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En France…
“To France?” I whispered, and the woman nodded.
The plane surged faster, driving me to the side, until my belly lurched and that weightless feeling lifted me. We were climbing. The wheels lifting from the tarmac as we left Mauritius behind and with it, Lazarus.
I yanked on the chain, testing the lock, then pressed my spine against the cold steel wall. We climbed and climbed. There wasn’t even a window, not that I’d see anything in the dark. But the hope…Jesus,the hope was palpable inside me. I closed my eyes and drew my knees together, curling my spine as the tears came.
I sobbed, shuddering and jerking, curling my body over to protect the only thing I had.
This life growing inside me.
Murmurs fought the roar of the engines. Warmth pressed against my side. I lifted my head, letting the tears fall, to find the woman next to me looking at me with sadness. She spoke to me, whispering words I couldn’t understand.
I lowered my head, taking comfort in her. She pulled against the chains, reaching to grasp my hand. Through the deafening drone of the engine, a voice broke through. A woman rocked ahead of us, mumbling in Spanish, some of that I knew. But the words were jumbled…disjointed.
“Hey,” I called, my voice husky.
“Shhh,” the woman next to me urged, and shook her head. Her wide eyes were etched with fear, the kind of fear I took notice of.
I glanced at the muttering woman who rocked back and forth, her gaze fixed on the chain in front of us. Then I settled my head back on the woman next to me. It was small comfort and, apart from Anna, the only female comfort I’d ever had in my entire life. The thought filled me with sadness.
A sadness that weighed me down.
“Sleep,” the woman murmured in my ear.“Sleep now,chère.”
It was the only English she’d said, and while I wanted to stay awake and fight through every minute, I knew that I needed strength for what was coming, strength to fight for my life. So I took refuge in her bony shoulder and closed my eyes.
Sleep came hard and fast, sweeping me away into the murky gloom of my mind. The same kind of gloom that waited behind the drooping limbs and delicate leaves of the willows, and the same kind of darkness that had waited for me in that classroom, along with Damon. I fought that terror, fought it in my sleep just as I'd fought it in my life. When the plane bounced hard, I jarred from sleep with grainy, stinging eyes, to find the green-gray of the airplane floor.
The woman next to me didn’t smile, just stared at me and slowly nodded.
It’s time,her gaze said. It’s time.
It was light…finally. It felt like I’d lived in darkness, like that was all that waited for me. I was no longer allowed in the light. No longer allowed to feel the warmth of the sun ever again. The plane dropped hard, bouncing before it evened out, the engines roaring, before we dropped once more.
Lower and lower. My pulse stuttered, my breaths turned faster and shallow. Fear was echoed in every woman’s eyes—all except for one.
The woman mumbling in Spanish just stared at the chain around her wrists, stared and stared, unable to look anywhere else. A cry tore from me as we dropped again, moving lower and lower. I could almost hear the rush of the air under the plane as we dipped closer to the ground. The pitch of the engine changed, growing louder and louder, until the floor shuddered and a growl came where there’d been none before.
I grabbed her hand as the wheels touched down and skidded, clutching this stranger's hand like it was the last contact I’d ever feel again.
“No…no, no, no…”she whispered as we lurched forward, the brakes cutting in hard.
We slowed suddenly, until the roar in my head matched the roar of the engines, then the plane turned. It felt like forever as we rolled and rolled, then finally came to a stop and the engine quieted.
I stared at the others and the door up ahead that had to lead to the cockpit as it opened. The young guy from before ducked his head and stepped out, followed by another male. They never looked at us, just strode past. Sunlight poured in as the rear door opened.
Two more men came in, one carrying a semi-automatic weapon. They took one look at us, then stilled on me. Orders were barked in French. I glanced at the woman at my side, desperate to understand, as the men moved toward us. One bent and unlocked the chains around our wrists, then moved along the line while the guy with the weapon watched.
France…
We were in France.
But why?
Because it was close to Mauritius. It was the only thing that made sense.
“Move!”
