by Cecy Robson
“Four girls in a room together and you didn’t kill each other?”
“No, we’ve always been close.” I scooted off the couch and disappeared into the bathroom, well aware of Tye’s gaze following me.
I waited outside the bathroom door when I finished. Tye now lay across his bed, supporting his weight on one elbow. He watched me, as if expecting something extraordinary. I returned to bed without a word, hoping he’d get the hint that I no longer wished to discuss my past or anything else. He continued to regard me with interest. I ignored him and tried my best to fall back asleep.
Our plane soared through the skies for ten more hours before landing in a small airport in Arusha, Tanzania. It was eleven in the morning in Tahoe, but nine at night in Arusha. Evil, it seemed, had no sympathy for jet lag. We grabbed our packs and hurried off the plane. Just because it was night didn’t mean we could stop to rest.
I rubbed my skin, feeling sticky from the dry heat digging its way through my pores despite the absence of sunlight.
“How far is it to Ngorongoro Crater from here?” Danny asked Tye.
“Pretty damn far. We have another plane ride to the Manyara airstrip and then a two-hour drive on gravel roads to the park.”
Shayna threw her pack over her shoulder and peered at Misha’s jet. “Why don’t we just refuel and keep going?”
“The jet’s too big and too damn obvious. The Alliance greased a lot of palms to avoid stopping at Kilimanjaro International, but we still need to be smart and lie low.”
Emme ran next to me in order to keep up. I placed my arm around her lower back to help her along. We stopped in front of a small white plane, large enough to seat about ten passengers. My eyes scanned the desolate hangar. “Where’s our pilot?”
Once more Tye’s dimple made an appearance. “You’re looking at him, dovie. Like Makawee said, I’m a were of many talents.”
My sisters and I exchanged glances before following him onto the small aircraft. It wasn’t a new plane, nor was it fancy or sleek like the jet. But it seemed in working order and thankfully rust-free.
Tye asked me to ride shotgun. I obliged in an effort to be civil, but didn’t plan on socializing much. I relaxed when I saw how he flipped the switches with ease and adjusted the controls as if he’d done it a thousand times. My anxiety returned as the small aircraft sped down the runway and ascended into the pitch-black sky, leaving the bright lights of the runway behind. I had no clue how he knew where to go. Despite my tigress eyes I couldn’t detect anything in the horizon.
Tye laughed. “You didn’t strike me as the nervous sort until now.”
I disregarded his comment and tried hard to find a landmark. “How do you know which direction to fly?”
“My grandmother used to fly all over the world. She started teaching me around the time I was six. I know my way around the air, sometimes even better than on land.” His fingers fiddled with a knob before turning the control and tilting the plane slightly toward the right. “Africa and I are old pals. I’ve flown here at least a dozen times.”
I watched his motions closely, knowing if it was up to me to fly the small aircraft we would all just have to die. “Why?”
“Because I enjoy it.”
“No, I mean, why Africa specifically?”
“I’m a lion, dovie. I wanted to trace my animalistic roots. Haven’t you ever thought about returning to the motherland?”
“My motherland is Jersey.”
That earned me another laugh. “So there’s a personality deep beneath that tough exterior.”
“I’ll have you know I’m pretty hilarious once you get to know me.”
“So are you saying we’ll get to know each other after all?” He waggled his eyebrows.
“Not in the way Destiny intends.”
“You don’t believe in Destiny?”
“It’s hard to believe in someone who wears a dead weasel around her neck and zebra cowgirl boots.”
Tye grinned. “She’s not so bad. She’s actually a nice girl, just a little quirky.”
“You know her?”
“Yeah, we grew up together.”
It was hard for me to picture Destiny as a child, although she seemed very infantile in her own way. “So in addition to Africa you’re also old pals with Destiny?”
“Yeah, we are.” He smiled fondly as if remembering, but then his smile vanished as he spoke. “My parents are pures and have always rubbed elbows with the elite. Destiny’s parents are famous witches. When she was born, they knew right away she was a Destiny.”
My head angled toward him. “You mean they knew Destiny should be her name?”
Tye regarded me like I’d missed something important. The creases in his brow softened when he realized I was genuinely awaiting his response. “Destiny is not her name,” he said slowly. “It’s what she is. About once every century an especially gifted baby girl is born from a union of two witches—a sort of soothsayer. The extra talents she’ll possess vary from each individual, but the common trait is her aptitude to predict the future. It’s tradition to name her after the original soothsayer, but she’s always referred to as Destiny.”
I adjusted my position as much as the small area would allow, but the so-called cockpit was too cramped to permit much movement. “That’s kind of strange. If she has a given name, why don’t people use it?”
“Because it’s Trudhilde Radinka.” He shrugged. “If it were me, I’d sure as hell go by Destiny.”
I blinked back at him. “No kidding.”
“Give her a chance, Celia. She’s a good girl with a heavy burden on her shoulders. Since her birth, her parents have always thrown her power in people’s faces. It’s been hard for her to make friends.”
I never thought I could relate to Destiny, but I did then. Friends weren’t a gift that came easy for me. I hadn’t stopped to think how someone like her would fare. “She seems so peculiar. Between her style of dress and my experience with her in vamp court, she’s not someone I’ve longed to approach. But . . . if you consider her a good person, I’ll make an effort to be nice if I see her again.”
“I’d appreciate that,” he said quietly. The fondness in his tone returned and his expression softened, but it didn’t take long for an underlying hint of mischief to brighten his features. “So, dovie, now that you know more about Destiny, are you more apt to believe what she says?”
“Not when she’s talking about us.”
He smiled at me with curiosity. “Why are you so certain?”
I smiled back and crossed my arms. “Why are you?”
“For one, Destiny’s predictions are never wrong.” His voice dropped an octave and his playful demeanor vanished. “For another, I’ve been attracted to you from the first moment I caught your scent.”
I inched away from him. “I think it’s just a cat thing. I don’t find there are many of us around.”
“You’re . . . blushing.” He sounded surprised.
I shifted nervously, except there was no place to go but down.
“How can someone who’s mated to a wolf and living with one of the earth’s deadliest masters be so shy?”
My body heat rose the more Tye continued to watch me. “Don’t look at me that way.”
The timbre in Tye’s voice lowered to a bedroom whisper. “Why shouldn’t I?”
I focused on the control panel. It was better than the alternative. “Tye, I’m not used to this kind of attention. It makes me uncomfortable. You have to understand, Aric and Misha are among the rare few who have given me more than a passing glance.”
Tye started to say something, but instead paused to sniff the air around me. His expression changed from someone ready to make a smart-ass comment to an individual who knew compassion and carried it well. “You’re serious, aren’t you?” I nodded with my now crimson face. He scoffe
d. “I had you pegged all wrong, girl. Here I thought you were another stuck-up princess. In truth, you’re just a timid little bird.”
I couldn’t argue. Aside from my relationship with Aric, I knew nothing when it came to romance. I barely understood the male species, and had absolutely no desire to learn more.
I’d seen Tye-the-player and Tye-the-jerk in action, but at that moment, he showed me a different side. Instead of continuing his banter, he spared my feelings and described some of the animals we’d see on safari.
We talked for about an hour until the plane struck some kind invisible wall. It didn’t make sense. The plane continued to speed forward. But then it jolted as if rammed by something hard, and the controls went haywire. Lights blinked off and on and several alarms blared a warning. The nose dipped and the steering mechanism wrenched free of Tye’s grip. My stomach lurched to my throat as the plane plunged downward in a spiral. My sisters screamed. Tye fought to regain our altitude, only for us to be jerked back down. Again, he managed to level the plane, but just barely.
“The Tribe knows we’re here!” he shouted. “Get ready to jump!”
CHAPTER 28
Everyone in the back scrambled for parachutes. I unbuckled and hurried to help, while Tye fought to keep our plane in the air.
We turned the plane inside out, only to find one chute.
“Shit!” Bren growled.
I scanned the compartment filled with terrified faces, desperately trying to figure a way out of this. Only Chang and Ying-Ying remained surprisingly calm. I thought it was because they didn’t comprehend what was happening. I swallowed a lump in my throat. How could I possibly explain we were all about to die? Charades at a time like this seemed completely inappropriate. I opened my mouth to say something when Ying-Ying pointed to the plane door. I didn’t move, so she pointed again. “Bren,” she said.
Emme clutched the headrest in front of her, her fair skin pale with fear. “I—I think she wants one of you to open the door.”
Bren and I tried to explain that we couldn’t open the door when Chang stood. He calmly strapped on two backpacks and grabbed a blanket from one of the storage compartments. A huge smile lit his face as he kicked open the door. Gusts of wind overtook the small cabin, smacking my hair into my face. I pushed it out of the way in time to see Chang grip Shayna’s arm and leap out with my poor shrieking sister.
Bren and I rushed to the door in a panic. I gasped when I caught a glimpse of a white parachute. Chang had somehow magically converted the blanket. “Holy shit!” Bren yelled.
Bren and I continued to gawk while Ying-Ying slinked her way through the small space. He freaked out when he saw she was carrying two packs: hers and his. “No. No, no, no, no.” He held out his hands trying to block her. I watched in horror as the tiny yogi shoved my extra-large friend into the air before diving after him. Her maniacal laugh exploded out of her, drowning out Bren’s hollers as she flew toward him.
Tye grunted. “I can’t keep the plane up. Get going, now!”
Danny had just finished securing the parachute to Emme. “Celia, grab Emme and go—the parachute will hold you both. Tye and I will jump before the plane crashes.”
“Screw that!” Tye shouted. “Go with Emme, Dan. They’re going to need you to find the stone. Celia will just go eagle and fly us out.”
“Good idea!” Danny yelled and leapt out, clutching Emme.
Good idea? GOOD IDEA!?
“Tye, I don’t think I can—”
Tye grabbed our packs and flung us out the door.
I didn’t have time to think or attempt to calm the hysterical female shrieking inside me. The wind whipped against my body and the earth spun below. I gritted my teeth and called forth my will to survive.
But then my call turned into a screech—the mighty screech of an eagle.
My legs shrank and my arms lengthened, sprouting feathers from one breath to the next. I righted myself and glided into the night with a grace and speed I’d never known. My sharp vision fixed on Tye, who was hurtling toward the ground at an alarming rate. With one, two, three flaps of my powerful wings I had him.
I dug my talons into his shoulders and cried out in triumph over the sounds of the plane exploding below. My new form felt natural, as if I’d done it a million times. Unfortunately, this was my first flight, and if it hadn’t been for the tree we smashed into, I wasn’t sure how we would’ve landed.
The pain broke my concentration and I changed back to human. We swore and groaned as we hit just about every damn branch on our way down. I landed on my back and rolled into Tye, who lay sprawled trying to catch his breath. A family of very pissed-off monkeys shrilled and scurried around us, completely disgusted that we’d disturbed their sleep. Leaves rained down on us and collected into several small piles before either of us moved. Tye let out the mother of all swearwords before turning to glare at me. “What the hell kind of eagle are you anyway?”
I sat and wiped the dirt from my arms and shoulders. “I never claimed to be an eagle! I only ever managed the full form once and even then it was only for a few seconds.”
“My boy Uri said—”
“Your boy Uri likes to exaggerate the truth!”
I scrambled to my feet and tried to pick the leaves and twigs out of my hair. I was pulling what I hoped was a giant seed from my curls when I noticed Tye’s expression had morphed from furious man to hormonal teen. He stared at me smiling. It hit me too late that I was standing there naked.
I jumped behind the tree. “Throw me something from my pack,” I demanded. He went through my pack and tossed me a pen. “Damn it, Tye—you know what I mean. Give me something to wear!”
He stood and strolled toward the tree. “It’s hot. You’ll probably be more comfortable this way.”
Before I could pound the crap out him, Danny’s wolf howled. My head whipped in the direction of his call. “They’re in trouble!”
I changed into a tigress and bolted. Tye sprinted behind me, but he couldn’t keep up. I swerved through a maze of trees until I reached a clearing of flat earth and drying patches of grass. The crumbling blades crunched beneath my feet as I stalked.
Emme and Danny stood back to back, cowering and trembling as about twenty weresnakes slithered around them with flicking tongues. The snakes were at least twelve feet in length and twelve inches in diameter. The closest ones struck over and over, their speed unearthly and eerily mesmerizing. Emme kept them back with her force, but she couldn’t keep their fangs from meeting their flesh for long.
My deep growl announced my arrival and so did Tye’s roar. The snakes hissed and spat venom from their full dripping mouths before parting, allowing a dark figure swathed in a red cape and hood to glide through their wall of sliding bodies. Dark magic swirled around her as she levitated above the soil and drifted toward us.
She licked her thin lips as if ravenous. “Celia Wird,” she whispered in a thick foreign accent.
Great, another fan. The whole “let’s get Celia” campaign had pounced on my last nerve.
Drool trickled from her mouth to sizzle against the crackling dirt. “You don’t want to anger my friends. They’re hungry and you’re keeping them from their feast.”
Our growls grew deadlier as Tye and I prowled forward. Celia, the green ones are boomslangs and the others are black mambas—both poisonous, but there’s no cure for the boomslangs’ venom.
Although Tye’s voice jarred me when it echoed in my head, I didn’t dare avert my eyes from the snakes. We separated to circle them just as Bren arrived with Ying-Ying hovering in lotus pose on his back. She slid off his fur almost silently and rushed to my side.
One of the snakes lunged toward Tye. I didn’t see what happened—the movement was too fast. But in the next moment Tye spat the large reptilian head at their mistress’s feet. The hissing grew louder, but the snakes failed to attack.
The cloaked figure raised her arms and chanted as a red mist enclosed the field. One by one the snakes disappeared.
Our heads jerked, searching and sniffing for any trace of our enemy. Bren’s snarl twitched his nose. Their scent remained. They were here. But where? Ying-Ying left my side and calmly stepped toward where the witch had stood. She kicked a few pebbles away before falling once more into lotus pose.
I didn’t bother exchanging “look at crazy Ying-Ying go” glances with everyone. Our enemies remained somewhere near, angry and ready to puncture our flesh.
The ground beneath me barely trembled before the first one attacked. It launched itself straight at me in 3-D. Others followed, springing from beneath the soil like demented jack-in-the boxes. They were fast, but so was I. I dodged out of the way and bit one’s head off before it struck again.
Pandemonium erupted. I crouched, sprung, and clawed, evading strikes. The snake-charming witch started to chant something else, but then stopped abruptly with an ear-piercing scream.
Bren and a blur of white passed in front of me with blinding speed while I faced off with another weresnake. This one was bigger. It danced around me with hypnotic grace and flicked his tongue in a disgustingly sexual way. My claws sliced through his eye when he struck. I pounced and went for his throat when another knocked me to my side and coiled its body around me.
My right claws punched through its jaw and snapped them shut as we wrestled and barreled into anything that stepped in our way. My back arched and twisted, trying to keep the other snakes from lunging at me. The snake holding me squeezed tighter, robbing me of oxygen and weakening my screaming muscles.
The pressure in my head built to a dull throb. I was losing consciousness when Shayna arrived. Her small thin frame leapt in the air wielding two spinning swords. One severed my attacker’s head. The other jabbed through another’s open maw. With a flick of her wrist and a grunt, two heads landed in the dirt one after the other. I wriggled free and kicked the dead snake off me. She jetted after the black mamba chasing Danny with a boomslang at her heels. I snapped her pursuer in half as it leapt onto her back and reached for her throat.