“I’m sure your spells are superior,” I said, “but you’re right, I’m not strapping you to my back, nor is Rourke. I’m sure we’ll be fine, but to ensure that we need to leave soon. Ray is going to fly you out and the plan is to meet up in two hours.”
She sighed. “I despise Vamp Air, but I guess it can’t be helped. I can’t even think about the amount of bugs that will be caught in my teeth over these swamplands.”
“Well, maybe it would help if you just keep your mouth shut—”
Jessica! Can you hear me? Tyler’s voice came rushing into my mind.
I grabbed Rourke’s hand and gave it a squeeze to let him know what was happening. Yes, I can hear you! Where are you?
The better question is where are you? Both Danny and I got a huge pulse of distress from you a few minutes ago, and then it all went silent. What’s going on?
“I do keep my mouth shut, so there,” Marcy muttered. “Other than the screaming part. Now I need your man to lift me into the plane so I can spell the pilots.”
Rourke nodded as he moved past me. “Stay here. I’ll get the witch on the plane. Then we leave.”
The plane we were in just went down. I’m sure that’s what you felt.
Went down, as in crashed?
Kind of, yes, I answered. It started with a strange call from Juanita warning me I was in danger, and then the electrical cut out. It would’ve been much worse if we didn’t have the vamps or Marcy on board. But now we’re stuck in the swamp. We have to get out of here before company comes. Where are you?
Did you say Juanita? Your Latina neighbor—that Juanita? His voice was strained. I could sense he was running.
One and the same.
Jesus, Jess, it would be nice if you stayed out of life-and-death scenarios for five minutes.
You’re telling me. I’d love nothing more than to go back to Rum Cay and leave all this crap behind, but unfortunately, that’s not a current option. Helping Dad is. Where are you? I’ve got limited time before I have to shift and run.
We’re just crossing the panhandle into Florida. It’s slow going whenever we have to maneuver around a large city, but we’re making good time. We’ll probably be close to you in about four or five hours.
Sounds good. Once we’re out of this area, I’ll hit you with our location. Stay safe.
You too.
Right as I signed off with my brother, Ray landed next to me.
It took everything I had not to jump. “Jeez, Ray, a little warning would be helpful.”
“You have supersonic hearing, Hannon,” Ray groused. “I shouldn’t have to announce my landing like a simpleton.”
He was right, of course. But I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of admitting I should’ve heard him. “I was having a conversation with Tyler in my head. Sometimes our senses are busy elsewhere.” I hadn’t realized it before, but when I talked internally, I did shut off almost everything else. In the future, it would be wise to keep things more open.
“Hannon, you have to stay vigilant, especially when the supernatural world is coming at you with a vengeance. What if I was some vamp coming to kill you? I would’ve had the jump on you just now.”
“Spoken like a true cop, Ray. I guess some things never change.” I chuckled. “But since it’s daylight, and you and Naomi are some of the only vamps who can withstand the heat, thanks to my blood, I’m not super worried about a flying sneak attack.”
“You never know, you just never know.” Ray shook his head like he was sorry to have to breathe the same air as such a moron.
“Where’s Naomi?” I asked. “Wasn’t she with you?”
“She went a little farther to investigate. We spotted one plane coming out of the east. Not sure yet if it’s headed this way.”
“Once Marcy is finished with her spells, I want you guys to head out,” I said.
“Directly north,” Ray said, “about thirty miles you’ll hit some dense sawgrass. The area is more exposed but looks easier to navigate and, from the sky, seems to have less water.”
“That sounds good. We’ll rendezvous with you guys soon.”
Marcy stuck her head out of the plane. “All done,” she chirped. “Now let’s get out of here. This swamp is making my skin crawl. Ray, can you come and get me? I don’t want to have to use another drying spell. I’m taxed.”
Ray grunted but moved forward to get her. “I’m sorry, but did you just use your brute strength to stop an airplane from crashing? If you did, I missed you out on the wing.” Once he was positioned below her he said, “Jump and I’ll catch you.”
“Fine, but if you drop me, I will retaliate.”
“I’m not going to drop you, witch. You weigh next to nothing. And as long as you keep your mouth shut on the flight and don’t complain, the ride out of here will be stress free.”
Marcy arched a look at the vamp. “You’d like me silent, wouldn’t you—” The you ended on a long, extended high note as Ray snatched her up, tired of waiting for her to make up her mind and agree with him, and took to the air.
“They get along like Jekyll and Hyde,” I said as Rourke walked up to me, taking my hand and leading me to a place where we could shift. “I hope Marcy spelled the area before Ray hijacked her. If not, we’ll leave tracks.”
“She said she did,” Rourke said. “She also said we’d have exactly eight minutes after she left or it wouldn’t cover us.”