Page 29 of Siren Sins
“Holy shit,” Luke said.
I wholeheartedly agreed.
Hello Miami
Sonya
So, as it turns out, traveling through magical portals hurts. A lot.
My mind knew that only an instant had passed. Electric zaps streaked through the tunnel that sped us across the world, but pain warps one’s sense of time. I gritted my teeth together as I stifled a cry of agony. I could barely think straight as we catapulted out of a massive red ball that marked the end of our near-instantaneous journey between Shanghai and Miami. Pain unlatched claws from my chest and allowed me to breathe as Miami’s salty air blasted into the cockpit.
We didn’t have time to relax. A radio blared to life, its sound barely distinguishable above the lashing of rampaging winds. My fingers still numb, I stretched for the headset, but groaned as a pathetic sense of uselessness swept over me. My Blood Stone hummed a silent power in the background as the portal closed behind us, and I got the sense that such a massive display of power came with a cost. Whatever, or whoever, was the sentient voice of my Blood Stone likely wouldn’t pipe up for a while.
Luke was the first to overcome the shock of our magical travel and jerked the headset on. He gripped the plastic hard against his head as he struggled to listen. His eyes went wide. “Don’t shoot!” he yelled into the com.
My knuckles poked white against my skin as I gripped my armrests for dear life and attempted to keep what little food I had in my stomach in place. “Who’s shooting?”
Luke leaned on the panel and looked skyward, but it was too dark to see anything. Then he looked down. “We’ve got to be close to the ocean. I can see reflection.” His wild blue eyes found mine. “We gotta jump.”
A manic laugh came with a short hiccup. “Are you kidding me? I can’t—”
Luke unlatched my buckle and ripped me out of my chair. “They’re going toshoot, all right? The humans are freaked out about what’s going on in Shanghai. And now an airplane appears out of a ball of red electric power? I don’t blame them. I’d shoot too.”
A screech of fighter jets barreling past us made me cringe.
“Those were warning passes,” he shouted. “Trust me.” He offered his hand, and I drew in a shaky breath before I took it.
The ocean looked very far from where we stood on the edge of the plane now dipping without a pilot to keep the rusted stick in place. “On three,” Luke said.
I squeezed my eyes shut. “One,” I began.
“Two,” Luke said.
Three.
Iscreamed as we fell. My eyes hadn’t deceived me. We’d been way too high to hope for a survivable fall to the waters below. A split second as I came to the realization that I was going to die.
Don’t be so dramatic,came the chiding voice as icy wind whipped up the remains of my pants. I clung to Luke’s hand as we continued to plummet.
A red aura surrounded us, slowing our descent a fraction. My Blood Stone shouldn’t have been able to speak. I sensed its weakened state and how it wanted to rest. But power engulfed us to protect our fall.
A crash came, and I thought we might have hit the surface, only to find that we were still descending. I looked up to find our plane a ball of flames plummeting out of the sky.
Damn humans,said the Blood Stone.
I swallowed, but the red aura crept warmth up my legs until we were drifting instead of plummeting to the dark waters below.
Luke laughed and pulled me into his arms. The red haze of magic wound around our wrists. “Who needs wings when I’ve got you?”
Luke was part angel, and wings would have been useful right about now. But as I curled my fingers across the folds of his shirt I was glad that this time, I could be the savior.
We landed in the waters with a soft splash and our romantic moment was over. I spat out water and coughed at the sharp sting of salt as it went up my nose.
I blinked and splashed as the icy waters tore me from Luke’s embrace. The next dilemma was apparent. We were nowhere near shore.
Luke sputtered and began swimming with long strokes across the waves.
“How do you know that’s the right way?” I asked.
