Page 89 of Fly's Path

Leonie’s apartment—it’s more like a loft—is so cool. It’s like she took a picture of the most ultra-cool loft with exposed brick, ventilation, cement pylons, and old wood floors.

What gets me is the lack of walls. There’s not a single wall anywhere except for the bathroom. Otherwise, there are almost floor-to-ceiling windows around the entire space. Even though this is almost the penthouse, we’re still in Urbium, which means there are tons of buildings all around that are just as tall. Each and every one of them features a view right inside Leonie’s apartment.

It’s like living in a fishbowl, but unlike in Fly’s place, she has neighbors.

Cordelia walks over and whispers, “You don’t need to worry. The windows are tinted. No one can see inside.”

I let out a breath.

“Isn’t this place the raddest? When Leonie’s guardian got it for her, we all wanted to move in.”

Her guardian? Does that mean her parents are dead? Or did they ditch her like our parents did? Dad didn’t totally disappear from our lives. Though I kind of wish he had.

Her guardian had to be loaded to afford a place like this. Leonie couldn’t afford it on a cop’s salary.

“Don’t you want to go help pick out your outfit?”

“And walk into that massive cluster of women debating the benefits of jeans over slacks, and Winnie not letting a skirt go?”

Cordelia grins. “They can be quite focused.”

That’s the understatement of the century.

“But if you know what you want to wear, they will listen.” She places a hand on my arm. “They just want you to feel confident and beautiful for your date.”

“I know, but—” I glance over at them and shudder.

“You know they’re doing it for themselves, too.”

“What?”

“When you look at them, you see confident women, but on the inside, each and every one of us is dealing with something. Trying to just make it through life and ensure that our friends do too.”

“But—” How can that be?

“You’re seeing your friends from the outside. There are no women without lived trauma. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean they aren’t living it. And sharing in each other’s joy is one little way—No, it’s a huge way of pushing that trauma back.”

All these women are doing the same thing I am? It’s hard to believe, yet not.

Cordelia smiles at me like she didn’t just dump a whole new reality on me. “You ready to have some fun shopping in Leonie’s closet?”

Maybe.

“Because she has this leather jacket that is butter-soft and the coolest looking thing you’ve ever seen. It would be perfect for your date with a biker.”

She’s right. It would be. “Let’s do it.”

Cleaning His Gun

Fly

It’s four fifty and I’m sitting in front of Vex’s house.

The woman I’m about to pick up is staying with Vex. That shouldn’t be as intimidating as it is.

Sheri said yes when I asked her. She’s a grown adult who’s not in any way related to Vex.

So why am I terrified that I’m going to walk in that door and he’s going to kill me?