Page 41 of Spears and Shadows (Defenders of the Light)
“I just kept thinking about how, if your plane crashed when we weren’t on speaking terms, I could never forgive myself. And then you weren’t home and…”
“You don’t have to worry about it. The plane depressurized and made an emergency landing, but nobody was hurt,” Nora reassured.
There was a tense pause and Odelle’s hands stiffened on her shoulders.
“You mean you were on that flight?”
Nora flinched. “Umm…”
“This is the second major disaster you’ve been a part of this month.” Odelle’s voice trembled a little, but she still sounded icy as she stepped away and dropped her hands to her sides.
“This one was just a coincidence,” Nora tried, taking a step towards her sister, but Odelle was having none of it.
“So, you’re saying the other one wasn’t a coincidence?” she asked with a raised brow.
Nora buried her face in her hands for a second. “That’s not what I… I thought you were regretting not being on speaking terms?”
Odelle sighed and Nora took her face out of her hands to find that Odelle’s had softened and now looked resigned.
“I am. And I’m glad you’re all right.”
“Thanks.”
There was a long silence, and Nora was about to invite Odelle upstairs for tea when her sister spoke again.
“I’m not letting this rest, you know.” The severity of Odelle’s tone was enough to make Irina proud. “But please, call me sometime, okay?”
Nora chewed at her lip. “Okay. Goodnight, Odelle.”
Odelle nodded and stepped out into the street to hail a passing cab with a flick of her fingers while Nora trudged up the stairs to her apartment. By the time she flopped down onto her bed and buried her face in her pillows, she was wondering just how much more it would take before her life imploded like the airlock on the plane.
