way to Atlanta popped into my mind. It was in the carry-on bag beneath my feet. We need to go grab Tommy.
I'll get him. Mason pointed at the three chairs across from Mona and Kassie. Go ahead and get buckled. I'll be right there.
I wanted to argue with him, but now wasn't the time. I got up and hurried to the seats, sitting near the window.
"Oh, hell no." Kassie stood from her seat and walked over to me. "Get up and move over."
"What? No." Right now wasn't the time for us to play musical chairs. "You need to be sitting down."
"You're right, and you aren't going to take the seat by the window." She pointed at the window that was about a foot away. "If anyone is going to get cut, it's going to be me. Now move."
My mouth opened to argue, but there was no point. If I didn't move, she'd stand in front of me, demanding for me to comply, and we'd both wind up getting hurt in the process. I stood and moved over to the spot I'd planned on Mason sitting in.
"Thank you." Kassie plopped down beside me and fastened her seat belt.
The back door opened, and a groggy Tommy and Mason appeared. Mason pointed to the open spot next to Louis. "Why don't you sit here? I'll go sit next to Mona."
"Yeah, okay." He slid past Louis and put a seat in between them so he was sitting closer to the window.
Even though Tommy still seemed tired, the dark circles under his eyes weren't as prominent.
The beep of the intercom came back on. "We will be descending in the next ten minutes. Please ensure your seatbelt is on securely, and assume the crash position. It's going to be a bumpy landing.”
His last comment caused my anxiety to skyrocket. I tried taking deep, calming breaths as I leaned my head forward and placed my hands behind my neck. There had to be some kind of witch magic causing all of this. I knew it was, but that didn't make any sense. There was only one witch who knew about my personal fleet. And still, the possibility filled me with fear.
It's going to be okay. Mason reached across the small aisle and took my hand. I'm sure the pilot knows exactly what to do.
We only hired the best, so that wasn’t what I was afraid of. I know, but what if it's tied to the marble we found on the way to Atlanta?
You think a witch is doing this. Mason sucked in a breath and nodded his head. There is only one witch who would know this plane.
Neither one of us uttered the name we were both considering.
The aircraft began lowering with the nose pointing downward. I glanced out the window, watching as the ground rushed to greet us. We were racing to our collision.
Silence filled the aircraft, which was unusual for our group. The aircraft hit the ground causing my neck to jerk and snap. I tightened my hold on it as we slid on the runway with sparks flying everywhere. Metal on the bottom of the jet scraped against the asphalt, sounding worse than nails on a chalkboard.
Right when I thought that the plane was going to catch on fire, we finally came to a stop.
The quiet was eerie until the cockpit door opened and the pilot emerged. His face was red, and sweat covered his brow. “Let’s get off this damn plane before something else strange happens.”
I couldn’t say it better myself, but I had a feeling this wasn’t just a fluke accident. It had to be intentional.
Chapter Fifteen
As we stepped out of the plane onto solid ground, the familiar smell of Columbia hit my nose, immediately releasing some of my anxiety and tension from our near-crash. The very fact that we were here had my heart feeling at peace. There were at least five emergency vehicle cars, and paramedics raced toward us to check on every one of us.
After they let us go, we headed toward the building.
"Holy shit." Ella raced down the steps and headed straight to me, wrapping her arms around me. "I wasn't sure if we were going to make it."
"I think we might have all felt that way," Kassie huffed, scanning the area as if she was looking for a threat to pop out.
Tommy and Mona were the last two who were released, and both of their faces were lined with worry. Despite what we'd just gone through, Tommy