“Why were you so aggressive?”
“I don’t know. It was primal.”
“I worry about you, Angelo. I’m going to have you taken off envoy duty until you get yourself settled down. You could have hurt that child.”
“The child is part demon,” Orion said, walking down the porch steps. “Maybe this is why you reacted the way you did. She’s fine. Mr. Wayne assures me that she understands and takes no offense.”
Angelo looked up and saw her watching them from the second-story windows. “Gentleman, Little Bird watches us.”
“Little Bird?” Nicholai asked. “Why would you call her…”
“She’s more birdman than she is demon,” Angelo said. “I felt the connection.”
“She’s a child,” Nicholai said again. “This is bad behavior… very bad behavior.”
“Mia Cooper has demon and angel genes. I saw it when I investigated the Neyer family’s descendants. Her father would have to be the product of a birdman dalliance who also has a demonic strain in his gene pool. I’m not saying it’s impossible, there are a few of us around but…” Orion stopped talking. Wyatt’s probing questions made sense now. It couldn’t be? He’d have to go back and check his research before he approached Fredericka for confirmation that Mia Cooper’s father Charles was his son. “I’ll research Mia. In the meanwhile, stay away from her. We don’t want Mr. Wayne to get wind that his protégé is a birdwoman.”
Murphy waited until they flew away before he went back in the house to report what he had found out. He never liked Angelo. He always felt that he had a predatory feel to him. He was the type of man to take what he thought was his. Mia had kept him at arm’s length for the sake of the alliance between the birdmen and the angels, but his obsession with her had never waned. To see him treated like a pedophile by his peers wasn’t as satisfying as it should have been.
Mia took one look at Murphy’s face and knew that Angelo had found something out.
“Angelo knows you’re not a child.”
“But how?” Wyatt asked.
Mia explained, “When a mind reader first calls, they leave a card. It’s like a genetic marker, a key so they can slide in and out of your mind quickly. Depending on the type of visit - in Gerald’s case, business - the marker displays that. In Angelo’s mind…”
“You weren’t lovers?” Wyatt asked.
“No.”
“He thinks she’s his,” Murphy said. “Once he found out how powerful she was, he decided he wanted her. He called you Little Bird out there.”
“But he wasn’t in the room when the wish was made. How can he know anything?”
“Obsession can cross dimensions,” Wyatt said. “If so, Roumain is going to sniff you out soon.”
“Oy.”
“Stephen, take Mia to your farm. Hide her there overnight. I don’t know if the birdmen will be back, but we can’t take the chance. Be on the hill at first light. My transportation will arrive and take you two on your next leg of the journey.”
Nordin walked down the steps carrying a backpack. “I hope you don’t mind, I put in some things I thought you may need. This way, you’ll not get ambushed if they are waiting for you at your home.”
Chapter Eight
Mia walked into the grocery and purchased a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, and a pint of milk.
The cashier saw the large backpack the child was carrying and asked, “Are you going camping?”
“Just overnight. My father says I have to carry my own things. I wish I hadn’t brought so many things along.”
The lady smiled and handed Mia back her change. Mia walked out of the store and stopped. Walking down the sidewalk were Whitney Martin and Tom Braverman. Mia would have no choice but to walk past them. Murphy scratched the sidewalk with his axe to tell her he had her back.
“Good afternoon,” Mia said as they approached.
“Whatcha doing?” Whit asked.
“Going camping,” Mia said.
“Fancy,” Whit said, pulling on her pack.
“Hey, leave that alone. It’s hell to put on,” Mia said, flustered.
“You really are a strange little bug,” Whit commented. “Freaky little bug.”
“Stop it,” Mia said, her face getting red.
“Whit, let’s go, we’re going to be late,” Tom said.
Whit ran his hand over the pack once more before he agreed, “Yep, time to leave the freak.”
Mia walked away fast, tears streaming down her face. She looked back to make sure the boys weren’t following her and walked smack into a crowd of older kids. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you,” she stammered.
“It’s Crazy Cooper. What are you doing with that pack? Are you running away from home?” Rose Malloy, her childhood tormentor, asked. She pulled on Mia’s pack until Mia fell backwards and landed hard on the ground.
“Please leave me alone,” Mia pleaded, trying to right herself. The weight of the pack had her as vulnerable as a flipped turtle on the sidewalk.
A pimply-faced boy leaned over her, letting a gob of spit form and hang from his mouth headed for Mia’s face. He was yanked backwards.
“What the hell?” he said.
“Leave her alone,” Whit said, pushing the boy into the wall of the dollar store.
Tom helped Mia up.
“If any of you bother her again, I’ll beat the shit out of you,” Whit warned.
“Are you her boyfriend?” Rose asked.
“No, hell no. I’m just sick of everyone picking on her. Leave Cooper alone,” he said, letting go of the frightened bully.
The kids walked off. Mia stammered a thank you and continued on her way out of town.
Murphy appeared at her side. “I didn’t think it would help, them seeing me,” Murphy said. “Did Whitney Pee Pants always come to your aid?”
“Most times if
