“I don’t blame you,” I said.
Maybe if I agreed with him, he’d be more open to hearing what we had to say. Normally I wouldn’t say one word more than I needed, but we didn’t have time to beat around the bush.
“It was Cruor who kidnapped his parents”—I jabbed my thumb toward Charles—“and that is where we are heading now. To save them.”
“That right?” The man sat in his chair and swiveled toward us. He swept his hand to a few spare seats, and we sat.
So much for Adrian’s claim of ‘no questions asked’.
Without any other route to Damascus, our best bet was to gain whatever little compassion this man might have, so I risked laying everything on the table, from the news of the Liettes to our plan to rescue them.
“We wouldn’t have known if our friend hadn’t told us,” I said in closing. “He’s not like other Cruor.”
The man leaned forward. His breath, heavy on my face, reeked of coffee and cigarette smoke. “Listen here, Miss. Clearly you didn’t hear me the first time. I said: I. Don’t. Fly. No. Fucking. Bloodsuckers.”
“Why the hell not?” I demanded.
“I’m a blocker, and ain’t many of us left.” The man’s gaze locked on Charles, one forearm leaning on his knee. “Last thing I need to do is get mixed up with the likes of them.”
A blocker? What did that mean?
“Well,” Charles said. “I’m Strigoi and Cruor. So now you’re mixed up with us. We aren’t all the enemy.”
“I see,” the man said, his expression softer now.
I couldn’t read his thoughts. Whether that was because he was human or because he was a blocker, I didn’t know.
He scratched his beard. “Fine,” he said. “Guess I can’t in good conscious stand back while the dual-natured are targeted. I’ll help, but don’t say nothing about it. Name’s Rhett.”
Just as Charles and I were introducing ourselves, the door creaked on the other side of the room. Adrian let himself in, smiled, and put out his hand.
“I’m Adrian.”
“I know who you are,” Rhett said, ignoring the offer for a handshake. “No funny business. Let’s go.”
Rhett led us outside to a dark-blue plane on the tarmac. I’d never taken a flight before. I’d never even left Colorado. At least I wouldn’t have to see the world outside whipping past the windows—but that’s only because there were no windows, aside from the front windshield.
Funny, since Rhett had acted as though he didn’t fly Cruor.
The passenger area consisted of four navy leather seats with a small table between. Once we settled in, the stairs closed back against the plane.
“This thing safe?” I asked.
Rhett grumbled something unintelligible, followed by, “Course it’s safe. Safer than any of those other planes you been flying in, and faster, too. My plane is better, you’ll see. I’ll have you there in three hours.”
The fabric of Adrian’s seat creaked as he sat forward. “About that…”
Rhett turned back around. “What now, kid?”
I smiled, drawing his attention. “Could you decrease your speed by half? We need to arrive at night.”
He frowned. “See, this shit right here is why I don’t fly you bloodsucker types. I do this, and you don’t ask me for nothing else the rest of this trip. We’ll touch down around eight p.m., their time. Good? Now shut up and let me fly this thing.”
I mouthed the words ‘thank you’ at the back of his head and sunk deeper into my seat as Rhett closed himself into the pilot’s cabin. The plane’s engine sputtered to life and continued in a steady, muffled roar.
Charles switched on an overhead light. The plane rattled down the runway, picking up speed. I gripped the armrests and glanced from Adrian to Charles. Both men relaxed back in their seats. I took this to mean the plane’s shaking was normal.
Now that we were actually on the plane, everything was catching up to me. My friends, my family, the whole situation.
“Do you think we’ll ever come back?” I asked quietly.
“I don’t know.” Charles’ voice deadpanned, his mouth twisting into a grim line. “Thalia’s coterie will be looking for us now that the Maltorim is after us. It wouldn’t be wise to return.”
We were disappearing forever. Just like Ivory. Her name created a pang in my heart. I couldn’t help but miss her, even after what she’d done, and I couldn’t shake my guilt over stealing her memories. When she woke in her Boston summer home with gaps in her memory, would she at least remember she was an earth elemental?
I took a deep breath. I hadn’t stolen all of her memories—she couldn’t have been thinking of ‘me’ during every moment spent with her sire.
Charles’ chest puffed out and his glassy stare settled on my hands. I was picking at my fingernails and my cuticles had started to bleed.