“If you’re worried about the spirits,” Zavier continued, “and if you’re worried about Colton … I’m sure we can make some sort of deal. Find a way to keep Colton safe. If you help us free Aetas—”
But Danny stopped listening as something below caught his eye. Just outside the city, planes were docked along the tarmac. One of them had familiar red letters scrawled across its side.
The Silver Hawk.
“We can’t be sure of Aetas’s powers. It could be that he—Danny?”
Danny didn’t think. If he stopped to think, he wouldn’t be able to do it. He tore the parachute from the side of his seat, then shoved the cockpit door open. He was nearly sucked out by the rush of air, stingingly cold against his face.
“Danny, what are you doing? Stop!”
He looked over his shoulder. “Sod off, Zavier.”
Then, deciding that he needed at least some say in it this time, he jumped.
His scream was eaten by the roaring air all around him. He was cold and hot all at once, tumbling toward the earth at a speed he’d never imagined his body reaching. He fumbled with the parachute as best he could with his hands still handcuffed, panicking when he couldn’t find the string to pull.
He looked down. It was a mistake. Meerut was coming up fast, and if he didn’t find this one—damned—string—
His hand clamped around it at last and he pulled for dear life. The tan fabric shot out of the folded canvas sack, and he screamed again as he nearly lost his grip from the force of the updraft. He held onto the ends desperately, no longer plummeting.
“Oh, thank God,” he gasped. “Sweet bloody Christ, thank you.” His mother would have smacked the back of his head for that remark. The notion only made him laugh giddily.
Danny thought jumping would be the most difficult part. He wasn’t prepared for the fact that Meerut was still underneath him, all hard roads and buildings. Trying to direct the parachute didn’t work, but at least he could pull himself a couple inches one way or the other.
A rooftop loomed beneath his feet. He tried to reach for the end with his foot, but misjudged the distance and ended up toppling over the side. He landed on an awning and bounced into the road below.
He landed with a hard thud. Groaning, he curled onto his side.
“Up, Danny, up,” he grunted to himself. Coughing, he rose to his knees, then staggered to his feet.
He had attracted spectators. They stared at him as if he were a street performer and they were waiting for his next move. Some glanced at his handcuffs. Danny gave them a small bow and took off running down the street.
The area didn’t look familiar, but within a minute he spotted a street he and Meena had walked down a few times. He darted toward it.
“Meena! Daphne! Akash! Captain Harris!”
As much as he didn’t want to attract attention, a frantic British boy with his hands cuffed together yelling random names at the top of his lungs would draw any eye, and he drew quite a number of them as he darted past.
“Meena! Daphne! Ak—” Someone grabbed his arm and swung him around. “—ash!”
The young Indian man gaped at him, taking in the handcuffs. Then he looked over Danny’s shoulder, where he only now noticed the parachute that had been limply trailing behind. Right, well, Danny would never show his face in Meerut again.
“What are you doing here?” Danny demanded.
“What am I doing here? I’m looking for clues as to where you’ve gone!” Akash’s eyes went back to the parachute. “I think I found a fairly large one.”
“All right, look, there’s no time for questions. You have to get me to your plane.”
“But there’s a lieutenant here—”
“I don’t care! We need to leave now!”
Akash nodded and ripped the parachute strings from Danny’s back, and the pair took off running, Akash leading the way out of the city. He hailed a tonga and they jumped into the back. Akash shouted at the groom and they flew down the road, the groom expertly darting around pedestrians.
Near the tarmac, they jumped off and the driver shouted at them to pay. Danny sprinted for the Silver Hawk, but saw something that made him trip and nearly fall.
Another plane had landed. Zavier got out of the aircraft, his face pale.
“Danny, stop! You can’t trust these people!”
Akash tried to climb into the Silver Hawk to start the engine, but Zavier moved with surprising speed and knocked him down. Danny did the only thing he could think of and jumped on Zavier, pinning him to the hot tarmac.
“Danny, listen to me,” Zavier choked out. “You say you have friends, but you don’t know them any more than you know us. You won’t be safe anywhere!”
Danny raised his hands as if to strike, but Zavier grabbed the metal rod at his belt and stabbed it into Danny’s midsection.
He fell over with a screech of pain, his body jerking as painful currents of electricity traveled through his limbs. The rod was removed, but not quickly enough to prevent Danny from being momentarily paralyzed.
“I’m sorry—it’s for your own good—”
Akash roared and kicked Zavier in the head. Zavier went down, scrambling for the metal rod that had flown out of his hand.
Akash hauled Danny into the plane, grunting and swearing in Hindi.
“Danny!” Zavier yelled, but his voice was cut off when Akash slammed the aircraft’s door shut. He jumped into the pilot seat, flipped a few switches, and took off faster than Danny had ever seen a plane go. Danny clutched a seat so he wouldn’t slide to the back of the plane, only letting go when they were level.
“Danny, are you all right? Did he hurt you?”
“Give me a minute.”
He focused on breathing. In, out, in, out. He winced with every inhalation. The spot Zavier had attacked hurt the most, his abdomen sore and sending pangs through his chest whichever way he moved.
He stood and carefully made his way to the seat next to the pilot’s. Akash’s eyes were wild, but he examined him for signs of injury.
“I’m fine,” Danny murmured.
Akash sighed through his nose. “He’s not following us.”
“He thinks we’re going back to Agra.”
“We are going back to Agra.”
“No, we’re not.” Danny clenched his hands. “We’re going to Delhi.”
“… May I ask why?”
“Queen Victoria’s celebration is being held there.”
“And you want to join the festivities, is that it?”
“Not me. Rebels. They’re looking to start another rebellion.”
Akash’s hands tightened on the controls. He glanced over again, but Danny wouldn’t meet his gaze.
“What do you think we can do about that?”
“I don’t know, but that bastard is going to find me again one way or another, and it’ll be relatively soon if we go back to Agra. For now, let’s go to Delhi. We’ll send a wire to the others when we get there.” Danny realized that his words sounded like an order. “If that’s all right with you. If not, you can drop me off and I’ll find a way to get there on my own.”
Akash shook his head. “I promised Daphne I would come back with you.”
The corner of Danny’s mouth ticked up. “You’re calling her Daphne now?”