“I'll do my best,” I headed towards the door. Keir and Cat followed me.
Once we were safely shut in the comfortable sitting room, I let out a string of curses and stalked across the thick carpet to plop down on a teal velvet couch. Then I took every throw pillow on it and threw them across the room. I figured that's what they were made for and I was merely seeing to the fulfillment of their life's purpose. Keir followed me more sedately, dodging pillows with the deftness of a Shaolin monk, and then took a carved chair on my right. Cat however, bounded after me enthusiastically (after chasing a few pillows) and jumped up onto the couch beside me.
I pulled Aidan's card out of my jacket and dialed his number with angry jabs of my fingers while I cursed his name, and his Pack, and his stupid grindman ways under my breath. It rang for what seemed like an eternity before he answered gruffly. The abruptness of his voice made me scowl at the phone.
“This is Ambassador Seren,” I stated with matching brusqueness.
“You!” He nearly shouted and I frowned deeper. “Why'd you even release them if you were just going to steal them back?”
“What are you talking about?” I lost my scowl to confusion.
“Don't act as if you don't know.”
“I don't; I was calling to ask what you knew of the disappearance of a plane full of raven mockers.”
“What?” His voice lost its ferocity.
“Raven mockers,” I repeated. “They returned from Fairy and boarded a plane in San Francisco, heading home to Tulsa. But they never made it. The entire plane has vanished and left only a trace of weather magic behind.”
“Weather magic?” Aidan sounded stumped. “But... Flight; they disappeared too and all that was left behind was a trace of cold... weather magic.”
“Are you telling me that the Flight witches I released are missing too?” I asked calmly.
“Yes,” he whispered. “We dropped them at Hunter Park, where they were supposed to be met by other flighters. But no one was there when their rides showed up.”
“Aidan, we had nothing to do with their disappearance,” I vowed. “Which means that your Coven most likely had nothing to do with the vanishing plane.”
“Someone is setting us up!” He shouted.
“It appears so,” I ground out. “Any ideas?”
“On my end?” He huffed. “I can't think of any witch who would want to start a war with the fey. Not any, except perhaps all of the members of Flight.”
“Do you think the Prime Flight elder could be behind this?”
“Abduct her own people to make the fey look guilty?” He asked with scathing sarcasm. “No, of course not, she's the sweetest, most gentle- abso-freaking-lutely she could do this!” His voice shifted into anger. “She's a damn lunatic, that one.”
“Coming from a wolf, that's pretty bad,” I sighed.
“Ha ha, very funny,” he grumbled. “What about your people? Maybe Elder Wasutke is innocent.”
“I admit that it would make more sense for a fairy to want a war,” I conceded. “We are almost assured of winning. But still, capability is not a reason to fight.”
“Perhaps they just don't like humans,” he offered.
“Well, that's a trait several fey share,” I sighed. “Whittling down the suspects based on such criteria would take forever. I can think of several fairies right off the top of my head and most of them, I'm related to.”
“Harsh,” he sympathized. “You're half human and have human haters for relatives?”
“Yep, my family is rather complicated.”
“Aren't they all?” He snorted. “You don't even want to know how about Pack interactions.”
“You're right, I don't,” I chuckled. “Look, I think we both need to go back to our people and let them know what's going on. Hopefully, they'll believe us and then maybe we can work together on this.”
“I'd like that, Princess Kick-Ass,” his voice lowered into a purr.
“Keep it in your pants, Prince Furry-Ass,” I shot back. “I've already got a man.”
