Chapter 30 - Felix
Felix
The plane juddered as we taxied towards the runway, and I gripped the armrest so hard my knuckles went white.
My entire body hummed with caffeine-fuelled energy, leg bouncing uncontrollably against the seat in front of me.
Three Red Bulls in under ten minutes had seemed like a brilliant idea when airport security were about to confiscate them for exceeding the liquid limit.
Now, my heart was threatening to escape my rib cage, or simply stop entirely.
The middle-aged woman beside me shifted away another inch. Couldn’t blame her. I’d been vibrating like a tuning fork since take-off preparations began.
“Ladies and gentlemen, cabin crew prepare for departure.”
This was really happening. I was actually on a plane to Switzerland. To rescue Kit. By myself. With a houseplant.
You haven’t thought this entire plan through.
The realisation hit me like a bucket of cold water. I’d been operating on pure adrenaline and panic for the last few hours, but now, strapped into seat 23F with nowhere to run, the full magnitude of my stupidity crashed over me.
I had coordinates. That was it. Coordinates to the middle of nowhere, pointing to what could be an empty field or an impenetrable fortress. I had no backup, no weapons, no actual plan beyond “get to Switzerland and figure it out.” I didn’t even speak German. Or French. Or Italian.
And I’d need sleep eventually. Since Kit disappeared, I’d had about four to five hours each night, max. I was running on emergency power with critical processes failing left and right.
I clutched Princess tighter to my chest, her pink-streaked leaves rustling softly. The woman beside me cleared her throat.
“Can the plant not go in the overhead compartment? I really think that would be more comfortable.”
Heat flooded my cheeks. Had she overheard me talking to it earlier? “Um… not really.”
The woman stared at me before sighing and leaning back in her seat.
The engines roared louder, and I almost had to pinch myself as we began to accelerate down the runway.
Because, to be honest, part of me had never believed I’d actually make it this far.
But here I was. Really doing this. I’d turned my phone off before boarding, but I’d still half expected Seb to materialise at security with arms folded and a disappointed expression that made me feel twelve years old.
“We’ve got this, Princess,” I whispered, then caught myself and pressed my lips together.
“Seriously, what is with that bloody plant?!”
I looked up to apologise, but the words died in my throat. A horribly familiar face had popped up above the seat in front of me, grinning like a maniac.
Rory.
Rory, on the plane.
Rory, on his knees in his seat, blond hair sticking up at all sorts of angles, blue-green eyes sparkling with delight.
“Did you miss me?”
My mouth worked like a goldfish. This wasn’t real. I’d fully cracked and started hallucinating. There was no way Rory was on this flight with me.
“Sir! You need to sit in your seat with your seatbelt fastened!” An air hostess came running towards us, her voice pitched high with panic.
“There’s been a seat mix-up,” Rory said, still grinning. “I’m meant to be next to him.”
“Sit down!”
The woman beside me unbuckled her seatbelt crossly and stood up. “He’s right,” she said. “That’s my window seat, in front.”
“Ma’am!”
To the air hostess’s horror, the pair proceeded to push past each other and grumbling passengers to swap seats, mid take-off. The plane tilted upwards, my stomach dropping as we climbed into the sky.
Rory threw himself into the seat beside me, buckling himself in with theatrical flair. “Right, then. That’s sorted.”
I couldn’t stop blinking at him. “You’re… you’re actually here.”
“Course I am.” He leaned back against the headrest, pupils slightly dilated. “Fair warning, though, I’m absolutely off my tits on Valium right now because I hate flying. So if I start saying weird stuff, just ignore me.”
“But… how?”
“Felix, mate.” Rory turned to face me properly, his expression suddenly serious. “You’re ridiculously easy to follow. Genuinely embarrassing. I was literally two metres away from you for half the airport journey.”
“You’ve been watching me this whole time?!”
“Didn’t reveal myself at the airport because I didn’t want to risk you freaking out that I’d followed you. But now you’re safe and sound in your chair with no choice but to bring me along.”
“But… how?” I repeated stupidly.
Rory’s grin returned. “Right, so after everyone else pissed off home, I stayed behind. Lurking. Like a creep. Because earlier, Priya basically ambushed me—properly grabbed my arm, very intense—and told me about you and Kit. Which, by the way, rude that I had to hear it from her and not him or you. But whatever. Point is, I thought we should have a proper conversation about it, yeah? Because Kit’s my brother and this is kind of a massive deal. ”
My stomach lurched, and not from the plane’s ascent. “Oh.”
“So I was lurking outside your lair, right? Waiting to casually bump into you—very smooth, very natural.” Rory gestured enthusiastically.
“But then I heard your phone call with Seb. Wolf hearing.” He tapped his ear.
“Sorry, not sorry. Anyway, you suddenly charged out like your ass was on fire, running around the hotel with that bag, and I thought—oh, Felix is doing something stupid. And then you nicked that passport.” He grinned.
“So I looked up flights to Zurich, booked the next one, prayed it was the right one. And boom! Picked the seat right next to you! It’s basically fate! ”
“In front of me,” I said.
Rory waved a hand dismissively. “Details.”
I stared at him, my mind racing through the implications. On one hand, having backup meant we had a one percent chance of actually succeeding instead of zero. On the other hand, it was now a ninety-nine percent chance of a double suicide mission instead of just my own spectacular failure.
But despite everything, relief flooded through me. I wasn’t completely alone anymore.
Even if my accomplice was likely to get us arrested before we even landed.
“You absolute maniac,” I whispered.
“Takes one to know one.” Rory settled back in his seat. “So then. What’s the actual plan once we hit Switzerland? Please tell me you’ve got more than just coordinates and a houseplant. I had to spend my entire savings for my new car on this ticket.”
Rory glanced at me, all jokes and bright smiles because it was Rory—but underneath the bravado, the same terror that was eating me alive flickered in his eyes.
“Yes, of course I have a plan,” I lied.
“Brilliant. Pre-warning, though. If we die, Theo will never forgive me.”
There. A crack in Rory’s facade. His half smile fell away for just a moment, revealing something raw and wounded underneath.
“I’m not sure Theo will ever forgive you for this, even if you don’t die,” I said quietly.
Rory’s expression crumpled like paper, the light dimming in his eyes. “I know,” he whispered, rubbing at his chest with the heel of his hand. “He’s going to be so bloody mad at me.”
I could see it all playing out—Seb and Theo in the basement tomorrow morning, trying to piece together why the pair of us hadn’t shown up for work.
It wouldn’t be rocket science. Theo’s face would flash with cold fury before settling into heartbreak.
And then, they’d surely follow us. And… murder us.
“Will Theo be able to… feel that you’ve gone?”
“Not out of the country. He thinks I decided to sleep at the hotel. But it hurts to be apart for too long. Like a constant ache you can’t shake. Gets worse the longer we’re separated.”
The vulnerability in his admission caught me off guard. For a moment, neither of us spoke. The plane hummed around us, carrying us further away from everything we knew.
Then Rory cleared his throat and deflected, as I’d known he would.
“So, you and my brother, huh? You sneaky little shits.”
Fire rushed to my cheeks, and I quickly turned to stare out the dark window, seeing nothing but my own horrified reflection.
“Priya said that you two were worried I’d torment you for it.”
I forced my gaze past the glass to the clouds drifting past like ghosts.
“Aaaand you’re probably right.” Rory sighed heavily. “Listen, it was… a shock. But a good shock. I’d figured out ages ago that Kit had this secret mate thing going on. It all makes sense now, why he refused to tell me. For what it’s worth… I’m glad it’s you.”
My head snapped back round. “You are?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?!”
My eyes fell back to Princess on my lap. I mumbled something incoherent about never being sure if Rory actually liked me, the words probably barely audible above the engine noise.
Rory sucked in a sharp breath. The silence deepened until I couldn’t take it anymore, and I glanced over to him. His shoulders had curled inward, his face slack. It was as if I’d just slapped him.
“Felix,” he said softly, “I’m… sorry if I ever gave you that impression. Genuinely.” He reached out very tentatively to touch my arm. “I’ll try and do better. It’s just… I struggle when people are quite different from me, you know? Not an excuse, just… I know I can be a bit much sometimes.”
I managed a weak smile. “To be fair, I often think about how everyone at Killigrew Street is socially inept in some way.”
“That’s what makes us perfect for each other,” Rory said, grin returning to his face.
Something warm unfurled inside me. We actually smiled at each other, properly, maybe for the first time ever, and I couldn’t help feeling like maybe I’d gained something important.
“So, now that we’re besties, you can fill me in on you and Kit!”
I groaned and shook my head.
“Oh, come on! How else are we meant to fill the flight time?!”
By actually coming up with a plan.
“I don’t mean the details of your sex life, by the way. Obviously, I don’t want to hear about that. Unless you want some tips?” Rory winked at me.
“Absolutely not,” I said, eyeing the panic button above me.