My gaze hung on Emily, whose face was set in frozen shock. “Happily,” I gritted. And with that, I turned, sliding into the farthest seat from them and turning toward the window. I was vibrating with rage and injustice, and I sat in stony silence, the anger festering as they retook their seats, whispering to each other from the other side of the plane. Under any other circumstances, I would have gotten up and left. Too bad doing that would mean plunging to my death thirty thousand feet below.

It almost seemed like the better option.

As if in response to my thought, the plane jolted, causing two of the bags overhead to tumble out of the open compartment.

Emily let out a little squeak, and alarmed, I stood and shut the compartment. Emily had obviously tossed the drugs back in the bag or somewhere else while I’d been turned away, because they were no longer on the floor. The curtain to the cockpit remained closed. I assumed the pilot, Russell, had a headset on, which was a good thing for him, as he hadn’t had to endure the tense exchange between the three of us.

I sat back down in my seat and strapped my belt on. Just some turbulence.

“My Wi-Fi isn’t working,” I heard Emily mutter to Charlie.

“That happens,” Charlie said. “Give it a few minutes.”

Emily sighed and I turned more fully to the window just as the nose of the plane dipped, foisting me suddenly forward.

Holy shit. What the hell is happening?

chapter thirteen

Emily

Now

I screamed, terror a hot buzz beneath my skin as the plane tilted and the ground rose up. I clawed at my armrests, hanging on tight as there was another jolt and another tilt. Pleasepleaseplease. I had no idea who I was begging, but it was the only word that raced through my mind. I squeezed my eyes shut, but not before I caught sight of a large fire burning in the distance out the window, and several smaller fires spread out all around it.

The earth is on fire. Why is the earth on fire?

My stomach lurched as the plane bucked and then began to nose-dive. My squeal mixed with Charlie’s yelp—a horror-filled duet. We were both pitched forward, jerking in tandem against our lap belts. “Holy fuck!” Charlie yelled.

Brace for impact. Brace for impact. The words Tuck had relayed from the pilot pounded in my skull.

I turned my head to see Tuck gripping his armrests too, his gaze focused straight-ahead, jaw clenched tightly, brows bunched severely. I remembered that expression. It flashed in my mind, blooming large, the clock turning back.

I jerked forward again, the memory melting as though the flames from below had reached up and licked into my reeling mind, the lightning flashing in the sky, scorching my frayed and fearful nerves.