When I regained consciousness, the first thing I saw was Micheal's grinning face. Slapping him away, I straightened up in the comfy blue seat. Little pieces of memories darted in...Cage's soft kisses on my neck, the little drop of blood on my arm, and the wave of anger that followed...they all seemed to be watery images that took a moment for me to put together and finally settle in to my drowsy brain.

My heart beating fast, I stared at my surroundings, trying to understand where I was. It only took a second. I've never been here before, but it was pretty easy to tell where I was. The little windows with a white cover, the plush leather seats, the bright lights above, and oh yeah, the bag compartments overhead...

We were in a private airplane.

"Micheal!" I shrieked, standing up. My legs had been asleep and when I stood up, a cramp started to immediately overtake the soles of my feet. "Are you serious? Are you solemn? Are you earnest? I'm asking you three times because I can't believe this is serious. I can't believe this is happening. How dare you! How dare Cage! This is not- oh my God, I'm going to throw up. I'm gonna throw up. I feel sick. I can't believe this- a plane, Micheal! A plane!"

As far as temper tantrums go, I was doing a pretty nice job.

Some part of me was refusing to believe that this was actually happening. It was just so ridiculous that I refused to let myself believe this was anything other than a dream.

Micheal took a sip of apple juice and stared at me. "Yes, a plane. We are on Cage's private plane. That's flying. In the sky. At this moment. You've been out for five hours, let me explain what's happened-"

I paced up and down the small aisle. "I'm going to kill Cage. And then you!" Grabbing one of the couch pillows, I threw it at Micheal's face. Nick suddenly appeared through the door, holding a doughnut. I must have had a scary look on my face because he took one look at me, and then to Micheal laughing, and quickly left the way he came. "How could you let this happen, Micheal? We're friends."

"We are, sweetie-"

"Don't call me sweetie, we're not friends." I growled. The cramps in my feet were only being suppressed when I walked so I continued to. Heath and Cage were nowhere to be seen, which was good because I would have attacked him if he was. I was angry enough to do some reckless things.

The plane suddenly shifted, making me feel even more nauseous. I'd never been on a plane until now and there was a pretty good reason why I tried to avoid them. When Fern went on vacation to London last summer, I refused to go so she ended up taking one of her friends.

I stopped walking and glared at Micheal. "Where is he?"

Micheal drank some more apple juice and played around with a bullet. "Where is who?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe Herbert Hoover? Who do you think, Micheal? Where is Cage?" I shouted, waving my arms wildly. I wanted to throw something else at his smirking face but I couldn't find anything around me that wouldn't hurt him severely. I didn't want to hurt Micheal, I wanted to hurt Cage.

''He's not here, November. And listen before you start yelling again." Micheal stood up. I never realized how tall he was until now. Towering over my short frame, Micheal's gentle brown eyes calmed me down for a moment. "Cage and Heath had something to take care of. And by that, yes I do mean that they are going to kill someone. Jonah, I believe, is their target." He rolled his eyes.

"Where are we going?" I gritted my teeth and forced the question out. My fear of flying was great, but my fear of being even further from home was greater.

"Cage also asked me to tell you that he is sorry." Micheal ignored my question and kept babbling on. "About everything. But he said that sedating you was the only way we could get you on the plane. After the fit you threw in Ivey, he wasn't going to take any risks." He sighed. "November, you have to understand. Cage isn't a nice person. He won't ask you to carry his knife, he'll stab you and say that's his knife holder."

I smiled at Micheal. "You're about to become one, too."

"Alberta." He smiled back. "We're going to Alberta. Cage got you Taco Bell."

When Micheal started to walk away, I grabbed the back of his jacket and yanked him back. "Alberta, Canada?" I shrieked. "I love Canada! But Canada, Micheal? You're taking me to Canada? Where Canadians live? What the hell is in Canada that you guys need? What could possibly be in- wait, did you say Taco Bell?"

Micheal smirked and pointed to one of the glass tables. I turned around and noticed a paper bag with the Taco Bell logo on it. My face blossomed with heat. After everything Cage has done, I couldn't believe he had the audacity to do such a thing. But just because he got me Taco Bell didn't justify anything else, like sedating me and dragging me across the country on his impromptu trips. Also, I was still ashamed of falling for his seduction. I had too much hope. It was going to be the death of me.

I couldn't fall for Cage Vickers. Falling off a cliff would be better than falling for him. In fact, I was thinking of strapping myself to a bungee cord so I wouldn't be falling for anything or anyone in the near future. Or perhaps in the long-term future as well. Heartbreak was one thing that I didn't need or want.

"I'm sorry, November." Micheal said softly.

I backed down, my anger being smothered by embarrassment at my outburst. I couldn't take my frustrations out on Cage either because he wasn't here. That was the only good thing about being on this plane. As long as I never saw Cage's beautiful face again, I could breathe normally. I couldn't bear to look him in the eyes again after that.

"You don't have to apologize." I slumped down in one of the seats. "It's not your fault, it's Cage's."

"I wanted to help." Micheal sat down across from me, his voice sincere. "Trust me, I don't always agree with what he does. I go along with it, but I don't agree with it. The way he does things is wrong. But I don't have a choice. I'd rather not go head to head with Cage like you do. He's let you get away with so many things. November, if I tried half the things you did to Cage, I'd be dead by now."

"I'm as surprised as you are." I rubbed my eyes and leaned against the seat. "I don't know why he hasn't killed me. Not that I want to die. I don't...it's just that everyone says Cage Vickers is horrible. And he is, but he hasn't killed me yet, which proves he's kinda not an asshole. How did you even get dragged into this, Micheal? You seem...normal. You know, not criminal-y as the rest of them."

Micheal smiled but it was a sad one. "I owe Cage many things, including my life. It's a debt that I'll spend the rest of my life trying to pay back. But this...all of this-" He waved his arms around "-is on my own terms. Cage doesn't have to force me to do anything. It's not a tyranny, November. It's a partnership, one that all of us gain from."

''You didn't answer my question, Micheal."

"And what was your question, November?"

"What went so wrong in your life that you would join the Crows?"

"I didn't join them." Micheal watched me for a second. "I am them. Nicolas, Heath, and I...we are what the media nicknamed the 'Crows.' They make us sound a lot bigger than we really are. Other than Jonah, there is no one else. And to answer your question, nothing went wrong with my life. This is how I grew up. My father was an arms dealer in Michigan. Cage's father did business with him for a few years. My mother died when I was six from a heroin overdose."

I didn't know what to say. My throat clogged up. Luckily, Micheal didn't wait for a reply.

"I've known Cage since I was twenty. I knew what he did and it became a part of my life as well. I had a normal childhood, don't get me wrong. I just didn't like it. A normal life, I mean. It was boring. I was one of Cage's first recruits. Like I said, Cage doesn't force us to do anything. He's cruel and heartless, but not a dictator to his friends.'' Micheal said quietly.

"But you're a criminal. You can't walk the streets without worrying about someone recognizing you. To me, that's not much of a life. Living underground, secrecy, and constant worry about the CIA...I don't know how you can be happy with that. If you can't be free, you can't live. Let it go, am I right or naw- sorry."

"Wow." Micheal grinned. "You should be a therapist."

"Are you kidding?" I chuckled. "After all of this, I'm the one who's going to a therapist."

"Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead."

''You watch Pretty Little Liars, too?!"