trying to engrave Jarak’s name into my memory. Mmmm, I liked it. It fit him well and I played with it, rolling it around in my head. If I lived through this, Ailaina would shoot me if I forgot the name of the hot guy I would be telling her about.
“Well, in that case, Ara this is Jarak. Jarak this is Ara.” I glanced over at the handsome stranger as Victor introduced us.
He gave me a quick glimpse then back at Victor. “Ara?”
Victor stepped closer, taking the seat across from us. “Yes, it is short for Arabeth. Correct?” He unwound the black scarf from around his neck, draping it over the arm of his seat and unbuttoned his suit jacket as he crossed his leg over his knee.
“Yeah.” My whole body quivered. I wasn’t cold, so I knew it was my nerves.
Jarak leaned over and ran his hands through his hair. “I thought she’s Esmerelda—how does she not know this? When I heard the name Ara, I presumed it was a nickname or something.”
Victor held up his hand to interrupt. “It’s a long flight to Madrid. We’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other.”
The plane’s door slammed shut, sealing us inside. I jumped from the sound. Okay, so now plane doors closed and locked by themselves. That wasn’t weird. Right?
The roar of the engines became louder, sounding as if they were winding up tight, and I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. I became nauseous, and my stomach flopped in protest. I’d never flown before. Heck, I never thought I'd be kidnapped either, but here I was, on a plane, with a deranged magical lunatic, and some hot tag-a-long. I bent over in my seat and tried not to hyperventilate. The plane moved backwards and I shrieked, clutching the arms of the chair.
“All is well my dear.” Victor leaned over and patted my knee.
I swatted his hand away from me. All is well? No, all was not well. Thousands of butterflies fluttered around in my stomach. I was on my way to Spain, in a plane with a kidnapper, to see my dead mom and flying, itself, was never on my to-do list. I shook my head.
“No… It’s not okay. I don’t want to fly.” I could feel my anxiety climax as the jet crawled forward toward the start of the runway.
“It’s okay, just breathe.” Jarak reassured.
“What do you think I’m doing? Sucking up all the stupid in this plane? Cause let me tell you, it would take a long time!” W hat did he think I was doing?
The plane slowed almost to a complete stop, and then it raced forward, sucking me back into my seat. Tipping back, I realized we were in the air, climbing above the ground, and defying gravity and all the security it offered.
I squeezed my eyes shut as the small plane banked to the right. Oh dear Lord, we are gonna fall out of the sky!
“Ara, open your eyes and look at the lights before we get too high.”
I peeked one eye open, straining to see outside the tiny window. The lights of Elko grew smaller and smaller. We banked again, turning to fly over my hometown. My eyes closed tight, and my face was in an unattractive squished contortion. I sucked in a deep breath and held it to calm myself down. I tried to focus on anything other than the fact that we were still climbing thousands of feet in the air.
I squinted at both guys, not wanting to open my eyes wide yet. Crap eating grins spread out over their faces at their apparent fascinations with my fear of flying.
A bump in the so far smooth climb made me jump, and I realized the only way I would get through an entire flight was to talk. With my cell phone gone—not that I could use it to text thirty thousand feet in the air—I couldn’t talk to Ailaina, so my next option was Victor and Jarak. It should prove to be an exciting trip.
I tried to loosen the grip I had on the armrest, but each jump in turbulence the plane went through, made me tense back up. “So why Spain? I mean why not Florida or Hawaii, somewhere tropical?” I asked through gritted teeth.
Victor leaned forward. “Because of
“Well, in that case, Ara this is Jarak. Jarak this is Ara.” I glanced over at the handsome stranger as Victor introduced us.
He gave me a quick glimpse then back at Victor. “Ara?”
Victor stepped closer, taking the seat across from us. “Yes, it is short for Arabeth. Correct?” He unwound the black scarf from around his neck, draping it over the arm of his seat and unbuttoned his suit jacket as he crossed his leg over his knee.
“Yeah.” My whole body quivered. I wasn’t cold, so I knew it was my nerves.
Jarak leaned over and ran his hands through his hair. “I thought she’s Esmerelda—how does she not know this? When I heard the name Ara, I presumed it was a nickname or something.”
Victor held up his hand to interrupt. “It’s a long flight to Madrid. We’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other.”
The plane’s door slammed shut, sealing us inside. I jumped from the sound. Okay, so now plane doors closed and locked by themselves. That wasn’t weird. Right?
The roar of the engines became louder, sounding as if they were winding up tight, and I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. I became nauseous, and my stomach flopped in protest. I’d never flown before. Heck, I never thought I'd be kidnapped either, but here I was, on a plane, with a deranged magical lunatic, and some hot tag-a-long. I bent over in my seat and tried not to hyperventilate. The plane moved backwards and I shrieked, clutching the arms of the chair.
“All is well my dear.” Victor leaned over and patted my knee.
I swatted his hand away from me. All is well? No, all was not well. Thousands of butterflies fluttered around in my stomach. I was on my way to Spain, in a plane with a kidnapper, to see my dead mom and flying, itself, was never on my to-do list. I shook my head.
“No… It’s not okay. I don’t want to fly.” I could feel my anxiety climax as the jet crawled forward toward the start of the runway.
“It’s okay, just breathe.” Jarak reassured.
“What do you think I’m doing? Sucking up all the stupid in this plane? Cause let me tell you, it would take a long time!” W hat did he think I was doing?
The plane slowed almost to a complete stop, and then it raced forward, sucking me back into my seat. Tipping back, I realized we were in the air, climbing above the ground, and defying gravity and all the security it offered.
I squeezed my eyes shut as the small plane banked to the right. Oh dear Lord, we are gonna fall out of the sky!
“Ara, open your eyes and look at the lights before we get too high.”
I peeked one eye open, straining to see outside the tiny window. The lights of Elko grew smaller and smaller. We banked again, turning to fly over my hometown. My eyes closed tight, and my face was in an unattractive squished contortion. I sucked in a deep breath and held it to calm myself down. I tried to focus on anything other than the fact that we were still climbing thousands of feet in the air.
I squinted at both guys, not wanting to open my eyes wide yet. Crap eating grins spread out over their faces at their apparent fascinations with my fear of flying.
A bump in the so far smooth climb made me jump, and I realized the only way I would get through an entire flight was to talk. With my cell phone gone—not that I could use it to text thirty thousand feet in the air—I couldn’t talk to Ailaina, so my next option was Victor and Jarak. It should prove to be an exciting trip.
I tried to loosen the grip I had on the armrest, but each jump in turbulence the plane went through, made me tense back up. “So why Spain? I mean why not Florida or Hawaii, somewhere tropical?” I asked through gritted teeth.
Victor leaned forward. “Because of
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