Mia glanced at the clock and bit her lip.

“Five more minutes,” she thought. “They won't come -”

The doorbell rang.

Mia clenched her teeth. Batter covered her arms up to her elbows, and her hair was falling out of its bun in matted clumps. Better that her future in-laws thought she was sick than that she was deranged.

“Stop worrying about your cornbread and answer the door!” yelled Joey.

No feigning the flu, then. Mia rinsed her reddened hands and tripped her way over dirty linens to the door.

“Hello?”

Two ravens stared back at her.

“Hello?” they repeated.

Mia's eyes widened and she leaned against the wall to steady her. She would have to lie about what she had seen.
“Joey?”
“Let my parents in!”
“It's not your parents.” Mia shut the door behind her and faced her husband. “It must've been a prank.” She laughed, but he did not miss her clenched hands and tense posture.
“What happened?”
“Whoever rang the doorbell ran away.”
“Mia, don't lie. What did you see?”
“I-I d-don't...”
“Two ravens?”
She nodded and kept her eyes down. How had he known?
He swore softly. “Mia, my parents are shape-shifters. I told them not to show you -”
She stood up, pushing the chair behind her by a few feet. “What?” she shrieked.
“Listen -” He caught her arm at the elbow, pulling her close to him.
“Are you a raven too?” she spat, wiping her face free of tears. “Do you know what I never told you?”
“Mia, please...”
She jerked herself free of Joey. “I was an eagle. The shifters expelled me for a crime I didn't commit. And my husband is from the world I hate.”

She stood up and slammed the door behind her. “Good-bye, raven.”

That night, when Mia slept in an empty apartment for the first time in months, marked the first time she tried to shape-shift since her exile. Standing on the balcony, with the wind slapping her cheeks from all directions, she leaned forward and let herself fall.


“What's the point of saving crazies like her, probably high...”

“Or drunk.”

“Maybe. I don't understand how she survived from five stories, it's like she's not human.”

Mia's world swam into focus amidst a flurry of voices. She was lying between white sheets in a hospital – she was flying, spreading her wings against the wind – she was in tears as her family turned their faces away.

“Can you hear me?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know your name?”

“Mia.” She paused. “Mia Hammond.” Last night she'd flushed her engagement ring down the drain. She'd never use Joey's name again.

“We think you jumped out of your apartment. Do you have any memory of this?”

“No,” she whispered. “No.”


Why had she come here? Did she really think they would give back her shifting abilities? Mia ran her fingers across the rock, searching for the four engravings that marked the entrance into the shape-shifters' world: fire, earth, water, wind. Her fingers traced them, and a section of rock slid aside.
A murder of crows awaited her, staring at her with dark, suspicious eyes.
“I am Mia Hammond.”
One bird fell midflight. Another began to circle wildly around her forehead. A pang went through her as she realized she couldn't understand their speech anymore.
“I'm not one of you anymore. You have to bring him here.”
This was followed with more insistent chattering.
“I need to see my father!” Maybe she should have worn nicer clothes? He was the king, after all. She tugged at her dirty t-shirt and hiking books.
She didn't understand until they chased her out. Joey flew after her, following her path for almost half a mile, but she never looked back. He left one of his black feathers, hoping she'd understand. She never saw it.

The glow of street lamps illuminated the tears on Mia's cheeks as she tossed her second diamond ring in three years into the gutter, a thousand-dollar jewel lying beside car oil and dirty rainwater. She'd never had luck in love, she thought. First Joey, and now Kyle…
I should have expected it. Wasn't that how men had always acted around her? Caressing her one moment, promising a lifetime together, and the next…If she closed her eyes she could still see Kyle locked in a passionate kiss with the other woman. Mia didn't even know her name, but what she did know was that she never wanted to see Kyle again. His almost violent protestations of innocence could rot beside him.
A voice startled her. “Mia.”
She whipped out her can of mace. “Who are you?”
“Calm down. It's me...” He had soft blonde hair and wide blue eyes, but she stepped back. Something about him seemed too familiar.
“Go away.” She hoped the stutter in her voice wasn't apparent.
“Don't you remember?” He took her hands and brought them to his waist until she looked up at him. “It's Joey.” His voice reminded her of a child's – light, innocent, but above all pleading.
Her fingers shook. “I – I don't remember,” she lied. “You must have mistaken me for someone el-else.” She turned.
“I haven't.” He spun her around roughly, forcing her eyes to meet his. “Your name is Mia Hammond. You don't know how to make cornbread. You like to wear your hair in a bun.” He bit his lip. “You used to be an eagle.” He spoke carefully now. “Your father is Andrew Hammond, King of the shape-shifters.”
“Joey,” she said finally.
“They banished me, too.”
“Why?”
“I…saw you the day you tried to see your father. I said we should forgive you. They didn't take it well. I can't shift anymore, either.”
Mia's features twisted into a sardonic laugh. “What a pair of outcasts we make.”
“As long as we're a pair.” Before Mia processed his words, his hands were on her waist, pulling her closer to him.
And when he kissed her, she let him.
No shifting necessary.