I placed my backpack between my feet and buckled in. “Of course.” I stared out the window as the car began to move.
So long, I thought to myself as the driver sped out of St. Ailbe’s parking lot. Only the unknown lay ahead of me. Even with all my worry, there was hope. I just had to hold on to that feeling and not let go.
***
By the time we landed in Cusco, I was ready to be done traveling. It’d taken two flights and most of the day. Since Mr. Dawson had to get my ticket so last minute, I was at the back of the plane, while Muraco was at the front. I didn’t mind, but now I was anxious. In all the rush, we hadn’t coordinated where we’d meet after this last leg of our journey.
At least I’d found a new hope to latch onto. As soon as we’d taken off in San Antonio, I’d felt my oath to Luciana start thinning
I’d let sleep take me in the middle of the first flight, but I’d been in the aisle seat. The guy in the middle seat hadn’t liked it when my head rested on his shoulder and he couldn’t wake me. He’d been pretty upset.
Since I was on the aisle again for the second leg of the trip, I fought sleep the whole way from Lima to Cusco. I didn’t want to cause another scene, but a handful of hours of sleep in the past few days made it extremely difficult to keep my eyes open. Thankfully, it wasn’t a long flight.
I waited to exit my aisle, holding only my small purse. I texted Teresa quickly and then shut the phone off as the roaming warnings started buzzing in. I’d borrowed Raphael’s cell, but I would pay for the bill. It would be expensive if I wasn’t extremely careful. I looked past the man sitting next to me to stare out the window as I waited for everyone in front to clear the way. The sun was setting outside the airplane window, spreading beautiful pinks and oranges across the sky.
“Ma’am?” the guy sitting next to me said, impatient to get out of the aisle.
“Sorry.” I moved too quickly and tripped over my own feet. Just the way I wanted to start this out. “Sorry,” I mumbled again to no one in particular and started down the aisle.
As soon as I crossed the bridge, the temperature hit me. Cold. I held my arms tight to my body. Even the air smelled different here. Thinner and crisper. The crisp part was fine, but the thin quality made it feel like I couldn’t take a full breath.
I inhaled deeply, trying to get in more air, and failed. I’d never been at such a high altitude. Muraco had said to be careful and take it easy, but I didn’t have time for that. I had to adjust quickly.
I stepped into the terminal and looked around for the old wolf, but Muraco was long gone. I couldn’t find a hint of him anywhere. The mass of people moving up and down the areas between gates made it hard to really find anyone. Overhead signs pointed the way to the exit—baggage claim and car services—and I started along my way. At least I’d already gone through customs in Lima.
I tried to search for Muraco in the crowd ahead, but didn’t see him anywhere as I walked forward. He must be waiting for me somewhere outside.
He’d better be waiting for me somewhere outside.
I made it to the baggage claim and grabbed my bag, hefting onto my shoulder before continuing my search for Muraco. The closer I got to the exits, the more chaotic the airport got. Tour guides held up signs trying to get their groups together. Stands advertising different tourist attractions took up space along the walls, crowding me in as workers shouted about deals.
I thought I’d made it out of the worst of the mess when someone shoved a bowl of dried leaves in my face. “Coca leaves. Take some. Gratis. Free.”
The bowl smelled of earth and something totally unfamiliar and I stepped back on instinct. The lady smiled at me, showing off a few missing teeth. She wore a beautifully embroidered full skirt. Her bright pink cardigan picked up the colors of the thread flowers. Her browned skin was thin and wrinkling, but she kept on smiling at me, holding the bowl, urging me to take what she was offering.
No witch with any common sense would accept unknown herbs from an unknown source. The lady seemed nice, and if she really was offering dried coca leaves, they weren’t harmful by themselves, but that was the problem. They could have other herbs mixed in with them or be coated in something else. And even if taking things from strangers at airports wasn’t stupid to the nth degree, I didn’t know what she wanted me to do with a bunch of dried leaves. They didn’t look particularly edible.
Yeah. I wasn’t going to go down that road. “No, thank—”
“You should take some, princess,” a deep, gravelly voice said from behind me.
Nope. Not gonna happen. I opened my mouth to tell that to the speaker, but as soon as I saw him I couldn’t breathe.
He was the most gorgeous guy I’d ever seen. He grinned down at me, and I nearly melted on the spot. As it was, I was going to embarrass myself staring. His hair was black and cut short, but it looked a little messy. Not like he’d spent all morning trying to get it right, but more like it was just naturally like that. Effortlessly handsome.
And his eyes…
They were so dark brown I couldn’t see the difference between the iris and pupil. Like twin dark pools. If I wasn’t careful, I could get lost in them.
I was inching my gaze down his body, taking in the lovely browned skin, when I finally focused in on his aura. Golden.
A wolf. Of course the mega hot guy was a wolf.
Which means he’s utterly off limits. It was a good thing. That way I wouldn’t be tempted. But as I looked at him, he was more than tempting. I should’ve been used to Weres after St. Ailbe’s, but apparently I wasn’t. He’d taken me totally off guard—so much so that I was forgetting to speak.
He cleared his throat and motioned back to the lady. “The leaves. They’re dried coca—”
“I know what they are, but isn’t cocaine bad? Plus, it’s not good to take things from someone you don’t know.”