Twice, the plane jolted so violently that August imagined he was on an amusement-park ride. But he wasn’t amused. He listened as the businessman in front of him retched into a bag. Somewhere to his right he heard a small child saying over and over Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy. There was a noise behind him, and August looked back just in time to see a man come staggering out of the latrine. He was swearing, and his shirt was sopping wet. August didn’t bother wondering why. An irritated flight attendant assisted the man back to his seat, the two of them clutching anything in reach to steady themselves as the plane galloped like a rodeo horse through the sky.

August looked over at Xandria. She was completely calm, as if most at rest right at the center of the brewing swirl of chaos.

The captain said something over the loudspeaker, though no one could decipher it over the snarling engines and the seismic vibrations of the overhead compartments. August felt as if he were being shaken in a giant cocktail. But he was unfortunately sober and all too aware that his only relief might come in the form of a six-foot box.

Only a moment later, August felt the firmament rise up to catch the wheels of the lumbering aircraft. Then . . . calm. Conversations picked up from where they’d trailed off as if the crisis were only a bad dream, and now everything was back to normal. Everything was fine. Maybe even great.

August envied them.

“Time to pay the piper,” Xandria said.

The piper she was referring to was none other than Leo Kahn, a bully who had declared the underworld his playground. August was still a little cloudy on how, exactly, Xandria would prevent Leo from killing him on the spot. “Follow my lead” was her only instruction. Not exactly the most reassuring plan, August thought, given that his life was on the line.

They waited for the plane to empty before exiting themselves. After a brief and awkward encounter with the flight attendants— who eyed them with fear, or contempt, or a mixture thereof—they left the confines of the plane forever.

“I didn’t think that flight would ever end,” August said.

“Who said it did?” Xandria replied.

The two of them entered the buzzing space of the airport. Like some Las Vegas impersonator’s Jack Nicholson, Leo Kahn stood with three of his square-headed cronies only a few meters away. Leo was a man who took no chances. He wanted to be right there when August walked out of the tunnel. So he had purchased four one-way tickets and now, there they were.

“Just don’t do anything stupid,” Xandria said as she and August approached the Kahn ensemble.