Replica(43)

“She doesn’t understand what you mean about her replacing this Calvin dude.” He dropped his voice low enough that there was no way Rachel or Antonio could hear him.

“She’s not stupid. She knows.”

“From what little I know of her, she wouldn’t be so nonchalant if she understood she was bound to you for eternity. It would be akin to me binding you to me. You two are peas in a pod, wild as they come and not eager to be tied to anything or anyone.”

“You couldn’t bind me to you.” Of course that was the first thing I denied. Of course. He grinned.

“You sure about that?”

I scrambled backward and into the aisle.

Unable to keep still, I paced the jet from the cockpit to the service galley and back as the hours passed. More than once the captain told me to relax, throwing a grin over his shoulder. Finally it seemed he’d had enough. “We’ve almost reached Istanbul. Will you tell Victor? And sit down.”

I leaned into the cockpit and put a hand on his shoulder. “Re-route to Arbil, Iraq.” He stiffened under my hand and I increased the compulsion, drawing on my reserves. I hadn’t fed in a full twenty-four hours, and was running out of juice.

The captain nodded, but the co-pilot looked at me and shook his head. “Take your hand off him.”

Rather than comply, I dropped my other hand on his shoulder. “Be calm. Do as your captain says.” The co-pilot slumped a little and then gave a quick nod.

“You’re the boss.”

I stood, watching over them as they overshot the Istanbul airport, ignoring the air controller’s pleas to turn around and land.

Which is why I saw the telltale sparkle of a rocket headed our way as soon as we crossed the border into Iraq.

“Fuck.” I grabbed two of four parachutes from behind the captain and co-pilot as they struggled to turn the plane around, a move I knew would not work in time to avoid the rockets. I ran into the cabin and threw a parachute to Ivan. “Take the limo driver.”

I grabbed Rachel and hauled her to her feet. “Time to go.”

“What the fuck is going on?”

I slipped the parachute on her back and buckled it up. “Don’t say I never gave you anything.”

Everything seemed to pause. I glanced at Ivan, who’d put the parachute on and grabbed Antonio by the arm. “You want me to let him drop?”

I shook my head as I turned back to compel the pilots to put on their parachutes.

And the world around us exploded.

Rachel reached for me and I grabbed her around the shoulders as we were flung from the plane. The scream of metal tearing apart was accompanied by bright flashes as the fuel lines erupted all around us. The dark night was lit up as we tumbled through the air. And I couldn’t seem to do anything but stare and remember the previous plane crashes I’d survived. The people I’d lost.

The one I’d failed to save. He’d been my companion before Calvin.

“Lea, snap the fuck out of it! When do I pull the cord?” Rachel’s voice cut through the mind-numbing memories.

I craned my neck back to see how high up we were. We dropped through a cloud, the moisture slapping us in the face as the fluffy dark obscured my vision.

“Now?”

“Not yet.”

I wrapped my legs tighter around her waist and leaned back so I could see better. A flicker of lights in the far distance. “Still too high. Another twenty seconds at least.”

“Where are Ivan and Antonio?”

“They’ll be fine.” I didn’t know that for sure. They could have been caught in one of the explosions and totally fried before they had the chance to free-fall. But if anyone would survive, a werewolf would.

“Fuck.” She bit out the word.

The wind ripped around us, battering at our clothes. Above us, bits of plane fell in burning chunks. “Hang on.”

I angled my body to change our trajectory. A piece of metal sliced the air right where we’d been. Rachel’s body shook and her eyes were wide, but she held it together remarkably well. Better than I could have hoped for jumping out of an exploding plane.

“Pull the cord.” I tightened my grip on her and she yanked the cord. The parachute popped up above us, billowing and snapping our headlong fall into what felt like a sudden stop.

My grip on her slipped and I grunted as I scrambled to re-adjust.

I ended up with my legs wrapped tightly around her hips, my arms around her shoulders and neck. We were pretty much nose to nose.

“I like you and all,” she said, “but this is a bit much even for me.”

I grinned, a giddy sense of relief flowing over me. “Imagine the position the boys are in.”

She burst out laughing and I joined her.