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It took two nights of waiting before I saw the hunter again

I had left the rocery store I knew the hunter would eventually investigate, and to do so he would have to physically enter the alley A typical ambush, and I&039;ht This was a trap

I sat on top of the grocery store roof, near a huge rotating vent My great, leathery wings were tucked in behind s down My skin was thick and rubbery My new hide did wonders for keeping her altitudes I had discovered that I could reood discovery, as it was nice shedding my old skin for this new one People should try it sootten My ans So that&039;s hen the buht was razor sharp and eagle-like, an obvious necessity to high-flying predators (And thinking ofpredator was al a shopping cart filled to overflohat appeared to be junk I ied jaw, the striking blue eyes, and the spiky blond hair shooting out froer cap

Nice costued his leg a little behind hi his shoulders now Quasimodo-like I couldn&039;t help but smile At least, I think I smiled It was hard to tell; plus, I wasn&039;t even sure I had lips At any rate, I intended to s cart was, in fact, filled to the brim with soda cans I wondered if he had purchased the cart and cans from a real bum, or collected the cans hiht

He continued slowly down the alley, his head sweeping froht to look up About fifty feet froed crossbow from inside his tattered jacket He armed it quickly with a bolt, And then held it out in front of hiun

He approachedbehind his cart full of cans He went slowly froht I noted he had forgotten to li

He tried the doors, discovered they were locked, then popped one open with a Sliain, frowning He see, I had successfully confused the bastard

The back door to the grocery store suddenly opened, yellow light splashing out into the alley A kid appeared, hauling a big blue trash can The hunter, distracted, turned toward the kid

Now!

I leaped from my perch above

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I tucked in my arms and shot down

The hunter&039;s back was still to round came up fast More importantly, the hunter&039;s broad shoulders came up fast

At the last possible second, I spread s wide The leathery hide snapped open like a parachute The hunter turned at the sound, swinging his crossbow around, but he was too late My outstretched talons snatched hiirl The crossbow tus powerfully, once, twice and finally lifted hihed a lot More than I was prepared for My arled, kicking, as his arms were now pinned to his sides He kicked the air futilely We rose slowly into the sky together I looked down in ti back into the store I think he wet hietting used to the added weight The air grew colder The hunter should be warh thanks to his ho

I looked down just as he looked up His face had drained of all color He looked terrified He should be terrified A creature froht to drop him into an active volcano Not that there were many active volcanoes in Southern California

Orange County spread before us, its hundred of thousands of blinking lights evidence that Tho We flew over Disneyland, which glittered like its own happy constellation Perhaps park guests would later report seeing a parade float gone amuck

We reached the beach cities and finally the black ocean itself Without the city lights, ere plunged into darkness He stiffened here, and I think heto drop him in I still hadn&039;t ruled it out

Much later, perhaps assued ontowith the smell of sea salt and brine, "How is your shoulder, Samantha Moon?"

The sound ofcreature had a na Even tomore than a shriek

He went on, "I suppose you can&039;t speak in your changeling for I know you&039;ve had a hell of a shitty week I saw your children get taken away fro you needed was an arrow in your shoulder So I guess what I&039;y accepted, I thought I was nothing if not forgiving