She almost seemed to be flying, her strides long. Alia could see that the fabric of her gown was singed, and there were welts on her skin, but she seemed whole and unharmed.
Alia braced her hand against the side of the jet and faced Jason.
“Open the door,” she demanded.
“We can’t stop, Alia. There’s not enough runway.”
The jet jounced along, faster and faster.
“We need her help to get to the spring!” she insisted.
And she saw it then. The doubt that flickered over his face. Jason had agreed to go to the spring because he’d wanted to give her hope, but he’d never really believed.
“Jason, if you don’t open that door, I will find a way to end my life before the new moon. I swear it on our parents’ lives.”
The words struck him like a slap. Alia almost regretted them, but if that was what it took to make him listen…
“Damn it,” Jason swore. He strode to the door and yanked down on the handle. Immediately, an alarm began to sound.
Ben’s voice crackled over the radio. “Don’t know what you’re doing back there, but this is your captain speaking, and he’d like you to cut it the hell out.”
“Diana!” Alia screamed again. The door opened wider, spreading like a clamshell, the night air rushing through. Alia could see the brightly lit baseball diamonds and Diana hurtling toward the jet.
She shouted something, but Alia wasn’t sure what. She was waving her arms frantically.
“Something’s wrong,” Alia cried, then realized it was a ridiculous understatement.
“No, you idiot,” said Theo. “She’s saying get out of the way.”
Theo shoved up from his seat and yanked her away from the door just as Diana took two huge strides and leapt, launching herself through the air like a missile. She dove through the door of the plane, tucking into a somersault and slamming hard against the banquette. Gunfire pelted the side of the jet.
Jason jammed the handle up, and the door started sliding back into place as Alia’s stomach lurched and the jet lifted off. She stumbled backward into Theo, nearly falling into his lap.
Jason threw her into a seat, hurling himself down beside her, and then they were in the air, climbing.
Alia heard a horrible crunching sound as the plane jolted and shook. The wheels, she realized. They’d scraped the tops of the trees. She dared to look down through the window as the plane arced over the park. Craning her neck, she could just make out the baseball diamonds, the men standing on the ruin that had been the Great Lawn.
She blinked, trying to clear her vision. For just a moment she’d thought— But that was impossible. Had she hit her head again? Were the fear and adrenaline playing tricks on her? She thought she’d seen what looked like a chariot drawn by four massive black horses cutting across the field toward the soldiers, floodlights glinting off the driver’s plumed helmet. Alia gave herself a shake. She needed a good night’s sleep. She needed a month of good night’s sleep.
“Learjet N-535T, you are not cleared for takeoff,” said the voice over the radio. “Report your status.”
The crackle of static died as Ben switched off the radio. “My status is most likely looking at a career change,” he said. “Everyone okay back there?”
“You tell me, Ben,” said Jason.
“We’re in a wait-and-see situation. If we triggered a scramble out of Barnes, we’re going to know pretty quick when they shoot us down.”
Alia swallowed hard. She peered through the window as the city lights gave way to the vast, unending black of the Atlantic. Would she see death coming? She tried to breathe, to leash her heart rate. Silence enveloped the cabin, the only sound the thrum of the jet’s engines as they all waited, wondering what might be headed toward them in the dark.
Beside her, she saw that Jason had somehow managed to split his lip during the fight, and the sleeve of his jacket had become almost completely detached. Across the aisle, Theo had his head tipped back and his eyes shut. Alia didn’t know if he was praying or if he’d actually fallen asleep. Past him, Alia could see Nim staring straight ahead. Her eyes were ringed with mascara, and there was blood on her jumpsuit; her chest rose and fell in rapid, panicked hitches. Alia wished she could put her arm around her, tell her it would be all right. But that was a lie. Nothing was all right. Maybe nothing would ever be right again.
Diana had pulled herself onto the cream-colored banquette and sat rigidly in place, fingers digging into the cushions. Alia realized she’d probably never been on a plane before. Her dress had been reduced to what looked like a bedraggled ice-skating costume. The fabric was charred black near its edges—all but the lasso in a tangle at her waist, still as pristine as it had been when they left for the party. Her skin was pink in places.
Where the bullets struck, Alia realized. The wounds had already healed.
Alia had known Diana was strong, that there was some kind of magic at work on her island, but this was different. She’d thrown tables like Frisbees. She’d leapt into a moving plane. She’d survived an explosion and a gunfight with little more than a few bumps and scratches.
Theo shook his head and laughed, the sound strange in the quiet cabin. “Damn, Jason. You really know how to throw a party.”
Nim buried her face in her hands. Jason was watching Diana.
“What is she?” he muttered beneath his breath, low enough that only Alia could hear.
Amazon. Born of war, destined to be ruled by no one but herself. But that wasn’t Alia’s secret to tell.
“I don’t really know,” Alia said. “I’m just glad she’s on our side.”
They sat in silence until Ben’s voice came over the speaker. “You are now free to move about the cabin, fellow lawbreakers. We are clear.”
Alia released a shuddering sigh of relief, and Jason gave her hand a squeeze.
Theo unbuckled his seat belt and stumbled over to the jet’s bar by the banquettes. There was no turbulence, but Alia couldn’t blame him for being unsteady on his feet.
“You’re going to start drinking already?” said Nim, her tear-stained face bleak.
“No,” said Theo. “I’m going to continue drinking.”
“Theo,” Jason said warningly.
“Would everyone relax?” he said. “I just want some ginger ale. My tummy gets upset when I fly, and almost dying doesn’t help, either.”
Alia wanted to laugh, but she was afraid she might just start crying. She felt shaken and exhausted now that the adrenaline was leaving her body, but she also felt grateful. Theo was alive. Nim was alive. Once again, Alia had evaded death. They’d all made it out. Maybe Diana was right and they were destined to survive and reach the spring.
Alia knew they needed to talk, but she wanted a chance to gather her thoughts and get cleaned up. The jet was equipped with a shower, so she retrieved her small travel case from where it had been stashed beside Diana’s pack in the rear of the plane and headed into the bathroom to shed her golden scales.
The water was hot enough, but she didn’t linger beneath it. She stepped out of the shower and stared at herself in the mirror. Her body was covered in new cuts and scrapes, and she knew she was going to have more bruises from all the tumbling and falling she’d done during the fight. She had blisters on her toes from those ridiculous shoes Nim had picked out.
She looked at the heap of finery and again felt the events of the night, of the last few days, threatening to overwhelm her, but she pushed that panic away. In a day, this would all be over.