Collide and Seek: Act 4-5 (Bitter Ashes Book 2) by Sara C. Roethle

circumstances. The pictures I'd seen were gorgeous and fairytale-esque, and I was traveling there with a handsome man, but I'm pretty sure romantic vacations aren't supposed to include being hunted by supernatural beings while looking for a charm that's guarded by the dead. Running for your life is a major mood killer.
    We waited while the rows of people ahead of us stood and un-stowed their luggage in an excruciatingly slow fashion. As passengers began to filter out of the plane, James and Diana stood to take their places in line. James pulled Diana's luggage down from the storage compartment, even though he had none of his own.
    In fact, he was still wearing the white tee-shirt he'd worn while he tortured me, just as I was still wearing a black dress with holes in it where he'd stabbed me. Luckily James had stolen me a long, black winter coat with faux fur trim around the hood. It hid my dress, but looked slightly out of place with my too-large hiking boots and thick winter socks.
    Sophie waited in her seat across the isle for James and Diana to get out of the way. Her original seat had been next to the unwelcome pair, but she'd managed to flirt her way into a seat trade, leaving James to sit next to a man who could have easily taken up two seats on his own. The man in question was still asleep in his seat by the window.
    Alaric woke the man with a gentle shake of his shoulder, then signaled for him to move, much to the chagrin of the people behind us who would now have to wait even longer.
    By the time we all made it off the plane, I was thoroughly frazzled. It was a surreal feeling leaving the West coast a few hours after dark, to arrive in another country where night had already come again. I'd never traveled such a long distance. Heck, I'd never traveled much at all. Living as a recluse with meager monetary means had prevented me from seeing much of the world.
    My next shock came after we went through security and emerged into the cold night air. My coat was warm by West coast standards, but it could not contend with the icy temperature of Oslo in late October. I clutched the meager protection closer to my body, but my bare legs still erupted in almost painful goosebumps.
    James and Sophie stepped ahead of the rest of us and began surveying our surroundings for danger. They looked like a pair of vengeful angels, illuminated by the halo of a streetlight. Sophie, with her dark, pin-straight hair and pale skin, and James with his golden hair and equally golden skin, both of them standing tall and ready to rip out the heart of whoever might attack us. Alaric, on the other hand, smiled and put an arm around me like he hadn't a care in the world. Diana tsked at us like we were all being silly children and went to the curb to hail a cab.
    Diana was wearing what could only be referred to as a cape. The black fabric swirled around her small frame in the cold breeze like it had a life of its own. Though she was small and elderly, with perfect gray, granny-styled hair, I would never mistake her for anything less dangerous than she was.
    She was the sister of Aislin, ruler of several clans, which made her old, and we're talking centuries, not decades. Though I was yet to see her do anything out-rightly scary, the threat was always there. She was twenty times scarier than James, and he'd stabbed me and tormented me for fun.
    A cab pulled up and it became readily apparent that there were five of us, and only four available seats.
    “We'll wait for the next one,” Alaric announced, referring to him, myself, and Sophie.
    James smirked. “I don't think so. Madeline will come with us .”
    My heart sped at the idea of being left alone in a cab with James and Diana, but Alaric stepped forward before I could move. “ I'll go with you, and Maddy and Sophie will catch the next cab. You can kill me if they don't show up.”
    My eyes widened, then I realized that Alaric was joking, sort of. With a curt nod, Diana climbed into the front seat