Page 31 of Fight (Kitsune #2)

"I'll be right back." I unbuckled my seat belt and stood, slipping past his knees and the empty seat beside him as I made my way out into the aisle, and toward the restroom at the rear of the plane.

I returned to my seat and sat down as the pilot announced that we were about to begin our decent into Seattle and asked everyone to make sure their seat belts were secured.

I buckled myself in, and leaned back. I tilted my head back until the top rested against the seat and closed my eyes.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, willing my body to relax against the seat.

Devon picked up my hand where it was laying between us on the seat and held it.

I opened my eyes and turned toward him, giving him a small smile.

"Watch." He nodded toward the window beside me.

I turned and looked out the tiny window. I saw a lot of green below us, it looked like the earth had cracked and split and that water had filled the wound. Most of the signs of civilization seemed to surround the edges of the water.

"I thought you said Seattle was on the ocean?" I looked to Devon briefly before turning back to the window.

"No, I said it's on the water. Seattle's on Puget Sound."

"Ahh." I nodded, not really understanding the difference. I watched as the city grew closer, larger, until we drew close enough to the ground that I couldn't stand to look anymore. I turned back to Devon.

"So we have a meeting tomorrow morning, then what?"

"I need to call Baker tonight and let him know we're in town.

We'll probably get together with him tomorrow, if only for drinks, and we're scheduled for a tour of the sound with Donovan on Friday.

The wedding is on Saturday evening, so if you think you can shift Donovan you call Bill Saturday morning and see what needs to be done.

" He spoke barely above a whisper, knowing I would be able to hear him fine but that no human would.

I thought about it for a second. "So we get settled in tonight and maybe dinner on top of the Space needle? That's all for tonight?"

"Yep, that's all for tonight."

"Good." I let my head fall back against the back of the seat.

"What's up? Are you not feeling well?"

"I'm fine, just tired." I said. "I'll be glad when this is behind us."

"Aww. And here I was looking forward to seeing you all decked out for the wedding."

"That's not what's getting to me. It's the uncertainty.

I don't know what to do when I meet the Anikitos here.

I'm scared I'll accidentally insult him and cause problems for Bill.

I'm afraid I'll say I can shift this Donovan and then not be able to, and that will cause problems." Devon leaned down and pressed his forehead to mine, looking me in the eye.

"Nick, you're borrowing trouble. You're thinking up problems where there aren't any, at least not yet, and it's only serving to stress you out and exhaust you."

"But-"

"No buts. Stop. Right now. No more worrying about what's to come. You deal with it as it gets here and take it one day at a time. You do what you can now and deal with later when it gets here. Do you hear me?" He face was serious.

"I hear you." I couldn't help but smile. He was right, I knew I was dreaming up trouble that probably wouldn't be there, but what if I failed them all? I closed my eyes and told myself to knock it off, Devon was right, I was borrowing trouble.

The plane jarred as the wheels touched the ground, startling me, and my eyes flew open to meet Devon's smiling face.

"It got you, didn't it?"

"It startled me, yeah. I wasn't paying attention.

" We waited while the plane taxied around the air strip and pulled up to the terminal.

Once the pilot announced our arrival and the flight attendants told us we could unbuckle our seat belts, the people around us seemed to all stand at once.

They struggled to pull bags from under seats and out of overhead compartments, as quickly as possible, so they could be the next down the aisle and out of the plane.

I pulled our bags out from under the seat in front of us but Devon remained seated.

A few moments later, after some of the crowd had thinned, he stood pulled our bags down, and we left the plane.

We made our way to the baggage claim and found that our delay in the plane meant we didn't have to wait long for the bags to appear. As we stepped up to the large carousel, bags began sliding off the belt in from the plane.

"I can handle this if you want to go get the car." I offered.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." He said.

"It would get us out of here faster."

"I don't mind. I'd rather stay here with you, especially in an unfamiliar city. I don't want to leave you alone."

I remembered that part of the reason he was there, was as my bodyguard and I let it go. "All right."

We pulled our bags off the metal belt as they reached us, then together we made our way to the car rental counter. I took only a few minutes to complete the paper work and pick up the keys for the car, then we were soon on our way to the hotel.

Devon was unwilling to leave me alone even long enough to check into the hotel while I unloaded the car so we took our bags and walked in together.

I stood in the middle of the lobby and admired the beautiful room, while I waited for him to go to the front desk and get our keys.

It was a nice hotel, all glass and light, and I wondered what the room would be like.

A hand touched my arm and I jumped, startled.

I turned and found Devon standing beside me.

"You need to pay more attention to who's around you." He chastised.

"You are." I said easily. "I was admiring the lobby. You were keeping me safe."

Devon sighed and shook his head. "I've got our keys, let’s go up to the room and drop off our bags."

"All right." I followed his lead to the elevators along the back wall. We stepped inside and he hit the button for the 19th floor.

"How far are we from the space needle?" I asked as the doors closed and the elevator started moving.

"They said it's about a fifteen minute walk from here." He flipped through the paperwork he'd picked up at the desk. He moved a page to the top, revealing a map, the route to the space needle marked clearly in red.

"That's not too far and we'd probably spend at least that long looking for parking, then have to walk half that distance anyway."

Devon nodded. "That's about my take."

The elevator slowed as a bell chimed, stepping out of the elevator I looked around, and found that there were only a few rooms on the floor.

Devon glanced at the number on the paperwork in his hand and led me to a door to one side of the small hallway.

He slid the plastic key card through the reader on the door, and pushed the door open, stepped inside, before holding the door open for me.

I followed him inside and stopped, blown away by the room.

"Bill got us a suite?"

"I guess he decided that since it's likely Alexis and Caden will be joining us, it's easier to have one big room." He said.

I left the bags sitting next to the door, and wandered through the huge suite. "This place is bigger than my apartment." I was amazed. There were two full bedrooms, each with its own bath, plus sitting and dining areas in the common room. "I don't even want to guess how much this is a night."

Devon sat in one of the chairs across the seating area and grinned, watching me wander through the entire suite, then sit across from him.

"Pick a room and I'll put our luggage away." He said.

I gasped, pretending shock. "You mean I don't get a room to myself? You're gonna make me share?" I grinned, teasing.

"Well, if you really want. I can sleep out here." He lifted one brow at me, challenging me to say I didn't want him in my bed.

I laughed, unable to continue the pretense any longer. "That one." I pointed to one room.

He pushed out the chair and put the luggage in the room. "Why this one?" He asked coming out of the room.

"The color." I replied. "I just like the green tones better than the pale purples in the other one." I sat on the sofa, I'd dropped my head back and spread my arms along the back of the sofa on either side of me. I was enjoying having plenty of space after being in the crowded airplane all morning.

"Do you want to freshen up, maybe change, or are you ready to go?" Devon stepped behind the sofa and looked down so that I was looking up into his upside down face.

I thought about it for a second. "Let me wash my face, and freshen up a bit.

Give me five minutes." I stood and made my way to the bathroom attached to our bedroom.

I washed my face and checked my hair before stopping for a light sweater out of my suitcase.

I pulled it on before I rejoined Devon in the main room.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Yep." Devon stood and wrapped an arm around my waist, as we made our way to the door. He made sure he had the room key and the map tucked into his pockets before we left the room.

On the way out the main entrance, Devon stopped. "Can you point me to the Space Needle?" He asked the uniformed doorman.

"Yes, sir." the older man said politely. "You're going to go to this street here." He pointed to the street that passed beside the hotel. He gave us detailed directions, smiling the whole time. I couldn't help but smile back.