Chapter 114 Nico #2
“Everyone ready?” I asked.
Abi was watching Sebastian go. She pulled her eyes away and looked at me. “Can I have a second? Real quick. I’ll be right back.”
I waved at her to go. The day couldn’t end soon enough.
She jogged up the stairs, and in a few seconds, I heard her having a murmured conversation with Sebastian.
I blocked it out, giving them the privacy they needed.
When she returned, Abi’s back seemed a little straighter.
Her eyes were more focused. It was like she’d finally figured something out.
What that was, I had no clue. All I knew was that I was happy we were ready to go.
“Hold hands. Abi, keep your free hand on your suitcase,” Sinthy said.
We did as she asked, then the witch mumbled a few words, and that same sensation hit me as it had when she’d teleported with Maddy and me.
Sinthy caught my eye and winked. “Have fun, Nico.”
Before I could ask what the hell she was talking about, I blinked, and we were gone.
Tugged along into whatever magic plane facilitated this fast travel.
When I blinked again, the three of us stood in a bathroom stall.
It was a large handicapped stall, but even so, we were crammed in tight with Abi’s suitcase.
Outside the stall, two women were having a conversation at the sink.
I gritted my teeth, finally understanding Sinthy’s joke.
She’d sent us all into a women’s bathroom. Very funny.
We waited for almost five minutes before things sounded quiet.
Hustling out of the bathroom, I managed to get into the main hallway without anyone spotting me.
The rest was fairly easy. It took some before we figured out how to get the private airstrip.
We had to leave the main terminal and walk down a short sidewalk to a separate building with a few small planes out front on their personal taxiway attached to the airport’s main runway.
A man stood on the tarmac holding a big cardboard sign that read: Abi. As we neared, the pilot waved to us and met our group halfway.
“Abi? Are you Nico?” the pilot asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, this is Abi. She’ll be your passenger.”
“Well, all right then. Only one bag, Miss?” he asked as he took her suitcase from her. “Mr. Moretti is very excited to have a guest.”
“Umm, is the island nice?” Abi asked.
The pilot’s smile grew. “Paradise, my lady. That’s the only description.”
“Is it a straight shot from here?” I asked, eyeing the small plane. Could he get all the way to the island with that tiny thing?
The pilot stowed the bag in the luggage compartment near the tail of the plane before answering. “We go from here to a small airstrip in the Keys, where we’ll transfer to a chopper. From there, I’ll get her the rest of the way.”
“You can fly airplanes and helicopters?” I was surprised and a little impressed.
The pilot grinned. “Mr. Moretti only hires the best.” He turned back to Abi. “Are we ready, my lady?”
Maddy and Abi shared a quick but strong hug.
“I love you, Abi. I’ll see you soon,” Maddy said.
“Maddy, I love you so much. I’ll send you a picture of me sunbathing on the beach tomorrow.”
“You’d better.”
Maddy and I went back inside and watched as the small plane taxied out to the runway, and then, ten minutes later, it vanished into the clear blue sky. I sensed Maddy’s sadness and worry and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close.
“It’s all going to be okay,” I said.
“I hope so. I really want her to be okay again. Maybe some time alone will do that.”
We found a spot out in one of the parking lots behind a palm tree that mostly hid us from prying eyes before I texted Sinthy that we were ready to go home. Within seconds, we were back in my living room. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to that.
I glared at Sinthy. “The ladies' room? Really?”
She chuckled. “It’s the small things in life.” She yawned and stretched. “It’s been a day. I’m going to have a little power nap.”
That meant we wouldn’t see her until the next morning. She wasn’t lying when she said her body needed to recuperate after exerting herself with such powerful spells. Maddy and I were both mentally and physically exhausted and decided to turn in early as well, a couple of hours later.
We lay curled up with each other as the sun set. Maddy’s head rested on my shoulder, and I could tell she wanted to say something. It was in the tension of her shoulders and in the scent coming off her.
“Go ahead and say whatever’s on your mind,” I said.
Maddy huffed a little laugh. “That’s creepy.”
“Maybe, but go ahead and give it to me.”
She pushed herself up so she could look at my face. “I still feel kind of useless.”
My face crumpled into a deep frown. “Useless? How?”
“I want to help more, do more. I get that when things get bad, I should stay as safe as possible, but it’s frustrating. How would you react if everyone you cared about was out fighting while you were shoved away somewhere safe and sound?”
“I’d be pretty mad,” I admitted. “But Viola isn’t after me.”
“Does that make it any better? I don’t think it does for me.”
She had a point. I couldn’t imagine how bad I would feel in that situation.
“Then there’s the vial,” Maddy added.
I stiffened, and she must have noticed it because she quickly said, “I’m not drinking it. I only wanted us to think about what could happen. We can’t dismiss it completely. Not if push comes to shove. If my becoming a full werewolf could save us, then it has to be on the table.”
“But what about what you said to me the other day? What if it turns you into something terrible? Some creature you’d have no hope of controlling?”
“We’ve been wrong about a lot of things.
We thought I’d shift into a werewolf when I first shifted.
Instead, I’m just a regular shifter. We could be wrong about the vial.
What if it really is a weapon we can use against the royals?
I think we’re being a little short-sighted if we think all Edemas did was create something that would turn his descendant into a monster. Right?”
I had no argument for that. We couldn’t know what would happen to Maddy if she ingested it. I remembered Isme’s story about the past. All the lies that had been passed down as history. Speaking of the ancient witch reminded me of something.
“I get that,” I said. “We also need to think about what Isme said about using it. She said it wasn’t meant to be used in malice. Only for protection.”
Maddy nodded. “I remember. That’s why I think we should plan on me only taking it if there is no other way to win. If our backs are against the wall, and we’re all gonna die anyway”—she shrugged—“what’s the harm?”
That was a good enough plan for me. She was right. Who really cared what happened if the alternative was death? I lifted my hand, sticking my little finger out.
“Only as a last resort. When all hope is lost. Pinky promise?”
Maddy burst out laughing but twisted her pinky around mine. “Sure.”
Ten minutes later, with the lights out, I could hear Maddy’s breathing slip into deep, steady breaths of sleep.
No amount of planning could erase my worry.
It would hover over me until all this played out one way or another.
Maddy shouldn’t have to be a part of this war at all.
It was horseshit that her whole world had been turned upside down.
And the fact that she might be our last hope to win was terrifying.
There was no way to know what the end held. We were going into this blind.
As I slipped off into my own world of dreams, I realized I’d never talked to Maddy about her going into heat. My eyes drifted shut, and I told myself it would be fine to wait until the next day.