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We arrived at the Edinburgh airport just as the small private plane taxied to a stop on the tar the airplanes co down since we&039;d arrived at the area where we&039;d been told to e jet roared overhead and then headed up into the clouds at a sharp angle right above us, I thought Jerry was going to dive under the car Only the warrior in hi this was business as usual I touched his shoulder and could feel the tension vibrating through hi people places for a hundred years You&039;ll enjoy it Much better than taking wing yourself across the Atlantic" I slid my arm around his waist "I honestly don&039;t think you have the strength for that right now"

"Are you sure? Da said that&039;s how I got home before" Jerry squeezed ument" Bart had driven us here "You will let the shift would be too et your th"

"So this must be part of that shock therapy you talked about" Jerry ed hi down the stairs from the side of the plane

"Gloriana! Jeremiah! You look wonderful!" She rushed toward us, arhting tears It was so good to see her again I was dying to tell her everything - all about my witch of a mother, my dates, Jerry&039;s condition Later She ed Jerry then leaned back He looked aard in her es out

"Mio Dio, you don&039;t know me?" Tears filled her dark eyes "Don&039;t worry We will fix" She sniffed and gestured like she was checking it on her to do list "Now Who is this handsome man?" She turned to Bart

"Bartholomew O&039;Connor, Jerry&039;s doctor" He held out his hand

"And I&039; with one of the flight attendants who serviced the private planes but she had hurried over as soon as Flo appeared Now she put a proprietary ar

"Yes, please meet everyone" I ran to pull Richard forward to introduce hi Jerry, do you remember him?"

Jerry smiled suddenly "I think I do Did we ade priest?" He looked at Flo "Guess not anyave up the Church At least as a priest" Richard slapped Jerry on the back "That was centuries ago You&039;d just been turned and were taking a grand tour, of sorts" He smiled as I introduced him to Bart and Caitie "I hope to talk to you, Doctor I&039;ve been doing some research of my own on Jerry&039;s condition"

"Excellent Your reputation precedes you and I could use the help I have some cases to wrap up here and should be in Texas by the end of the week But here&039;s my card You can call me, or we could set up a video chat" He passed the card over then slid his ar to persuade Jeremiah&039;s sister to come with me to Austin She&039;s never seen the Wild West"

"Is it? Wild?" Jerry looked around the group "Gloriana assuredyour leg, Jer" I flushed when Jerry actually looked down at his legs clad in jeans for the trip "It&039;s an expression Means he&039;s joking" I glanced at Flo and saw her getting teary again "Does the plane need to refuel or anything or are we ready to go?"

"The pilot says we&039;ll be here about thirty ain There&039;s paperwork" Richard grinned "If you&039;ll excuse me, I&039;ll use some of my vampire mojo to clear the way there"

"What does he mean?" Jerry looked at Flo

"Oh, he does this all the tis like passports and all the little things they want to see e land and take off No et on board CiCi, Freddy and Derek are inside They are anxious to see you both Best that they stay out of sight, though These paper pushers - " Flo glanced at the airport security "They don&039;t need to get excited about all the people we are taking in and out of the country" She ot involved"

"You tried to sle out one of their treasures, o"

"Flo? What did you do?" I left Jerry and Richard to deal with our luggage I saw the like old friends, which ed to Marie Antoinette Sos around my neck" She pulled a chain from between her breasts She wore a to-die-for silk blouse in a deep green The emerald on the end of the platinum chain was carved with a profile that did seem to resemble the beheaded queen

"It&039;s beautiful!" And had to be worth a fortune

"Yes, and wasn&039;t ot it from some shifters in the cutest little shop But then they disappeared with our cash when the polizia showed up" She shrugged, typical Flo "I don&039;t care if they stole it I won&039;t give it back It&039;s mine now The French, they are out of luck Ricardo, he took care of everything" She tucked it out of sight again

"Hmm I hope so" We stepped inside the luxurious cabin of their rented jet and greeted our friends CiCi, Countess Cecilia Von Repsdorf, and her son Freddy along with his partner Derek Then we had to reintroduce Jerry to theers This got CiCi upset and didn&039;t make Jerry too happy either

When the hatch was closed and locked, Jerry&039;s htened and his eyes ide We all took our seats, Jerry beside me I helped hiines starting ht, Jer Once we&039;re airborne, you won&039;t even realize we&039;re flying We&039;ll fall into our death sleep when it&039;s dawn and wake up just before we land Great ti" I smiled across the aisle at Flo

"It&039;s true We always arrange our long flights this way The pilot is an old friend of Ricardo&039;s He&039;s a shifter and we trust him completely" She smiled at her husband and picked up his hand "Once the seat belt sign goes off, you can get up and walk around" She frowned "The pilot knoe can&039;t be hurt when he takes off, but he insists everyone stay buckled in while he gets the plane off the ground Says illPah!" She threw up her hands "Stupid rule So unnecessary"

"Florence doesn&039;t like seat belts Says they wrinkle her clothes" Richard sht, Jeremiah?"

Jerry nodded but I knew it for a lie Flo and Richard whispered together

"I remeain "Madre di Dio! I was ready to s" She sot off the ground That was in the early days when airplanes were little ether You remember those days, don&039;t you, Ricardo? Glory?"

"She&039;s right, Jerry This is a five starWe had to raise our voices to be heard I had both hands around Jerry&039;s now

"It&039;s very comfortable Your seat will lie back and we have movies you can watch, Internet once we&039;re in the air" Richard frowned "Oh, hell You won&039;t care about that Glory, anything we can do?"

"I don&039;t think so" I leaned against Jerry He wasn&039;t saying a word, just staring panicked around the plane while the engines got even louder and the plane startedwith a lurch It hit a bump and I saw him reach for one of his knives "Steady We&039;re not under attack"

"You sure?" He pulled out his knife anyway and laid it across his knees

Flo noticed "If you are thirsty, we have every kind of synthetic blood you could want I&039;ll bring you soive up "There&039;s a new one that tastes like a strawberry " I didn&039;t think I could drink a thing, not with Jerry looking so freaked out I held up h with the chitchat She nodded, picking up a fashionin earbuds, satisfied that she&039;d done her best as our hostess If Jerry wanted to slit his wrists then let ination at work I&039;lanced over Richard didn&039;t look too keen on this experience either, his eyes closed tightly while he gripped his arled to open his seat belt with shaking hands

"No You can do this" I turned his head toward s you&039;ve faced Battles where you&039;ve been outnuy that put thee You have no idea how much I adritted his teeth "Fuck!" He alers when the plane hit another bump as it taxied toward the runway "Sorry" He kissed my hand "Mesmerize me, Gloriana You kno to do it Maybe it&039;s the coward&039;s way but make me think we&039;re somewhere else Anywhere else Spin a fantasy for us so I&039;ll forget I&039;oing to leap above the clouds"

"Are you sure?" I hated to do that to him It was the coward&039;s way So unlike hiain

So I looked deep into his eyes and sent him a mental picture We were in a forest as far away froet It was very quiet Not even the birds were chirping, asleep for the night as alked together, hand in hand The air was cool, leaves crackling under our footsteps We came to a clear pond and sat down beside it We threw off our shoes and dipped our toes into the water It was perfect, not too hot or too cold We kissed, taking our ti as clothing dropped to the forest floor until ere naked

He pulledto where a waterfall tumbled over rocks and into the pond The water showered us as we laughed and chased each other, our bodies brushing froh to chest Finally he found a flat rock behind the falls and pulled me up to lay me down There he kissed every inch of my body My eyes drifted closed We were both well into the fantasy now

Jerry&039;s hands were everywhere, strokingthose pleasure points he kneell I tasted his mouth on mine We were all warm skin and slick heat as he entered me, his rhythm perfect as he sent me to that place where only he could take ainst that rock as we searched for completion Hisinto the water We kept falling, locked together, all the way to the bottom of the pond We couldn&039;t breathe but didn&039;t need to

He sank his fangs into my neck, his steady draw on ain, just from the force of his pull as he drank Finally we burst to the surface, theon the grass

This was the only thing that ether The world could end in a minute, a day, a week The plane could pluether We&039;d found e needed Each other

I opened o of my hand

"I think we ers that were no longer shaking "Is it possible?"

I reached across hih there was nothing to see but black night sky and white clouds down below us The plane was rock steady and the others were opening their seat belts and getting up Flo stood next to oblet

"Try this It&039;s probably the best thing you ever tasted"

I leaned forward and kissed Jerry&039;s lips "Nope This is the best thing I ever tasted Right here" I laughed and leaned back Life was good

Until dawn hit everyone around me, and I was still wide awake I looked around and saw a fa down the aisle like she owned it She gestured to me and I followed her to a pair of e on, Mother? Why are you dropping in here? And why a" I plopped down in the seat Okay, staying awake past the dawn is cool My friend Ray pays big bucks for a drug that lets hiht unnatural The lights were dim and everyone else had pulled their chairs back until they were reclining It was almost creepy the way they were laid out, still as corpses Which is what I&039;d expected to be about now too

"I thought you&039;d appreciate a little extra awake time" She smiled and waved her hand My jeans and sweater morphed into a stylish pantsuit, black silk with a red and black print tank underneath

"Stop that! I don&039;t want to explain the wardrobe change And I don&039;t like surprises I wish you&039;d get that" I glanced around "Seriously Put me back in my own clothes"

"But you look so much better now Your friend Florence certainly kno to dress for travel Vintage Givenchy" She kissed her fingertips in a French gesture of appreciation "And the countess looks divine in that new number frohed "Your friends have style and money And look at you" She flicked her wrist and I was back in my jeans and old sweater What could I say? It was the end of a long trip and I hadn&039;t wanted to explain any of the clothes she&039;d given ht Eventually I&039;ll run across a nice Chanel of et up She froze me in place

"No, we need to have a little chat" She blinked and a glass of chane appeared in her hand "Want one?"

I licked my lips I could have used a drink but didn&039;t trust her "No thanks What are we discussing? Did you bring an antidote to that horrible spell Jerry is under? Can you cure him before we touch down in Texas?"

"Would that I could" She took a sip "Mhtful I only drink the best Sure you won&039;t have a glass?" She materialized a second flute and I took it in spite of better intentions I sniffed and figured if it was good enough for her, it was okay for me Hey, Mars had allowed ure out a way for ne?

"Yes, you did dine with Mars" She smiled as she watched me sip "He liked you"

"I kind of liked him" Uh-oh, her eyes lit up "Not to run away to Olympus with but he was pretty cool A warrior like Jerry We ca I could reason with him"

"Yes, he indicated as lass disappeared Mine she refilled

"He give you a hard tiood news

"You could say that He wants me to back off Let you live yourCan you ied color, a gold to e wrap dress

"I knew I liked him He was sensible Pay attention, Mother Maybe he could help you find a cure for Jerry&039;s aood, the bubbles tickling my nose, and I finally started to feel sleepy

"I suppose we could work together He is a powerful ally You did well there" She pattedfor you to try A sorcerer I know thought ityour man&039;s memory" She opened her purse, a tiny jeweled number that had to have cost a fortune, and handed reen liquid "Slip this into your lover&039;s next meal Blood I suppose" She shuddered "Then see if he shows signs of reh the cost is high" She smoothed down her skirt "The ain "He&039;ll want ames in trade"