“Excuse me?”
“Plane crash… fear is literally rolling off these old ladies in waves.” He closed his eyes in ecstasy. They fluttered open and went black as he took a deep breath. Unable to tear my eyes away, I watched as the air moved past Seth’s lips and into his body, until he burped, apologized, and hit his chest with a fist.
“All in a day’s work.” He crossed his legs and opened the flight magazine.
“Did he… ” I looked to Adonis, who smirked in Seth’s direction.
“He thought it would be nice if the old ladies were free of potential strokes and heart attacks. He ate the fear.”
“Ate the—”
“Fear,” Seth finished, looking in my direction with a wink. “Tastes awful, by the way. Like burnt flesh and hot chili peppers with a side of rot.”
“Tasty,” I said.
Seth leaned in. “We have enough fear fighting against us. It’s better not to allow any extra to seep into our already-sketchy plans.”
“And by eating it you… destroy it?” I asked.
“Somewhat.” He flipped open the magazine again. “Until it comes back.”
I closed my eyes to keep from scratching his out. “Please tell me it doesn’t get worse once it comes back.”
“No, course not.” Seth shook his head.
Adonis nodded his head in agreement and patted my hand.
It became quiet, and then Seth interjected, “We’ll just have to kill the little demon. No biggie.”
“Great, now I have to waste time killing a stupid little demon while the Titans wait in the giant mountain…”
Adonis gripped my hand. “Stop worrying. Get some sleep, Thena. It’s going to be a long day. At least we know we are safe in Atlas’s oh so capable hands.”
“Kay.” I gave Seth one last look of disdain before closing my eyes and leaning onto Adonis’s shoulder. The last thing I remembered was his warm hand embracing mine.
Chapter Thirteen
The jolt of turbulence made my eyes flutter open. How long had I slept? My head was resting quite comfortably against Adonis’s chest. I glanced across the aisle and noticed Seth’s long legs dangling over the seat as his head rested against the window.
“Are we almost there?” I croaked, stretching my arms over my head.
Adonis gave a little yawn. “It seems like we’ve been in the air for hours. I’m surprised the little old ladies haven’t been using the bathroom every five seconds. They haven’t even moved since we started our flight.”
Hmm… Lost in thought, I looked behind us and immediately wished I hadn’t. The old ladies, the cute little old ladies… Were all dead.
“Adonis…” I hit his arm “What’s going on?”
Quickly, he turned around, and immediately I felt his hand tighten across mine. My eyes scoured the area for weapons. I hadn’t been able to bring my daggers, did manage to hide one of them in my boots without security catching it. I’d begged Seth to make it so that we could carry our weapons, but he said he needed to save his strength.
I closed my eyes, imagining the type of creature that would be heartless enough to take out that many old women and other people on the plane. My eyes burned as I pummeled my memory for faces of the people who boarded with us.
“It doesn’t make sense,” I whispered. Adonis unbuckled his seatbelt and slowly tried to nudge Seth awake. Whatever creature was on board with us, the last thing we wanted to do was to let it know we knew it was there.
My brain mentally calculated the odds of us finding the dark creature while still staying in the sky and not putting holes in the plane. The odds were not in our favor.
Blood rushed through my veins, and adrenaline seemed to wash over me in waves. I was created for this. I can do this. I felt my eyes begin to glow their purplish hue and allowed myself to be consumed with the feeling of heavenly power coursing through me.
With a grunt, I pushed myself from the seat and began walking toward the back of the plane, my stomach dropped as I saw the corpses of the old ladies. It was such a waste, such a pity. They hadn’t done anything wrong. If anything, it was our fault to begin with.
The stench of flowers and honey invaded my nostrils. I wanted to curse. It wasn’t a Phantom, that’s for sure. The smell was over-powering, like I’d just walked headfirst into the perfume department and couldn’t find my way out. I kept moving and wanted to gag as the taste of the flowery substance invaded my mouth.
A few rows from the back of the plane and still nothing; my instincts told me it was close as the hairs on my arms raised.
I lifted my dagger in air and flipped my body around coming face to face with my foe and curse.
Her perfectly shaped brows lifted. “Now, now, that isn’t at all proper for a heavenly being.” She wiped blood from her lips and smiled, revealing tiny fangs on either side of her perfectly white teeth.