Page 16 of The Harbinger
I frowned, sucking my lower lip into my mouth, biting down for a grounding moment, then releasing it. He wanted me to wear blue jeans without underwear? What option did I have? I couldn’t walk out there in a towel again, knowing we’d be landing and getting off this plane. It wasn’t just those men I’d have to deal with then.
Passing him a glare, I swiped the jeans off the bed and slid them up to my hips, buttoning them in place. The waistband pulled away from my concave stomach, leaving the material baggy and loose.
“Socks and shoes?”
Sacha held his hand out, ushering me out of the bedroom. “Take your seat.”
I took a hesitant step, then brushed past him, pulling the towel out from under my shirt and tossing it onto the bed. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“Curiosity is a fickle thing.”
My nostrils flared.
He’d put everyone in danger out ofcuriosity? What if I’d pushed a button that could’ve dropped us from the sky? I didn’t know how these things worked, but the possibility had me clenching my fists.
My new jeans hung below my heels, scuffing against the dark flooring as I shuffled toward my seat. Sitting on the seat beside mine was a pair of white sneakers and fresh socks. I took my seat and grabbed the socks, lavishing the soft material on my hands. A gentle shiver moved up my legs as I stared at my blistered and bruised feet.
“Put them on. We’ll be landing soon.”
Sacha sat, his dark eyes studying me like a science project as I slipped the socks over my feet, my mouth tightening as it moved over the tender skin, then held them up and wiggled my toes. My shoes came next.
“Do you remember how to tie them?”
My brows narrowed, adding to the irked glare I cast his way. “I can’t remember what happened to me, but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”Over and under, pull it tight…
“Watch your tone.”
Pulling tight, I did the same on the other side, grumbling under my breath, then buckled my seat belt.
My new clothes hugged my body in a warm embrace, creating something akin to a second skin—like it didn’t belong. I’d been with the bare minimum for days, and anything other than the cold ground and stale food seemed like a dream.
Turbulence slapped against the bottom of the plane as Sacha stared at me.
One. Two. Three.
“What do you plan to do with me when we land?”
“You ask too many questions.”
“And you don’t ask at all. You just snap your fingers and demand.”
Sacha took a steady breath and adjusted the thick black ring on his tattooed index finger. “Asking implies you can deny me. Why waste my time?”
“Everyone should be allowed a choice.”
He scoffed. “Your American ideologies haven’t left your amnesic mind, I see.”
Wasn’t that what everyone wanted? To not be controlled by another entity?
The plane vibrated again, with an overpowering whirring that crushed my ear drums. I glanced out of the window. A slow-moving river wound its way through the city like a snake hunting for prey. Tall skyscrapers intermingled among small boxy ones, crunching the city into a complex orchestration of movement and energy.
The plane banked to the right, then leveled out while it descended into a small airport.
Trees surrounded the tarmac on one side with the river between it. On the other was a small building and a few hangers they put the airplanes in when not in use. There was nowhere to go except in the river, and I wasn’t sure I could swim. Was it worth the risk?
The plane touched down on the runway with a slight bounce, and I turned my head, studying every space around us, until the plane slowed to a crawl and stopped in front of the building.
How far would I get now that I had new shoes and a belly full of energy?