My magic lingers in the air, shimmering just the slightest. But as I watch, that insidious blue magic seeps back into the cabin.
“No,” I whisper.
When it brushes against my own, the contact is gentle.
I swear I hear disembodied laughter.
Yes. My queen, there you are.
Within seconds, it weaves itself through my magic, blending them together until it’s the color of a bruise.
How I have searched for you.
The fuck is this voice?
Now heed my call, Empress, and COME TO ME.
The plane bucks, then begins to fall in earnest. This doesn’t feel like a little turbulence; this feels like the pilots have lost control of the plane.
People are screaming all over again, and the flight attendant has taken her eyes off me long enough to instruct passengers on proper safety protocol.
While she’s distracted, I dash up the aisle, falling against the seats to my sides as the plane bounces and sways. I haven’t figured out exactly what I’m doing until I’m storming through the first-class seating area.
Whoever I’m up against, their magic is stronger than my own. I can’t hope to stop the attack. The best I can do is mitigate it. If someone is really trying to drag the plane out of the sky, then all I can do is try to help land it.
Give in to this…to us…
The alien magic coils around me, and it feels as though it’s trying to slip inside me. Like it wants me to breathe it in so it can get as close as possible. The experience is fucking unnerving, and yet some aspect of this magic beguiles my senses.
More flight attendants shout at me, demanding I turn around and return to my seat. So far, they haven’t physically tried to restrain me since their attention is divided between me, the other passengers, and the hazardous walking conditions in the cabin. However, the closer I get to the front of the plane, the more frantic their voices grow. As I near the cockpit, one of them finally moves to cut me off. I think he means to tackle me.
“Stop this man in his tracks.” I lift a hand toward the attendant. “Be my arms and push him back.”
I flick my magic out at him. The flight attendant stumbles away, falling into the lap of a nearby passenger. I can feel terrified gazes at my back, and I sense a few people rising from their seats, clearly assuming I have bad intentions.
More of my magic lashes out, shoving these misguided heroes back in their chairs.
There are stronger and more terrifying forces at play right now than a young witch.
Come, little witch. We were never meant to part.
The voice is like velvet, coaxing me. It halts the very breath in my lungs.
I force myself onward, toward the locked door of the cockpit.
I reach a hand out and don’t even bother with a snappy incantation. “Open.” My magic leaps out of me, causing the lock to tumble and the door to swing open.
Come to me, Empress.
I nearly fall into the various switches and buttons on the dashboard as the indigo magic yanks on the airplane again.
One of the two pilots glances over at me. Then she does a double take.
“What in the—？”
The other pilot barks out, “Get back to your seat. Now.” Behind me, I can still hear several people shouting at me to get back to my seat.
I push away from the dashboard and lift a hand to the door. “Close.”
It swings shut, and the lock tumbles into place, sealing us off from the rest of the cabin.
The male pilot glances between me and the door several feet away that seemingly shut itself. His eyes widen with incredulity and perhaps a touch of fear.
“Someone is trying to take us out of the sky,” I say, as though that explains my own magic.
To punctuate my words, the plane jerks violently, throwing me forward. I barely manage to catch myself on the pilots’ seats, trying to regain my bearings.
“I’m here to help land the plane.”
The woman laughs, the sound containing all sorts of skepticism. And honestly, I’d probably laugh too if some little shit who collapsed onto my dashboard claimed she could help.
Come to me…Empress…
The ghostly voice whispers in my ear and against my skin. The hair on my arms stands on end. There’s something perversely alluring about that voice.
“Listen, I don’t care how experienced you both are—you’re working with forces beyond your senses, and you’re not going to be able to land this plane without my help.”
I’d like to say they were roused by my words, but the truth is, both pilots have returned their attention to flying the plane, and the woman is telling her companion about some course of action that might work.