In the Wind: Out of the Box, Book 2 (28 page)

“U.S. military flight, please follow your current heading out to the Mediterranean Sea,” the voice says, thickly accented. “From there, you must remain over international waters for your entire flight.”

“Negative, Florence tower,” our pilot says, and I realize he’s broadcasting this down here for our benefit. “We’re to head—”

“You are not to cross European Union sovereign airspace,” the voice says sharply. “You are not welcome here with your current passengers.”

“You talking about our prisoners, Florence Tower?” the pilot asks. “Because they are secure—”

“Negative, U.S. military flight,” comes the reply, a little slower this time, almost like they’re savoring it. “Brussels has issued new regulations—after the incident today in Rome, metahumans will no longer be allowed in the European Union. Do not deviate from your present course. We have fighter escort at—” The speaker clicks off, presumably because our pilot has made his point. It’s an elegant one, that’s for sure. I wonder if he’d heard the chatter in advance before the tower radioed him.

“Aw, hell,” Sienna says, looking over at me, “you broke the whole EU.”

A week ago, this sort of thing might have really bothered me. Okay, it still does, at least a little. But maybe not as much as it would have before this. I just sigh, throw up my hands, and shake my head. “Just as well,” I say, going the path of sarcasm, “I was never gonna be able to top this trip anyway.” And I turn and look across the cargo bay at the prisoners, and that little sense of insecurity is pretty much all gone. Because the EU or Italy can blame me—and every other meta—as much as they want; these three guys would have made a hell of a lot bigger mess if I hadn’t been there to stop them.

“Is that all you’ve got to say for yourself?” Sienna asks, and I can tell by the snark that she’s just playing at this point. She’s not blaming me at all. “For shame, you dirty meta with your clearly evil intent.”

“Yes,” I say, “shame on me, for sticking my nose where it clearly doesn’t belong.” Anselmo is now awake and kicking in the goo. He’s having zero luck, too, and it’s almost fun to watch. It’s like a souped-up version of Father Emmanuel’s water prison for him.

“Good thing we’re heading home,” Sienna says, and the snark is just flowing, “where everyone loves us and no one ever thinks bad things about us or our kind.” She lets that sit for a moment, the loud, ambient noise of the cargo hold rumbling around us. When she speaks again, her voice is a lot smaller. “Do you think … it’ll ever change?” And it’s the voice of a child, of insecurity, of someone who wants to be told it’ll all get better.

It’s the voice of my little sister.

The only family I’ve got.

“It’ll get better,” I say, the voice of confidence. “Absolutely.” And we settle back for the rest of the flight in peace.

Okay, so that was Reed's story. It did not come out quite like I thought it would, to be honest. I realized something about him pretty quickly: Reed is a really good second banana, but he didn't have the confidence yet to lead like Sienna developed throughout the Girl in the Box series. But he hides it really well. Next book, we're back to Sienna, though we'll see a little more from Reed in Book #5 (Tormented), where he and his sister will split the narrative duties (for a very good reason, I swear). However, that story won't be in present tense. In fact, I can pretty well promise you I won't be writing in present tense ever again. This was purely for experimental purposes. Also, while Limitless and In the Wind were able to somewhat stand on their own (I might have put a couple little seeds in them for future harvest), Out of the Box #3 will begin a new storyline that will last about four books and culminate in…well, death and destruction, of course. This is one of my books, after all.

I've set a release date for book three. I make no promises about doing this for future installments. If you want to know when future books become available, take sixty seconds and sign up for my NEW RELEASE EMAIL ALERTS by
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Cheers,

Robert J. Crane

My thanks to these fine folks, without whom this book would not be possible:

Sarah Barbour, Jeff Bryan and Jo Evans – Editorial clean-up crew.

Nicolette Solomita – First reader.

Brian and Jean Elms and Kombe Ngari – For their excellent assistance on developing the character of Father Emmanuel.

Karri Klawiter – Cover by.

Polgarus Studios – Formatting.

The fans – For reading.

My parents, my kids, my wife – For all their help.

Robert J. Crane is kind of an a-hole. Still, if you want to contact him:

Defender: The Sanctuary Series, Volume One

Avenger: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Two

Champion: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Three

Crusader: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Four

Sanctuary Tales, Volume One - A Short Story Collection

Thy Father's Shadow: The Sanctuary Series, Volume 4.5

Master: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Five

Fated in Darkness: The Sanctuary Series, Volume 5.5* (Coming in 2015!)

Warlord: The Sanctuary Series, Volume Six* (Coming in late 2015!)

Alone: The Girl in the Box, Book 1

Untouched: The Girl in the Box, Book 2

Soulless: The Girl in the Box, Book 3

Family: The Girl in the Box, Book 4

Omega: The Girl in the Box, Book 5

Broken: The Girl in the Box, Book 6

Enemies: The Girl in the Box, Book 7

Legacy: The Girl in the Box, Book 8

Destiny: The Girl in the Box, Book 9

Power: The Girl in the Box, Book 10

Limitless: Out of the Box, Book 1

In the Wind: Out of the Box, Book 2

Ruthless: Out of the Box, Book 3* (Coming March 31, 2015!)

Grounded: Out of the Box, Book 4* (Coming June 2015!)

Tormented: Out of the Box, Book 5* (Coming September 2015!)

Vengeful: Out of the Box, Book 6* (Coming December 2015!)

Called: Southern Watch, Book 1

Depths: Southern Watch, Book 2

Corrupted: Southern Watch, Book 3

Unearthed: Southern Watch, Book 4* (Coming Early 2015!)

*Forthcoming and subject to change