Everyone attacked the food, including me as I sat down by myself at my own quad grouping of chairs. There was a large pull-out table that I lowered from the side wall that was perfect to rest my lunch on. My stomach had been in too much of asnarl this morning to eat much, but it felt hollow now and was growling so loudly I was surprised no one had said anything.
Orion came to stand next to me. “Mind if I sit with you?”
“No, go ahead.”
We didn’t talk, but I was grateful for the company as we both polished off our sandwiches. Opening the bag of Hot Cheetos, I poured some onto a napkin and started munching on them. Orion asked if he could try a few, but apparently didn’t like them because he went back to his sour cream and cheddar chips.
“We need queso,” he said.
I paused. That sounded good. “Do you think they have any?”
“Let me check.”
He came back with a jar that hadn’t been opened yet, pouring some into a bowl for each of us.
I hunted up another bag of chips from the trolley, deciding this time on the Salsa Verde Doritos. I thought they would go well with the queso.
The combo made me sit back and sigh, closing my eyes. I’d been eating on the go a lot lately. Just being able to sit down and enjoy a meal was nice. Even if it was only a sandwich and chips.
Hours later,we started our descent. The wall of black storm clouds and wind made landing challenging, but our pilots managed. Thankfully, Matteo was sitting up and awake when I went to check on him again. I thanked the healer, who was making the return trip to Dragonspire, then, with Orion’s help and mine, we were able to deplane and get Matteo to the waiting SUV. Rain poured down, blowing against us with gusts of wind that whistled around the small, empty airport. All of us got soaked in the thirty or so steps to our waiting vehicles.
Once Matteo got settled, I turned to the waiting Sheriff. From his scent, I guessed he was a lion shifter. And from his aura, I was guessing he was also an alpha.
He motioned for me to slide into the backseat next to Matteo, while Orion got into the front seat beside the driver. The Sheriff slid in on my other side, then shut the door.
Immediately, the sound of the storm quieted, and we all breathed a sigh of relief.
“A little wet here, Sheriff?” I asked with a teasing grin, and he laughed.
“A bit, yeah. I wanted to ride in with you, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind. Thank you. I apologize for all of this.”
The Sheriff took his hat off, shaking the excess water from the brim, then slapping it back onto his soaked brown hair. His tawny green-yellow eyes looked intelligent. The alpha aura I was sensing from him was powerful, and I found myself wondering, in comparison with others, just how powerful he was.
He held out his hand after sluicing his face dry, then wiping the water off on the seat beside him. “I’m Finn. It’s nice to meet you, Piper. And please don’t be sorry for pathetic paranormals with a screw loose.”
“Thank you for your help. We appreciate it. Will you be staying at the Lodge as well?” I didn’t think so, but I could be wrong.
He shook his head, his expression rueful. “I’m afraid I can’t, but I’m assigning a few patrols to Clan lands. It’s already been okayed by Alpha Riggs.”
“Thank you.”
Finn’s eyes slid past me to Matteo. “You don’t look so good, friend.”
Matteo chuckled darkly. “I don’t feel so good, either. Some idiot poisoned me.”
I winced, biting my lip. He was still chalk pale. The healer had told me before we deplaned that he’d done the best he could for him, but he still looked awful.
Matteo poked my leg with a pale finger. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine, and Riggs is going to kill me if I broke his First.”
“I second that. You look like death warmed over,” Finn said. “We should probably call Dice.”
“Who’s Dice?”
“A special class of healer. If anyone can help Matteo, I’d put my money on her.”
