"Hey, hold on! Wait just one second, here!"
I hurtled after my brother, who had already leapt gracefully out of the limo. The sidewalk was completely packed with people, pushing carts full of luggage, rushing in and out of the airport and constantly checking their phones. He stood casually amid the chaos, his take-out bag gripped in one hand, his golden hair glowing like a beacon in the warm afternoon sunlight.
The image of that ball of lightning, flashing and flickering into his palm, was burned into my retinas.
"Wait, you can't tell me something like that and then walk away. What do you mean I have elemental powers? What kind? What type of things can I do? How can I control it?"
"Your bag, Miss. Griffin," the limo driver placed my single, tattered suitcase on the sidewalk next to me.
Dominic glanced sideways at it, no doubt noting the frayed edges and the broken zipper. "We need to get you some new luggage, sis."
"I'm not really concerned about the state of my luggage right now. Can we maybe talk about this whole elemental powers thing, please?"
"We have a flight to catch. We can talk about it on the plane."
"But-"
"Oh good. These must be our escorts."
"Huh?"
I scanned the crowds. My eyes landed on a pair of well-dressed individuals coming towards us. A woman in a stylish, charcoal-grey dress and black heels. Tall and voluptuous with white blonde hair and icy blue eyes. And a big bear of a man with shaggy reddish-brown hair and a beard to match.
But, despite the man's considerable bulk and the woman's resemblance to a fashion model, they both moved with a smooth, effortless grace that I had only seen once before...
They were wildcat shifters. I was certain of it.
The woman reached us first. She smiled and briskly extended her hand, showing off a perfect French manicure. "Good afternoon Miss. Griffin. Mr. Sanjo. My name is Deanna. This is my brother Shane. Mr. Connelly sent us to escort you on your flight this afternoon."
I studied the woman closely as she pumped my entire arm. She looked familiar. Where had I seen her before?
"Well, let's not waste any time. We're on a tight schedule. Shane, grab the bags, would you?"
Dominic had three over-sized suitcases, but the bearded Shane hoisted the entire stack effortlessly onto one shoulder. I went to grab my own luggage, but Deanna quickly snatched it out from under me.
"I'll take care of the Miss. Griffin. Let's go, follow me."
She led the way into the building. I hung back, thoroughly confused. What were a couple of wildcat shifters doing acting as our personal escorts?
Dominic grabbed my arm and steered me forward. "You need some serious lessons on how to be rich, Cyprus. Rule number one: we don't lug our own bags around. We have other people do that for us."
Okay, I've never been violent person but, at that moment, I had a serious urge to smack my long-lost brother right in the face.
We entered the building through a set of huge sliding-glass doors. My claustrophobia came back with a vengeance the moment we stepped inside. The place was packed. The air was lifeless and stale. I didn't know what—if anything—it would smell like to a normal person but to me it reeked of greasy food and sweat. A cacophony of voices assaulted my ears. Some guy rammed into me as he rushed frantically by.
My inner wolf raised its hackles and snarled.
I kept my eyes on Shane as we weaved through the crowd. He was pretty easy to follow. Not only did he stand at least a foot over everyone else, Dominic's luggage towered several inches above the top of his head.
"Shane, do you think you could be any more conspicuous?" Deanna said. "At least get a trolley or something. People are staring."
She was right. People were staring. Although I sensed Shane's casual feat of strength had little to do with it. Oh sure, the giant was getting his share of attention. But, for the most part, people were staring at one thing and one thing only.
Me.
I was drawing eyes like a magnet. People were doing double takes. Triple and quadruple takes, even. Kids pointed at me. I noticed a few security guards move in and walk several paces behind us. I assumed someone had told them to keep an eye on me. Just in case I decided to cause another earthquake or something.
I hunched my shoulders. Pulled my shirt collar up around my neck. I wished I was wearing a jacket or a hoodie so I could cover up my face. And I wished my stupid inner-animal would stop pacing and growling like... well like a caged wolf.
We were approaching the security gates. I headed straight for the line-up, but Dominic grabbed my arm again and steered me in another direction.
"Rule number two: we don't stand in line. You'll get the hang of this stuff, don't worry."
Deanna approached an employee standing nearby. "Good afternoon, sir. How are you today? I'm escorting Miss. Cyprus Griffin and Mr. Dominic Sanjo."
She handed over a set of boarding passes. The man didn't even glance at them. He was looking at me, his eyes practically bulging out of his head. Several people in the line-up had turned to stare as well.
I pulled my shirt tighter around my neck,
The employee recovered himself and took us straight to the front of the line. Heads craned, following our progress. Everyone had to stand back while the four of us walked through the x-ray machine and placed our luggage on the scanner. Dominic's bags didn't fit, so one of the employees had to scan them all manually.
I was acutely aware of the delay we were causing for the rest of the passengers. I felt like I was on display. Like I was a special exhibit at the zoo.
Dominic came through the x-ray machine last. One of the employees stopped him on the other side, pointing to the paper take-out bag he was carrying. "I'm sorry, sir, you can't bring outside food through security."
Dominic looked at the bag, then back at the employee. "I think I can."
The man seemed nervous. He was several inches taller than Dominic, but he appeared somehow diminished before my brother's aura of raw, supernatural power. "I'm sorry, sir. It's a safety issue."
"You know who I am, don't you?"
"That... that is beside the point, sir."
"I'm Dominic Sanjo. My father is Anthony Sanjo. CEO of AC Enterprises which, last time I checked, owns more than half the shares of the company you work for. Do you really want to make an issue out of this?"
The man appeared to struggle with himself for a moment. Then, he reluctantly stepped aside and allowed Dominic to pass through. "Enjoy your flight, sir."
"There, see? That wasn't so hard, was it?"
Dominic walked forward, looking thoroughly pleased with himself. As he passed the employee, I saw a brief spark of light. The man jumped and gave a startled yelp.
I pressed my lips firmly together. Was my brother always such a pompous jerk? If so we were going to have serious problems.
The terminal area was slightly less crowded, but the stares were only getting worse. People rotated around in their plastic seats to watch us go by. Every time we passed a restaurant the customers stood up, craning their necks for a better view. A teenage girl darted in front of me, snapped a picture on her phone, then ran off.
Dominic led the way. He seemed to know exactly where he was going. Shane went next, my brother's suitcases still balanced on one shoulder. He was not showing the slightest sign of fatigue.
I walked in the back, next to Deanna. I watched her out of the corner of my eye, studying her. The woman oozed confidence. Head up. Shoulders back, high heels briskly striking the floor. She was so immaculately dressed, so well put-together it was odd to see her wheeling my old, tattered suitcase around.
I knew her. Where did I know her from? Had I seen her back at the Silent Heroes headquarters? It was so hard to remember. There had been so many new faces... so much going on...
Deanna caught me looking at her.
She grinned and gave me a conspiratorial wink.
----------------------------
A freaking private jet.
That's what was waiting for us out on the tarmac. I had expected first class seats at best.
Nope, we had an entire plane all to ourselves.
Well, not quite. There was a small crew. The pilot greeted us both personally. A well-dressed young man took our luggage (he staggered under the weight of Dominic's bags, which Shane had carried with ease.)
Inside, the plane was like a fancy, five-star hotel with a big leather couch, table, mini-fridge, loveseat and a gigantic flat-screen TV.
Deanna and Shane headed for a smaller compartment at the back. I followed them without thinking. I felt better with them around. Safer.
But Dominic quickly grabbed my arm directed me to the main cabin. "Okay, rule number three: you sit up here. Not in the rear compartment with the help."
The help? Seriously? Well, that made it official. I did not like my brother. Not one damn bit.
We sat in silence as the plane taxied down the runway and took off, Dominic sprawled on the couch and me perched nervously on the edge of the loveseat. Predictably my inner wolf didn't think much of the fancy, private plane. It was tense and restless, which of course made me tense and restless. It was all I could do to sit still while we climbed—painfully slowly, it seemed—up to cruising altitude.
The second we leveled out I was on my feet, pacing up and down the cabin. This dislike of enclosed spaces was really starting to annoy me. Would it always be like this? Could I ever be indoors again without turning into a nervous wreck?
Dominic had one foot up on the table, his take-out bag in his lap and quarter of a burger in his hand. "You going crazy on me?"
"I can't breath in here," I growled, not sounding like myself at all. It felt more like the wolf was talking through me.
"Well, you'd better get used to it. We've got four hours of this. And, if we open a window up here we're all gonna die, so..."
Four hours? How would I even survive that? I already felt like tearing the door open and jumping out. I really was going crazy.
"Heads up!"
Something spun through the air and hit me in the face. A burger still in its wrapping, maybe. It didn't hurt, but I instinctively whipped around and glared at Dominic. "What the hell did you do that for?"
"Just testing your reflexes," he said casually. "They're kinda slow."
"Well, how was I supposed to know you were going to start hurling stuff at me?"
"You seem a little irritated, sis."
"Gee, thanks for the newsflash."
What was wrong with me? This wasn't like me at all.
His expression didn't change. "I think I know what the problem is. Come over here."
I strode aggressively over to the table, glaring at him.
"Sit down."
I sat. "What?"
There was a potted plant perched on the ledge behind him. Dominic pulled it down and placed it on the table in front of me. "Here, give me your hands."
"Why?" I was fidgeting in my seat. I really wanted to get up and start pacing again.
"Just give them to me. Seriously."
I rolled my eyes and extended my arms. Dominic grasped both my wrists and pulled my hands down into the pot, burying my fingers in about an inch of soil.
I almost gasped out loud. The moment my skin made contact with the dirt, warmth shot up my arms and spread rapidly to the rest of my body. It seeped into my muscles, soothing tension I hadn't even realized was there. It saturated my lungs, causing my chest cavity to expand, my breaths to become slow and even. The anger and irritability drained out of me as if it had never even existed.
I looked inside myself and found my inner wolf wagging its tail and prancing in happy, puppyish circles.
Dominic raised his golden eyebrows at me. "Better?"
"Yeah. A-a lot better."
"I thought so."
He released my arms but I didn't remove my hands from the pot. If anything I dug my fingers in a little deeper. I picked up a fresh, earthy smell that resonated with me on a deep, primordial level. If I closed my eyes, I could almost convince myself I was standing in the depths of an ancient forest, the earth dark and rich, the leaves glistening after a heavy rain. The smell was so strong I could almost taste it.
"See, if I threw something at your face now, you would dodge it without a problem," Dominic said.
I frowned. "Erm... I'm not following."
"You're an earth Kitsune. Well, half earth Kitsune I guess."
"Okay. But what does that have to do with you hurling burgers at my head?"
"We feed off our element, Cyprus. It's like our life-blood. It gives us power and strength. It's as necessary to our survival as food or water or... or sleep. You know how people get off-balance when they're hungry or tired? Irritability, mood swings, slower reflexes, all that stuff? Same basic principle. We don't like to be separated from our element for too long."
So the stupid burger had slapped me in the face because I'd been separated from my element for too long? Well, now it all made sense. Why hadn't I thought of that?
I felt a sudden shift in the energy pulsing under my skin. It was getting stronger, fizzing through my veins like an electric surge. I flashed back to trees collapsing, houses caving in, the world crumbling into chaos all around me.
I yanked my hands back. The pot tipped over, spilling dirt all over the table.
"What was that about?" Dominic said.
"N-nothing." I wiped shaky hands on my legs.
"We're a thousand feet in the air, Cyprus. You can't cause an earthquake up here." He swept his arm across the table. The pot shattered as it hit the floor. I noticed that the soil looked dry and crumbled, the plant slightly wilted.
"I-I have a question."
"What?"
"Is there any way to... reverse all this stuff? I mean, what if I don't want these powers? What if I don't want to be a shape shifter?"
Dominic gave me a look that made me feel like a toddler refusing to go to school. "Cyprus you can't just not shift. And you can't not use your powers. It doesn't work like that. You can't change what you are."
"But, say I just-"
"No. You're being stupid now, okay? Do you know what happens if you don't shift? The animal gets out of control. It drives you insane."
"But-"
"No."
"What if-"
"No."
"I could-"
"No, Cyprus! Why would you want that anyway? You'd rather go back to being a nobody, is that it? I mean, look around you. You're rich. You're in a private jet for crying out loud."
"That's not the point."
He snorted, clearly not buying this. "Of course it is."
"What do you mean?"
"Money is the point of everything, Cyprus."
I stared at him for what felt like a full minute. "Are you serious right now?"
"I'm just telling the truth. You know, people like to pretend that they're above all this material stuff. But those same people would step over their own mother to get what we have. And don't tell me you're an exception because you're not. I saw the look on your face when Connelly was talking. He offered you the world on a silver platter and you were practically drooling. Not that I blame you. You would have been crazy not to take his offer."
"I wasn't-"
"Yeah you were. I know what I saw."
He was really starting to irritate me and, this time, I didn't think it had anything to do with being locked up in an airplane. "You know what?" I stood up. "I think I'm going to sit in the back with Deanna and Shane."
"Who?"
"The help, as you so charmingly referred to them."
"Cyprus, I think you're forgetting rule number three."
"Oh, screw you and your stupid, pompous rules!"
He looked mildly surprised by my outburst. "You're a little self-righteous, you know that?"
"And you're a spoiled brat."
"I don't think I like you very much."
"Right back at ya, bro."
"Well, I'm glad we sorted that out."
"Me too," I snapped.
And I marched across the main cabin and through the back door, slamming it loudly behind me.