Mia smiled sadly. “I’m not a very good friend to you, Audrey. I’ve been all wrapped up in myself and my problems. I’m sorry.”
“I’ve never felt neglected,” Audrey said honestly. “I know that if I did have a problem, you wouldn’t let anything stand in your way to help me. I know this here,” Audrey said, patting her chest. “You’re my hero, Mia.”
Mia burst into tears. Audrey joined her, and the two clung together for a few moments and let the tears fall.
When they had comforted each other, the two broke apart and washed off the tears. Audrey insisted on Mia taking off her shirt.
“I think it’s time we face what’s here,” Audrey said.
Mia did as she was asked. She turned around so Audrey could see first.
“Oh my, it’s absolutely fierce,” she said. “Turn around, and look in the mirror.”
Mia did and viewed the black lines that moved into the shapes of feathered wings that moved across her shoulders and down her back. “There goes swimsuit season,” Mia joked.
“Try this: wish them to be hidden,” Audrey suggested.
Mia did so, but they remained.
Audrey frowned. “There has to be... What about if you tap your wrist?”
Mia did so, and the wings fluttered. She quickly tapped it again to stop that.
“Damn, I’ll think on this for a while,” Audrey promised. “But now, we have more immediate things to take care of.”
“You’re right,” Mia said, pulling on her shirt before she went into the stall to take care of herself.
“I’ve got it!” Audrey proclaimed.
Mia flushed, walked out, and looked at Audrey. She was jumping up and down.
Audrey walked over and grabbed Mia’s wrist. She placed Mia’s unfeathered wrist over the other and separated them. She twisted Mia around. “Look!”
Mia did, and the tattoo was gone.
“How?”
“Orion and Angelo did this,” she said and demonstrated by putting her wrists together, “just before they sprouted wings. So I figured, it may also bring the wings back in too. One-button service, sort of.”
“You’re a genius.”
“No, just observant.”
“Gee, all this time I thought you were only checking out their packages,” Mia accused.
“Well sure, but you can only look so long,” she said, blushing. “Now try it. Give me wings, Mia,” Audrey said, pulling Mia’s shirt off.
Mia tapped her wrists together. The tattoos emerged. She stroked the feathers on her wrist and felt something moving out of her.
Audrey saw the wings emerge. She quickly grabbed and held the straps of Mia’s bra together so the wings would not be pinned. She took a clip from her hair and secured the straps before standing back and smiling. “Oh my god, they are beautiful.”
Mia stared open-mouthed in the mirror. She looked at the luminous off-white wings and recognized them. They weren’t birdman wings. She was staring at angel’s wings. “What if I can’t put them back?” she asked.
“Rub your wrist, and then tap the two together like before,” Audrey instructed.
Mia did as she was told, and the wings disappeared. “Well, that was most unexpected,” Mia said.
Audrey took the clip off Mia’s straps. “I suggest you wear a racerback bra and top.”
Mia wiped the tears from her face.
“Did it hurt?” Audrey asked, concerned.
“It felt odd, but it wasn’t painful. Magic is seldom painful,” Mia said. “Audrey, can we keep this between the two of us for now? Ted’s been through enough.”
Audrey nodded. “Thank you for sharing this with me.”
Mia hugged her friend. “Now let’s get out there. Mike’s probably thinking we’re up to some lesbian things in here, we’ve been gone so long.”
Audrey laughed. “If he only knew…”
Murphy was standing in the hall. Mia stopped and let Audrey walk by her. “Are you alright?” she asked.
“Are you?”
Mia nodded slowly, and then she grasped Murphy’s hands and said, “I’m starting to accept my fate, Murph. I’m going to be alright. I still have a choice.”
“The storm is keeping the men in the security shack. Time to get prepared. They are armed.”
Mia nodded. “Lead the way.”
Murphy looked at her. “Get your shield and sword.”
“I think I better leave them for Mike, just in case. Audrey and I have you to protect us,” she reasoned.
“Okay. Hurry,” he said.
Mia rushed over and handed the scabbard to Mike, showing him how to remove the shield and sword.
“Mia, I don’t know how to use this,” Mike protested.
“Did you never play with wooden swords as a kid?”
“Yes, but…”
“It’s the same thing, but this is the real deal,” she said seriously.
“Okay, I’ll do my best. This shield may stop a bullet or two,” he said, looking at it.
“We’ll be back as soon as we can. Where’s the list?”
He handed her the combined list and read off the items according to room number. Mia stuffed it in her pocket and ran over and kissed her husband goodbye before she met Audrey and Murphy at the door.
Mike looked at the men he had been left to defend. Ted had Curly moving around after he’d turned his phone into a localized Wi-Fi hub. Cid was working on small wormlike machines. They had a lens at the end of them.
Burt limped over to Mike with a rolled up paper. “Want to take a look at this?”
“You shouldn’t be on that leg,” Mike scolded.
“Mia did a good job, and Jake designed a better cast. Cid built it while you were sleeping.”
“Did any of you develop anything resembling a gun?” Mike asked the room. When he didn’t receive a positive comment, he requested, “Tell me what we do have?”
Chapter Ten
Mia followed Murphy’s lead, and Audrey followed Mia. No one spoke. Their aim was to get in and out of the rooms as quickly as they could. Mia grabbed the meds Mike needed, stuffing them in her pockets when Audrey wasn’t looking. She didn’t pay attention to the labels. She didn’t want to invade his privacy. She also grabbed some clothes out of Mike’s suitcase. He didn’t ask for them, but he couldn’t go on wearing the blood-stained jeans. She grabbed Ted’s go bag and stuffed a
