By the time we'd stopped on the second floor and collected Raye and my Guard, then went down to the first floor, the Chinese food had arrived. The receptionist had paid for it with petty cash and assured us that it wasn't a problem, the company would cover it. Well, it was technically my father's money, so I didn't feel bad.
A limo drove us to the airport and within half an hour, we were back up in the air, dining on black bean shrimp and roast duck. We had plenty of room now that most of the passengers were gone and we all stretched out across the seats to get some shut-eye on the way back to Tulsa.
“You will find help where you least expect it,” Raye's voice drifted over to me from a few rows down.
“What's that?” I sat up and looked across the rows of seats.
He sat up too and waved a little slip of paper at me. “It's my fortune from within the cookie,” he smiled.
“Oh,” I laughed. “Where you least expect it, eh?”
“The fortune is a little late,” he shrugged. “It's already happened,” and he laid back down.
I smiled at that and went back to lying on the firm airplane seats, fluffing the horrible pillows Flight staff had given me. Cat was already asleep on the floor beside me and Tiernan was stretched out along my same row, his head laid next to mine. He looked up at all my aggressive fluffing.
“Have you gone soft now that you're a princess?” He teased. “What happened to the hard core extinguisher I first met in Hawaii?”
“Even an extinguisher likes a good pillow,” I huffed and flopped down on the little rectangles of flattened batting.
“Just close your eyes, Seren,” Tiernan laughed. “I have a feeling that we're all going to need our sleep.”
“At least Cat can sleep anywhere,” I sighed.
“Close your eyes,” Tiernan said again as he angled up to look at me.
I did as he asked and felt his fingertips brushing against my forehead, smoothing out my frown. I sighed as he gently massaged my temples and then stroked my hair until I fell asleep. I didn't wake up until we were coming to a jarring stop on the Tulsa runway.
I yawned as I braced myself and then sat up to see that everyone else was already awake and belted into their seats for the landing. Tiernan was seated beside me, smiling at me like he was entirely responsible for the length of my nap. That sneaky fairy must have worked a sleep spell on me.
“I thought I was the only one with sleep magic,” I grumbled.
“I didn't place any magic on you,” he laughed.
“You didn't?” I narrowed my eyes on him.
“Nope, I just used my physical talents,” he smirked.
“You should have at least woke me up before we started to land. I could have fallen on Cat,” I grimaced and Cat added her accusing glare to mine.
“You're reaction time is way too fast for that,” Tiernan scoffed.
“Our ride is here already, Ambassador,” Extinguisher Kate came up to us to say.
“Great, the sooner we can get back, the better,” I stood and stretched.
“I agree,” she hurried off.
We followed her off the plane and into one of three waiting SUVs. I sighed as we settled into the back and Cat gave a little whine as she spread across the floor. I knew how she felt; like the journey was endless. We had gone from car to plane to car to car to plane and now to car again.
“We'll be there soon,” I promised her.
And we were. It didn't take long to get us back to the Council House. Which was a good thing because they were in a bit of a tizzy. This was a little surprising since it was now 3 AM in Tulsa; time for sleeping not tizzies. We'd been traveling for more than thirteen hours and I was grateful for that long nap on the plane because without it, I would have been beat. I was still tired from all the travel but at least I was wide awake and ready to face whatever had happened while we were away.
An extinguisher met us at the door and escorted Tiernan, Raye, Cat, and I up to the council chambers. I could hear them as we approached the door; the council members were arguing. We walked in and everyone who was not yelling into a cellphone, stopped shouting to stare at us. Those on phones toned down their voices and the room quieted significantly.
“Ambassador Seren,” Councilman Teagan got up to greet us, relief evident in his voice. “Count Tiernan, please come have a seat. And... Rayetayah, is it?”
“Yes,” Raye nodded. “What's happened?”
