The flight attendant called for first class to board. She and Jack handed over their tickets and settled themselves into two comfortable seats—Mira by the window—and watched everyone else get on while juggling their canyons and looking generally harassed.

Mira snuggled into the seat, leaned her head against the window, and closed her eyes. She'd only ever been on a plane once before, when she and Annie had gone to Florida for vacation when she'd been twelve. She'd definitely never flown first class before, but she thought she could get used to it pretty quick.

A horrible thought occurred to her, and she opened her eyes. "Uh, Jack? Could an air witch take down a plane?”

He flipped through one of the in-flight magazines. "Yeah, sure, a powerful one could." Jack glanced at her. "You could.”

Mira swallowed hard.

Jack tucked the magazine in the pocket in front of him. "But don't worry about Crane trying it. He needs you alive.”

"Ingrid mentioned Crane had a kidnapped air witch?”

He grunted. "A man named Marcus. He's a hostage. He's not powerful enough to defend himself, which makes him pretty much anyone's meat. Crane caught him, drugged him, maybe broke him. We're not sure. The Coven has tried to extricate him on several occasions without success. Marcus has enough power to hear things on the air, but doesn't have enough ability to raise much more than a strong breeze. Marcus couldn't take down a plane.”

"Marcus was the reason the men broke in this morning?”

"We're betting there was a crack in the warding of the phone call Thomas gave me to let me know to bring you in. Marcus heard some of the conversation through it, told Crane, and Crane put the thumbscrews to his wardbreakers.”

"Can the wardbreakers break into the Coven?”

Jack shrugged. "The Coven is not impenetrable, but it's pretty damn close. Even if they could get in, it wouldn't be in their best interests." He shot her a lopsided grin. "All the air witches of any talent, the few of them there are, work for us.”

"But they can still get in," she confirmed.

"Theoretically, yes, but it would be nearly impossible for it to go undetected.”

Mira bit her bottom lip and turned her attention to the tarmac outside her window. Images of Jack's apartment after she'd exploded her magick flashed through her mind, and she pushed them away. She still wasn't ready to deal with the fact that she'd killed six men. Evil men. Duskoff men. She had to remind herself of that. Jack was right; it had been self-defense.

And she hadn't meant to do it. Not consciously, anyway. But somewhere in her mind had lain the desire to see them dead in order to protect herself and Jack... and to give payback for her parents' murders, perhaps.

She leaned her head against the window and stared outside, sorrow choking her throat.