Nox Inferno

Chapter 55: Flying Home

The last time I was at an airport, I was heading into a new world headfirst. This time the airplane will bring me back home. When I go home, will everyone notice how different I am? I know I am not the same girl who left Crescent Moon.

“Are you ready?” Kai asked.

I shook my head, “Of course not. But we should head in.”

Kai pulled me back towards him, “It’s okay to be afraid. But remember I will be right here with you.” He pulled me into a hug. My cheeks flames as a wave of emotion hit me like a tidal wave.

“Don’t you mean ‘we’ will be there?” Someone said breaking the moment. I turned to Zephyr grinning.

“Oh shush.” I rolled my eyes and step away from Kai.

Alvina laughed, “I can’t wait for next year!”

“What do you mean?” I scrunched my eyebrows.

“Next year you will be eighteen.” Clementine interjected as she pulled out her suitcase from the trunk.

“I know I will officially be an adult. That’s going to be super fun. I can get a tattoo or a piercing.” I use to research the perfect tattoo, but I couldn’t find the perfect one.

Laughter broke out throughout the group, “Oh sweetie.” Mama Fra shook her head, “Remember when you are eighteen you will also get a mate.”

“Right.” I pinched my lips together and looked down, “That too.” I trying my hardest not to look up at Kai. I hope he is my mate. I shook the thought out of my head. If he’s not my mate, I don’t want to get my hopes up.

“Come on. We are going to be late.” Kai said and began to push us towards the entrance of the airport.

“Well, well, look who is changing the subject.” Alvina said. But she entered the airport none the less.

I turned back and gave Mama Fra one last wave before following Alvina. She was waiting in the lobby with her hands on her hips.

She looked past me to whoever was behind me, “Are you really not going to ignore the fact you might be mate?”

“You need to stop!” Kai growled and waited on line for security check. I don’t understand why that was a touchy subject.

“Alvina, I know you like to tease.” Clementine whispered, “But don’t push this, please. For me.” Does Clementine know something?

“Fine.” Alvina rolled her eyes. But then added loud enough for Kai to hear, “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Kai turned and glared. Did he not want to be my mate? That’s fine. But I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

I walked slowly over to Kai, following Clementine. Maybe it’s best she stayed in between us. If he wasn’t my mate, then I should get rid of whatever I am feeling for him.

After going through the security check, we checked in our bags. Kai kept glancing back at me. I wish he would either spit out what he wanted to say or stop looking like that. I felt anger bubble from within me and Nyra wasn’t here to help me control it.

My skin buzzed and I felt a wave of calm roll over me. It was Nyra trying to remind me to stay calm. I inhaled and exhaled.

“It’s okay.” I could almost hear her talking. No wait, she did say that.

“Nyra?” I asked.

“Yeah.” She sounded warily. Did the tea wear off already.

“Huston, we have a problem.” I tapped Alvina on the shoulder.

She looked up at me in alarm, “What did you do?” She asked as she stepped closer to examine my eyes.

“I don’t know. I was getting mad and Nyra usually calms me down. Then suddenly I could hear her.” I shrugged. How did this even happen?

“Why are you asking me? I am just as confused as you.” Nyra stated.

“The tea is in my suitcase.” Alvina ran a hand through her hair, “We made it strong enough to last a month.”

“Is everything okay?” Zephyr whispered.

“No. Look.” Alvina pointed to my eyes.

Zephyr looked taken aback but only for a moment, “Here.” He handed me his sunglasses.

“Why do I need this?” I asked examining his black metal sunglasses.

“We can’t have mortals seeing your eyes. If you had any other color eyes, we could play it off. But as you have red, you need to hide it.” Alvina explained as I put them on.

“Worst case scenario, people will think you are celebrity trying to hide from the paparazzi.” Zephyr shrugged.

“Is something wrong?” Kai walked over.

“She manage to break a potion which should last for a month.” Alvina said in an accusing tone. I was a little offended. It’s not like I did it on purpose.

“We can just buy her human contacts when we get there. But if we don’t leave now, we might actually miss the plane.” Clementine said.

“Would contacts work?” I asked.

She shrugged, “Who knows. But we have a temporary solution for now. We will fail our mission if we arrive late.” Clementine reminded.

“We would fail?” I asked.

“Yes. Since there are many different groups working for Satan. So every single mission we go on is rated. The higher the ratings the better ranked. Arriving late will lower our rating.” Alvina explained.

“So if you know this. Why are you still standing still?” Clementine asked. She grabbed my hand and began running.

“Do you even know where you are running to?” I asked.

“Nope.” She laughed. We raced through each of the boarding gates. After finding our gate we waited for the others to catch up with us.

“I have a question to ask you.” I wanted to take advantage of the time we have had together. Everyone was busy keeping Clementine away from me because she was the only one who didn’t know about my hallucinations.

“Go ahead.” She said while sitting down.

“Do you really like Kai?” I know I could have asked her about so many other things. But that’s the first thing that came to my mind.

“Yeah. I know he won’t ever like me. But the heart wants what it wants.” She slumped into the chair, “I’m sorry if I came off mean when I realized Kai liked you.”

“I didn’t notice.” I smiled at her.

She laughed, “So, I have a question for you.”

“Shoot.” I sat down next to her and slung my carry on in between my legs.

“How do you feel about Kai?” She asked. My heart stopped. I honestly didn’t know. I think I really like him most of the time. But there where times I couldn’t stand him like at the ball. I’m not very good at emotions, so I’m not even sure if I like him. For all I know maybe it’s an infatuation or heartburn.

“I-“ I stammered out.

“Hey!!” Kai called out. We both turned towards him. I’m pretty sure Clementine was blushing just as hard as me. I looked at her. Did he hear us? As if reading my thoughts she shook her head.

“What where you two talking about?” Zephyr asked wiggling his eyebrows. I’m not sure if I hate him or love him, anymore.

“Boys!” I stammered out. I slapped my mouth close. Did I just say that?

“Oh yeah. I will never let you forget this.” Nyra laughed. Kill me. Kill me, now!

“Really?” Kai raised an eyebrow, “Anyone in particular?”

I looked at Clementine for help, “Yeah.” Kai straightened up, “The boys at Twyla’s hometown. I wanted to know if they where cute. She said ‘yes’ so I’m super stoked about going!” She lied so easily.

Kai frowned, “I thought you didn’t date before.”

“I haven’t!” I quickly said. But the sharp elbow to my stomach made me add, “But that doesn’t mean I didn’t admire.” I felt really red. I need to change the topic.

I was saved by the flight attendant, “We are now boarding.” She said.

“Yes!” I shouted. I got several strange looks from those around me.

“Well it looks like we have some enthusiastic passengers.” The flight attendant added causing several people to laugh. I looked down, embarrassed.

“Name one guy.” Kai challenged bringing us back as he sat down next to me.

“Hey, we should really pay attention.” I turned all my attention to the flight attendant calling for families with small children.

Kai brushed some of my hair behind my ear. I shivered if he was challenging me. Then game on. I quickly tried to remember when I thought a guy was hot. Since I couldn’t remember I thought of a better option.

I turned to face him, “There was this one guy. He had dark brown hair with these killer green eyes. Plus he had these cute green eyes. They honestly looked like a healthy forest. People say he had the prettiest eyes in the grade. Not to mention his dimples.” I pretended to swoon. He didn’t have to know I was pretending Jasmine was a male.

“Are you really this desperate to win?” Nyra asked

“Definitely,” I thought back.

Kai glowered, “What’s his name?”

I was saved this time by Alvina, “Come on they are calling us.” She shot Kai a look before pulling me up. Did she know?

“Who is this guy?” Clementine whispered.

“I’ll tell you later.” I whispered back when I noticed Kai glaring at me.