A man waited for us at the bottom of the steps. He had that steely-eyed, straight-spined look of someone who’d served in the military. Competence rolled off him, which seemed like a good quality in a pilot. He nodded at our approach, expression neutral as if two guys emerging from the forest in the middle of the night was the most normal thing in the world.
“I’m Travis,” he told Jesse. “Sterling sent me.”
Jesse shook his hand. “How long until wheels up?”
“Five minutes. We’re fueled and ready to go. Flight time is a little over eight hours. The weather looks good, so it should be an uneventful trip.”
“Thank you,” Jesse said.
Travis stepped aside and gestured to the stairs. “After you.”
The plane’s inside made the outside look understated. Soft lighting cast a warm glow on cream leather seats, polished wood accents, and plush carpet. A sofa took up one side, and a kitchenette gleamed in the back.
“Sit anywhere,” Travis said. “There’s plenty of food in the galley if you’re hungry.” He disappeared into the cockpit and closed the door.
I sank into the nearest chair, which was like sitting on a cloud. Jesse took the seat across from me and tucked his rucksack under his feet.
Moments later, we were moving, and then we were climbing, the darkened field below dropping away. The cabin lights dimmed, and Jesse studied me.
I stared out the window, my face reflected in the oval.
“We’re going to France,” Jesse said. “I have a house there. It’s safe.”
I watched condensation roll across the window at an angle.France.Where he’d fought in the war. Where he’d met Philippe. Had he lied about that, too? Memories of that first night in his house rose in my mind. He’d said he could teach me how to sniff out lies.
“Once you’ve practiced, it’ll be very difficult for people to lie to you.”
Yeah, well, I should have practiced harder.
Outside, more shadowy clouds drifted past.
Jesse cleared his throat. “This plane belongs to a witch named Sterling Moray. You heard me on the phone with him.”
I’d always pictured witches as elderly women in pointy hats, not English dudes who owned swanky private jets. But what did I know about the supernatural world? Only what Jesse had told me, and I couldn’t trust any of it.
“Sterling is powerful,” Jesse said. “His sister as well. Years ago, I tracked down a werewolf who had harmed them. Sterling gave me something in return.” He paused.
I kept my stare on the window.
“That’s where my telekinesis comes from,” he said more quietly. “It was a gift from Sterling. A payment.”
A pretty generous payment. What kind of service had he performed to get free airplane rides? Was this trip a one-time thing, or did he have some kind of punch card like a free haircutat a salon? Maybe he kept it in his rucksack along with his protein bars and goddamn burner phones.
I watched another long, thin line of condensation drift across the window.
“I’m sorry, Caleb,” he said. “I know you’re angry. You have every right to be.”
Good to know I had his permission to be angry. I stood, grabbed my duffel, and moved to the pair of seats at the rear of the plane. As I fastened my seatbelt, I waited for him to order me back. I tensed, my jaw tight, ready to hate him for it.
But he stayed in his seat, all that dominant werewolf energy stuffed wherever he kept it when he wasn’t using it. For one hot, perverse moment, I wanted to call him on it. Do something so vile and inappropriate that he had no choice but to put me in my place.
No gift.
No control.
I wedged myself into the soft leather and closed my eyes.Eight hours.
I waited for exhaustion to put me out of my misery. I’d spent my life desperate to escape home. Now I was doing it, my future tied to a man who’d decided he would rather fuck me than kill me.
