Page 75 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

I can’t.

My body cannot physically move. I stand there and watch as the plane becomes bigger and bigger until it fills my entire field of vision.

There, on its right side, I make out some of the letters ofVirtuous.

It’s Mine. He’s coming. He’s not dead.

I shiver, unable to understand the emotions that information elicits inside of me. There’s a warm, tingly feeling in my stomach, and my heart beats so loudly in my chest, it feels as if it’s about to poke a hole through it and skip onto the runway.

The plane makes a deafening noise before it plummets down, its nose heading straight for me.

And yet, I still stand there, staring at it.

The lower part of the plane gives way to the wheels, and as the plane makes contact with the runway, a loud, piercing noise erupts in the air.

“Get out of the way!” more people yell at me as the plane moves with increasing speed toward me.

I’m so focused on it, I barely realize how close it is to me until the nose of the plane is maybe a few paces away, at which point it suddenly stops. Shocked, I teeter back and fall backward.

The weary engines make a choking noise as they stop running. A loud pop erupts in the air as the trap door opens on the belly of the plane.

I hold my breath.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Minnie?” Mine thunders as he slides out of the plane and strides determinedly toward me.

I let my eyes roam over his body, looking for any signs of injury. And when I’m convinced he’s all right, I let out a big sigh of relief.

He looms over me, breathing harshly.

“Hi, Mine,” I say with a smile.

He stares at me for a few moments before he shakes his head. Extending a hand to me, he helps me off the ground.

“You could have hurt yourself, Minnie,” he comments.

“I didn’t,” I quip. “You could have hurt yourself too.”

“I didn’t either.” Slowly, a smile seeps into his features, and I find myself returning it.

“You were late,” I comment.

He chuckles as he glances back at his plane.

“Better late than never, no?”

I nod slowly, still looking at him. It feels nice to see a familiar face.

“I have something for you,” he suddenly mentions. He takes off his jacket and reaches inside his uniform to hand me another item wrapped in tissue paper. This time, though, I can immediately see what’s nestled within. The sugar has seeped through the paper, soaking it. “It’s a little messed up,” he explains.

I take the present with both hands. The donut is a little more squashed than the one he gave me this morning, but a donut is a donut.

“Why did you have this with you?” I frown. Not that I mind. In fact, my mood immediately improves as I bite into it and get some sugar in my system. Now this is heaven.

He clears his throat and looks away.

“I wanted to bring you something back.”

I frown.

---