Chapter 1

In my last life, my aunt and her whole family took a discount flight I was working, off on vacation.

Before boarding she smuggled a lighter through, and because of it the whole flight got grounded.

Once we were in the air, my cousin couldn't keep his hands to himself. He wrenched the emergency exit open with brute force and racked up a three-hundred-thousand-dollar fine.

My uncle refused to pay. He stabbed two officers with a knife and ran.

My cousin threw a screaming fit and threatened to kill herself, wailing that we'd ruined her trip to the ocean, that now she couldn't get her pretty vacation photos.

Grandma lost her mind over it. She blamed me for not keeping them in line and dragged both me and the airline into court, demanding a million dollars each.

In the end the court ruled against us, my family paid, and Grandma still wouldn't let it go. She came to our house and made scene after scene.

Then she slipped rat poison into our food and sent every last one of us to the grave, so my uncle's family could seize everything we owned.

When I opened my eyes again, I'd been reborn.

Back to the very day of that flight.

...

A soft rattle.

The lighter, knocking against my keys in my pocket.

Hand pressed to my chest, still not free of the pain of that last life, I looked up and saw my aunt drifting toward me.

Thirty minutes before boarding.

The cabin crew was still setting up, and I'd spotted my cousin's family in the waiting area first.

My aunt was the most two-faced person I knew, all warm smiles to your face and a knife in your back the second you turned around.

I'd always known what she was. I just never imagined she could go as far as she did.

By the time she came toward me, her bag was already stuffed with snacks and mints from the waiting area, the kind of thing that cost a couple of dollars, and she still had to grab all she could.

"Teresa Gilbert, honey, you're a flight attendant, you can get back there easy. Take this bag and fill it up with mints for me. Oh, and load it up with snacks too."

I looked at the bag in her hand and hesitated.

Then I turned her down flat.

"There are cameras all over in here. Even if I weren't afraid of getting chewed out by my boss, aren't you worried someone clips you and puts it online? Turns you into the villain?"

I didn't cave to her the way I had last time. I just pointed at the camera overhead to make my point.

She gave an awkward little laugh. She always did care about appearances, and she pulled the bag back.

"Ugh, I didn't even want the stuff. It's your grandma. She went on and on before I left, kept telling me to bring home as much free stuff as I could."

My aunt was clever. She trotted Grandma out to guilt me.

Because Grandma played favorites, doting on my uncle's family above everyone. My aunt had feasted on that for years, and all she had to do was say the name and my family was supposed to fall in line, no questions asked.

But after living through the slaughter of my whole household, I was done falling in line.

I'd gone and put in for a shift swap, said I wasn't feeling well, but the lead attendant told me there was no spare crew today to cover my flight.

On top of that, we had several important passengers today who had to get proper service, and we were already short-handed.

Nothing for it. I had to grit my teeth and work it.

But before boarding, I did one thing. I asked the lead for permission to film footage today for a piece on "a day in the life of a flight attendant," picked up a body cam, and clipped it to my chest. It would record the whole shift.

Half an hour later, the cabin crew boarded first to get everything ready.

Fifteen minutes after that, passengers started scanning tickets and filing through the gate.

Ten minutes later, my aunt was the first one I saw.

She'd walked out ahead of everyone, alone, glancing left and right, dawdling her way over to me under the excuse of filming her very first flight.

"Hey, Teresa, help your aunt out. Where's a good spot to get a clearer shot of the wing? I want to film a little video of me smoking on a plane over there."

I refused with a smile, polite the whole way through.

"Ma'am, you're not permitted to move about the cabin freely once you've boarded. If you'd like to film the plane, you can do it after we land. Please return to your seat."

My aunt shot me a disdainful look, a smile curling at her mouth as she needled me.

"Well, well. Being a flight attendant really does change a person. Teresa, look at you putting on airs like it's the real thing."

"I still remember you as a kid, sneaking into your mom's blazer and playing pretend flight attendant. Never thought you'd actually end up one."

"Who are you putting on the act for? Like I haven't seen every side of you. And now you're giving me attitude?"