When Birds Fall

Quetzalli never wanted the sky. She was content on the ground-tethered to gravity, to silence, to a life lived far away from the shadows of the past. Her wings, though buried, had always been there... she simply chose not to use them. Joaquin Torres, on the other hand, soared without hesitation. He flew like falling wasn't a possibility. Like the ground couldn't touch him. With steel wings and a soldier's heart, he throws himself into the sky like nothing can bring him down. But when their paths collide-literally-everything changes. Mid-mission and mid-flight, Joaquin acts too fast, striking down a figure he mistakes for a target. His mind takes notice quickly of not only the blast of energy, the strange vibranium feedback that knocked him back during the crash... and the ID card that slipped from her backpack, Quetzalli Darling Barnes.
Suddenly, the girl he hit is connected to more than just the accident. She's hiding something-and Joaquin, against his better judgment, needs to know what. Drawn to her by guilt, by curiosity, and something else he can't quite name, he finds himself tangled in a story bigger than either of them.
Because Quetzalli isn't just someone he hurt. She might be the reason he falls.