"Mom!" I pounded the glass window, trying to find something to break it. "Dad!" They were choking on the smoke. The lock was still jammed, preventing them from escaping. The fire was creeping towards the front seat now. I could feel the heat on my face, nearly scorching but I kept pounding despite how close the flames were. They had to get out.

They had to.

Mom and Dad were coughing too hard to concentrate on opening the door. The smoke inside the car was so thick that I could barely see them. Tears streamed down my face as I sobbed, desperate for anything to happen.

The thought of losing my parents, the two most important people in my life, wasn't an option for my seven year old self.

Fern was sitting on the ground, staring at the grass. Her back was turned to the burning car where our parents were slowly dying. She wasn't crying. She just sat there, shaking like a leaf. I screamed her name, I screamed and screamed and screamed, and yet no one came to help.

The flames burned my hand. My little fists pounded on the glass one last time, one last moment of desperation, before it became too hot. The smoke took over on the inside. Over the roar of the flames, I could hear weak sounds of choking and then...silence.

"Mom." I sobbed uselessly, running back to Fern. The fire was everywhere now. There was no way anyone could survive that. "Dad...Fern! Fern! Please help me. Please, what's happening? Fern." I pulled her hand.

She snapped back to reality. Standing up, Fern stared at the car. The burning car with our parents inside. The fire was slowly making its way to the front, towards the gasoline. It was going to explode. Fern realized this when I was too young to understand.

"November, come on!" She screamed, pulling us towards the treeline. We barely made it when the explosion happened. A thunderous boom that shook the sky. I was too numb to turn around. Fern's arms clutched my shaking shoulders as I cried into her neck. Her tears dripped onto the top of my head.

It could have been seconds, it could have been years. The last thing I heard before I let go of consciousness was the sounds of sirens floating through the night. They came too late. They didn't come sooner. I couldn't help them. Fern didn't even try to help. No one would help us. I only had Fern left in this world. Just Fern...

I woke up with a start, shivering, but not from the cold.

It took me a second to crash back to reality. What happened ten years ago still played over and over in my mind like a song. I could remember every horrible moment from that night. Every second of horror, how numb my legs were, how much sadness I saw when I looked at Fern. We lost more than our parents that night. We lost our innocence.

Raising my head, I found Micheal's soft brown eyes watching me. Light broke through the helicopter windows. We were still flying. Nick and Heath were sleeping in the back. Cage was beside me, his fingers still around my wrist. He was slumped against the window, fast asleep as well. I stared at my hand through the gaps of his fingers.

I still had that scar. The nasty burn from pounding on the glass even when the fire came too close. It had faded to a pastel pink ten years later, just an inch long near the bottom of my palm. Cage's fingers were wrapped around my wrist. I pried them off and pushed his hand back into his lap.

Trees flew below. I didn't know how long we had been flying, but we were certainly far away from Ivey. The helicopter was headed towards a city in the distance, full of big buildings and skyscrapers. It was either New York or Chicago, and based off of the Crow's past, I was guessing it was Chicago.

The fight in me had drained. I stared out the window, watching the city get closer. Someone had put the seat belt around my waist a bit too tight. Micheal and I were the only ones awake now. Tears itched the corner of my eyes from having the horrific dream replayed again. Would I ever see Fern again?

They had no right to do this. Cage Vickers was a monster.

"Your name is November Jones." A deep voice said softly.

I looked at Micheal, glaring. He was just as bad as the rest of them. "How did you know?"

Micheal nudged his chin towards Cage. "His phone is full of all this cool technology. He has information on almost anything. It's like a police record system, but more advanced. Finding out someone's name isn't that hard, November. We have the birth certificate, name, and phone number of almost everyone in the world."

''Wow." I said dryly. "Bad boys need their toys, don't they?"

Micheal nodded excitedly. "We have a friend named Jonah that can hack into any system in the world. He's the technology nerd of the Crows. Cage Vickers didn't rise to the top without help. It's a system, in a way. We have the leader, Cage. And then the cronies, which is us. There's a getaway driver, the hacker, the brains, the brawn, and the contract killers...all making up the most dangerous criminal organization in the world. We're invincible, November."

"Not really." I shrugged. "I mean, I was just a small town girl, but now I know more information about you guys than a decade of research done by the CIA. You're right. Cage isn't stupid. He's just an asshole."

Micheal chuckled at that. "To be honest, I'm surprised he hasn't let us kill you yet. No one has ever lived this long, November, not after seeing Cage's face."

"Don't I feel special." I replied.

Micheal watched me for a moment. "Were you born in November?"

"Yes."

He nodded. "That's cute. It's what Cage asked when he found out your name."

I frowned. "What else do you guys know about me?"

"Um..let's see." Micheal began listing the things on his fingers. "You have a 25 year old sister named Fern. Your parents died in a fire when you were 7. Fern has custody over you after the court ruled out an orphanage. You are five feet, five inches tall and you weigh 120 pounds. You don't have a criminal record, no surprise there. And oh, you won the science fair in fifth grade and the spelling bee in seventh. You went to Ivey High School, you're a senior there. And you don't have a boyfriend."

I stared at him in shock.

Micheal blushed. "Sorry, I know. It's creepy."

I whistled out a sigh. "You weren't kidding about the technology thing."

"No."

I looked out the window. The city was closer now. "Where are we going?"

"Chicago." Micheal answered, confirming my assumption from before. "I think we're headed back to the Crow headquarters. It's underground as well, if you must know. And I don't regret telling you that because, and I'm sorry for this November, but I don't think Cage is going to let you out of his sight any time soon. You know too much and like he said, witnesses are a very bad thing for us."

"Micheal, I told you. I won't breathe a word of this to anyone. If you'll just let me go back home-"

He cut me off. "Listen. If there is one thing I've learned about Cage since I started working for him, it's that he is a merciless man. He kills anyone that stands in his path, innocent or not. Cage Vickers is a bad person. I won't try and convince you he's not the villain, because he is. He is as evil as they come. But he didn't kill you. And I think that says a lot, November."

Cage shifted suddenly. I looked at him, slumped against the window. In the light, he didn't look bad. He didn't look evil, he looked...human. Cage's hair was a mess, falling across his eyes. He had thick black lashes that threw shadows onto his cheeks. His jawline stood out, prominent with a growing stubble. His red lips had a little pink scar near the corner of his mouth. Cage was handsome...but it was a cruel beauty.

He looked like a normal man. But that was the last thing he could ever be. This was the man we had heard so much about, the man that the CIA was so desperately searching for. Cage Vickers was one of the most wanted criminals in the world, the leader of a terrible mafia that reigned in the underworld of crimes. He was a killer who had broken almost every single law in the world. If Cage Vickers was ever caught, there would be no trial. He was going for the death penalty.

"November." Micheal said quietly. "Please...for your sake and his...don't fight back. You'll get yourself into a world of trouble doing that. Go along with what Cage wants because retaliations don't exist to a man like that. He'll let you live as long as it's on his terms. Anything other than that will be your death-"

He fell silent when Cage suddenly sat up.

Cage didn't do the peaceful, slowly waking up thing like they do in NyQuil commercials. He sat up so fast that I could have sworn there was a little whipping sound of the air following his head. It kinda startled me a bit. I jumped slightly, embarrassed.

His eyes were so green. And his eyelashes were so long. I would have asked if he was wearing any mascara or if he had any mascara recommendations, except I really needed to pee and Cage didn't seem like he was in a good mood. He never looked like he was in a good mood, actually. His face was always so...dead. Kinda like a shark except he was...scarier.

Cage unbuckled his seat belt and leaned over to take off mine. I sat back awkwardly as he unlocked the various buttons. Wow, he had really nice ears. And his hair smelled like coconuts grown in heaven. Cage's face was just a few inches from mine. His fingers suddenly brushed across my collarbone, making me cringe uncomfortably. Micheal watched on with a smirk, enjoying my discomfort.

"Stay still." Cage suddenly said. He pulled hard on the buckle across my shoulder, harder than was necessary.

"Stop!" I scowled, poking his cheek with my index finger. Cage swatted me away in annoyance. "I am still! Don't pull on it, Cage."

"I'm not pulling. Be quiet." he growled.

"Let me open it." I offered brightly, and began to tug on the seat belt in a way that I knew was both wrong and would make him angry. I had no idea where such confidence was coming from, but it was kinda fun to make Cage mad. Was some part of my subconsciousness trying to get me killed? Micheal chuckled, watching the whole thing. Nick and Heath had woken up now.

Cage was furious. "Stop touching the seat belt, November! You're getting it tangled up even more. We're landing in a few minutes and the helicopter isn't stopping its engines. Unless you want to take another trip back to Canada, leave the fucking belt alone."

I smirked and sat back, letting him quickly unclasp the buckles. This was hilarious. Utterly dangerous, but hilarious. "You're not a very nice person, Cage Vickers."

"Way to state the obvious." Heath muttered under his breath, but we all heard it. He ignored Cage's glare and looked out the window. My heart fluttered, but it wasn't because of Cage. The helicopter dipped suddenly, turning around. Cage loosened the last buckle and took it off.

"I have to pee." I mumbled as the helicopter landed.

The whirring of the blades didn't stop. In fact, the helicopter itself was hovering a few feet away. We jumped out onto a rooftop of a tall building. I had to use Micheal's help to get down because my ankle was hurting too badly.

Despite everything that happened, I felt a sense of excitement. This was my big city experience. This was what I had wanted. Just not now, and just not like this. What was Fern thinking right now? She had enough stress with the baby arriving soon. I hated to be a source of frustration as well. Maybe Cage would let me call her.

Or maybe I should stop thinking this was some great adventure and get the hell out of Chicago. I wasn't on a road trip with friends, I was running with the Crows, the most dangerous criminal mafia in the world. They were wanted in every continent.

"Excuse me." I tapped Micheal on the shoulder. So far, he seemed to be the only one I could trust. Not that I should trust a Crow, but he was nicer than the rest. "Micheal, I don't want to go with you guys. My sister Fern is pregnant and I have to be with her. For the love of everything good, just let me go. Or at least try to talk to Cage into letting me go. He won't listen to me but you're his friend. Isn't there anything, please Micheal, anything that you can do to let Cage-"

Micheal was shaking his head even before I could finish my sentence. "November, don't you get it? Cage Vickers is a dangerous man. His mentality is more fucked up than a patient in a mental asylum."

"November." Cage suddenly called. He was waiting by the door. Nick and Heath had disappeared.

"Please!" I whispered furiously to Micheal as we walked towards Cage.

"I'm sorry." was his reply.

Micheal walked ahead. Limping, I followed after slowly, taking my time to piss Cage off. If he was going to put me through this, then I'd return the favour. Cage grabbed Micheal's arm and quietly told him something. Micheal left a second later after giving me a sad look.

"Walk faster." Cage ordered with annoyance.

I walked even slower.

He seethed in silence. I wondered how long I could keep this up before he lost his temper and killed me. Probably like a day or so, and that was the maximum. Sometimes, even I couldn't stand me. For example, like right now. My ankle was probably broken, Cage Vickers was my new best friend, and I was totally missing out on that Calculus test today.

"Darling, I've killed more people than you can count on your fingers." Cage said dryly when I finally reached him. "Don't think your age contradicts what I can do. Micheal may want to keep you alive but his opinion doesn't matter around here. Either behave or die. Your miserable life does not affect me. You'll do well to remember that."

"You know what?" I turned around, furious. My anger was taking over the part of my brain that held common sense, and I was about to lose it. "Considering what you have put me through, I say that I have been behaving very maturely about all of this. You had no right to do this to me, Cage. I don't care who you are, I don't care about what you do. Don't drag me into this."

"A bit late for that, isn't it?" He said coldly, slamming the door shut hard. I began to make my way down the staircase, limping slightly. Every step hurt.

"And whose fault is that?" I snapped back.

"Yours, princess."