, wide with confusion.

Alden felt like he should say something in response, but he was too terrified to open his mouth. He fell swiftly toward the expanse of green below. It would only take seconds for him to hit the ground and be a very dead kid.

She rocketed into him. He tumbled sideways through the open air. A hand grabbed ahold of him and lifted him into the sky. Alden was held fast by an awkwardly bent arm. He twisted around and grabbed hold of her. They were still rapidly descending, but Alden could feel their speed slowing over time.

Not slow enough.

They hurtled past a tree and narrowly dodged another before crashing headlong through a thick intersection of branches. Alden felt cuts on his face as they plowed through, but they emerged out the other side. Finally, mercifully, he felt a sharp tug in his stomach. The wings had unfurled and flared wide, and their speed was dropping quickly.

"You okay?" she shouted.

The wind blasted their ears. Alden was still too shaken up to answer. He just closed his eyes and held on tight while Hailey swept through the trees. He was still trying to process what had just happened.

Alden had thrown himself out into the air with no guarantee of safety. He'd been at least a hundred feet off the ground. He should have died. It was only thanks to Hailey's quick action that he was still breathing.

"We've gotta land," Hailey called. "I can't keep this up much longer."

Alden nodded into her shoulder, still too winded to speak. He wrapped his arms tighter around her and clung on as she started to glide lower. Ahead, they could see a dim light filtering through the trees. A campfire, maybe. Hailey was making for it.

Alden shook his head.

"What?"

"What if that's them?" Alden said. The wind wasn't so loud anymore, and his panic was subsiding while his anxiety continued to rise.

"I need to land somewhere. We're gonna fall if I don't."

Hailey dropped lower. Alden could feel the air thump against their descent in waves until they were finally coming into a short landing. Thankfully, they were far short of the firelight, whomever it might belong to. Hailey dropped onto her feet, but her legs immediately gave way and they tumbled into the moss and dirt. She groaned, and awkwardly rolled off of Alden.

"You okay?" Alden asked tentatively.

"I'm still pretty banged up," Hailey replied. She dragged herself to the nearest tree and propped herself up against it.

"You came after me."

"Well yeah, of course I did." She looked at him funny. "Why wouldn't I?"

Alden's face heated up. "Thank you."

Hailey shook her head. "I had to. My friends all left and I didn't chase after any of them. So I'm starting a new thing where I actually try to keep my friends around. And, well, you needed help."

"No kidding," Alden said. He looked up at the thick tree canopy and the moonlight filtering through the branches. The helicopter was still loud and circling nearby, but they couldn't it. "I was screwed. How did you find me?"

"Followed you the whole way. I nearly caught up right when you were snatched by that guy, but I had to stay back. We're lucky neither of them ever really looked up." Hailey grinned. "I was hopping between trees like a monkey."

"Awesome."

"So what did they want with you?"

"To put me in a lab somewhere. For that Malton guy Rika mentioned."

Hailey shuddered. "That's awful."

"Yeah, but they only grabbed me because I was convenient. They might try to get someone else before they leave."

Hailey pulled out her phone. Her eyes narrowed. "Crap. No signal."

"It sounded like they were leaving though. Maybe we don't need to worry about it," Alden added dubiously.

"You want to risk that? What if they grabbed Jess?" Hailey asked.

"Tried to grab Jess," Alden pointed out. "I'm pretty sure she could take them in a fight."

"Maybe. If they took her by surprise though…" Hailey's face creased with worry. "It's not like we're invincible, we just have more magic we can use. A couple humans with guns or tranquilizers are still pretty scary."

Alden noted her use of the term yet again. Now that they finally had time, he decided to point it out. "You keep saying 'humans'. Like you're not one anymore."

Hailey looked surprised. She hesitated before answering. "I… I dunno. I guess I just feel different now. Like I'm something else. Don't you feel that?"

Alden shrugged. "I haven't really thought about it. It never really occurred to me to think of myself as anything else."

She looked uncomfortable. "Is it weird? I'll try to stop."

He shook his head. "You don't need to do anything because I told you to. I'm just one guy."

"No, if it's weird I—" She cut off suddenly, tilting her head to the side.

Alden heard it too. Someone was talking nearby, much louder than them. Shouting, in fact. It was a voice they both recognized. A low, perpetually exhausted, bitter voice.

It was Brian Hendricks.