by Bianca D’Arc
“Being around me?” Some of Leslie’s shock turned to inquiry.
“Well, he’s your father, right? When people are close—related by blood or sharing strong bonds of affection—I’ve noticed that they often give and receive energy from each other without conscious effort. It’s pretty clear to me that your father has benefitted from your energy in recent years.”
“Mom was so worried,” Leslie said, the words making sense to Leslie, even though they came a bit out of left field. “She’s going to be so happy when she hears this.” Leslie turned and took both of Helen’s hands in hers, joy dawning on her face. “I cannot thank you enough, Helen. I owe you. Big time.”
Helen shook her head. “No, you don’t. There is no price for my healing gift. Just be happy and do good things. That’s all I ask on behalf of She who gave me this gift.”
Leslie’s eyes widened. “Are you a priestess?”
Helen shook her head. “No. I’m just a healer, but I serve the Mother of All.” Helen didn’t go into her own beliefs that when she healed using the Light only she could see—as she’d just done with Sal—that she was passing on the blessing of the Goddess.
“I’ve dealt with healers before,” Leslie said, letting go of Helen’s hands and stepping back respectfully, “but I’ve never seen anything like what you just did for my father. I felt the heat of your power. I scented the destruction of…something. Something bad.”
Helen nodded. “That was the stuff I zapped. I don’t have your senses, but sometimes, I can smell it when I zap a really strong contagion. It smells like a lightning strike. Ozone.”
Leslie was nodding, as well. “That’s exactly it.”
“That’s why I call what I do zapping. It’s like the sound of electricity or lightning.” She grinned, and Leslie followed suit.
“You are something unique in my experience, Helen, and I’m really grateful for what you’ve done.” Leslie would have gone on, but Helen held up a gentle hand.
“I’m grateful for your help, as well, though as I’ve said, there’s no price to be paid for my healing. It is given freely. So, let’s just call it even, okay? Now,” Helen looked around the hangar, “is there anything I can do to convince your dad that we didn’t just come out here to talk about him behind his back?”
Leslie laughed out loud at that question. It took a moment before she could reply. “Follow me.”
Leslie led Helen into another room that had been partitioned off the hangar. This one looked like a break room, complete with a couple of tables, chairs, a couch along one wall and a kitchen area that boasted two refrigerators and a chest freezer.
“We offer catering on charters,” Leslie explained as she led the way to the kitchen part of the big room. “Now that I know you’re going to Big Wolf, I’d like you to take some things with you in the cargo area for the Alpha there. He’s partial to Atlantic seafood.” Leslie grinned. “And you’ll need some supplies. I doubt either of you have eaten yet. Am I right?” In answer, Helen’s stomach growled, and Leslie laughed again. “If you’re that hungry, I can only imagine how your wolf is feeling. Hollow would be my guess.”
“He’s not my wolf,” Helen protested. Not yet, at least.
“Please,” Leslie scoffed cheerfully.
“Wait, if you’re not a wolf…” Helen thought aloud. Leslie’s tone and phrasing made Helen think wolves were something alien to the other woman. Leslie didn’t quite say the word wolf distastefully, but there was a definite accent on it that had to mean something.
Leslie looked over sharply as she was hauling things out of the fridge. “You’re kind of new to shifters, aren’t you?”
“Does it show?” Helen felt a bit self-conscious. “I’ve known about magic all my life, but the whole shifter thing is a very recent discovery.”
“Well, in general, asking what species someone is can be considered rude,” Leslie informed her.
“Oh! I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize.” Helen tried to backpedal, but Leslie waved away her words.
“I can see that. I’m just letting you know for future reference. Somebody’s got to explain the peculiarities of shifter culture to you if Mr. Wolf hasn’t already.”
“I only just met Jim a few days ago,” Helen tried to explain. “Since then, it’s been kind of a whirlwind situation, and we haven’t had a lot of time to just talk.”
Leslie was nodding, even as she loaded up some large freezer bags with boxes of lobster and crab, among other things. The cupboards in the kitchen area were well stocked with carryalls for both hot and cold things. Leslie nodded toward one of the insulated bags she’d removed from a cupboard.
“Go ahead and raid that fridge over there. That’s where we keep the fresh stuff. Pack up anything you want and then triple the quantity for Jim.” Leslie chuckled while she continued to fill up the freezer bags.
Helen set to work, feeling a bit odd about raiding someone else’s refrigerator, but she was also really hungry, which helped allay her misgivings. She opened the door of the refrigerator and nearly groaned. It was chock full of things that made her mouth water.
“Take that whole platter of bagels, if you want,” Leslie offered from where she was working. “We have a charter to New York and back all this week, and they’re bringing me bagels like they’re going out of style. That one is left over from yesterday, and we’ll be getting a fresh delivery in about an hour.”
“Say no more,” Helen said eagerly, licking her lips as she took the plastic platter that had to have come from a deli or specialty bakery. The bagels looked really scrumptious.
The women loaded up a half-dozen large insulated bags, chatting all the while. Leslie gave Helen some pointers on how to interact with shifters, for which she was grateful. She was going into an area with a dominant wolf Pack. She certainly didn’t want to insult anyone through her own ignorance of their ways.
Leslie took Helen over to the airplane and showed her how the door worked. Helen mentioned that she’d never been in a small plane before, and Leslie took the time to show Helen the layout of the cargo area while they were stowing the food she’d packed for delivery to Big Wolf. Then, Leslie showed Helen the passenger area, which was quite luxurious for a plane this small, with hidden compartments that held a bar and snacks, among other things. She also helped Helen stow the food from the other refrigerator in the small fridge in the passenger compartment and set things up so they wouldn’t shift too much in flight.
Then, Leslie surprised Helen, by showing her the flight deck. There were only two seats up front—one for the pilot and one for the co-pilot. Helen had assumed she’d be sitting in the back for the trip, but Leslie casually dropped the bombshell that she wasn’t coming along on their flight, so Jim could fly, and Helen could sit in the co-pilot’s chair, as long as she knew what not to touch.
Leslie gave Helen a quick rundown of the controls, though it meant little to Helen. She was intrigued by all the instruments but didn’t have the background to know much about how it all worked. Helen was sure she’d have questions for Jim when he actually got into the pilot’s chair and started doing his thing. She hadn’t really realized that he was a qualified pilot, but he must be if Leslie and Sal were willing to loan him one of their planes.
Helen guessed he must have learned the skill while he’d been in the military, but that was just a guess. She’d ask him, if she got a chance, while they were in the air. Somehow, the thought that he’d be the one flying them to Texas was comforting rather than alarming. Having only been around him a few days, she still had this overwhelming feeling that Jim could do just about anything he set his mind to—and do it better than most people. He had a confidence that reassured her about his ability to get them where they wanted to go, and…when it came right down to it…she trusted him.
Sure, he’d made a mistake in following that false trail to Virginia Beach, but she’d heard him discussing it with Martin before they’d parted that first time. They’d both acknowledged that it could very
well be a trap, but there hadn’t been an alternative at the time. Jim had known the danger going in, but his mistake had been in underestimating the enemy. Of course, it was a bit farfetched to even think a low-level warehouse worker from West Virginia would have the resources to hire what had to have been a mercenary company to wait for a mark that might never show up.
From what Kiki had told Helen, the entire situation at that paper mill had been a case of hidden magic. What they called black magic. It operated in stealth and was incredibly hard to counter. Kiki’s new husband, Jack, had underestimated his opponent in that situation, as well. Since this guy they were following was part of that sinister group, it made sense that he might have a few tricks up his sleeve that nobody had considered. She suspected Jim would think twice now, about things he otherwise wouldn’t have entertained.
Live and learn. He almost hadn’t. Lived, that is. Helen had to shake her head at her own thoughts. The Mother of All had to have other plans for Jim, which was why, ultimately, Helen was here. Leslie had almost finished the tour when Jim joined them.
“Almost ready to go?” he asked, spying them through the little door that led from the passenger compartment to the flight deck.
Leslie got up from where she’d been sitting in the pilot’s seat. “Just showing Helen around a bit,” she said brightly. Jim made way as Leslie moved past him, and Helen followed suit. Only, Jim didn’t really move out of the doorway, and Helen found herself brushing up against his tall, muscular body.
Was it getting hot in here?
She sidled past him, and the three of them exited the plane to stand on the hangar floor. Leslie looked at Jim expectantly.
“Did you do your walk-around yet?” she prompted him.
Jim shook his head. “Doing it now, captain.” He gave Leslie a jaunty salute before jogging around to the other side of the plane to begin some kind of detailed inspection of the wings and other moving parts.
Leslie smiled after him. “Don’t take this amiss. I’ve never met him before, but I can tell he’s one of the good ones,” Leslie said, turning the power of her golden gaze back on Helen. “Plus, my dad has told me stories about Arch Hanson all my life. If Jim is anything like his uncle, he’s hell on wheels. You hang onto him, if you can, Helen, and you won’t ever be unhappy.”
Ending those startling words with a wink, Leslie went to join Jim at the nose of the plane. Helen watched the two shifters, both tall and muscular, and so in tune with everything around them. Helen had never really been that way. She’d always felt a bit like a square peg in a round hole around her family. All of them, except Kiki, of course, could do incredible magic while Helen was just a healer. None of them held it against her, but they’d often left her and Kiki in the dust when they’d been off practicing how to conjure illusions and other fun stuff that Helen just couldn’t do. Her power didn’t work that way.
Leslie waved to Helen as she left, and Jim finished his walk-around. He motioned for her to precede him into the plane, and she hopped up the stairs into the cabin. All the stuff she’d brought on board was already stowed, and Jim didn’t have anything much with him, just a small bag he’d taken from the back of his truck that he placed behind the pilot’s chair as he went into the cockpit.
He started flipping switches and put on a headset. “Why don’t you keep me company up here for a bit?” he suggested.
Helen joined him, sitting in the co-pilot’s seat. “I’ve never been up front in a plane before. It’s pretty cool.”
“It’s about to get even cooler,” he told her with a grin. “Here, put on this headset so you can listen in on the radio.” Properly outfitted, he plugged her in, and she could hear some people talking about runways and wind speeds. “There’s a charter inbound,” Jim told her. “That’s the tower talking to them on approach. We’ll taxi out to the runway once they touch down, and be in the air before they even stop rolling.”
The great doors to the hangar were standing open. Leslie stood at one corner, manning the controls of the power-assisted doors. She made some hand signals, and Jim responded. A moment later, Leslie was moving toward them, pushing a lawn mower shaped thing.
“She’ll move us out of the hangar so we don’t have to get the props spinning in here,” Jim explained.
“What is that thing?” Helen asked as Leslie disappeared beneath the nose of the airplane.
“It’s a motorized tug. Basically, powered wheels with a handle that’s strong enough to pull the plane out of the hangar,” Jim explained.
Helen felt a bump, and then the plane, started moving forward, out of the hangar. Leslie was walking backward, holding the handle of the tug, directing it. She moved the plane out of the large bay doors and onto the strip of tarmac in front, turning it to position it just so.
“She’s moving us into a position so that when I spin up the props, we won’t kick a few pounds of dust and debris into the clean hangar,” Jim said with a smile, waving at Leslie as she walked away with the tug apparatus behind her. “Now, for the fun part.” Jim hit some switches, and the propellers sputtered to life, one at a time.
Helen had never been in such a small plane, and the noise of the propellers surprised her. It was loud!
Jim started the plane rolling toward the big white lines painted at the end of the runway. As Jim positioned their plane at the end of the runway, Helen saw another plane come in for a landing in front of them. It touched down beautifully, and she heard the bored-sounding communications with the ground over the headset. Then, Jim spoke over the radio, requesting clearance. He got it, and they started moving down the runway, picking up speed as they rolled along.
She saw the other plane taxiing around, moving towards its hangar, even as the wheels on the aircraft she was in left the ground. Exhilaration filled her at the feeling of flight, as it always did, but this time, it was even more primal. The thrum of the propellers filled her body, and she felt so close to the outside, it was almost like being a bird.
Chapter Seven
“This is amazing,” she muttered. Jim, having heard her, even over the engine noise, turned and smiled his killer grin at her.
She saw the spark in his eyes. The excitement he felt at being in control of the machine that made the impossible, possible. This flimsy little aircraft allowed people to fly. It was still a wonder to her, after all these years.
The first half-hour of the flight passed in no time at all as Helen enjoyed the incredible views. She even took a few photos with her phone, intending to send one or two to her sister, later. Eventually, though, she started feeling hungry. They hadn’t really eaten today yet, in all the tumult of leaving Virginia. Helen unbuckled her seatbelt and got up.
“I’m going to get lunch,” she told him.
“Great. I’m starving,” he replied, predictably. If there was one thing she was learning about shifters, it was that they could eat three times what she did and still be hungry.
Helen went back to the little galley area where she and Leslie had stowed the food. Helen took a few moments to unwrap a couple of sandwiches and put them on a tray, then added bottles of juice and headed back up to the cockpit. There was a little pull-out table on which she secured the tray. Jim looked over at her as she sat back down, and she could just about guess what he was thinking by the somewhat lost expression on his face.
“Don’t worry. There’s a lot more food back there. I just figured we’d start with this, and I’ll go get seconds when you finish that,” she told him. “There’s really not enough room up here for more than this right now.”
“Thank goodness,” Jim said, chuckling. “I thought you were putting me on a diet or something.”
“I wouldn’t dare,” Helen joked back. “I don’t want to be locked in a small plane with a hungry wolf.”
“Honey, you already are,” Jim drawled. Suddenly, the atmosphere between them sizzled with intensity. His gaze held hers, and she felt like he wanted to devour her…not in a bad way.
Could he
be feeling the same hopeless attraction? She’d thought he’d sort of given her her marching orders when they’d parted the first time. As if he’d decided that whatever it was brewing between them wasn’t worth the hassle or complication.
Of course, then, she’d driven all day to get to him in Virginia Beach. She’d gone the extra mile—literally—and maybe he’d decided that things were different. She wasn’t sure. The only thing she could be certain of were her own feelings, and they were yammering at her to grab on to Jim with both hands and never let go.
Whoa. Down, girl.
Yeah, her reaction to Jim had never been what she could describe as tepid. He’d revved her motor without even trying from almost the first moment they’d met. He’d alternately fascinated her and frustrated her, playing come hither and then pushing her gently away. As if he was fighting the attraction or couldn’t make up his mind about whether or not to let this thing between them run its course.
Maybe he was trying to protect her. Maybe werewolves had some kind of kinky courtship rituals that would damage her in some way—either physically, mentally, or emotionally. She had no idea. She hadn’t even been able to get the nitty-gritty details about Kiki’s bear mate yet. There’d been no time for deep down sisterly chatting. Helen had hoped that after the honeymoon period wore off—if it ever did—she would get a chance to talk to Kiki and get all the dirty details.
Kiki’s mate was a bear, though. Maybe wolves were different in their mating habits than bears. Once again, Helen had no clue. She could only go on instinct here, with Jim, and hope that she did the right thing.
Jim held her gaze for a moment longer, then something on the dashboard drew his attention, and he looked away. Helen was able to breathe again, as she started eating the bagel she’d prepared for herself. Jim had to make some sort of course change, so he was busy for the moment.
