by M. R. Polish
We reached the top of the deck and Jarak grabbed Ian, pulling him off to the side. He leaned in close to Ian’s face and talked in a hushed whisper. Jarak glanced up and his eyes caught mine for a split second, but it was all I needed to see what remained of my friend before they turned back to ice.
I let my shoulders fall as I walked forward. Lifting my ticket to see which seat was mine, I was directly on the right in K-17. I slipped into the soft power seat and stared out the window. It felt strange to be rear facing, and I wasn’t too sure I was going to like it. Julie probably did that on purpose, too.
I leaned forward to see around the corner where Ian and Jarak were, but all I could see was the back of Ian’s shirt. Sitting up a little higher, I twisted to look for Ailaina. She smiled and waved at me from across the aisle. At least Lauren and her had a forward-facing seat. I was so happy that she made such good friends with Lauren – it didn’t make me feel so bad for wanting to sit with Ian the whole time. I didn’t look for Julie. I didn’t care where she was.
Other passengers helped fill in the remaining fourteen seats of the upper deck. Mainly older couples who looked sweet still holding hands in their old age, and a couple business-type men, who seemed more intent working on their handheld devices or reading paperwork that spilled out from their briefcases than they did the actual world around them. I hoped they remembered electronic gadgets like phones and iPads were not allowed on during flight. I really didn’t want to fall from the sky just because they couldn’t stop working. I knew it was a long shot that something like that could happen, but I was terrified enough that I didn’t need to add to my imagination or anxiety.
Finally, Ian and Jarak entered the upper cabin. Ian scowled toward the front, hesitating before sitting down next to me.
“What was that all about?”
He leaned away from me, resting his elbow on the armrest with his hand covering his mouth. “Nothing,” he muttered.
“Jarak practically tackled you back there. That wasn’t nothing.”
He gripped my hand in his and gave a tight squeeze. “It’s nothing, Es. I promise you’re safe.”
Safe? What was he talking about? “Ian, you’re scaring me.”
He gave me his best smile with a wink.
I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t gonna get anywhere with him. The flight attendant from earlier came up the stairs.
“We’re getting ready for departure.”
I wanted to throw up. Whatever was going on with Ian and Jarak didn’t seem as important as I felt the first movement of the plane. I gripped the armrest and concentrated on breathing.
The hair on my arms and the back of my neck rose as a cold chill swept over me. It was the same feeling of being watched like back in the Boise airport.
The attendant continued to use hand motions directing us to nearest exits, but my mind blocked her out as I focused on my inner power to feel around me. I could feel Luna perk up more alert too, which made me feel uncomfortable. Something was wrong. I looked around me quickly, noting each passenger as I gazed over them.
“What’s wrong?” Ian asked as he also looked around.
“Something doesn’t feel right.”
“It’s a plane, you never feel right on a plane. Remember?”
I shook my head, looking everywhere but at him. “No, this is different.” Nothing was out of place that I could see, and I couldn’t feel anything with my powers either.
I settled back into my seat. “Maybe you’re right. It’s probably just nerves.”
The plane lurched as it stopped. I felt my heart drop with the motion. Every inch of my body tingled as the whir of the engines screamed. I was thrown forward a little as the plane sped down the runway and lifted into the air.
I grabbed Ian’s hand and squeezed my eyes shut. Sitting backwards was definitely not helping me. My stomach felt like it crawled up in my throat.
“It’s okay, I promise.”
I peeked out of one eye. “No, I don’t think so. Right now, I am the farthest thing from okay.” I closed my eyes tight again and concentrated on breathing.
Breath in, breath out.
I could feel the plane level out just a little so I opened my eyes. “I really hate takeoff. I think that is the worst part.”
“You did good.”
I exhaled a long sigh. “Yeah, but I still hate it.”
Seven
Esmerelda
“S eriously? A freaking eleven-hour flight and only one of the upstairs bathrooms are working? What kind of crap is that?” I was so irritated. My eyes burned from fighting off sleep for the last nine hours on the plane and I was getting cranky, but there was no way I was going to sleep. Not with Nicholas and Meadow lurking outside my spirit waiting for me to let them in.
It was dark outside, making it eerie inside the cabin. Not that I needed it to be scarier. I bounced in my seat as I tried to hold it in. “What the heck is taking Julie so long in there? Doesn’t she know there are others out here waiting? I bet she fell asleep in there on purpose, just to make me wait.”
Ian lifted a brow, but I could still see it with the small overhead light I kept on. “You really think she fell asleep in the tiny closet they call a restroom, just to piss you off?”
I crossed my legs and tightened every muscle I had. “Yes!” I whispered loudly.
“Princess, I think you need to sleep.”
“Ugh, I can’t! Not with Nicholas and Meadow waiting for me to dream. They’ll know where we are. Besides, can you sleep while you’re trying not to pee your freaking pants?” I couldn’t wait any longer and strode to the stairs. They were small and dark, but I really needed to go, and downstairs had to have an open, working toilet.
Ian was right. The restroom was nothing more than a compacted closet. But, I couldn’t put into words how relieved I felt at finally being able to use the restroom. I squeezed out of it, trying not to let the door shut loudly. The whole lower cabin was dark with only a few overhead lights on here and there. Most everyone was sleeping.
A short woman with the flight attendant uniform smiled at me as I quietly tried to find my way back to the stairs. A tight grip wrapped around my arm, spinning me around. I let out a force of power that made whoever it was let go. My magic sizzled in my palm as lightning crackled outside the plane. I knew I needed to be careful since I was much closer to the one source of power I controlled so easily. I really did not want to accidently hit the plane with a bolt of lightning and make us crash into the ocean.
My eyes darted around, looking for whoever grabbed me. The hair on my neck rose as I backed up toward the stairs. Did I imagine the whole thing? On the bottom step beside me I could see the wispy spirit form of Luna; her silver eyes illuminated the dark. If she was here, even if she wasn’t in her true wolf body, I knew something was wrong and whatever it is was bad.
I reached slowly down to run my fingers over her head but my fingers slipped through her spirit, leaving a wake of white tendrils in the air that floated back to her. I wasn’t used to seeing her this way.
A strange but familiar gargle sounded from straight ahead by the restrooms. Luna’s hackle rose and a small growl escaped her snarling lips. I looked around, but no one seemed to notice—yet. I wasn’t sure how I was going to explain how I had a wolf on board an airplane, let alone how she could disappear.
“What is it?” I asked Luna, in my head.
“It almost feels like a crossbreed, but the energy is off.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of.” I leaned forward and scanned the aisles of seats. Nothing, or no one, stood out to me. “Maybe we’re wrong?”
Copper eyes reflected off the dim lighting and my heart stopped.
We were not wrong.
I raised my hand, ready to defend myself, when another hand wrapped around my mouth and another around my middle.
Whoever it was pulled me back away from the stairs and toward the galley. I reached out with my hands, trying to stop them, but I couldn’t grasp
anything long enough to get a tight grip. I elbowed my captor as hard as I could, forcing them to loosen their grip. Spinning around, I shot a stream of sizzling power straight at his chest.
Luna jumped on him, bringing him to the floor. The magic I used knocked him unconscious. Luna and I both looked around for the second one.
Ian came out of the stairwell, followed by Dregan. He ran to me and grabbed my upper arms. “Are you okay? Dregan told me about the breed,” he spoke in hushed tones.
I pushed away from him, needing to find the other crossbreed. “There’s still another one.”
He spun around. “Are you sure?”
“Oh, she’s sure.”
We both turned to see who spoke. A woman walked around the corner. She had dark brown, curly hair that was pulled back with a purple scarf that matched her flight uniform. Slowly, she brought a finger to her lips, all the while never taking her eyes off the center aisle of the plane. “I think he moved to the back of the plane.”
“Who are you?” I asked.
“Camilla. I’m actually a hired agent for the B.O.M.B., the Bureau of Magical Beings. I fly undercover in case there are ever problems on board a flight with an otherworldly or magical being. I see that tonight we can say that there is definitely a problem. I’ve noticed a lot more activity the last couple weeks with tons of breeds flying this way.” Her southern accent was heavy and she talked with her hands a little bit too much. She paused briefly as she glanced at me with a raised eyebrow and a hand on her hip. “Anything I should know about that you aren’t telling me?”
I remembered Bry telling me before he died that he worked for the B.O.M.B., but I never asked what it was. I assumed it was like a police agency for witches or something. “Nothing that I know of. I just got up and was attacked by that one over there.” I pointed with my head to the still-unconscious breed on the floor.
She let out a deep sigh. “Well, I guess we should move him before the other passengers or attendants see him. Come on, help me out. The last one about wore me out.”
“The last one?” I looked over my shoulder as I said it. How many were on this plane?
“Yeah, I had to use a spell to knock him out until we get on the ground and I could get some help. I locked him in the upstairs lavatory.”
“Well, that explains why only one was in working order,” I drawled.
She laughed quietly. “Well, where else do you expect me to put them?”
Ian picked up the breed and flung him over his shoulder while she opened the closest bathroom door. Ian shoved him in there and Camilla waved her hand over his face before locking the door and placing an out of order notice on the door.
“What did you do?”
She looked around before talking. “It’s called a Comotosa, or an involuntary black out that you only wake up from when the person who places the spell undoes it. It is a power that is given to those with a certain ranking at the B.O.M.B. and no one else. You wouldn’t want a bunch of magic hungry witches or warlocks out there with that power now would you?”
Thinking of the sleep spell Julie and Victor used on me and shuddered. That spell was bad enough. “No,” I whispered. It was a bit intimidating to know all these powers and rare spells were being used. I couldn’t help but wonder how the gift of those powers were given, and thought back to how a witch could bestow their guardian a single gift and wondered if it worked the same way. I would have to remember to ask my mom later.
“Come on,” Ian gestured to the other side of the galley, “we need to find the other one.”
I agreed and followed Ian out into the aisle, walking as quietly as possible so I wouldn’t wake up the other passengers.
The plane bounced as it hit turbulence. I reached out and grabbed Ian’s shirt and squeezed my eyes shut. My stomach rolled over as another jump made it hard to stand. Please stop, I chanted in my head. Now was not the time to panic about flying—or falling from the sky.
I opened my eyes and tried to concentrate on each passenger. I didn’t want to miss the other breed. The various overhead lights that were on did little in helping me see. “Luna, do you see him?”
“He’s in the back. Wait, there are more. Es, be careful.”
More? They just let anyone fly anymore, don’t they? I tugged on Ian’s shirt. “Hey,” I whispered. “Luna says there’s more than just the one in the back.”
He stopped and looked around. We were close to the middle exit rows with at least twenty or more rows to go before we would be in the back. Camilla stopped to talk to another attendant, who walked back the way we just came.
I reached out to feel for any abnormal energy, but I couldn’t make direct contact with anything that wasn't human. The breeds were masking their energy. But how? They never did that before.
“Es,” Ailaina whispered behind me. I turned to see her over by the stairs. A hand clamped around her mouth and whoever it was dragged her back into the shadows of the first class area.
I took off after her, not caring who I woke up. “Ailaina,” I cried out as I reached the first class seating, and then froze. Ailaina’s eyes were wide over the top of the breed’s hand. I could feel his sickening hunger for her blood thick in the air. His bloodshot eyes stared at me while he smirked. About six other crossbreeds stood behind him, filling each aisle.
“Princess, stay right where you are,” Ian said behind me.
“No, I thought I’d ask them to dance. Where did you think I was gonna go?”
“Now is not the time to get snooty, Es.”
“Now is not the time to argue either,” I whispered over my shoulder at him.
The man holding Ailaina was tall and his dark ebony skin blended well with the shadows of the cabin. He tipped his head with a scowl. “Yous betta listen cuz she's right, ya know. Now ain't a good time to argue.”
“Let her go,” I demanded through clenched teeth.
“Aw hell nah, ya know that ain't how it works.”
Ian stepped in front of me. “Don’t make me kick your ass.”
The man flung his free hand up. “Whatchu gonna do, wolf boy? She's gonna die before you get to me.”
“Es,” Luna’s voice entered my head. “Ian wants to cause a distraction while you use your power to shock the guy. Dregan is getting ready to pounce when you do that, and I will help Ailaina.”
One of the breeds behind Ailaina, a lady with long black hair, dangled a vial out in front of her. “I wouldn’t try anything if I were you. Each of us has enough Belladonna to kill all of you.”
I saw Ian flinch slightly at her words, but I knew that wouldn’t deter him from saving Ailaina. The power inside me built. My hands tingled as magic pooled in my palms, itching to be released. A loud rumble of thunder shook the plane, and a streak of lightning flashed next to the windows where we stood.
Ian smirked. “You think I’m scared of you?”
Ailaina moved against her captor and struggled to break his hold. Her muffled cries where in vain as he squeezed her tighter.
Ian took one step closer to Ailaina and I lifted my hands just a little, but not enough for any of the breeds to see.
“I’d stop right there, wolfy,” Ailaina’s captor said. Ailaina’s eyes widened as he bent his head low, his elongated fangs barely brushing across her neck, his eyes never leaving Ian.
Ian stood straighter. “You hurt her and I won’t give you a chance to fight back.”
Dregan appeared behind the group of breeds. His black fur blended into the darkness, making his eyes glow eerily. He snarled, showing off his sharp teeth before lunging for Ailaina’s captor, locking his jaw around his arm. This was the distraction I needed. I shot out a stream of power, knocking him to the floor. Luna rushed to Ailaina, helping her get out of the way.
Ian lunged forward, jumping over the back of a seat to grab one of the breeds, waking the man who slept in it. He cried out in surprise and tried to scoot back in his chair even more. The guy’s eyes widened and never left the body of Ailaina�
�s captor, who lay dead on the floor. The woman who held up her vial leaped toward me. She stood about an arm’s length away from me, sneering.
Luna sprang onto her back, pulling her down. I jumped on top of her and twisted her head. Adrenaline rushed through me as I thought of what they would’ve done to Ailaina, and I ended her life.
A bloodcurdling scream filled the plane. I spun around to see one of the passengers standing in the aisle on the first class side of the partition. She screamed again and Ailaina rushed over to her and placed a hand over her mouth. “Shhhh… It’s okay.”
Commotion filled the plane as I heard cries and screams throughout the cabin. Passengers afraid of what caused the screaming cried out in terror. Great. So not what we needed.
Jarak and Julie were the first to enter behind the woman. Julie’s eyes went wide, and then she left to go into the main seating area. I spun back around to help Luna with another breed who struggled against her tightened jaw around his neck.
I saw a flash of white and knew that Maztic and Jarak were helping. I stood up and looked around. The woman who had been screaming was crumpled on the ground with her eyes closed. I glanced around; all the passengers were asleep again. I wasn’t sure how that happened, but I was grateful. Ian and Dregan stood in the opposite aisle from me with Jarak and Maztic. All the crossbreeds were dead—well, for now. We still needed to behead them, but it would have to work for the moment.
Camilla walked in from the back seating area. A streak of blood trickled down her face from a scratch over her eye.
“Are you okay?” I asked her while catching my breath.
“Yeah, I found that one breed in the back, but we don’t have to worry about him anymore.” She looked around. “I can see you guys were busy.”
I shrugged. “You could say that.”
“Ah, shoot, this was nothing,” Ian added.
Julie walked in, stepping over the sleeping woman. She folded her arms. “Next time you get in a fight around humans make sure they are unable to see you. I put them all to sleep, but that’s something you should’ve done before it got that far.”
