We arrived at the Kansas city airport that afternoon. The first thing I noticed was the cold. The air blew and I tugged my sweatshirt tighter. "I need a coat."
Iris looked at me in the rearview mirror. "Wear two sweatshirts until we can buy one. Or wrap a blanket around your shoulders."
We exited the truck with our stuff in tow. With any luck, we'd be out of the country today and never see the worn down thing again. "So where we going?" I said, shuffling my feet alongside them. I shivered as I balled my hands into fists. Not even Thanksgiving and it was already freezing.
Nia's teeth chattered as she spoke. "What foreign languages do you speak?"
"I've taken four years of Spanish. What about you?"
"Four years of French although Iris took Spanish too. I'm sure I could start learning."
"But we're not going to Mexico. That's too close to the U.S."
She moved her red braids out of her face. "Spain then?"
"Let's stick with a place where they speak English. New Zealand is pretty far."
"How long can we stay without Visas?" Iris said as we entered the glass doors.
I bit my thumbnail, thinking. "I don't know, a couple months? I was born in the U.K so I can probably stay longer. We can apply for student visas when we get there so we can go to school and that'll give us more time in the country. Maybe even a couple years."
"Sounds good."
I pointed at the ticket counter. "I have my mom's debit card on me."
Nia shook her head and pointed at the cash register. "If we pay for the tickets with the card I bet someone will be able to find out where we're going. Let pay in cash."
We walked over to the machine and I inserted the card. I turned to Iris. "How much money do you think we need?"
Iris yawned and looked at me through the corner of her eyes like the answer was obvious. "As much as you can take out."
The options for bills came up on the ATM screen.l I tapped other and typed in the digits for five thousand. It denied me and on the screen popped a message about the three thousand dollar limit. I sucked my teeth. "Is there another ATM in this place?"
"On the other side of the airport."
I went back and typed in three thousand. Thirty a hundred dollar bills came out of the machine. I placed it in my front pocket. "Let's go but the tickets and then go to the other ATM." I looked over my shoulder nervously. Being in there so long was making me jittery. The longer we stayed, the closer Jonah could get to us.
The woman at the ticket register smiled at me. "Three economy seats to Auckland, New Zealand. Any airline, just give us your cheapest tickets."
"Round trip?"
"Nope."
She raised her eyebrows. "Well, we have three eight hundred dollar tickets. I hope you're okay with not sitting next to each other."
"We are, just put us on the same plane."
The woman leaned the counter. 'So what are you girls traveling for?"
"School."
"Is that so? Isn't it the middle of the school year? Did you girls get expelled?"
"It was a family emergency." We didn't look similar, the twins and I, but it wouldn't be hard for me to pass as their older sister or cousin.
"How interesting. Tell me more."
She was making me nervous. Nia laid her hand of my forearm--she must've been alarmed too. The woman still smiled, showing off her bright teeth. Iris tugged on my shirt sleeve and whispered in my ear. "There are a couple men coming this way. They have black suits on, so maybe they're airport security. I glanced over in the direction she was looking and saw them coming. Recognition flashed in one of the man's faces when our eyes connected. Ian Jacobi, the man who broke into my house. This woman was stalling. She was a werewolf too.
"Excuse me? Hello?"
I grabbed Iris's hand and she grabbed onto Nia. 'We have to get out of here. Now!"
The woman called after us. "You don't want your tickets!"
Iris threw up a middle finger as she ran. "Fuck your tickets!"
My duffel bag slapped against legs as I ran. Dammit, dammit, dammit. From the slapping against the floor coming from behind us, the pack soldiers were running after us, and fast too. Soon they would catch up. I swallowed the down the lump in my throat. We burst outside, into the cold air. As we neared the deserted spot where'd we parked the car in an attempt to abandon it. Nia yelped but a hand quickly muffled her. "Stop running or I'll snap her neck."
I froze in place. "Good, now turn around."
Following the orders, I turned. Another man moved to put his hands around Iris's neck. The knot in her jaw worked as she clenched her teeth down hard. "I'm surprised we didn't catch you sooner." Ian Jacobi's voice floated over me as he placed his hand over my mouth. As if I was going to scream anyway--no one would've heard me. "You're going to come back to the pack quietly or we're going to snap the neck of your friends."
Anger surged up in me as I felt my canines drop. I hadn't had a drop of Wolfsbane since we left Evansville and it wasn't enough to keep my canines away. "Let me go."
"Or what?" The man across from me put more pressure on Nia's neck. She wept silently. I closed my eyes. More anger bubble to the surface. Anger and malice and fear.
He laughed at the tears that dropped onto his hand. "She's such a crier. A weak witch like you should've stuck to making healing tonics. Now you're going to suffer for it." He looked at me. "Or what? That's right. Nothing, you can't do anything."
That's when the anger took over me. A blind, hot rage came over me and I snapped. In a blur, I ripped myself out of Ian's grip and launched myself at Nia's attacker. I was a feral beast--a provoked feral beast. My canines dug into' the man's throat and I tore out a chunk of his skin. He screamed and writhed as his blood coated my face. Iris took the opportunity to kick her heel back into her captor's crotch and free herself. She spun around and caught the man in the jaw with her fist. As the man who I had attacked staggered back, Iris's captor was torn. His friend or his mission?
I wasn't torn. Immediately, I launched myself at him too. He blocked me as I came for his neck, but in my bloodlust, I would settle for anything. I chomped into his arm and refuses to move as he kicked at me. The salty, metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. Iris wrapped her hands around the man's neck until his gaze went far away. I stepped back and looked at Ian.
His face was pale as I opened my mouth, showing off my blood stained teeth. I smiled. He shook away his fear and bared his own teeth. Not waiting a single second, I pounced. He shoved me back and I fell to the ground. That irritated the feral beast in me. I wanted blood, I wanted my enemies punished, especially this man who had broken into my home and hurt my mother and father. Yes, he had to pay. And he would do so dearly.
I pounced again. My fingernails grew and became claws as I tore up the skin of his face. He fought well, like the trained soldier he was. But I was no soldier--I was an angry animal, desperate and vengeful. I sunk my teeth into his neck and my claws into his arms. He fell to the ground as a metal pipe cracked against his forehead. I scrambled back.
My anger faded and I realized what I had done. I looked at my bloodstained hand sand the bile immediately rose in my throat. "No don't vomit, don't vomit," Nia cried. My head spun as I hurled the contents of my stomach onto the pavement. I retched until nothing more would come.
"I just killed three men!"
"None of them are dead," Iris said, bending to check their pulses. "If anything, you knocked them unconscious." The pointed at the first one I attacked "that one might be in danger. He's losing quite a bit of blood, but the other two are going to come to in an hour or two."
Nia patted my back, but I swore I saw fear in her eyes. "It's all going to be alright. You saved us."
I struggled to take in a breath. "I don't know what came over me. I just got angry and I.....I...I snapped."
"You're still pretty Wolfy. In fact, it's probably time we get you some Wolfsbane. It was the shock that sent you over the edge," Iris said. She pulled me up and put her arm on my shoulder as she led me to the truck. My knees were weak and my legs trembled. I still couldn't get the taste of blood out of my mouth.
Nia dug another vial of Wolfsbane out of her pouch. "Don't worry. We'll get you mouthwash as we head East."
"East?"
"Well since it looks like airports are a no go, we can still get as far away as we can. Let's head to New England. But first your mouthwash."
After pulling into a CVS to buy mouthwash and snacks. I rested my head on the window pane. Iris hit the highway and we left Kansas behind.