Page 22 of Total Eclipse of the Moon
"Get off the plane. Run, and run hard."
"Antonio, grab your go bag." Shane turned the handle to open the hatch. It didn’t budge. "We have to get off the plane." He lifted the phone to his ear as he pushed at the hatch with superhuman strength. It didn’t give. Had to be magically sealed somehow. He asked his mother, "Do they want me dead, or do they want to kidnap me?"
"Both. Don’t hang up yet. There’s more. You must get to the witch who cursed you before they do. They seemed confident the creature they’re sending to take her out this time will succeed. I guess they’ve sent others, but for some reason this one’s worse. Could be one of their nonhuman brainwashed soldier superfreaks."
"Do they know where she is? Do you?"
"No clue. Your time is running out. Get off the plane. Stay alive. Dom said it’s imperative you don’t let them kill the witch. If they do, you’re screwed and will remain cursed forever."
Madeline was the key to ending the curse. Or course she was. Someday, he'd find out why she cast it. Her on the run, people trying to kill her, and her effectively being erased from existence in the queen’s bloodline made no sense.
"I’m going to need to speak to Dom in a few hours when I get to where I think she is. He can give me more specifics on locating her. Love you." He ended the call.
Someone planned to kill Madeline.
Fury tunneled though his nerves. He shifted to his primal form, six times as powerful and functioning on pure feral instinct.
"Let me free,"the demon in his head raged.
"I’ll let you know when it's your turn,"he shot back.
He ran for the rear emergency hatch. Two small projectiles shot through the side of the plane and emitted gas.
"Okay, Baku," he whispered. "Now I need you. This body can’t breathe this in. You got that?"
A strangled laugh pinged around inside his skull.
Since he’d formed a shaky truce with the demon, they were separate and yet not. Shane ran the show. It was his body and his mind. But they’d decided to collaborate. Most of the time. The moments when he fully accepted their merger meant he could take on powers of the demon—like functioning without needing to breathe. But their partnership was so new that when the demon got a feel for a bit of power, Shane had to fight tooth and nail to get Baku back under control.
"Don’t breathe," Shane yelled.
Antonio stumbled and tripped shoulder-first into a seat. He fell over, face-planting with a loud thud, which ended his trek toward the back of the plane. Either he hadn’t listened, or it was too late for him. Shane scooped him up onto a shoulder and kicked the emergency exit rear door.
"Why do we have to take the vampire?"Baku asked.
"How’s that a legit question? He’s my friend."
The door gave on the fourth kick. Then he was airborne. The landing was going to hurt. He tried to catch Antonio’s limp, ultra-heavy body as they struck the dark pavement of the runway, but he didn’t do a great job. He’d have to trust the vampire’s super-healing capabilities would kick in since that landing might’ve broken something.
Voices. Couldn’t hide a door blowing off the side of the plane.
"I can kill all of them,"Baku said.
"Don't do that blood vessel explosion thing. Mom said to run. That’s what the mage advised her. He’s rarely wrong."
The demon laughed again, fully enjoying his time in charge of Shane’s body.
He ran at super speed, feeling no sense of being winded, nor was the extra weight of the vampire a problem. When he felt he’d put at least a mile between them and the plane, he stopped and stood still, listening, and smelling. No scents other than fuel fumes from airplanes and cars. Cars passed along a highway in the distance.
"Back off, Baku. You did your thing."
The demon growled in his head. A sense of frustrated anger suffused him.
"We’re in this together,"Shane thought.
He tried to rouse the vampire. Nothing. Must have been powerful knockout gas. No time for him to be unconscious.
He slapped Antonio’s cheek. "Wake up!"
