I shrugged. “I don’t care whether or not they catch you, since they’re no longer blaming us for killing Finn.”

“Won’t they be mad if you let me go?”

“Probably. But how am I supposed to chase you down and bring Wren back to her family?”

He started to relax, the tension draining from his features as the truth of my words sank in. “So, I give her to you, and you just…let me go?”

I nodded. “I won’t even try to catch you.”

Lance thought about it. He knew he wouldn’t get far with a kid on one hip. And if the birds caught him, they’d never give him the chance I was offering. Finally he nodded. “Here.” He held the struggling toddler out with both hands, and I stepped forward to take her, my heart thumping in a sudden bout of nerves. She didn’t know me any better than she knew him. Would she try to peck my eyes out all the way back to the nest?

“Wren?” I extended one hand slowly. “You want to go back to your mama?”

“Maaama?” she said brightly, and her moist eyes widened. She stopped struggling for the first time since Lance had picked her up.

“Yeah. Let’s go find your mama.” I took the child, and she let me pull her close, even as her arms Shifted into tiny, thin, feather-covered wings. “Let’s get you home.” I backed up a step, still watching Lance, just in case. “Thank you.”

He nodded. Then he turned and ran.

Lance only made it few steps before a dark blur flew from the shadows. Marc landed on him midleap and they crashed to the ground together, with Marc on top.

Wren screeched in terror, and I held her close to comfort her, trying to ignore the cold, sharp talons now digging into my bare flesh.

Mental note: baby birds? Not cuddly.

“You promised!” Lance howled as Marc’s jaws gripped the back of the tom’s skull.

“I said I wouldn’t try to catch you. I never said anything about Marc.” I stared down at him, surprised by how little sympathy I felt.

Marc whined at me in question, and I held the child closer, running one hand over the hair currently flowing from Wren’s head. “Turn him over.”

Marc backed off of Lance but kept his muzzle close enough to rip out the other tom’s throat at any moment. Lance rolled onto his back slowly and stared up at me as I came closer. Wren began to struggle when she saw Lance, so I stopped several feet away, unwilling to further traumatize her.

“Lance Pierce, you’ve killed three people,” I said, surprised by how strong my voice sounded.

“What?” He started to protest, but changed his mind when Marc growled inches from his throat.

“Finn was just the first,” I continued. “By letting Malone blame his death on us, you’ve also killed Charlie Eames and Jake Taylor. And seriously injured both my brother Owen and my cousin Lucas. You got me and Kaci kidnapped by thunderbirds, and almost got her killed. And you kidnapped a toddler and threatened to kill her in a despicable, cowardly attempt to preserve your own life.”