Cary felt Emilia’s body slow down and enter a peaceful slumber. It came on rather suddenly while the attendant droned on over useless safety information. If the plane exploded, Cary did not expect anyone to survive, not even her or Emilia. She knew the spells needed to protect them, but Emilia did not. And Cary would not have the time needed to teach them to her apprentice.

Once the attendant finished her lecture, she stopped by and offered Cary a pre-take off beverage. Their selection of alcohol was wide enough that a lesser person would have required a menu or index. Not so for Cary, who ordered a small glass of Scotch over ice. Her first experience with drinking never repeated itself, especially after Cary was certain to check her drink for adulterants.

The Scotch tasted smooth and mellow as she sipped it down, the ice chilled the drink and gave it a sweet front flavor as she swirled it in her mouth. Papa Butch had taught her proper Scotch appreciation the night she’d awakened after rescuing Emilia. The alcohol softened the blow of learning that Emilia had completed the sealing between them and made their bond permanent. Not that Cary minded, but rather she had intended for the event to occur under more auspicious circumstances. But Emilia had saved her life and that would have to be enough.

She closed her eyes as she reviewed the last month. Most of her time had been devoted to teaching Papa Butch, Regina, and Emilia what she knew of magic, most of which followed Papa Butch’s own informed questions.

With her second glass of Scotch warming her belly, Cary leaned back for a short nap along with Emilia. She had just drifted off when the plane’s engines roared to life. Cary came out of slumber with a start. This being her first time in a jet, she wanted to savor the full experience, even if filtered through the fumes of a mild whiskey drunk.

Several other passengers slumbered with their seats reclined, but Cary ignored them as their plane taxied about the runway. This massive piece of steel and plastic had far too much mass for it to takeoff, at least Cary thought so.

She stared out the window imagining the forces required to lift the plane. As she did, Cary spotted a four-wheel drive jeep, the kind Emilia’s memory informed her often belonged to the military, drive up to the concourse and stop in the distance.

From here, Cary could make out four people in the jeep, all of whom got out as the lead passenger donned binoculars and used them to zoom in on her plane. The airs on the back of Cary’s neck rose. After the confrontation with security, Cary did not imagine for an instant that such scrutiny was normal or unrelated to her or Emilia’s presence on the plane.

At this distance, Cary could not read the figures’ lips as they conversed, but they clearly marked out her plane and focused their attention on it. Itching with an urge to escape the steel trap and chase down her observers, Cary grabbed the armrest at the end of the aisle. If the figures produced a weapon, Cary would try to charge from the jet and murder those strange men.

But before either outcome came to pass, the plane’s engines assumed a power and activity that overwhelmed Cary’s ears and surged the whole impossible mass forward. Inertia pulled her body back into her plush seat as the plane jetted forward. The jeep and its passengers faded from view as the plane’s wheels left the tarmac and, for the first time in her life, Cary flew as a passenger in a plane.

She’d been cargo the other times she’d flown, the experience nothing more interesting than a shipping truck. Without the visual reference and with layers of packing material between her and the plane’s exterior, Cary had missed out. The horizon dipped out of view as the great beast of an aircraft ascended.

Lacking her own wings and the ability to shift as her species intended, Cary would never enjoy this experience without mechanical assistance. A bittersweet joy filled her chest, heightened by the touch of Emilia’s head on Cary’s shoulder. Though her mind recorded all events with equal accuracy, Cary shifted imaginary lens over her eyes and amplifying cones over her ears. She wanted to pick up every possible sensation, from the shudder in her core to the creak of the plane’s rivets as she reached into the air.

As the acceleration faded, for the briefest shining bright moment, all weight dropped from Cary and she hung suspended in the air. Cary blinked tears out of her eyes as the plane leveled off and its arc flattened. Minutes passed by while Cary waited for the sensation to repeat, but nothing happened.

Beside her, Emilia stirred. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. “Did I sleep through taking off?”

Cary smiled and patted her leg. “You did. How was your nap?”

Emilia yawned and stretched as much as she could. “It was actually pretty nice. But now I have to use the bathroom. Stand up and let me out?”

After the figures in the jeep, Cary refused to let Emilia leave on her own. She didn’t follow her into the bathroom, but she did stand outside the door and watch for anyone who might have intended Emilia harm.

No gazes from the other passengers lingered on the two women as they walked through the plane, and Cary paid special attention to those passengers. Most of the others kept their noses buried in books or hovering over their own beverages. A few, like Emilia, had passed out and still slept after takeoff.

When they returned to their seats, Emilia pulled Cary over into her seat. “This is sufficiently private for me, kiss me demon.”

Breath flared in her chest, Cary greedily complied with her servant’s impertinent demand. Seconds flowed into minutes as they savored each other’s lips. Cary’s hand strayed to Emilia’s chest, following Cary’s unconscious desires.

Rather than stop her, Emilia pressed herself into Cary’s hand. When she realized what she’d done and the way Emilia hadn’t pulled away, Cary purred into her lover’s mouth. Boundaries Emilia had set barred this sort of “heavy petting” but apparently, at least some of those rules did not count when thousands of feet in the air.

A flight attendant passed by them, but moved on without disturbing the two women. They were quiet. Emilia would have been uncomfortable if she’d become aware of the attendant’s notice. Cary did not want to pause their motions for fear Emilia would stop them. Aware of the way she danced on the border of appropriate public behavior, Cary kept her hand over Emilia’s clothing.

By demonic standards, Emilia’s breasts were tiny. Temptresses almost always possessed massive endowments, as if to draw the eye and lusts of men and women at a mere glance. And Cary had experienced the allure of such assets even before she’d been enslaved by Elelele. But now, thousands of years later, she found herself satisfied by Emilia’s boyish chest. Maturity and reason informed her that Cary’s interests had more to do with the person than the flesh. Though she resisted admitting her feeling to Emilia, she loved the mortal and her body. Before she had met Emilia, she would have considered her chest a “flaw” but now Cary felt it nothing more than the right and proper shape of Emilia.

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“Okay, now we have to stop.” Emilia pulled away with her face and neck flushed from excitement.

Cary released her, but answered with a low rumble. “Why?”

“Because I’m…” Searching the cabin with her eyes, Emilia whispered, “wet”

The word brought out a primal lust in Cary who’s eyes flicked down to the space between Emilia’s legs and back to her own. “Good, that is the point. I am wet and ready myself.”

Emilia gave Cary a light shove. “Lower your voice. And while yes… this might be the natural outcome… I don’t want to be… like this for the rest of the flight. It’s uncomfortable.”

Frowning, Cary sighed. “Were that I could break you of this odd modesty. You would enjoy making love while this jet rumbled beneath you, I think.”

Cary sat back in her chair, fighting off the urge to pout. She had grown aroused too and did not wish to stop unsatisfied. But the courting rituals of Emilia’s society basically insisted on it. As if some fanatical denial cult had taken over the ages ago and spread their disgusting hatred of intimacy to every part of the globe. It made Cary pity the mortals.

“Don’t be like that.” Emilia put her hand on Cary’s. “I don’t want to tease you and put you off… but I’ve never… you know.”

Cary smiled. She’d been through Emilia’s memory in this regard extensively. The young woman had only touched herself once before she’d stopped. Among demons such deprivation bordered on the perverse. If Cary mentioned that to Emilia, the young woman it would have offended her. But in a way, Emilia was more virginal than most. And Cary’s base instincts yearned to despoil her purity. Instead she lied. “It is okay. I do not mind being teased.”

“Liar.” Emilia poked her in the nose and squinted at Cary. “I can see it in your eyes, the way you stare at me sometimes. You’d jump my bones at the first opportunity if I let you.” A thought built behind Emilia’s sudden serious gaze. “Thank you for not taking advantage of me, of the servant bond.”

Cary felt sickened at the thought. “I would never. El…” Cary sucked in a breath. In more than a month, she hadn’t come so close to speaking his name. “My master ‘took advantage of me’ as you say in more ways than I care to relate. I would never do such a thing to another.”

“Gods, that’s terrible!”

Waving Emilia’s concern away, Cary said, “I do not wish to speak of it at length. Or to think on it for that matter. I never intend to return to him, nor will I ever become him by reflection.” She took Emilia’s chin between her fingers. “I tell you truly, Emilia Olren, I await the time when you give yourself to me wholly with great anticipation. The delay only heightens my longing.” Cary punctuated her declaration by brushing her lips across Emilia’s.

Her gasp did little to cover the soft tread of footsteps in the aisle behind them. The feet who trod near hesitated, the heartbeat and breathing off to Cary’s finely tuned ears. Combined with the clank of a piece of metal coming from the intruder’s pocket, those signals put Cary on full alert. She did not take time to thank the Fates for tuning up her senses to enjoy her first flight and her dalliance with Emilia.

Cary shoved Emilia back to her seat, shielding her with her own body. As she turned to face their attacker, Cary shifted her body into stone. A soft puff of air preceded a plink against Cary’s body as a small dart struck her where she’d covered Emilia’s body. The woman who looked down on them wore one of the flight attendant’s uniforms, and a glazed expression over her face.

She dropped her weapon as her vision lost focused and she looked around herself. Before the woman could fully recover, Cary darted forward, found her seatbelt restraining her, released it, and snatched the weapon from where the woman had dropped it.

“What happened?” Cary grabbed Emilia’s hand and squeezed it in a silent signal to stay quiet for now as the flight attendant grabbed her head and started to swoon. Shoving the dart and ejector into her purse, Cary stayed in place, with her body physically blocking attacks against Emilia while another attendant rushed to the aid of their attacker.

“Check the woman’s aura. Quickly before she leaves.” Cary directed her words to Emilia, who steadied her breathing while the second attendant led the first away. None of the other passengers so much as noticed the disturbance.

“Shit. There’s magic all over the place, Cary.” Emilia’s voice sounded strained. “That woman was definitely affected by something.”

Cary stood up and dragged Emilia after her. This would make an important learning experience and they needed to try and catch their pursuers. Unlike from the guard intervention, this was a direct attack. After Samantha, Cary did not intend to let them continue to prod her defenses while striking from the shadows.

Scanning the faces of the other passengers, none of them paid much attention to the two women. The second attendant, the one who’d escorted the ensorcelled woman away started to close a set of curtains. “Excuse me, but passengers are not allowed past this point.”

Cary cleared her throat and raised her magic paper. “My companion and I are certified emergency care personnel. It looked as though that woman took ill.”

The attendant cocked her head at the page, but nodded. “Okay, thank you doctors.”

Emilia flicked her eyes to the side as the attendant let them through the curtains. The woman who had attacked them lay upon a fold-up chair chair, breathing uneasily.

“Hello, can we help you? Cary modulated her voice with delicate control. She didn’t want to alert the other attendant, but she needed to be prepared for any lingering effects of the control spell used to manipulate the woman.

“Oh, I just feel exhausted all of the sudden.” The attendant’s voice sounded faint as she tried to brush the two off.

Emilia stepped forward as if they had rehearsed this ploy. “Just let me check your pulse and a few other things, okay?” She put her fingers on the woman’s wrist and acted as if counting while she closed her eyes where the second attendant wouldn’t notice. After a moment’s pause, she then checked the woman’s eyes and forehead. As far as Cary was concerned, the performance was effective. It set the second attendant at ease.

Nodding as if she’d found what she expected, Emilia said, “It looks like you’re just overworked. Grab yourself some orange juice and maybe a bagel if you can. If you still feel sick in an hour, please come get us.”

The attendant grinned at Emilia’s reassurance. “You’re so young to be doctors.”

Emilia winked. “Douglas Howard doesn’t have nothing on us.” She grabbed the woman’s hands. “Promise you’ll come get us if you still feel sick in an hour?”

“Oh yes, thank you ladies. I mean doctors.”

Emilia dragged Cary back to their seats with haste. Her skin shown red, almost as red as when they’d been petting before. “We just broke so many laws. Holy shit!” She kept her voice low to keep from alerting the other passengers to their deception.

“What did you discover?”

“She was definitely be-spelled. And I could be wrong, but it was recent, as in someone aboard the plane had to have done it.”

“Shit.”

Emilia nodded at Cary’s profanity. “Right, shit.”

“Do you know what the effect was?”

“I don’t know the name, but it’s like the thing Papa Butch used on you to push me out of the way… you know.” Cary nodded. Emilia referred to their assault upon Samantha’s fortress demiplane. “Only I don’t think there was a talisman involved. That’s why I think it was recent. Very recent. Possibly spread by touch.”

“Then someone aboard the plane both knows we are here and is trying to… either capture or kill us.” Cary dug in her bag for the dart and its firing device. “The next thing I want you to do is analyze this device and the possible toxin within. I want to know if its lethal or otherwise.”

Emilia picked up the ejector gun and closed her eyes as she rested it in her hands. Scanning her eyes around the room, Cary grabbed a blanket from the overhead bin and laid it over Emilia’s front. If someone noticed the weapon in Emilia’s lap, they would have more problems and Cary didn’t want to force Emilia have to tap into the minds of those strangers.

After a few minutes of concentration, Emilia opened her eyes. “I’m sorry, Cary, I can’t tell what this stuff is. Magic?”

Cary snorted at Emilia’s answer. “If it was anything else, I would be shocked to my core. But don’t worry about it for now.” Opening her bag, Cary shifted the ejector into it and snapped it shut. “For now, we both need to be on full alert. Whoever sent the attendant after us won’t stop with a single failed attempt.”

Emilia sighed and rocked her head back into the seat. “I’d like to say my life hasn’t always been like this, but that would be a huge lie.”

“Then it’s a good thing you have gotten used to it, no?” Cary shut her eyes and leaned her head back in a mirror of Emilia. Despite the position, Cary remained awake and alert, awaiting the next disaster.