Chapter One:

"Stop, you thief!" the policeman called to me as I skidded around another corner. My bare feet rubbed mercilessly on the blacktop, but I refused to let it slow me down. I could handle sore feet and scratches.

The heavy breathing of the blue uniformed man was frighteningly close. The alleyway I turned into was small and a dead end that was approaching rapidly. I didn't let it worry me; I had been in worst situations.

A fire escape suddenly appeared and my left hand caught it, swinging myself around so my feet touched the first step. I gripped the parcel I had stolen tightly in my right hand.

Glancing over my shoulder, I noticed the gap between me and the half a dozen officers was beginning to grow. Ahead the apartment buildings rooftop was coming into view. A few more steps and I would reach the top where I had more room to maneuver.

The metal steps ended and I felt the sturdy concrete building frame under my feet. Shouts from the police force kept me moving. With a few steps I bounded to the opposite side of the roof and surveyed my surroundings.

The people on the sidewalks stared up at me, trying to see what the commotion was about. With such a large crowd I was hoping I would simply be able to jump the next rooftop and disappear but it wasn't so. I had reached the end of the block and was facing Lexington Avenue now.

The squad that was after me now was standing a few feet away, telling me it was over and to give up. I smirked. It was so not over.

With pleasure, I let the wings that were pressed tightly against my back unfurl, passing through the large slits I'd cut in my sweatshirt. Audible gasps could be heard as my sleek black feathers extended their full twelve feet.

"Sorry, boys, I got to go." I dropped off the side of the building.

Instantly my wings filled with air and I glided gracefully over hundreds of shocked faces. I plumped down hard a few times, gaining lift. Within minutes I was nothing but a speck in the sky to the humans.

As the exhalation that flying always gave me disappeared, disappointment filled me inside. Once again I was going to show up on every news report tomorrow. BeCa was so going to kill me. Just this morning she had been ranting on again about how we needed to "stay under the radar."

I mentally shrugged as I started my descent. She could try to feed the three of us without using wings. My mind wandered to CeCe. At least someone would be impressed with my latest adventure, if you could call it that.

"Dinner's on me!" I called, as I entered our small house. We had found a summer cabin that was empty for the winter and at least for the time being it was home.

"Code A!" CeCe squealed, saying my name so fast it sound like Cody with an accent. The six year old appeared at my side, bouncing up and down, her perfect blonde curls continuing the gesture.

"Hey, sweet stuff," I responded, tweaking her nose. She giggled and ran on ahead on me into the kitchen.

BeCa stood at the kitchen sink, slaving over lunch's dishes. I don't know why she bothered not to use the dishwasher, something about "not stealing" electricity. Hey, we used the lights.

"Dinner's here," I stated the obvious to her, shoving them into the fridge.

Without saying a word, she flicked on the TV. The news showed fuzzy video of me flying off the building. Man, news traveled fast. Couldn't a bird kid get any time to make up an elaborate story to tell older, extremely scary when mad, bird kid? No one cared about poor me.

"Hey," I said, bringing my hands up in my defense. "I tried not to. Honestly."

"You're on TV," CeCe marveled, her big brown eyes staring up at me. "How cool's that?"

I smiled, turning back to BeCa. "She's thinks it's cool," I said with a straight face. BeCa didn't think it was so funny.

"Code A, be serious. You of all people should know how…delicate our situation is." BeCa chose her words carefully, glancing at CeCe to see if she was listening. The little girl was engrossed with the news report, smiling and laughing softly as it showed different shots of me. I had to smile.

BeCa pulled me into the hallway, her eyes flaming furiously. "That's the second time this month!" she snapped, her voice low.

I rolled my eyes, knowing she would hate it. At seventeen she was the oldest and for whatever reason was convinced I was a child. I was thirteen and endured more than she ever had! I knew what was at stake but also knew what I was capable of. There was no way anything was going to happen to us on my watch.

"We'll be fine," I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

I saw her hand coming up to slap me but didn't bother to react, letting the sting bring tears to my eyes.

"This is important!" she snapped, a growl forming in the back of her throat. "Do you want CeCe to repeat what we went through?"

We. I bit back my snide comment about how she was a failure and didn't do anything like I did. She had no idea. Instead I kept my mouth clamped shut. We stood toe to toe for several minutes, glaring.

"Fine," she hissed, brushing past me and joined CeCe in the kitchen.

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