* * *
So far Vashti had survived her first forty-eight hours in the mortal realm without anything too alarming taking place. The noise and the sheer number of people moving around were the hardest things to deal with. How they could possibly know what they were doing, where they were going and how to avoid bumping into each other, was beyond her comprehension, yet somehow it seemed to work.
Although she would never admit it, Vashti was glad of Jethro. Keeping up with his long strides as he’d marched first through the ferry terminal, then the airport, had given her a sense of purpose that meant she hadn’t stood in the midst of the chaos simply gazing around her like a lost soul. He’d even taken the trouble to explain that extreme reactions like drop-kicking the woman who’d jostled her at the airport check-in desk or throat-punching the man who’d regarded her appreciatively before stepping uncomfortably close as they’d boarded the plane would be considered inappropriate in the mortal realm. They would even, he explained with unexpected patience, attract undue attention and land her in trouble.
“They should keep their distance,” she had grumbled as they’d taken their seats on the plane.
“They don’t know you’re a princess. To them you’re an ordinary person.”
Frustrated when her seat belt didn’t do what she wanted it to, Vashti tried to wrench it out of place. With something that sounded suspiciously like a long-suffering sigh, Jethro had showed her how to fasten it.
“Oh.” She had leaned back in her seat, digesting the information. Ordinary. She had been described as many things during her life. Never that.
Jethro had slept during much of the long plane journey. He’d slumbered like a cat, falling asleep instantly and deeply, but waking alert and watchful. While he’d dozed, Vashti had watched movies and observed her fellow passengers.
The man who had eyed her up earlier was seated across the aisle and one row in front. He was tall and slender with long, fair hair. He was traveling with a woman and the two of them seemed to exist in their own separate bubbles. Together yet apart. Vashti speculated on their relationship. As if aware of her gaze, the man looked in Vashti’s direction. Recognizing her, he grinned admiringly. The scowl she gave him in return seemed to have the desired effect and he turned away once more.
Each time Jethro did stretch his long body and open those melting dark eyes, it seemed to Vashti a flight attendant appeared as if by magic. “Do women always look at you like that?”
“Like what?” He paused in the act of devouring a sandwich.
She wrinkled her nose in an effort to find the right words. “Like they want something from you.”
His lips twitched and she got the distinct impression he was trying not to laugh. “Sometimes.”
She sighed. “I will never understand mortals.”
“We’re a fairly uncomplicated lot if you give us a chance.” He jerked a thumb toward the plane window. “The United States. Home.”
Vashti leaned across him to get a better view. “I have heard of it even in Otherworld. It doesn’t look uncomplicated to me.” It looked like an uneven jumble of architecture and water and greenery. What if I get lost down there? She turned her head to voice the question but the words died on her lips.
Her face was inches from Jethro’s, her shoulder pressed against his. Physical contact that was uncomfortably pleasant. It was a first. Something strange started happening inside her chest. As if her heart was insistently trying to pound its way out of her body. His nearness was delivering sensory overload. Every part of her was achingly aware of his scent, as though she had imbibed it through her pores. Not the smell of his cologne. Beneath that. The scent of him. Dark, spicy and seductive. It made her shudder ever so slightly. At least, she hoped the quivering movement was slight. She would hate to think Jethro could feel it.
Her eyes were drawn insistently to his mouth. Why had she never noticed the perfection of that luscious slope to his lower lip? Or the stubble outlining his upper lip that had darkened as their journey progressed. It was so tempting to reach out her finger to find out if the bristles were as coarse as they looked. She actually had to fight the impulse at the same time she was resisting the urge to trace the small cleft in his chin with her fingertips. And his eyes...
“Dark and bright at the same time.” Tell me I didn’t say that out loud.
“Pardon?”
Aware that she was still nestled close against him, Vashti sat up straight. “Is this our destination?” In an effort to distract him, she pointed at the city unfolding below them.
Jethro shook his head. “No, that’s one more stopping-off point.”
“Tell me we don’t have to stand in another line.”
He grinned. “Sorry.”
Vashti groaned and slumped back in her seat. The action drew the attention of her admirer across the aisle and he turned his head again. “That guy over there keeps looking at me,” Vashti complained in an undertone to Jethro.
“Vampires,” he said it dismissively. “They’ve been with us since we stepped through the portal on Orkney.”
She took a moment to digest this information. “They are following us?”
“Well, if we’re going to be precise about it, they’re following me. Blatantly. They do it all the time.”
“Why?” She gave the vampire another glare and he mimed placing a hand over his heart in mock hurt.
“Because your friend the vampire prince has sworn to have me killed. Every vampire from here to the far end of Otherworld will earn their master’s undying—no pun intended—gratitude if they can present Tibor with my head.”
“So why doesn’t this one kill you now and get it over with?”
Jethro grinned. “I’m a necromancer. I’m not that easy to kill. Tibor sends his bloodsuckers along to remind me of his pledge. It’s a little game he likes to play.”
It might be a game, but the smug vampire was seriously annoying Vashti. “I’ll fix them.”
She unbuckled her seat belt and made a move to rise from her seat. Jethro grabbed her around the waist, pulling her back down and holding her still when she tried to squirm away from him.
“You are playing by mortal rules now. Murdering two people in full view of the other passengers on an international flight tends to be frowned upon.”
“Even vampires?”
He started to laugh, the sound vibrating through his chest where it came into contact with her shoulders as he held her against him. It was an effective way of distracting her from thoughts of vampire killing.
“Even vampires. The other people on this plane don’t know those two are vampires. Tibor and his followers have evolved to the point where they can spend time in the mortal realm and blend in here. It’s daylight. That guy doesn’t need a coffin filled with the soil of his homeland. I could produce a crucifix right now and he’d only look a bit queasy. If you drew a silver dagger on him, he’d put up a hell of a fight. If you won—and
