Destination Unknown (Lumen Academy Book 1) by Penelope Wright

Author:Penelope Wright [Wright, Penelope]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-11-27T06:00:00+00:00

14

Heidi

Mars apparently has a tremendous amount of chit credits on his plastic charge card because he has no problem paying for a long ride in a stuffy cab all the way to the Trivandrum International Airport. Once inside, he leads us away from never-ending lines of people dragging heavy suitcases, waiting to speak to a few disheveled-looking attendants. Instead, his flexible plastic credit card allows him to have a long chat with a pleasant-looking woman at a private desk. I hang back. I’m still dressed in gray, but Mars used his hyper-color to change his clothing to a vibrant indigo hue that demands respect. People probably think I’m his valet or his concubine. Maybe both.

Whatever he says, it seems to be an easy process. No one demands proof of my identity or my permission to travel, which is good, because I have neither. Mars’s credit card, I assume, erases the need for answers to those questions. When the ticketing agent hands over two boarding passes, I enter into a mild state of panic. I’ve never flown in an airplane.

We walk through a detector like the ones set up at the entrance to every factory I’ve ever worked in, but this one is deserted but for us and the one uniformed attendant, and we breeze past and into the main terminal.

He leads me over to the far corner of a burnished wood counter, then he tracks down the server. When he returns, he has two beverages, paid for, I assume, with his plastic card full of credits.

Mars hands me a glass of water with ice cubes and I take a sip. I gasp, spraying a fine mist of burning liquid out of my mouth before I get myself under control.

“Not much of a drinker, huh?”

“What, are you a mind reader too?” I ask, my throat tight. “Is this alcohol?”

Mars chuckles and nods, taking a small sip of his own drink. He doesn’t grimace or choke like I did. I take another small sip. It still burns, but now that it’s not a surprise, I handle it better. I’ve never had alcohol before. Grays aren’t allowed to.

Mars gets a serious expression on his face. “It’s just a good idea for you to dull your senses with alcohol while you’re flying. It makes it less likely that you’ll accidentally slide into the in-between while in midair.”

“You seriously think I could do that? Go into that in-between by mistake?”

“If you hear the right combination of tones, yes.”

“Then two more, please,” I say, raising the index and middle finger of my right hand in the air in a V and shaking my nearly empty glass with my left.

“I don’t actually like vodka tonics that much,” Mars says.

“Well, that’s good, because they’re both for me.”

Mars rolls his eyes and motions to the server. “Another whiskey sour, please.”

I drain the rest of my drink, set it down, and twist my fingers together on top of the table. “Why can’t we just teleport home?” I ask.

“I told you already; I don’t have your range.

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