Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Lucian

There was a new flame of life inside me as I realized how I was feeling as I prepared Elaine with her fake ID ready to head into the airport. I was far more concerned that she would make it out of the country alive than I would. Far more concerned that she could stay alive than I was about staying alive myself.

She looked at her new passport. “Okay, so I’m Penelope Anne Jackson from here on out?”

“Yes,” I told her. “And you’re sitting in Seat 29C of Flight 181. NYC to London Heathrow.”

“Great,” she said. “And who are you?”

I opened up my new ID. “I’m Jason Ryan Reynolds, sitting in Seat 37A of Flight 181. NYC to London Heathrow.”

She looked sad. “It’s sad we can’t sit together at least.”

“Yes, it is,” I said. “But not nearly so shit as it would be to attract attention. They are way more likely to question our identity if they see us next to each other. If anyone finds us before we are off on our own in London, then we’re done for.”

“Yeah, I know,” she replied, and gave a cute little shrug.

I unzipped her friend’s battered old suitcase and put a few of our remaining bundles of cash in there amongst her clothes. I’d already ditched my weaponry in the trash and wrapped my own bundles of cash up in my own suitcase. Now that we were truly ready to go, I felt uncomfortably vulnerable.

I fucking hated feeling vulnerable.

“If I don’t make it through,” I told her. “You get to London and you carry on as long as you can, with or without me.”

Her perfect blue eyes were so fucking scared. “But I don’t want to make it through without you,” she said. “I’d rather die alongside you than exist apart.”

“That’s a beautiful thing to say, Elaine, but regardless. You get to London and you carry on.”

I knew from her expression that she had no intention of doing that.

“Elaine,” I pushed. “You get to London and you keep going, do you understand me? I want you to swear it.”

She let out a sigh. “But I don’t want to swear it. I don’t want to keep going without you. There is no me without you. Not anymore!”

Having someone feel that way about me was a strange sensation and always would be. Her mouth was so pretty, lips pursed in defiance.

“I mean it, Lucian,” she said. “I don’t want to swear it. We make it together, or not at all.”

I stared at her, hard. I soaked in every little detail of her in that moment and fell in love with her all over again. She did it. She won the battle. “Fine,” I told her. “Don’t swear it, but please do think about running with or without me if you make it to London.”

She looked as surprised as I felt that I was backing down for once in my life. I never gave in. Not ever. But with her I had. With her I’d backed the fuck down.

She was smiling as we began to walk along with the suitcases, and I knew that she was thinking just the same as I was. She was thinking about how I’d let her win the battle.

“Don’t expect this to become a habit,” I told her. “When I say something, I always mean it. If I say I want you to swear something, I’ll damn well want you to swear it.”

She shrugged, shooting me a mischievous glance, even though we were both fucked with the stress and her bandaged chest. “We’ll see about that when the time comes, I guess.”

“We’ll see about that when the time comes, I hope,” I said. “We might not even make it out of the country yet.”

She dropped her suitcase on the ground and pulled me toward her as soon as the main entrance came into view. “Fuck, I’m scared,” she said, and the sassiness in her voice had shriveled up and gone. “Once we head in there, that’s it. We make it or we don’t, don’t we?”

I dropped my suitcases on the ground and held her tight. As tight as I dared through her healing wound. “We’ll make it,” I told her, wishing I was as sure as I sounded. “Tomorrow evening we’ll be on the other side of the Atlantic, Penelope Anne Jackson and Jason Ryan Reynolds beginning their new life together.”

I kissed her once, hard and deep, before I sent her on ahead to the entrance. “Do this,” I said. “I’ll be behind you, just pretend I’m not. We can’t be seen together.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay,” I confirmed. “Go do it, Penelope. Go check in for Flight 181.”

She looked back at me once over her shoulder before she reached the main doors with her suitcase in tow, but that was all. I hung back until she was out of view before I put my new fake glasses on and made my own way through the airport.

It was busy, people mingling and chatting and pacing around on missions to different check-in desks. Security were alert but hardly ready to pounce. I walked right past several of them without them shooting me the slightest glance.

My hopes were true. Believable. We might just make it.

I caught sight of Elaine’s blonde hair as she bobbed her way through one of the terminals. I kept at a safe distance.

My beautiful girl really did look like a regular airport-goer making her way to a transatlantic flight. I only hoped I looked like enough of one to make it onto the plane with her.

She was at security ahead of me. She put her suitcases onto the conveyor belt for scanning and stepped on up with her ID to the counter while I hung back even more, pretending to search in my bag for something as several people stepped up ahead of me in the line.

Elaine was through the desk and out the other side with her baggage before I joined the line for screening.

My heart was pounding as I showed the same attendant my passport. Please, just don’t fucking question me.

The seconds were hours as she looked from me to the fake photo and back again. My fake glasses felt like clumsy weights against my face and my smile felt fake to match.

I could have leapt up with a hallelujah when she waved me through and my baggage arrived on the conveyor belt on the other side. My heart was still racing as I picked up my bags and headed toward the terminal, but not as fast as it was racing when I saw my beautiful Elaine hovering next to a seating area, eyes wide as she watched for me.

Her smile made my soul soar.

The relief on her face was a blessing from the Lord above.

I gave her the slightest nod, because I couldn’t draw any more attention to us, but it was enough that she nodded right back at me, then dashed her way along the corridor, heading closer to Flight 181. But I held back. Waiting. Praying.

She must have already been through check-in when I reached the desk, as there was no sign of her in the line.

Here we were. The true make-or-break moment. If we got through here and onto the plane…if only…

The gate attendant was chirpy when she looked at my plane ticket and passport. Her smile was bland, but welcome.

“Good evening, Mr. Reynolds. I hope you enjoy your flight. Thanks for joining Jettison Air today.”

My suitcases were gone. Taken for the flight. There was just me now, and a briefcase with my essentials in it, all set for travel.

Yes. Thank fuck. I was there. I’d been accepted through check-in and allowed through to the lounge, all ready to board the flight.

And there she was, my beautiful Elaine, sitting in her own little bench seat on the other side of the lounge, staring right over at me as I stepped inside.

We’d done it.

We’d made it through the airport.

Now we just needed to make it onto the damn plane and off the other side.