Iggy's POV

I swear I'd worked my butt of the day after Arseny was born. I knew exactly what I wanted to get Sage for her birthday, and it wasn't from Cheap Al's Gift Store.

Fang and I had gone to the mall a few days prior to Arseny's birth, and we walked past a jewelry store.

Fang said, "Sage would so love that."

"What is it?" I asked him.

So he told me what it was and how much it cost. In total the price was one hundred and twenty five dollars. As If I had that much money. I barely had any money at all! So the next day I asked Dr. Martinez if she could find me a job. No such luck. In the end, Dr. M. offered me a job doing stuff around the house; cleaning rooms, raking, sweeping, stuff like that. She paid me ten dollars a job, plus two more for every hour I spent doing it. In the end I ended up with one hundred and fifty dollars. I bought the personalized ring and decided to get a chain with it. The rest of the money I spent on a Hot Topic gift card because I knew she absolutely loved that store.

Last night, I wrote the card (on white paper) and had Arseny scribble all over it. I wrote a couple messages in it, and hid her present in my bottom middle drawer. Fortunately, she didn't find it. I made the cake myself, too. I wanted to get everything just right, so I spent almost all day making and baking and frosting it.

And then something really odd happened. Jeb came for a visit. Nobody knows why he did or why he picked this day, he just did. Jeb had no clue about Sage until he finally met her. Jeb mentioned that he had heard rumors of more bird kids, but he'd never seen them.

"Iggy, I don't like the way he's watching me," she said, "and he's watching Arseny too, like he's waiting for someone or something. Why is he here? How'd he even know…?"

Well I suppose it was time I told her. Maybe, but probably not, this wouldn't be the last time she saw Jeb. Reason being was that he claimed to be Max's father.

"Sage, Jeb says that he's Max's dad. We don't believe him because we're not sure if he's lying, but don't let your guard down around him."

We sang happy birthday and while Sage was cutting the cake I took Arseny upstairs to get Sage's present. He was just learning to walk, so I carried him up the stairs and let him walk the rest of the way to our room. He actually made it the whole way without falling. I opened the drawer and grabbed the gift. I turned around and heard a little thud noise. Arseny was whimpering, so I guess he fell. I figured that I'd just carry him the rest of the way.

I followed her voice to where she was standing and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Your two favorite boys got this for you," I said, smiling.

Then I handed her the gift.

"Oh my God Iggy, thank you so much! It's beautiful!"

But not as beautiful as she is. She started crying and I wiped away the tears, but soon enough I couldn't keep up with the flow so she was crying and everyone had us in a group hug. I just hoped Jeb would stay out of it.

Sage's POV

Thankfully that Jeb guy had left not long after our hugging fiasco. But before he did, he was talking on this radio thing, which was probably not good news. I decided to ignore it. What harm could one little whit coat do?

Around seven thirty, I put Arseny to bed and noticed his wings fanned out. His wingspan had grown to about a foot and a half since he was born, so I laid him on his stomach.

"When are we gonna teach him to fly?" I asked.

"He should probably learn soon. After he knows how to walk, we'll teach him the basics and Fang can teach him all the technical stuff," said Iggy.

Out all of us, Fang was the best flyer. He was so graceful in the sky and when you were flying you couldn't hear his wings on the down beat unless you were super close to him. He had almost the same control as I did. My wings were made differently than the rest of their wings. I had special bones in the tip that I could turn or rotate any way I needed to for the most precise control. The only flaw was that they were small. Too small, actually. My control was very limited. The only thing that I could still do with ultimate precision was sharp turns. And Fang still did those better than me.

"You wanna go flying now? I haven't been in so long," I said.

"Sure."

So we went out side and I could finally let my wings out. My wingspan was now a full fifteen feet, and Iggy's was a foot larger. I shook my white and silvery turquoise wings out, aligning the feathers. It felt so good just to have them out all the way. There was no room for me to let them out full way while we were in the house. Then, I ran a few feet before rising into the air. The feeling was breath taking, being up there hundreds of feet with an amazing adrenaline rush. I wasn't paying attention, so I unexpectedly flew right through a cloud. Contrary to popular belief, clouds are not fun and fluffy. They're wet and gross. When I came out, my hair was damp and it was starting to frizz up, but I didn't care.

Moments later, Fang and then Max were soaring in the sky with Iggy and I. I saw the Gasman and Nudge coming out of the house, and they each looked ready for takeoff. Angel stayed inside, I never saw her. So it was just us six enjoying the sweet night air, coasting on drafts, and being who we were. We were all created to fly. It was something that was in our blood. Something we could never let go of or forget if we even tried. Without wings I'd feel…empty. Like half of me was missing, you know?

After what seemed like eternity, but was only an hour and a half, passed I was freaking tired. I pulled my wings in and dropped like a stone for about three hundred feet, then let them out halfway to coast to the ground. Yes, I know it was one of the most dangerous ways to land, but hey, I'd practiced it a million times. What could go wrong?

I carried my tired self upstairs and collapsed on my bed. I remembered the necklace Iggy had given me was still on. I never wanted to take it off. I'd leave it there forever.

I woke up to hands covering my mouth. It was completely dark, so it was probably still the middle of the night. Then a hoarse voice whispered in my ear, "Scream, and the child's dead."

I looked over to see Iggy, not even awake. Whoever or whatever they were had knocked him out and one of his eyes was swollen shut to prove it, plus he had a split lip. And then I saw him. Caleb was standing next to my bed, holding Arseny by the leg upside down.

Oh my God.

"Say nighty night, you stupid bird kid!" sand a young voice that sounded kind of feline.

In an instant, a dark sack covered my head and a familiar sickly sweet smell filled my nose.

It wouldn't be too much longer before everything went black.