I was reminded to check my phone. Kenzie was only a little way away, and was messaging to ask where to meet. It looked like Tristan had it handled.

The woman in front of me finished collecting her order. Two boxes of donuts and other assorted breakfast desserts, stacked on top of one another and tied with twine, and one thing of coffees, plastic with four cup-holders and a handle in the middle. I already had a soft drink, and I wedged it between the coffees before picking it all up.

“Are there others in town?” the barista asked.

“Others?”

“Capes?”

“We’re passing through,” I said. I keyed my voice to be audible by others. We were close enough to the Fallen camp it wasn’t out of the question that they would have people planted here to keep an eye out for trouble.

“Okay. A lot of the ones who show up cause problems.”

That would be because this area of the city was relatively close to this group of the Fallen. There was another that was even closer to them, but it was small and somewhat disconnected from the city. A few houses, a gas station that doubled as a hardware supply and grocery store, and a dentist’s. Here, at least, there was a place to watch movies. I could imagine Rain’s peers piling into cars and driving into the town, and the headaches that no doubt followed.

“I’m more interested in solutions than problems,” I said.

She smiled slightly. Her eye flicked to the next customer, and I took that as my cue to get out of line.

“Have a nice day,” I said.

As I turned around, the teenager at the one table put his phone down. His female friend looked unimpressed with him.

“Want a photo?” I asked him.

“Hm? No.”

“He does,” the girl said, sounding as displeased as she’d looked.

“Here,” I said. I put the donuts and coffee down on an empty chair on their table. I stepped back a bit, then flew, so my toe was barely touching the ground, my other leg bent slightly. I turned my body so the white gold color of my breastplate would catch the light coming in through the window. I put my hood up, and the ornament at the peak of the hood with rays forking up slapped my forehead.

I’d need to figure out something to do about that.

He had his phone up by the time I settled into my pose, both hands on my hood, the parallel spikes that extended up from my shoulder now pointing back.

“Got it,” he said. “Thanks.”

“Can I see?” I asked.

He showed me.

“Is something happening?” he asked.

“Somewhere else,” I said. “I’ve got a ways to go to get there, though.”

Not technically a lie.

“Who are you?” he asked.