Chapter Four: Airline Angels

The plane was cleared for an emergency landing at the nearest airport, and as soon as it came to a stop police and security officers and paramedics swarmed on board.

I had stood guard over the unconscious terrorists, ready to subdue them again at any sign in their thoughts that they were coming to.

One of the paramedics who boarded wanted to check me over, but I shook him off with a brusque assurance that I was fine.

Some of the police had an idea that I was somehow in on the hijacking attempt. I couldn't follow the line of their reasoning; if I was in on it, what had been gained by taking out my fellow attackers? Even if they were only faking — and the humans easily assured themselves that they were not — how had it aided the attempt any?

And if I had disarmed and disabled four trained terrorists, then the pilot and copilot should have posed no problem for me; if my aim had been to take over the plane, why hadn't I done so?

Judging by the thoughts of those who had witnessed the incident, they seemed to share my logic. The woman I had saved, especially, was convinced that I had had nothing to do with the hijack attempt…and that I was something more than human. It had seemed safer to use all our vampire abilities and let the humans draw their completely erroneous conclusions than to try to appear human and not quite manage it.

I answered the officers' questions briefly or not at all, depending on whether they had to do with the attackers or with me. I really didn't care if they thought George Gabriel was guilty of a dozen terror plots; there was nothing to connect him in any way with Edward Cullen.

I stayed on board only long enough to be sure the humans had the terrorists fully secured before leaving the plane, moving so fast that to the humans' eyes, it was as if I had simply vanished from sight.

oOo

AIRLINE ANGELS Apparent hijack attempts on 4 planes thwarted by mysterious passengers

Alice ran her finger under the headline. "Hijackers," she whispered. "If that had been all…"

I understood; planes had been hijacked before and would be again. Normally we did nothing about it. Her vision echoed through our minds once again, stamped there indelibly. "We're the only ones, Alice," I murmured. "The only ones who ever have to see that."

"I know. If we had done nothing, everyone in the entire country would remember where they were on that day. Now…they don't even know what they were saved from."

"It's better that way," I said quietly. She wasn't after praise from the humans, I knew; the sober edge to her thoughts was for another reason.

"Yes…but if they don't know the danger, it's up to us to guard against another attempt."

"Do you 'see' another attempt?"

"No."

"Then let's leave it at that, Alice. Humans do terrible things to each other; they can't always have vampires to save them."

Epilogue coming next week!

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