Page 28 of Casting Butterflies

“Not exactly, and rather than explain, it’s probably easiest if Misha shows you.” Cedric glanced at the grumpy elf, who sighed.

“Guess she’ll find out, seeing as how too many people managed to take videos of the incident.” Misha pulled out his phone, tapped it a few times, and then turned the screen to face me.

The shaky footage showed a sky clear of clouds with a smudge. The person recording zoomed in to show a plane, with smoke pouring from it, heading steeply for the ground.

The bloke capturing the moment, in a thick English accent, exclaimed, “It’s gonna crash.”

Indeed, it seemed as if the plane would kiss the ground nose first, except…

I blinked at the sudden appearance of big colorful wings on either side of the plane. Even more mind boggling, they flapped, up and down, pulling the craft out of its nosedive. The craft then slowly descended to the screaming incredulity of the person recording.

“Uh. Wow.” My mind whirred before I blurted out, “I gave the plane butterfly wings?”

“Yes.” Misha sounded peeved.

“How?” A dumb question that led to Misha barking, “Because you improperly used the magic stored inside you, Beavertail.”

“Why are you making it sound like a bad thing? We didn’t crash. We’re alive.”

“And the whole world saw what you did,” he accused.

“You’re exaggerating. So what if one guy recorded it? People will call it a fake.”

“The problem is, they’re not.” He waved his phone. “It’s gone viral.”

“Again, not sure why you’ve got your panties in a twist.”

“Because in doing so you revealed the spirit held within your body and put it in danger.”

“Danger how? No one but you and Cedric are aware I’m responsible.”

“You can’t know that for sure.”

“Actually, I can because, otherwise, I’d be strapped down in a secure lab being studied by scientists.” A logical conclusion, given how many sci-fi type movies I’d watched.

“The only reason none of us is in custody is because we landed in an area remote enough that I had time to remove us from the plane and relocate us far from the area before emergency crews arrived,” Misha snapped.

“Don’t you yell at me. Sounds like we both did what had to be done to protect our lives.”

Rather than reply, Misha stalked out of the room, and I huffed. “You’d think he’d be a little grateful.”

“He is, but at the same time, he’s worried because now the world is wondering how a plane grew butterfly wings.”

I snorted. “As if anyone believes that video is actually real. The internet is full of hoaxes.”

“Usually, yes, however you left behind evidence. While the magic I’m used to wielding is temporary or illusory in nature, yours isn’t. The wings you created remained and have caused quite the furor.”

“What? You’re fucking with me.”

“No, hence why Misha is extra concerned because science doesn’t have a way of explaining how that’s possible.”

“What’s the prevailing theory on what happened?”

“No official statement from British authorities, however, the theories range from it being a media stunt for a movie, a government experiment gone awry, or aliens.”

My lips quirked. “Technically, the magic I used didn’t originate on Earth.”

“Misha is worried someone will somehow connect the wings attached to the plane to his people.”