tourists were still gathered. There were cameras capturing her fall. Just as her fall from grace into Stark’s employ had been aired on a hundred news channels, so would her death. Seemed appropriate.
Time dragged to a halt as she tumbled, only a couple dozen feet from the ground.
She was about to hit.
Deirdre’s body stopped with a jerk.
But she didn’t die. Instead, she reversed direction, moving parallel to the ground a few feet above the heads of the tourists.
It hurt like she’d slammed into pavement, but the arms curved around her were far more forgiving than that.
She twisted to see Vidya’s determined face, eyes narrowed as she flew, wind blasting into her face. The wind sang through her razor feathers. Her biceps bulged as her hands tightened around Deirdre’s waist, holding her securely as they climbed toward the clouds again.
Deirdre tried to say, “Vidya?” The name wouldn’t come out, though. She couldn’t breathe enough to speak.
For the first time, Deirdre was flying without the help of an airplane, though the wings weren’t hers. They rose and fell by inches every time Vidya flapped.
They alighted on the airship dock at the top of the UN building. Only then did Vidya drop Deirdre.
The healing fever blazed through her. She had to brace her arms on her knees, trying to catch her breath. If the OPA agents were to attack, she would have to trust that Vidya could defend her—there was nothing Deirdre could do for herself.
Nobody attacked. Trevin materialized with Rylie at his side, holding her by the ruff of fur at her neck.
If Deirdre had thought Trevin looked inhuman before, it was nothing in comparison to his appearance now. He was elemental. Raw magic that no skin could contain. He had released everything human about him and surrendered to pure magic.
Even though Rylie couldn’t speak, Deirdre could see the gratitude in her wolfish eyes. She was happy that Deirdre had survived.
Deirdre wasn’t sure she was equally happy to see the Alpha restored to safety.
Trevin peered over the side of the dock. “Sloppy. Very sloppy.”
The airship was still crashing. Deirdre couldn’t see Kristian and Niamh on its deck from where she kneeled, but she could tell that there was no saving the dirigible. It made a graceful arc through the cloudy morning, dragging so many OPA agents to death within its belly.
Vidya might have been able to save them if Deirdre asked her to.
Deirdre didn’t.
The airship crashed into the water. The waves surged, engulfing the dirigible in steely gray arms, and it vanished into the depths of the ocean.
VIII
If the government was good at anything, it was doing everything in triplicate.
The first airship had barely had enough time to sink under the surface of the ocean before the second had been deployed, and now it hovered outside the United Nations building, waiting for its important passengers to board. This dirigible was almost a twin to the first, but a few years older, decorated with generic OPA insignia, and refueling cables still dangling from its belly.
“Isn’t there an alternative mode of transportation?” Deirdre asked, moving unsteadily onto the catwalk that led to the cabin. It didn’t feel nearly as solid underneath her now that she’d been on one as it was crashing.
“Not to the place we’re going,” Trevin said. He had returned to a body that looked passably human, but Deirdre still couldn’t bring herself to look at him directly. She couldn’t bring herself to take the hand he offered, either. She edged across the catwalk on her own and didn’t feel settled even once she entered the shelter of the cabin.
The pilot wasted no time. As soon as the door shut, the engines rumbled to life, and the UN building receded through the window. It was getting late, and the spindly structures caught the setting sun and reflected them in shades of flaming orange.
“Your cabin’s this way,” Trevin said, heading to the hall. “You have time to sleep before we reach the ley line juncture for the Summer Court.”
“Where is it?”
“About thirty thousand feet over the ocean.” At Deirdre’s confused look, he explained. “It’s not easy to hop between the Middle Worlds. You have to reach the right juncture and open a door. We’ve got a door on this airship, and it will take us to the juncture. Even with the engines running on full, we’ll have a few hours before we get there. Don’t worry, though. I don’t need to sleep. I’ll be watching your room all night.”
“Really? What do you think