Rourke stood behind the two pilots, his arms crossed, his broad back taking up all the available doorway space. “I see plenty of open space to land down there. Just keep bringing us down and everything will be fine.” His voice was calm.
“Fine?” Panic filled the plane, the pilot’s voice wavering. “We’re directly over the southern glades! All that’s down there is sawgrass marsh with big channels of water and nothing else for miles and miles.”
“Marsh means flat, right? You have to look at the positives,” Ray kindly pointed out. He stood just behind Rourke, his back against the bathroom door. He leaned forward and glanced out the little window attached to the main door. “I don’t see anything that will stand in our way. No pesky trees to worry about, no big structures. Just get us down. That’s all we need you to do.”
The copilot was a little more confident. “We can’t radio in because the electrical is dead, but they should see us go down on the radar. We can do this, Larry. It’s just like the simulator. We keep the wheels up and set her down belly-up. It’ll be bumpy as hell, but this plane is solid. She should stay together.”
Marcy still had her eyes firmly closed, and I leaned over to whisper, “Do you have a spell to wipe their memories once we land? Once we duck out, it’s going to be a problem for them.”
Marcy cracked one eye open. “I’m working here. And, yes, I can figure out what to do with them once we land. Not a problem.”
I nodded and motioned Ray over.
He started for me right as the plane took another nosedive.
My head snapped back to Marcy. “What’s going on?” I hadn’t meant to yell so loud. “I thought you said you had this?”
“Something is fighting my spell!” she cried. “And whatever it is has some serious mojo.”
“Can’t you do something else?”
“I’m trying! But, balls to the walls, it’s taking everything I’ve got.” Marcy’s knuckles were white as she gripped the armrests and fought for control. The plane bounced around like it was in the throes of wild turbulence as she tried another spell.
Rourke caught my eye from the cockpit doorway. He’d braced his body into the opening, his arms locked solidly in front of him. He nodded once and I turned to Naomi. “Okay, Naomi, it’s time for plan B,” I whispered. “Do you think you and Ray can position the plane up?”
“I do not know for sure, but we will certainly try, Ma Reine.”
“Oh, we can do it,” Ray piped up. “We will get this plane level even if I have to wrestle it to the ground. I’m not letting us burn up in a fiery crash. Not on my watch.”
Land was coming up fast. Ray grabbed on to the handle of the door and pulled.
The pilot’s voice was nothing less than a shriek as he heard the lever flip. “What are you doing? You can’t open the door!”
Jessica, I have to knock them out, Rourke said in my mind. They won’t be able to process what’s about to happen.
Can you fly the plane? I asked.
If the vamps give me a good angle, I can get it down. I’ve flown before, but it’s been a long time.
Let’s have Marcy spell them. I don’t want them hurt if we can help it.
Fine, but have her do it quick.
“Marcy.” I reached out and tapped her leg. Her eyes flew open. “I need you to spell the pilots. Knock them out, quick like a bunny.”
“I love bunnies.” She muttered something and both pilots slumped forward in their seats. “How’s that for quick?”
“Perfect.”
Rourke wasted no time. He had them in the passenger seats beside us in about ten seconds. I rose to help, unbuckling my seat belt. “Secure that one.” He nodded at the copilot.
I reached over and made sure they were both tightly belted. We were quickly running out of time.
Ray hollered, “We’re going out.” He tossed the door open and a rush of air filled the plane. In a blink he and Naomi were gone. The wind howled fiercely, sucking everything not tied down out the door.
I braced my legs and hands against the seats. We weren’t at a high altitude, so breathing wasn’t an issue. Rourke strapped himself into the cockpit and yelled, “Jessica! Buckle yourself in. We’re going to crash in about thirty seconds!”
I glanced over at Marcy. Her face was white as a sheet, but she kept chanting the same spell over and over. “This damn interference is killing my craft,” she moaned as I made a split decision and started for the front of the plane.
Almost immediately the plane began to nose up, slowing our rapid descent. The vamps were making it work. The landing wasn’t going to be close to perfect, but at least we weren’t going to crash headfirst. I took a seat next to Rourke and he arched an eyebrow at me.
“This seat is just as good as any,” I answered as I grabbed the shoulder harness and clipped myself in. “What do we do now?”
“Put your hands on the yoke and pull back with me,” he ordered. “We’re going to help slow the plane down if we can.”
I did as I was told, and with the aid of the vamps, the front of the plane continued to edge upward. But the ground was closing in exceedingly fast. We had only about ten seconds at most. “We’re going to hit soon.” I tried to keep the panic out of my voice. This was likely not going to kill us, unless of course the crash broke all our necks or the plane was engulfed in flames. But even if we weren’t going to die, it was going to hurt like a bitch. Being broken and mangled from a plane crash was a serious injury for any supe.