Plenty.
He settled back into the seat and focused dead ahead. A few moments later, they were rushing down the makeshift runway and soaring into the sky.
Next stop…Key West.
And Luke.
Cass’s chest burned once more. The next stop…would be the end of the line for him and Amber.
***
Amber sat in the front of the plane, her gaze on the land below them. Cass was at her side, flying as if he’d been doing it his whole life.
Every mile they took…it was a mile that brought her closer to Luke.
Closer to her past.
“He wanted you brought back alive,” Cass’s words were rasped. “Dead or alive…that’s how I’ve brought in my prey before. Luke—sometimes he wants prey dead. And sometimes…sometimes he wants them alive.”
Her gaze didn’t waver from the ground. Everything looked small down there. “So he can make them suffer?” She didn’t give Cass a chance to respond. “He has a prison on his island, you know. It’s where he keeps the worst of the worst. Inescapable. If Luke locks you up, you don’t get loose.”
“He doesn’t want you dead.”
Her lips curled. “I know.”
“I won’t let him hurt you.”
She had to laugh. “Do you really think you can stop him? Luke is the most powerful being I’ve ever met. He snaps his fingers and fire erupts. He blinks and people die.”
“He hasn’t faced a Reaper.”
Goosebumps rose on her arms—and not because a threat was close. Her head turned.
The plane bounced a bit.
She stared at his hard profile. “Are you telling me that you can kill Luke?”
“A Reaper can kill any being that walks on the earth. Why do you think my kind was hunted so fiercely? Hunted, captured, our hands cut off right before we were killed…”
She had to swallow twice before she could speak. “You can kill Luke…and Leo?”
His head turned so that their eyes met. “I haven’t put it to the test before.”
So he didn’t know but…What if he can?
“There wasn’t a need to find out,” he continued quietly. “Before.”
The plane bounced again. Her hands flew out, gripping the arm rest.
“Turbulence,” Cass said, not sounding even a little concerned. “Don’t worry—”
But an alarm began to sound, a piercing shriek and the plane didn’t just bounce…the nose tipped down and the plane seemed to drop.
He grabbed for the controls, yanking up hard. “What did you do?”
The ground was rushing up to meet them.
“You said you fixed the plane…” He was fighting and sweating and struggling to get the nose to rise—it wouldn’t. “What did you do?”
She hadn’t done this.
The plane kept shooting straight down. She could smell smoke. Could see smoke coming from the front of the plane. Dark, black smoke that shot into the air. The safety straps dug into her skin. “Cass?”
His face was locked in tight, angry lines. “We’re fucking going down. We have seconds—seconds! Shit!”
She grabbed for his gloved hand and held tight. “Cass?”
His gaze held hers. The anger faded away. He stared at her…as if…
“Close your eyes, sweets,” he whispered. “Everything will be okay.”
No lie had ever sounded sweeter.
Her eyes closed. And then she felt his arms close around her. In that last moment, as she hurtled straight to her death, held tight in his arms, fear finally broke her.
Luke! Leo! Help me! Her mental call flew out even as the plane crashed down to the earth.
The plane shuddered, the smoke filled her nostrils, and Cass held her tight.
***
“They wouldn’t have made it far,” Ivan spoke quietly. Guilt twisted in his stomach as he stared at Gregory. He’d gotten the call from that vamp just moments before Cass and the woman had appeared in his woods. “I made sure of it.”
Gregory smiled at him. “Considering what he is…Cass is far too trusting.”
Yes, he was. Ivan had worked with Cass plenty of times over the years, and he had agreed to get Cass transport but…Gregory had something Ivan needed. Something he was desperate to have. “You have her? Vanessa is really alive?” The human he’d loved. The human who’d vanished during that terrible battle.
But Gregory had said that he’d saved her. That he’d transformed her and kept her close by.
Vampire, human, it didn’t matter to Ivan what his love had become. He just wanted Vanessa back. He wanted her so much…that he’d just sent two people to their deaths. I’m sorry, Cass.
Gregory’s smile stretched. “Of course…” He slapped his hand over Ivan’s shoulder.
Hope burst in him, making him light-headed.
“…she’s not alive,” Gregory continued. He gave a low, rumbling laugh. “I drained that bitch years ago. She’s rotting in the ground someplace.”
Ivan’s body went ice-cold. “But…but you said…”