It was only a second later that there was a slight jolt and we were in the air. I gripped the arm of my seat tighter, eyes glued to the shrinking ground. And that was it. We were flying.
“You okay, honey?” Nina asked.
“Yeah,” I answered. “Never been on a plane before.” Probably because my mom had never had any ID.
Nina’s smile covered her face. “Really? I haven’t gotten to do many first experiences with you. That’s neat. Hopefully we have a lot more of those this week.”
It was kind of neat. That Nina would do this for me was amazing. Like something a real mom would do. I studied her for a second while she looked past me and out the window. I’d been pretty lucky to land a home with her and Dan. Plenty of other home experiences had taught me the difference.
I followed her lead and looked back out the window. Cars were barely visible below. How high were we? Would I heal if we plunged to the ground from this height? Probably, but Nina sure wouldn’t.
“Can you tell me yet? What the plan is for Chicago?” Nina asked.
I kept my gaze out the plane window, my stomach leaping every time we hit a slight bump. So stupid, with all had I been through. Trolls, the hyran, and now I was scared of something so normal as flying. Pathetic. I consciously loosened my grip on the armrest, my fingers aching for a second. “I don’t really want to talk about it here.” Truth. But I also didn’t want to talk about it anywhere else. Not that I was going to get away with that.
Nina glanced around the plane. “I guess this isn’t too private. But you’re going to have to get into better detail once we get off this thing, or I’m sitting us down until we can get a flight back and we’re going straight home.”
Fair enough. I nodded. Nina laid her seat back and leaned into it. “Nap time.”
I tipped my chair back too, but it barely moved. Nina’s eyes were closed already, but every time I shut mine I got that same uneasy feeling of being watched. I let her sleep and kept an eye on the other passengers.
Nina didn’t even wake up when the attendant stopped by with drinks and peanuts. I told her what Nina would want and then ate mine. The snack worked for a few minutes, but then I was eying hers. I was able to control myself for thirty minutes or so, then I gave up and ate hers too.
A tedious hour later and the fasten seatbelt light dinged on. No wonder no one else seemed all that excited about flying, this was boring. I sighed. But the light meant we were about there, right? Sitting here, my mind on little Jaime was torture. How could anyone even think about putting a kid that age in danger?
“Flight attendants, prepare for landing,” the pilots voice said over the speakers.
I reached over and nudged Nina. “We’re almost there.”
She stretched and yawned. “Did I sleep?”
“Only the entire trip,” I fake grumbled.
She grinned. “Good, I needed that. What time is it?”
“Here? 12:45.” We were cutting it close, but it would be fine. Cray would keep Starren and Wade away and the family had stayed safe without my help this long. Everything was going to be fine.
“I can’t believe I slept that long. But it has been a crazy couple of weeks.” In other words she hadn’t been sleeping because she’d been spending her nights worrying about me. Ugh, why had I started caring about stuff? It made life so much more work.
The plane sank through the clouds toward the ground. The city formed beneath me, buildings stretching up into the smoggy sky. It looked a lot different from up here, the buildings not as tall, the streets much cleaner. Which I wasn’t supposed to know. We circled the airport a couple times, the pilot making his announcements about where to catch connecting flights, blah blah blah. Then we were headed down. Once we started to lose altitude, we got to the runway quick. The ground rushed up, then we were hovering over it for just a second before a slight jolt.
“Landing,” Nina said. “Glad that’s over, flying is so boring.”
I raised an eyebrow. Maybe for me, but she’d slept the whole time.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
The plane coasted nearly to a stop, then lurched forward toward a gate. Once we stopped for good, the attendant made the last of the announcements and seat belts started clicking off up and down the rows.
I wiggled past Nina and stood up in the aisle. Man, that felt good after sitting for so long. At least it felt like a long time. I didn’t sit much, other than school. I reached to grab my bag and that same feeling of warning swept through me. Something was definitely wrong. I looked around the plane. No one was even glancing our way. The man in the seat ahead of us was going after his own bag, the lady with the kid across from us was looking frazzled, trying to collect all their junk. What was going on?
“Don’t you think?” Nina was asking.
“What?”
“That it’s time to get something to eat? I’m starved.”
“Yep, you know me, always ready to eat,” I answered, not really paying attention to her yet. Something had to be going on. Still, no one stood out to me.
Nina laughed while she stood, putting an arm around my shoulders. “Sure do, I bet you’re even hungrier than I am, even if you did eat my in flight snack. Whatever it was, I didn’t even see it.”
“Can we get it to go? The food I mean?” Because no matter how much I tried to convince myself otherwise, something was going on. I’d never really felt like this before. The creepy feeling. Another squint around the plane didn’t change the fact that everything looked normal.
“Sure. But what’s the hurry?” Nina grabbed her bag from the upper bin.
“Just want to get this done.” We waited together for a minute until the line ahead of us finally started to thin.
It started up again, the feeling, causing the walls of the plane to close in around me, trapping us. I took a breath, trying to fill my lungs to the max, but my chest was so tight. What was going on? What was causing this? Something was definitely not right, but I had no idea what.
“You okay?” Nina asked, her voice somewhat distant.
“Yeah,” I answered. “Just hungrier than I thought.” Hopefully that was it. Because if not, things were about to get interesting.
Chapter Twelve
One train and two buses later we were only a couple blocks from Jaden’s house. I’d told Nina that I already had a meeting set up, and that it was at a place she wouldn’t have to worry about anything happening to us. I just didn’t tell her it was their house. We’d grabbed some food at the airport, but I was starting to get hungry again already. One annoying thing about the regenerating, when I got nervous I burned a huge amount of calories, like my body was just waiting to heal.
Nina had started looking suspicious when we left the shopping district and moved into a more residential area. I stopped us in front of the Martan’s home.
“This doesn’t look like a restaurant or other public place,” Nina said, crossing her arms.
“I know, I’m sorry,” I answered.
Nina eyes widened. This was probably the first time I’d ever told her sorry sincerely.
“Before we go in, there’s something else I need to tell you.”
Nina tipped her head and raised an eyebrow.
“This is a family, just not my family,” the words tripped out of my mouth. Forgive me, please, I begged silently. “One of my friends, his family is in trouble. I’m helping them get out of the city.”
Nina closed off, her face going blank. “Don’t you think you maybe could have mentioned this earlier? Dan might have been able to fix things. What’s going on? How are we going to help?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
I didn’t even know where to start. Trusting was definitely not one of my strong points. Trust Nina to want what was best for me, sure, trust her not to freak out and call some government agency? Not happening.
“There are some
people threatening them. We just have to get them somewhere safe.”
“And how did this job fall to you? And why haven’t they called the police?”
“It’s complicated.”
“I think I can probably handle it,” Nina said. She stared straight at me, arms still crossed tightly across her chest. She wasn’t even a real mom and she still had the mom look down, how did that happen? “We are going somewhere to discuss this before we get into something that I don’t understand.”
The front door flung open and banged into the wall inside, Jaime popping her head out. “We’ve been waiting for you,” she yelled in our direction. Her little pigtails flopped to the side as she tilted her head, clamping her mouth shut and staring at Nina.
Nina looked at me. “Who’s this?” I shrugged. “How many kids are involved? What kind of danger are they in?”
Man she asked a lot of questions. “I’ll answer all your questions in a few minutes.” I turned on my begging face. “Please? We’re already here, they already know we’re here, it’s too late.” Nina huffed at that, but followed me through the gate over to the front door.
“Hello,” Nina said once we were closer to the kid. “I’m Nina. And you are?”
“I’m Jaime. I’m not allowed to let strangers in the house, so only Trisha can come in. Mom said we were waiting for her.”
“Who’s here?” Rebecca’s voice, from inside.
“It’s me,” I called in past Jaime.
Rebecca showed up behind Jaime and opened the storm door. “About time. Where’s Cray?” Her gaze flicked over to Nina. “And who’s this?”
Nina held her hand out to Rebecca. “Hi. I’m Trish’s mom, Nina.” Trish’s mom, without the foster. I liked that. Surprising she’d admit it right now, when she probably wasn’t very happy with me, but I still liked it.
“Oh, so you’re one of them too?” Rebecca asked. She didn’t look very happy about another fae being involved.
Shoot. “Foster mom,” I clarified, giving Rebecca a look. She must have caught on, her expression definitely changed. I looked over at Nina. Her face had changed too, gone all mask like. I’d hurt her feelings, no doubt about it, right after she’d claimed me. My conscience squirmed, but I hadn’t had a choice. I was saying that a lot lately.
“About time you got here is right,” Jaden said from behind his mom.
I crossed my eyes at him but didn’t answer. Nina had been exposed to enough in the last five minutes, she didn’t need me talking to an invisible guy.
“We got the van packed,” Jaden continued. “Without any help from you.”
“Not much help from you either, I bet,” I answered before I could stop myself, then instantly felt bad. Not like he didn’t want to help.
“What?” Nina asked.
“Never mind,” I answered. “So you’re totally ready to go?” I asked Rebecca.
Rebecca looked at me weird for a second, like she knew I’d been talking to Jaden. But she must have caught on to the fact that Nina was in the dark about all this because she didn’t ask. “Yes, we’re ready. I found Jaime a dialysis center, already made her an appointment for Monday. We should be settled in by then. ”
“Be where?” Nina asked.
There it was again, that creepy feeling. What was with that? It was starting to annoy me. I glanced over at Jaden, but he didn’t seem to notice anything. “Glad you’re set. I think we should get out of here. Something doesn’t feel right.”
“What about Cray?” Jaden asked.
“He’ll be fine. He just won’t be able to go with us. Maybe he can distract Starren.”
“I’ll go check on the house one more time,” Jaden said. “Make sure they got everything important.”
“Who’s Starren?” Nina asked, looking a little concerned. Probably for my sanity since what I’d just said to the empty air didn’t follow the conversation we’d been having with Rebecca.
“Hopefully you’ll never have to find out,” I muttered. It almost made me feel bad. Starren had tried to take care of me while I was on her team. But I wasn’t under any illusions about what would happen if she found out I was helping Jaden’s family.
“Will someone please explain to me what is going on here?” Nina asked.
“Trish, get them in the car, now!” Jaden’s voice, from inside the house.
“Load up, everyone to the car, now,” I said, not waiting to find out what had Jaden so upset.
Rebecca instantly picked up on the urgency. “Here,” she shoved Jaime toward me. “Buckle her in, I’ll get Lucy.”
I grabbed Jaime’s hand. “Come on.” I told both her and Nina.
“Not until you tell me what you’ve gotten us into,” Nina said, planting her arms across her chest. Great. There went the arms again. When she got like this there was no changing her mind.
“We don’t have the time right now, Nina. I promise, I’ll explain later.” Explain yes, everything, probably not. I half dragged Jaime to the side of the house, opened the mini-van door and tossed her inside. It looked like the back was full of stuff. It was going to be a long ride to Indiana. Six people in a seven person mini-van, not too bad except for the boxes. “Get in the back, get your seat belt on.” Jaime looked at me like I was about to murder her or something, eyes all wide. Silly kid, I was trying to help.
Nina stepped in close and popped her head in the open van door. “Everything is going to be okay, sweetie. Just buckle up, okay?”
Jaime nodded and reached for her belt.
“Thanks,” I said. Credit where credit was due and all that. “Would you stay with her while I check with everyone else?”
Nina nodded. “But we aren’t getting in this van until I have some answers.”
Ugh, adults. I dumped my suitcase beside the van and took off for the house. Not that I knew Jaden well or anything, but he didn’t seem like the panic without reason type. Lucy was busting out of the front door when I made it there.
“Thanks,” she said, sticking her face in mine.
“For what?”
“Forcing us to move again. Mom had talked about it before, but now we’re actually doing it and she won’t tell us why. It’s too big of a coincidence that it happens the night after we meet you. What did you say to her?”
Rebecca opened the glass door. “Not now, Luce, just load up.” Lucy grumbled something and headed toward the van. Rebecca waited until she was out of hearing distance. “Is Jaden in the van?”
“No. Go ahead, I’ll go in and grab him.” I pushed past her and went inside. The house didn’t look that different, even with the stuff all packed up. It had been mostly bare when I was here yesterday, but it felt different now. Void of life. All the family pictures gone from the walls, the keys not hanging on the key rack by the front door. All the non-personal items were still here, all the décor. Rebecca knew how to pack, something told me this hadn’t been the first time she’d been on the run. No wonder she’d taken everything so calmly yesterday. She probably knew more about the fae than I did, if Jaden’s dad had told her much.
“Jaden, you in here?” I called.
“The living room.”
I walked in. He was standing by the couch, staring at the floor.
“What’s up? Why are we in a hurry?”
“Something bad is going to happen, soon. It hit me, really strong a minute ago.”
I shivered. He was feeling exactly what I’d been feeling all day. Not good. “Then why are we standing around? Let’s get out of here.” I grabbed his hand and jerked, trying to pull him out the door. He didn’t budge.
“Wait. It’s Jaime’s panda, I can’t pick it up. Can you grab it?” I looked to where he was pointing, a small teddy bear that had apparently fallen off the side of the couch. “We are going to be in a world of hurt if she doesn’t have it when it’s time for bed.” I reached down to grab it just as the sound of the back door creaking open hit my ears. I froze.
Jaden grabbed my wrist and put a finger to his lips. I nodded, reached down and picked up the bear and we started toward the front door, practically on tiptoe. If he got himself killed over this stupid bear, I was going to be so mad. I still needed him so I could stay with Dan and Nina.
We reached the front door just as a guy who looked a few years older than me stepped around the corner from the kitchen. He was the most gorgeous guy I had ever seen, and that was saying something after Wade. I stopped, not feeling like I had a choice. My eyes met his, such a beautiful light blue they were almost white. He held out a hand toward me. Involuntarily my hand started to go up. Someone gripped my wrist and jerked me out the front door, nearly knocking me down. No, I wanted to go back. I needed to see him again.
“Let me go!”
“No, we’re leaving.” Jaden dragged me toward the van at a run, much like I had pulled Jaime out there a few minutes ago. How was he a ghost and still so strong?
“Who was that?”
“I don’t know and we aren’t sticking around to find out, let’s go.”
We rounded the corner, me still pulling back from Jaden, feeling like I was waking up from something. The feeling I’d had at the airport was back, of being watched. Surely I would have noticed that hunk if he’d been around. Me and everyone else, unless he’d been invisible to humans. The sliding door on the van was already open, I grabbed my bag in one hand and Nina’s, which was propped up next to mine, in the other, jumped in after Jaden and slammed the door. “We need to get out of here!”
The sliding door on the other side of the van was open and Nina was standing there talking to Jaime.
“Nina, please, get in! There’s someone in the house, we need to go.” I was shouting now, but she didn’t understand the urgency of the situation. How could she when I hadn’t told her what was going on? Her eyes got wide and she slammed the sliding door, jumped in the front seat and slammed that door for good measure.
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