Page 2 of Black Hand

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Leave it to Veronica to be dressed to the nines no matter the situation. The black skirt she wore was paired with a silky champaign colored blouse that complimented her pale skin and blonde hair. With six-inch heels and her long legs folded primly to the side, she was ready to be on the cover of a magazine, not in an economy seat on a flight to Chicago. Or next to someone like me who was covered from head to toe in black leather, including the boots covering my feet. My fire-red hair and eerily bright green eyes were the only color anyone would ever see on me. I liked my clothing to match my mood, and it had been as dark as it could get for so long I couldn’t remember it ever being any different.

My body jerked forward when one of the children sitting behind me kicked at the back of my seat, throwing another tantrum when his mother told him to put his seatbelt on. The poor woman was hissing threats at the boy, but they did nothing to intimidate the kid, though her voice was trembling from either her need to cry or just plain anger, but I had no clue which. Blowing out a breath through pursed lips, I nudged Veronica so she would let me out, pretending I didn’t see the old pervert across the aisle ogling her ass when she gracefully unfolded her body like a swan rising from sleep.

She reached her arms up, stretching and twisting slightly left and right, which always did the trick. There was not one person on the plane that didn’t stare openmouthed at her beauty. As far as distractions went, I couldn’t ask for a better one. Sliding out of my window seat and keeping my eyes in front of me, I headed out to the lavatories separating us from the business class. Veronica’s drowsy “Oops, oh dear, I think I’m dizzy”was drowned by the rustling of clothing when everyone jumped out to help, including the two flight attendants who were practically running to come to her aid.

My feet kept moving forward.

The red curtain wavered slightly as if someone was moving behind it just as I neared the door of the bathroom I was pretending I wanted to use. The plane dipped and we lost altitude again, but my steps didn’t slow nor did my balance suffer from it. If anyone noticed, I wasn’t aware of them. I kept getting closer to my goal.You can do this. There is nothing to fear,I reminded myself just as I reached for the curtain.

The thick fabric was yanked back before I touched it.

“You are not fine.” It was the same flight attendant from earlier, her eyes narrowed on me in suspicion as she gripped the curtain in a tight-knuckled fist.

I didn’t slow down.

My boots ate up the space between us, and she took a step back as if startled by my advance while she filled her lungs with air like she was about to tell me off or maybe even scream. Using my speed, I was next to her before she had time to process what was happening. I covered her mouth with one hand while pulling the curtain closed with the other. Left in the tight confines between the metal drawers behind her and me in front of her, her eyes bugged out, her nostrils flaring as she panted in fear. Lowering my face to hers, I allowed my lips to curl just enough so she could see the tips of my fangs. Her heart was hammering so hard I could feel it under my palm on her face. Such fragile creatures, humans were.

“Sleep,” I whispered, taking hold of her upper arm when her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

Not a great plan, but it’d have to do. By the time she woke, she wouldn’t remember what was reality and what was a dream. A perk no one but Veronica knew I had. Compelling people with your voice was a myth from human stories, and it was one that everyone laughed about.

I didn’t laugh about it.

I was hiding it so I could keep my life.

Loosing precious time, I placed the woman in one of the seats in the tight place designated for the flight attendants before straightening and staring at the second curtain that would take me to the business class.

A throat cleared from somewhere in front of it and paper crinkled when the page of a book was flipped over. Behind me voices were overlapping, and among them I heard Veronica’s assurances that she was okay, but they weren’t very convincing, even to me. The girl was good when putting on the charm.

I slid through the curtain, my gaze darting over the top of the chairs until it stopped on the third row. He looked just like the rest of the humans, apart from two things that made him stand out: his steady heartbeat and the way his sweaty palm gripped the hand rest a tad too tight. Also, the stench of a shifter seared the inside of my nose so much my eyes watered from it. Ignoring the curious glances from those I passed, I walked up to him and crouched next to his seat, pretending I knew him by placing a hand over his forearm.

“If you make any sudden moves, I will kill you before you have a chance to blink.”

Smiling sweetly, I watched his eyes widen in shock before bulging in horror when he saw my fangs. His dark, terrified gaze dropped to the pendant nestled on my throat—a symbol that made me someone’s property and that was the same red color as my hair—and I watched a drop of sweat slide down the temple of his blanched face. His body trembled with the need to stand up and attack. Broad shouldered and easily over six feet, he was a male in his prime left to quake in front of a female he could break in half if given a chance. Well, any other female but me, that was.

It broadened my smile.

“You will walk with me back there.” I jerked my head to the side and pointed at the extended area where I left the flight attendant. “One wrong twitch of a muscle and this plane will land with only corpses occupying it. Yours will be among them.”

He lifted a shaking hand, spearing his fingers through the mass of curls sitting on top of his head. The stench of the sweat that had his shirt sticking to his body was burning my nostrils, but he blinked fast a few times before swallowing thickly and nodding his head. There was no mistaking the defeat in his eyes. Pushing up, he stood at the same time as I lifted off my crouch, my head reaching just slightly above his shoulder. My cocked eyebrow was enough for him to sigh and get moving without trying his luck. There was a good reason I was sent after him. We both knew he couldn’t win.

Not with a monster like me.

The moment we were both crammed in the tight confines, I yanked the curtain closed, the sound making him flinch and face me with his knees slightly bent. Ignoring his fear, I strained to hear if Veronica was still entertaining her audience, and my own knees buckled in relief when I heard her soft chuckle.

I startled the male by taking a fistful of his shirt and yanking his face close to mine. “Can you shift here?”

“Wha-what …” he stuttered, but I didn’t have time to wait for him to get his head out of his ass.

“Can you shift?” He kept gaping at me, so I shook him to get his brain online and glared at him. “The Syndicate is sending their regards, asshole. Will you shift, or will you die here?”

“I’ve done nothing …” When a muscle jumped in my jaw, he shrunk back and pressed his back to the metal drawers. “I can shift.” His gravelly voice shook, the confusion in his deep brown eyes almost comical. Only, there was nothing funny about the situation for either of us.

“I will need you to shift and stay in the cargo area with the rest of the animals on board until you are transferred to the unclaimed baggage. A human will come to claim you there and take you to a safe house where you will stay as long as it takes. For the rest of your life if need be, do you understand? If you don’t, we are both as good as dead.” When he heard he wasn’t going to die tonight, he almost dropped on his knees as his legs gave out on him. I had to hold him up by the flimsy fabric of his shirt while he nodded with gusto. “Hey.” Hissing under my breath, I jerked him upright. “Look at my face and remember it as good as you remember your own. The time will come when I will need a favor. I will find you and you will do what I ask. Am I clear?”

“Of course … anything … please …”

“Shift.”