Jessica Swift These Wings Were Made to Fly

by Jennifer Clark

  She hadn’t wanted me, or anyone else in the cast, to see her like that.

  “So what are we going to do about her?” Seth said.

  Daniel ran his fingers through Rumor’s hair. “We’re not going to do anything,” he said. “She’s not a monster.”

  “She tried to murder Jess!” Seth threw his arms up into the air. “What if she decides she doesn’t like your haircut and tries to burn the top of your head next?”

  “She didn’t mean to hurt Jessica,” Daniel growled.

  “Yeah, Rumor meant to kill her.”

  “It sounds like she was acting in self-defense.”

  “Who, Jessica or Rumor?” Seth said. “Jessica may have thrown the first punch but Rumor was the one acting all murderous in the first place.”

  “Enough,” Terra snapped, shutting them both up. “Based on Jessica’s story, Rumor tried to kill her, but the fire sounds like it wasn’t intentional. Rumor saved Jessica’s life at the hospital in the first place, and Seth, you’ve always made it clear how you feel about Pinnacle Solutions.”

  “Especially where Draper is involved,” he grumbled.

  Terra looked at Rumor, who met her gaze with big, watery eyes. “Rumor’s not stupid. In fact, I’d bet my wings she’s smarter than the four of us combined. I think she hears and sees things we’re not capable of. Whatever information Rumor collected must have scared her badly. While Rumor is intelligent, I don’t think her thought-process works the same way as ours. So, she gets this scary news involving Pinnacle Solutions and, in her mind, she thinks Jessica was honestly better off dead. Now, I’m not condoning her actions, not by a long shot, but I think we can sleep safely at night without the fear that Rumor is going to murder Jessica, or anyone else, in their sleep. Rumor is a part of the cast and I’m not going to abandon her on the side of the road because she has a few problems. Problems, I might add, she has probably had the entire time we’ve known her.”

  “So we’re going to pretend like nothing happened?” Seth said.

  “Yes,” Daniel replied at the same time Terra said “No.”

  “What Rumor did isn’t normal, even by nephil standards,” Terra continued. “We’re superhuman, but we’re not wizards. Rumor’s always been a little strange but this goes beyond us. I think we need to find some information. Until then let’s see if we can find some lunch. Seth, Daniel, here’s twenty bucks. I saw a taco van a few blocks down, see what you can get there.”

  When they were gone Terra let out a long breath.

  “How’s your dad?” I asked.

  Terra shook her head. “Someone beat him up, likely as part of the plan in the Pinnacle and SOAR team-up. They broke a wrist and some ribs. The staff thinks he fell but when I asked him he said two men came into his room. He has pneumonia and I’m not sure he’s going to survive another year.”

  “Terra I’m so sorry.”

  “So am I, but I also have my cast to worry about.” Terra ran her fingers through her hair. “Jess, I don’t know where to go from here. Rumor isn’t likely going to tell us anything about what’s going on and it’s not like there’s a nephil instruction manual. I’d talk to Daniel about this but the whole situation is a little too close to his heart.”

  “California,” Rumor said, picking at pieces of grass.

  “What’s in California, Rumor?” Terra said, looking at her.

  Rumor looked directly at me and said, “Your father.”

  Terra was quiet for a long time before speaking. “What do you think?”

  Rumor had mentioned him before. She’d called him “a good man,” suggesting she knew more than we did.

  I could have told Terra no. We could have gone East, continuing to flee, taking each day as it came.

  But I knew I couldn’t do that and live with myself.

  “I’m in,” I said.

  Seth and Daniel returned with two big bags of tacos not long after.

  “Fifty cents each!” Seth howled.

  It was a lot of tacos.

  The meat was tender, with fresh lime and cilantro. When we were finished we found an isolated area where we could take flight and were on our way to California.

  To answers.

  To trouble.

  And to a lot more than any of us ever expected.

  The cast's high-flying adventures continue in the next Jessica Swift book.

  Coming soon!

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  About the Author

  Jennifer was born and raised in Idaho. Being homeschooled left her with a lot of free time which she used to start writing to prove she didn’t just quote The Simpsons all day. When Jennifer isn’t writing you can usually find her playing videogames or laying in the sunshine while cats pile on top of her.

  For more about Jennifer, or to read the latest news about her writing, check out her blog http://dustedglen.blogspot.com or catch her on Twitter @PunyAuthor