Pia Does Hollywood (Elder Races, #8.6)

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.