I hesitantly nod, wondering where she’s going with this. By the way she sneers, I’m guessing it’s not going to be pretty.
She leans toward me. “I’m going to let you in on a little secret. All of that may have mattered, but no one at the Academy gives a shit who your parents and grandparents are. In fact, it might be beneficial for you to keep that information to yourself.” She shifts back, crossing her legs. “Keepers are nothing but barbaric animals who fight first and think second. Trying to brag only makes you look equally as ridiculous.” With that, she starts lightly chatting with the man about where they should have dinner when we land.
Stunned by her rudeness, I wander down the aisle away from them. I’ve always known most Keepers and Guardians don’t get along, but I’ve never heard a Guardian be so blunt about their hatred for Keepers.
I take an empty seat toward the back, buckle my seatbelt, and stare out the window, watching my parents walk back into the airport. I feel lonely already, and we haven’t even taken off yet. How much worse is it going to get?
“It’ll get easier.” Jaxon plops down in the seat beside me.
I blink my attention from the window. “What will?”
“Leaving your family behind,” he says, fastening his seatbelt. “I’m guessing this is probably your first time away from home.”
“I’m only seventeen. Most kids my age are still living with their parents.”
The tolerant smile he gives me makes me feel like a child. “Not most Guardians. Most of us leave our families around fifteen or sixteen to attend the Academy.”
“How old were you when you went there?”
“Fourteen.”
“You were only fourteen? That’s … well, really sad.”
He simply shrugs. “I got my mark at fourteen. It’s not really that uncommon in our world.”
I frown at the “our world” reference.
“You were a little late getting your mark.” He reaches for my neck, grazing his fingers across the mark there and causing me to lose my mind for a second and shiver.
His mouth curls into a smirk, and I jerk back, pointing a finger at him.
“Okay, since we’re supposed to be partners or whatever, I need to lay down some rules.” I ignore the amusement dancing in his silver eyes as I continue. “The first thing you should know about me is that I’m not really cool with people invading my personal space or putting their hands on me without permission. Got it?”
He nods, his lips twitching to turn upward. “If that’s what you want.”
“It’s what I want.” I sound hesitant, though. “And second, I need to know what your deal was the other night.” I twist in my seat, bringing my leg up to rest my chin on it. “How did you know about my plan to off Anastasiya?”
His jaw clenches. “How could I not know about it when you and your little friend were blabbering about it so loudly the whole room probably heard?”
“No, we were actually talking pretty quietly, and the music was too loud for your little superpower wolf hearing to work. I know you don’t read minds, so fess up. How’d you know?”
His brow cocks. “How do you know I can’t read minds? Maybe I have Wicca in me. Did you ever think of that?”
My gaze hastily travels over every ounce of his flesh showing, but his arms and neck are about all I can see.
He reclines back against the armrest and gives me an amused look. “I can take my shirt off if you want to get a better look.”
I resist an eye roll. “Or you could just tell the truth.”
He drags on the anticipation for a few seconds longer before surrendering. “Look, I’m not a witch, okay? And I didn’t overhear you, but I can’t tell you how I knew about your stupid plan.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “It wasn’t stupid. I knew what I was doing.”
“You’re not a Keeper or a wolf or a vampire; therefore, it was stupid to think you could kill a vampire as powerful as Anastasiya,” he says matter-of-factly.
Anger simmers under my skin. “Don’t pretend me being weak is why you stopped me. You only did it so you could kill her yourself, but what I don’t get is why a Guardian would kill Anastasiya. I didn’t think they killed at all, just found the person who committed the act.”
His brows pull together. “What’re you talking about? I didn’t kill Anastasiya.”
“Um, yeah, you did. I saw you on the roof or, well, the wolf you.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Well, then, it was a wolf who coincidentally had the same silver eyes as you.”
His lips thin as he presses them together, no longer looking irritated, but disappointed. “You may have seen a wolf with silver eyes, but it wasn’t me.”
I pick up one of my bags I tucked under the seat. “Then who was it?”
He shrugs indifferently. “How would I know?”
“You sure look like you know.” I unzip the bag and reach inside to grab a bag of licorice. “And whoever it is, I can tell you’re disappointed in them.”
“Are you sure you’re not just a Guardian?” he questions with suspicion. “You seem like you know more than you should.”
“Did I ever say I was just a Guardian?” I take a bite of a piece of licorice then smile at him as he eyeballs me with distrust. “Relax, wolf boy.” I face forward and prop my feet up on the seat in front of me. “I’m not a Foreseer. My grandfather is one, though, and he sometimes does favors for me, so keep that in mind whenever you feel like lying to me.”
He’s silent for long enough that I think I’ve won the argument, but then he grins maliciously. “Before you start worrying so much about me, I’d worry about why Vivianne Monarelle seems so interested with you.”
I nibble on the end of the licorice. “Who’s Vivianne Monarelle?”
He nods his head toward the front of the plane at the woman who insulted me. She’s watching us with interest, and when she sees me looking at her, she glares at me.
“She’s in charge of new recruits at the Academy and pretty much runs the training classes. If you get on her bad side, she can make your life a living hell, and with how pissed off she looks right now, I’m guessing you already have. So, good luck with that.” He gets up and goes to sit up front.
I turn my attention to the window, but I can feel Vivianne staring me during takeoff. Once we’re in the air, though, I’m too distracted with freaking the
fuck out to care about her.
I’ve traveled with my grandpa Lucas through a crystal ball before and transported with my aunt so many times I can recite the transporting spell on cue. I even once fell through a portal Jayse’s little sister set up as a trap for us when we made her mad and ended up landing in a tree outside the Keepers’ castle. None of those forms of transportation are as terrifying as zooming through the sky in a plane controlled by a person.
My fingernails dig into the armrests as the plan jerks, and my muscles are wound so tightly my body aches.
“Never flown before?” Jax plops down in the seat beside me again about thirty minutes into the flight.
I shake my head. “How much longer until we land?”
“About six more hours.” He grabs a chip from a small bag he brought with him and pops one into his mouth.
“Six more hours of this?” I bite down on my lip as the plane gives another jolt. “Is it going to shake the entire time?”
“It might. It depends on if the storms clears.”
A deafening breath escapes me. “This is going to be the longest six hours of my life.”
Jax considers something before standing up and leaving me to panic on my own. A minute later, he returns to the seat with a bottle of what I think is water.
“Take a sip of this, and you should be able to sleep through the entire flight.”
“What is it?” I stare at it distrustfully. “Vodka or something?”
“A sip of vodka wouldn’t knock you out, Alana.” He sets the bottle on my lap. “It has Otium in it.”
I pick up the bottle and lift it closer to my face to get a better look. Up close, I can see the small flakes of lavender floating around in the clear liquid. “Otium, huh?” I glance at him. “How’d you get this?”
“My grandma’s a witch and taught me how to make it,” he replies with a half-shrug. “I keep it on hand when I’m on long flights.”
“How do I know if it’s Otium? What if you’re trying to poison me?”
“And why would I want to do that?”
“I don’t know.” My breath catches in my throat as the plane bumps around. “To keep me quiet about what I saw at the Black Dungeon.”