Free Meadow's Keep (The Gatekeepers Series) by Shanon Grey Page A

of the plane. It was a beautiful plane, as planes went.
    Eryk shifted his sight, letting the auras of the two women whirl around them. Jenn’s was vibrant and danced about her, just as he suspected it would. Jasmine’s, on the other hand, was snug next to her, like armor, like he’d seen it at the fairgrounds. It was also a little more opaque, shadowy, than her friends. He’d seen that before, too—on a war veteran. Except the veteran’s wasn’t shielding him, trying to keep others out, as Jasmine’s did. He made a mental note to keep tabs on her aura.
    He blinked, return ed everything to normal, walked toward the tail of the plane, and opened a space for the luggage. “Set those down. I’ll take care of them. Go on, have a look inside.”
    Jenn moved up the steps into the small cabin, turned and waited for Jasmine. When she didn’t follow, Jenn stuck her head back out. “You coming?”
    “I’ll get there,” Jasmine hissed. She glanced over at Eryk, hoping he hadn’t heard.
    “Honey... ,” Jenn started and stopped at the wave of Jasmine’s hand. She watched as the tall beauty took one step at a time, hunched over and entered the cabin.
    “Not much room,” she whispered as Jenn plopped down in one of four comfortable seats.
    “Nice,” Jenn cooed and messed with a fold-away table.
    Jasmine moved as Eryk crouched inside. “Small, but very efficient.”
    Jenn stood. “You’ll call me when you land?”
    Jasmine nodded, trying to smile.
    “She’ll be fine,” Eryk reassured Jenn, seeing the frown. “I’ll take good care of her. I promise.”
    Jenn bounced down the small stairway and turned back. “Happy flying,” she called and waved. She turned and, without a backward glance, headed back to the building.
    Eryk reached over, grabbed a strap and pulled the stairs up. With on e swift motion, he locked the airstairs in place. “We have facilities in the back.” He nodded toward the rear.
    Jasmine didn’t turn but chided, “Well, if you gotta go, go now, ‘cause I’m not flying this baby while you go potty.”
    He laughed and stepped over and down, settling into his seat in the cockpit. He pointed to the seat next to him. “Come on.”
    “I’m not a pilot!” Her voice was shrill. She swallowed.
    H is voice became soft, modulated. “I know. But, I think you’ll like it from up here.” He patted the co-pilot’s seat. “Don’t worry, I solo all the time.”
    God, she hadn’t asked just how many hours of airtime he had. What if he was new? She felt her hands start to tremble .
    He held out his hand for her, but she pulled hers back in close to her body. He moved his arm back and waited until she had gotten into the seat, not an easy feat. At one point, she’d grabbed his shoulder as she stepped over the console. He could see tiny beads of sweat on her upper lip. Her pupils were dilated.
    “Fly much?” he asked off-handedly.
    She shook her head as he reached over her and fastened her harness, careful to make minimal contact with her body. She was scooching back into the seat away from him. He pretended not to notice, finished, and reached for a headset, handing it to her. “We can talk better with these,” he said as she took it.
    She adjusted the headset, all the while watching him move switches and talk into his. He turned a knob and the engine on her side started to whine. Then, he turned the knob next to it and the second engine came to life. The whine built to a high-pitched scream. She was grateful for the earphones. Faintly, she heard a feminine voice recite some sort of data. The plane started to move. Jasmine gripped the edge of her seat.
    Eryk notice d the tightness in her body but was too busy to do anything about it—yet. He taxied to the end of the runway and revved the engines. The Phenom 100 moved down the runway. In no time, the sleek jet was up and gaining altitude. He smiled. He loved his plane. He banked slightly to the left and kept climbing. A quick glance showed him