I ran.

The whole way back to the biology building, I ran, tears streaming down my face, my talons clicking against the pavement in a rhythm I couldn't stop even if I'd wanted to. Danny's face kept flashing behind my eyes — the way he'd smiled, the way he'd held my hand, the way he'd said I can wait a little longer like he actually meant it. Like he had any idea what he was waiting for.

He didn't. He couldn't. Nobody could.

I burst through the lab door and slammed it shut behind me, leaning against it, gasping. The smell hit me first — that thick barn smell that had become so familiar it almost felt like home. The floor was crusted with droppings, fresh and dried, marking the path of whoever had been here last. The room was empty.

"Ms. Gibson?" My voice came out cracked. "Professor?"

Nothing. Just the hum of the fluorescent lights and the distant clucking from the coop outside.

I stood there for a long moment, chest heaving, before I made a decision. My clothes were killing me. Every shift of the fabric against my new feathers sent sparks of irritation across my skin. I pulled my shirt over my head, wincing as the collar scraped past my ears, and stepped out of my jeans. The relief was immediate and overwhelming. My white feathers — denser now, thicker, fuller — fluffed out around my body, and I couldn't help the little shiver of pleasure that ran through me. God, that was better. So much better.

I checked the back room, the storage closet, even the bathroom. Nothing. Ms. Gibson wasn't in the lab at all.

Which left only one place she could be.

I padded across the lab and pushed open the back door that led to the chicken coop. The morning air hit my bare skin, and for a second I almost stopped to enjoy it — the way the breeze moved through my feathers, the way my body felt right in a way it hadn't in days. Then I saw what was happening in the coop, and all of that went out the window.

There was a rooster in with the hens.

No. Wait. It was Professor Gibson. Or... what was left of her, anyway.

She was completely covered in feathers now. Glossy green and blue and gold, just like last …