I felt a gentle shaking that slowly nudged me out of the twilight haze that follows a knockout. My eyelids fluttered open, and the first thing I saw was a pair of aquamarine eyes staring down at me. There were bursts of golden stars around each pupil, and for a second, I was lost in them. Then a throb of pain hit my skull, reminding me that all was not right.
I winced and let my gaze drop to his mouth. His lips were set in a faint smile, the bottom lip fuller than the top. Pale hair framed his face, resting against sharp cheekbones. As awareness returned, I tensed, suddenly hyper-aware that my head was pillowed in the crook of his arm.
With a jolt, I scrambled back, rolling off and landing on the carpeted floor with a thud. I shot up my fists, my instincts kicking in as I slid backward, creating as much space between us as possible. Panic built in my chest as I took in my surroundings: I was on an airplane. A small window beside the stranger revealed a sea of blue sky, and the hum of engines confirmed it. I checked my side. Healed. No sign of the injury.
Relief hit like a wave, but my mind leapt to my friends. "Adrian!" I gasped.
"Alive," said the man with the aquamarine eyes, his voice calm.
"Alive?" Tension melted slightly from my shoulders. I'd been sure that after that glass-shattering hit, Adrian wouldn't make it.
"Yes, Enan is a minor healer. Keenan used his power over air to help. He's stable." The man said it with a casual calmness that grated on me.
I held my tongue, though every muscle in my body felt coiled and ready to fight. Adrian wouldn't have needed rescuing if it hadn't been for this crew.
Pushing myself up onto the couch that lined the plane's wall, I glanced around, taking in the soft beige leather, recessed lights, and the four captain's chairs facing the couch. Two of those chairs were occupied by the twin goons who had attacked me earlier, still showing the bruises from my escape attempts. I almost smiled. I'd left my mark on them, at least.
I focused on one of the twinsâTweedle Dee, I decidedâwho was glaring at me with amber eyes, thick brows drawn together in an unmistakable warning. I forced myself to return his glare, trying to maintain my defiance even if I was cornered.
Finally, I turned back to the man with the aquamarine eyes, recognition crashing through the pain and haze clouding my mind. My heart pounded, and I clenched my fists.
Erick.
"Erick!" I launched myself at him, fists flying, teeth bared. "You traitor!"
Erick caught my wrists with one hand, twisting my arms behind my back with an almost practiced ease. "Madeline, calm down," he said, his tone steady.
"I'll never calm down, you pig!" I growled, twisting, but he held me steady. "How dare you hold me in your arms after what you did! I hate you!"
His jaw clenched, face tense. "If you keep struggling, I'll zip-tie you to that chair. I'm not risking an accident midair."
I glared, the threat of zip ties enough to get me to stopâfor now. Seeing I'd surrendered, Erick released me, and I backed away, still seething. He reached into a nearby mini-fridge and pulled out a can of ginger ale, offering it to me. I slapped it away, watching as it rolled and hit the base of one of the twins' chairs.
The twin who'd been hitâTweedle Dum, I decidedâshot to his feet, eyes flashing with rage.
"Sit down," Erick commanded coldly, and Tweedle Dum sank back, muttering curses under his breath.
Erick reached into his jacket and pulled out a hypodermic needle, giving me a pointed look. "I don't want to sedate you, but I will if I have to."
I wrapped my arms around myself, unwillingly understanding the warning. No more outbursts. Not if it meant I'd be drugged again. As I settled back, my fingers brushed my hairâlong now, cascading down my shoulders. Someone had clipped it up. I yanked the clip out, ready to throw it, but stopped when I saw it was shaped like a hummingbird, encrusted with emeralds and amethysts.
I stared at it, anger rising again. "Why?" I demanded, shaking the clip at him. "Why give me this?"
Erick's gaze softened. "For your hair, of course."
My throat tightened. He knew exactly what that clip meantâit had been his last gift to me, back when he'd given me the nickname "Hummingbird." But that was before everything fell apart, before his betrayal. I gripped the clip, pain twisting with anger in my chest.
"Where are my friends, Erick?" I demanded, voice sharp.
"They're alive," he replied, "even the little hero." He said it with a hint of condescension.
"Where are they?" I repeated, each word biting.
He nodded toward a door behind us. "They're in there. Resting."
My frustration spiked, and I threw the clip at him. He dodged, catching it just before it hit the floor, but not before I managed to graze his cheek. Small win, but I savored it. I got up, intent on reaching my friends, but my hair tangled around my legs. It had grown longer under my mother's heavy glamour, and without thinking, I tried to brush it aside.
Erick stepped in, guiding me back to the couch. "That's why I put your hair up, Madeline," he said quietly. "Please stop fighting, or I'll have to sedate you."
One of the twins muttered something under his breath, though I couldn't catch his words. I shot him a glare but settled into the couch.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked, struggling to control the fire in my voice.
Erick's eyes held a strange intensity. "Luke sent me to find you. He's been searching for you for years and knew I'd recognize you, even through a disguise."
"Luke?" I frowned. "Who the heck is Luke?"
"The Sovereign," Erick answered, his tone reverent. "He's been looking for you since you disappeared. He was raised by your aunt's husband's family, and he's been waiting to bring you back."
I shook my head, trying to piece it together. I didn't know this Luke, didn't understand why he would even care about me. "And you've been working for him?" I asked, disbelief lacing my words.
"For years, yes. I never stopped searching for you."
I laughed, bitter and sharp. "You betrayed me once, and now you expect me to believe you're helping me?"
His expression darkened. "I never betrayed you, Madeline."
"Never?" I seethed. "You told your mother I wasn't all fae, and your mother said that I wasâ" my voice choked with the memory, "âa half-bred whore. I'd only kissed you!"
"I didn't tell her anything," he said, eyes holding steady.
"You told everyone about everything about me, Erick. That was supposed to be our secret." My voice cracked. "I trusted you."
He shook his head. "I didn't say anything."
"Then how did your clan find us? How did they know where to come for me?"
Guilt flickered across his face. "I followed you... and someone must have followed me."
"You followed me after you promised you wouldn't?" I clenched my fists. My chest ached with the weight of the memories. "And that makes you a rotten sneak."
Erick's lips pressed into a tight line. "I made mistakes, yes. But I never meant to hurt you. "
I shook my head, unable to accept it. My heart was too bruised by his past actions to believe him now.
As I sat there, an overhead cabinet clicked open, and Klick and Klack landed in my lap. "Klick! Klack!" I exclaimed, hugging my skeletal birds close.
"They were with Luis," Erick said, watching my reunion with a hint of sadness. "I figured they must have been yours. I thought you'd want them back."
Erick had been the one who encouraged my gift when my mother had told me never to use it. We'd played with tiny skeletal animals underneath the trees, nestled together like two peas.
"Luis brought them?" I smiled pushing aside my sadness, comforted by the thought that Luis hadn't forgotten them. I wanted to go to my friends. Make sure they were okay.
That Erick was keeping me from them just made my fury thicker.
"You made those, right?" Erick asked softly pulling me from my murderous thoughts.
My heart tightened at the question.. I wouldn't give him the knowledge of how lonely my life had been without Mother.
Without him.
He didn't deserve to know. He had no right to ask. I turned away, looking at Klick and Klack, wondering if Luis was okay.
"What did you do to Mike?" I asked, thinking of the betrayal that still stung fresh. "Did you force him to sell me out?"
"Mike?" Erick looked genuinely surprised.
"Yes, Mike. He set me up. You must've gotten to him somehow."
Erick shook his head. "That wasn't me. But I'll find out who was behind it."
His answer frustrated me, leaving the question of Mike's betrayal unanswered. I crossed my arms, annoyance gnawing at me.
"And this Luke?" I pressed. "What's your connection to him?"
"I serve him," Erick said simply. "And now, we're taking you to him."
The captain's voice crackled over the intercom, announcing our impending landing. I glared at Erick, then reluctantly moved to strap myself into one of the chairs. I was trapped for now, but I wouldn't let Erickâor this Lukeâkeep me caged for long.
One way or another, I'd escape.