The next time they talked, it would be in secret in southern California. She watched him too, until his tall, dark figure and their glowing, inviting home faded into the darkness.
Only then did she turn to face the direction in which she was going. Belatedly, she realized she hadn’t put on her seat belt, and with a muttered curse, she yanked the belt around her body and jammed it into the buckle.
“Good job being all reasonable with his lordship, dumbass,” she muttered to herself. “If you’d only let him dig in his heels, you wouldn’t be making this trip right now.”
And to hell with the rest of the world.
“Anybody would think you really weren’t going to see each other for a week,” Eva said with a chuckle.
All her good mood from that evening vanished. Scowling, she crossed her arms and sank down in her seat. “You never know. The Light Fae demesne doesn’t have an edict forbidding him to cross their borders like the Elven demesne did when we went to South Carolina, but he’s still not supposed to be along for this trip. Even though he’ll be in L.A. too and I’ll be able to talk to him, I might not actually get a chance to see him for the whole week.”
Eva shook her head. “I don’t believe it. That man’s too sneaky, and I mean that as a total compliment. If he wants to see you, he’ll find a way to make it happen, whether he’s supposed to or not. Only question is how he does it. I can’t wait to see how he pulls it off.”
Pia’s scowl lifted and she began to smile. “You do have a point.”
Chapter Three
Pia’s security team had already boarded the plane.
She heard the familiar arguing voices as she and Eva stepped into the cabin. Her astonished gaze took in Quentin and Aryal’s presence as they sprawled on one of the couches.
The two sentinels looked lethal and relaxed, even as they sniped at each other. Quentin’s sexy, scarred face wore a subtle amused expression, while Aryal scowled as she scratched a long-fingered hand through her tangled black hair.
Pia laughed out loud. “He never told me he was going to assign you two to the trip.”
Quentin stood and stepped forward to press a kiss to her cheek. “He didn’t want to say anything, in case you thought it might be a bad idea.”
Aryal remained in her slouched position, one leg thrown over the arm of the couch, although she raised a few fingers in nonchalant greeting when Pia looked at her.
“No offense,” Pia said, “but I do think it’s a bad idea. While I love you two—yes, I’ve grown to love even you, Aryal—neither of you are known for your skills in diplomacy.”
“That’s not our job, cupcake,” Aryal told her as she kicked one booted foot. “Diplomacy is your job. Our job is to make sure nobody kills you.”
Within the space of five words, Aryal had already managed to get her irritated. No matter how many times Pia told her not to call her cupcake, the harpy persisted.
She threw up her hands. “Stop it. Nobody else but Graydon uses that nickname. Why do you keep calling me that?!”
Aryal’s face went blank for a moment. Then, with a slightly baffled expression, she said, “It’s—it’s just so fitting. With your frothy blond hair, cute painted toenails and bright, pretty outfits, you are a cupcake.”
Pia dropped her hands, lowered her chin and glowered at the harpy for a long moment. She said, “You’re not even trying to be offensive right now, are you?”
Mutely, Aryal looked sidelong at Quentin as she shook her head. Eva had moved to the back of the cabin. As the other woman caught Pia’s attention, Eva rolled her eyes.
Eva and Aryal couldn’t stand each other. Pia had once said to Dragos that they were worse than oil and water. Eva was oil, and Aryal was a naked flame.
This wasn’t just a bad idea. It was terrible.
Behind Pia, the door to the cockpit opened, and Alex, one of the two mated Wyr-ravens that worked as co-pilots, stepped into the cabin. “We’re ready to take off when you are,” he said, smiling at Pia. “The sooner the better, of course. The temperature outside is dropping fast.”
Oh, for God’s sake.
Pia turned her back to everyone else and looked at Alex. “You answer to me on this trip, correct?”
To his credit, Alex didn’t look at the others either. “Yes, ma’am. You’re the ranking Wyr official on board.”
“Then we don’t take off until I tell you to,” Pia told him. She swiveled back to look at the other three. At the back of the cabin, Eva contemplated the ceiling with her generous lips pursed. Aryal had turned to inspecting her fingers, while Quentin’s handsome expression grew more amused.
“My husband is an idiot,” Pia declared.
Hey, Dragos said telepathically.
That meant he had followed the car to the airstrip. Dragos’s hearing was very good, but even so, he had to be quite close to hear her through the plane’s closed exterior. She imagined him in his dragon form, cloaking his presence as he paced impatiently around the jet, waiting for the engines to rev in preparation for taking off, and she had to suppress a smile.
If he was indeed in his dragon form and pacing around the plane, that meant he could look in through the windows and see her. She would not let him see that she was amused.
“Ma’am,” said Alex. “We certainly won’t take off until you say we can, but the weather has turned.”
“Yes, I know it has,” she said. She looked from Eva to Aryal and back again. “But I’m not going anywhere until I hear you all swear that you will get along on this trip and not cause me any headaches. Because guys, I don’t need any of you with me in order to make the trip to L.A. I could kick you all off the plane and go to the Light Fae demesne by myself. In fact, that idea sounds pretty good to me. We’re not at war with Tatiana. She’d look after me just fine.”
In her head, the dragon gave a warning growl, while Quentin lost his smile. Aryal straightened and stood.
Quentin told her, “Pia, you can’t go by yourself. That’s ridiculous.”
Crossing her arms, she retorted, “It’s not as ridiculous as the alternative could be.”
Because oil couldn’t help but be oil. And a flame burned where it would. At some point, it was inevitable that the two would connect and explode. She gave both Eva and Aryal glances filled in equal parts with exasperation and affection.
“What’s it going to be?” she asked. “Are you all going to get along on this trip and not give me any grief, or do I kick you all off the plane and go by myself.
You’re not going by yourself, and that’s final, Dragos growled.
Well, I know you’re coming too, honey, she crooned.
That’s not what I meant, Pia, he snapped. I might be in L.A. too, but you need to have someone with you inside Tatiana’s household as well.
While Dragos thundered in her head, Quentin, Aryal and Eva all started to speak at once.
She clapped her hands over her ears and exclaimed, “Do you see what I’m talking about?! Arguing is exactly what I asked you not to do!”
“I’m only trying to point out that some of us might promise, but what if not everybody does?” Aryal snapped in reply. “Do you kick them off the plane, and keep the others? It’s a legitimate question!”
As Eva glared at Aryal, Pia realized she was hearing more than Dragos growling in her head. Eva was growling too.
Because oil was oil. And flame couldn’t help but be flame.
She would not laugh. She wouldn’t. Instead, she rubbed the bridge of her nose and said pathetically to Dragos, I’m supposed to avoid stress, you know.
The dragon’s growling stopped as abruptly as if she had turned it off like a faucet. When he next spoke, his voice was quiet and nonconfrontational. I’m sorry, baby.
That solved the issue of his growling. She turned her attention to Eva, and met the other woman’s gaze silently. After a moment, Eva’s low growl wavered and stopped. Eva said apologetically, She makes me crazy.
And I don’t want to go visit the Lig
ht Fae demesne, Pia told her. Deal with it like an adult or get off the plane. If you make this trip harder on me than it needs to be, I won’t take you with me anywhere.
Eva glared. I wouldn’t make it harder!
Pia raised her eyebrows. And so?
Heaving an aggrieved sigh, Eva said out loud, “I promise to get along for the duration of this trip and not cause you any headaches.”
“Thank you, Eva.” She turned to Quentin and Aryal.
The amusement had crept back into Quentin’s blue gaze. Pia could tell that he had figured out that while she was certainly serious, she wasn’t really upset. He laid a hand over his heart and said, “Well, I promise, so that means I get to come too, right? I was looking forward to a sojourn in sunny SoCal, and Eva and I would be fine pair of bodyguards for the week.”
At that, everyone on the plane looked at Aryal, who had crossed her arms and wore a truculent expression. She angled her head to look at them all.
“So that’s it,” she said. “The whole trip is going to come down to this moment, isn’t it? Agh, people make me crazy. If anything happens, everybody’s going to say, ‘oh, Aryal, you were the last one to promise. We all knew you were going to be a hassle. You always are.’ Okay, okay! Of course I promise!”
Smiling, Quentin said to Pia, “She is the best, most perfect example of what a self-fulfilling prophecy is, isn’t she? I just marvel at her every day.”
Pia said to Dragos, I am not going to forgive you for this in a hurry.
It was a tactical decision, he told her. Did the dragon sound apologetic? Now, that was unusual. Pia was winning points all over the place. I wanted you to have the strongest defense with the least number of bodies, and Quentin and Aryal work very well as a team.
Uh huh. Pia walked over to Aryal and stuck a finger under her nose. Her finger was getting a lot of exercise that evening. She told the harpy aloud, “Do not make me regret taking you along. Because I can send you home from L.A. too, you know.”
Aryal’s mouth took on a sour tilt. With a quick sidelong glance at her mate, she muttered, “Got it.”
She nodded to herself and turned away, muttering to Dragos, I still think this is a bad idea. Aloud, she said, “Okay, Alex. Sorry for the holdup. Let’s go.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Alex said cheerfully, and with evident relief.
The normal flight time from New York City to LAX was a smidgeon over six hours, but they were traveling from upstate New York to another private airstrip just outside of L.A., so their trip would be over seven hours.
Since she had the luxury of choosing, Pia had decided to deal with the long flight and subsequent jet lag by staying up a little later then traveling through the night, so that they would touch down at eight the next morning. With all the amenities that the jet provided, including good food, a comfortable place to nap, and the chance to shower, she expected to arrive alert and hopefully ready to face spending the week with the formidable Light Fae Queen.
After they had taken off, Alex’s mate and co-pilot Daniel served them a late supper. Pia bolted her food down. So far this pregnancy was affecting her appetite as much as her last one had, and she was massively hungry all the time.
Thankfully, because the flight wasn’t commercial and Cuelebre Enterprises owned the jet, the supper was outstanding and catered to her needs and personal tastes. After an excellent meal of a savory sweet potato casserole, sautéed Brussel sprouts, a green salad, and lemon cake with raspberries for dessert, she stretched out on one of the couches with a blanket, slipped a black travel mask over her eyes and sank her awareness deep into her body where a small, subtle shadow rested.
I love you, she said to the shadow. No matter who or what you are, I’ll always love you. Precious little Peanut.
Then, because probably the shadow didn’t understand words, she tried to send all the love she had at it, as gently as she could. While she was doing that, she fell into a deep sleep.
The next thing she knew, she was climbing along her favorite trail in the Adirondacks, admiring the glorious fall colors as the trees turned brilliant red, orange and yellow.
She had been raised a city girl, because her mother believed that the best place for them to hide was in the middle of a dense, busy population. But part of Pia had always been wild, and one of the things she relished about moving to upstate New York was being able to sink into the outdoors without worrying about her safety. It soothed a part of her nature that had never before gotten the chance to stretch out her legs and roam.
Something rustled in the underbrush, and part of her attention turned to it, but she kept walking.
The slight rustle followed.
Pausing, she bent to pretend to tie her shoe. As she did so, she studied either side of the trail carefully.
Deep in the shadows of nearby brush, gold eyes watched her.
Small gold eyes, close to the ground. She raised her eyebrows. There was no way that could be Dragos.
She started to smile. “It’s okay if you want to come out. Wouldn’t you like a hug?”
The gold eyes blinked, but nothing emerged from the brush.
“Okay,” she said with a shrug. “Suit yourself.”
Straightening, she began to walk again.
The small rustling followed her.
She paused again. This time, without looking, she said, “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to come out for a hug?”
Nothing happened. No rustle or movement of any kind. She listened to the wind and watched the clouds while she waited.
Then amusement got the better of her. She muttered, “We’ve got this all wrong, haven’t we? You’re not another Peanut. You’re a little Stinkpot.”
Giving up, she looked around and located the stinkpot. The small gold eyes had found another deep shadow from which to watch her.
“It’s okay, darling,” she said gently to it. “You can hide for as long as you want to…. I’ll be waiting whenever you want to come out. I’ll always be here for you.”
Turning back to her path, she continued on the trail, while the shadow followed close behind.
The air around her shifted, and she woke up to the sound of the jet’s engines changing. They had begun their descent.
Hugging herself, she went over every detail of her dream.
Gold eyes! Like Dragos’s! Sure, it had only been a dream, but everything she had ever dreamed about Liam had turned out to be true in some way. God, she couldn’t wait for the little stinkpot to make up his—or her—mind to come out of hiding!
Sitting up, she looked around. Outside, faint streaks of light spanned the edge of the horizon. Alex had lowered the cabin lights after supper, and in the shadows, she saw that Eva had settled deep into her seat, engrossed in the contents of her e-reader.
Quentin and Aryal occupied the other couch, opposite Pia. They had curled up together, Quentin spooning Aryal from behind, his arm around the harpy’s waist.
They looked so peaceful when they were asleep. Almost, dare one say, normal.
Muffling a snort, Pia indulged in a full body stretch. She had managed to sleep several hours, which was very good news. While she wasn’t as rested as she would be if she had slept in her bed at home, she felt like she had gotten enough rest to get through the day with plenty of energy.
Her thigh itched, and absently she scratched it. She had panicked when she had begun to itch after her first shot of the protocol, but Dr. Medina had assured her it was just the drug beginning to wear off. As long as she could tolerate the irritation for the twenty-four hours or so, she was still good, still on track.
She put a hand over her stomach and whispered, “Because you’re staying right where you belong, no matter what. Little Stinkpot.”
With that, she stood, collected her overnight bag and went to the back of the plane to shower and prepare for her day. She dressed casually, in a long, dark blue maxi dress, sandals, and a sheer, lightweight sweater, and took time with her makeup. While this was supposed to be an
informal visit, from what she knew about the Light Fae Queen, Tatiana was relentlessly elegant, so she wanted to look nice.
When she stepped out, Eva was ready and waiting to shower too. Then Quentin and Aryal stirred and took their turns, and then Daniel stepped out of the cockpit to serve them a quick continental breakfast. After that, there was nothing left for Pia to do but watch out of a plane window and get more nervous about the upcoming week.
Tatiana was not just relentlessly elegant. She was relentlessly inquisitive as well, and in D.C. she had asked uncomfortable questions about Pia’s real nature. Pia wasn’t looking forward to the next week, which was all the more reason to rip that Band-Aid off and get it over with. Otherwise the trip would have been hanging over her head, perhaps for months. Now, at least, they could get on with their lives soon enough.
On Monday, to be precise.
So while she was unenthusiastic, she was certainly composed enough when the plane touched down.
Hey, baby, Dragos said in her head.
When she heard his dark, Powerful mental voice, surprised pleasure flowed through her. Hey yourself. How did you get here so quickly? No wait, never mind—I’m not supposed to know that.
She could hear the smile in his voice as he asked, Did you get any sleep?
I sure did. Covering her mouth, she yawned. I missed you, though. How did your night go?
I went fishing and flew up around Big Sur, he said. It was good, but I missed you too.
She confessed, I dreamed about the little stinkpot.
The little stinkpot? He laughed. How did it manage to get that nickname?
In my dream, I was hiking, and Stinkpot was hiding in some underbrush. Sharing the small story with Dragos had her grinning all over again. In the dream, it had gold eyes like yours, but that’s all I could see. I tried to coax it out for a hug, but it still doesn’t want to come out and say hi yet.
It will when it’s ready.
Yes, I know it will.
As they talked, the plane taxied down the runaway to an eventual stop. Okay, Dragos said. I don’t want to distract you. I just wanted to let you know I was in town.