Page 3 of First Offense

“It’s called turbulence,” Auric remarked dryly. “Chill.”

“Easy for you to say,” I managed to reply through gritted teeth. My knuckles turned white from my death grip on the armrests.

Wrong.

Wrong.

Wrong.

After a few more minor shudders, the plane steadied at its new, lower altitude, but the uneasy sensation in my stomach remained. I preferred control, especially when in flight. I had wings for a reason. And this metal death trap didn’t even have feathers.

“Inmates!”

I jerked at the sudden shout, and my palm slipped off the armrest onto Auric’s thigh. Heat caressed my cheeks as I yanked my hand back to my lap, then shifted my attention to the guards at the front of the plane.

A red-haired Nora Guard with piercing green eyes and shining white wings surveyed the cabin. He gripped a rifle to his chest, his finger resting dangerously close to the trigger.

“On your feet,” the guard barked. His tone indicated that if anyone failed to comply, he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot them.

Lovely.

Auric clicked the buckle on my seat belt, granting me partial freedom. Then he slid smoothly from his seat to stand in the aisle and stared back at me without offering any additional assistance. With my wings so tightly bound at my back, my center of balance had vanished. I placed my hands on the armrests and shoved against them to leverage my body upright.

Just as the plane pitched forward again.

My knees buckled, and I fell forward, stumbling into Auric’s chest. He caught me by my elbows, but not fast enough to keep my chin from slamming into his collarbone. He grunted and shoved me upright, barely giving me a second to stabilize myself before letting me go.

“Sorry,” I muttered and tried to rub the tingling sensation from my skin. His touch always made me feel jittery, even more so now in this confined space.

A guard appeared in the aisle behind Auric and motioned for me to follow him. “You first, Princess.”

I glanced at Auric, but if I was hoping for some kind of reassurance, it was clear by his blank expression that none would be coming.

Fine. I’ll do this myself.I lifted my aching chin and sidestepped him.

2

Layla

The guard ledus to the bay door, several feet from the cockpit, where two other men waited. As we approached, one of them grabbed a bolting mechanism on the steel door and unlatched it. I braced myself when he tugged the heavy metal open on sliding hinges, sending a blast of air into the cabin as my ears popped.

“Are we not… landing?” I asked, side-eyeing the guards with their flutteringfreewings.

“Nope,” Auric replied, sounding bored, but I knew him better than that. His gaze flicked to each of the other guards, cataloging their weapons, their stances, and their demeanors.

I knew, because he’d taught me to do the same.

The first guard reached for my shoulder and guided me toward the opening. Wind whipped my hair wildly into streaks of brilliant fuchsia across my vision.

“Um, I—”

“You’ll jump and fly straight for the island,” the guard interjected as he worked at the straps binding my wings. “Don’t get any ideas about escaping unless you have a burning need to drown. You’d have nowhere to land before your wings gave out.”

While he tugged at the straps to free my wings, I looked out the open door at the ocean. Night had nearly fallen, but I could see flickering lights in the distance emerging from the vast darkness of the sea.

Fire, I realized.Towers of fire.

Yeah, maybe drowning was the better option here.