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I wanted to say, "You’re not going to get aith this," or even "You’re going to pay for this" But I suspected both would be lies

"We leave directly," he told me, his voice inflectionless "Put on your seat belt"

Despite how pissed I was, I wouldn’t argue with him this ti baby plane And hadn’t this crop-duster-esque runway see, but surely that wasn’t nor hands, I surveyed the luxurious interior There were twelve seats, along with a plush sofa, a big-screen TV, a stockedtable Polished wood accented all the a but the best for the mob

Sevastyan didn’t sit He peered out the s, still vigilant

I wondered what he would look like relaxed "I’ht, he gave ood as a yes Before I could ask rew louder I clenched the ar into the buttery soft leather When we started easing forward, I foundSevastyan, "I’ve never flown before"

Our speed increased so rapidly, I was thrown back into the seat The jet thundered down the runway Outside the , the cornfield zoomed by Even Sevastyan took a seat on the sofa across from me

"I-I’ve been on a train"

He spread an arm over the back of the sofa "It’s just like that"

"Was that a joke?"

Face grim, he said, "Unlikely, pet"

"You really need to stop calling ! I squeezed ly smooth When the pressure eased and I realized ere in the air, I cracked open rip

Several things competed for my attention I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to watch the fading lights of Lincoln, the fullto relax

My s in front of him, then rolled his head on his neck At some point, he’d refastened the buttons of his shirt Clearly, whatever temporary insanity had occurred in the field had passed

When we leveled off, the lights of the cabin dier-than-life type of round and felt o

Just as I opened my mouth to ask him what that was all about, he said, "As promised, I’ll answer your questions But you need to wash yourself first"