Chapter 15 - THE OPEN SKY.
The silence in the cabin was heavier than the dense, freezing air I had fought through to get here.
I kept my pistol raised, my finger hovering agonizingly close to the trigger, completely paralyzed by the impossible choice.
Eleanor took a slow, deliberate step forward, her eyes locked onto mine with predatory amusement.
"You fought so hard, Evelyn, tore through my best men, bled for your cause, all to prove you were not like me," she whispered.
"But look at you now, standing there with a gun, calculating the acceptable collateral damage."
"You are exactly like me, and that is precisely why Lily belongs with our family, not hiding in suburban mediocrity."
A tiny, frightened voice called out from the private suite behind her.
"Mommy?" Lily cried, stepping tentatively into the aisle, her small hands clutching the stuffed rabbit.
My breath caught in my throat, every maternal instinct screaming at me to drop the gun and hold her.
But the guards instantly shifted their stances, and Eleanor’s thumb pressed menacingly against the trigger of the detonator.
"Stay right there, sweetie," I choked out, forcing my voice to remain calm despite the absolute terror shredding my nerves.
"You see, Evelyn, I am not stealing her," Eleanor continued, her tone sickeningly gentle.
"I am saving her from the weakness that infected you, molding her into the apex predator this empire requires."
I slowly lowered the barrel of my gun, the crushing weight of the situation forcing my hands down.
Eleanor's smile widened in absolute triumph, relishing the visible destruction of my willpower.
"Good girl," she patronized, gesturing for her guards to step forward and disarm me completely.
As the guard reached out to take my weapon, a massive, violent shudder suddenly rocked the entire aircraft.
The plane pitched violently to the left, throwing everyone off balance as a deafening alarm began blaring from the cockpit.
"What is happening?" Eleanor snapped, her absolute composure fracturing for the first time in her life.
The intercom crackled to life, the pilot's voice panicked and frantic over the roar of the alarms.
"Ma'am, we've lost the right engine, something detonated inside the hydraulic bay when the gear retracted!"
I looked at Eleanor, a slow, dark, and utterly feral smile spreading across my bruised face.
I hadn't just opened the manual hatch when I was clinging to the landing gear; I had left the empty C4 detonator pin wedged into the turbine intake.
"You're right, mother," I whispered, raising my gun back up as the plane began to plummet toward the black earth below.
May you like
"I am exactly like you."
The lights in the cabin flickered and died, plunging us into absolute darkness as the screaming metal tore through the night sky.
