Page 20 of Loched in Love

I managed to have time enough to change into some more comfortable clothes, a change of dark gray leggings and white blouse. I tug at the latter while admiring the plush white leather seats of Frank Stein’s private plane, noting how it could easily hold more than a dozen people, but I’m more nervous now than I would’ve been on a bus taking the long route.

After a swift warning about not letting anyone know about what they are, (like I’m really about to start yelling monsters are real), I was given my phone back to let Natalie know how I am. Before we left the castle, I fibbed and sent a text telling her I overslept and would catch a later bus this evening out to Budapest.

My best friend has the biggest heart of anyone I know, but she can’t keep a secret to save her life and can’t be held to keeping one unless swearing multiple oaths.

I had to make her promise on Keegan and her cat before leaving, and it’ll be a miracle if she keeps from telling Collin by next week that I’m not really in Florida visiting an old college friend.

He’s going to blow a gasket when he finds out I’m not even on the same continent anymore, but explaining to any of my brothers that the bugs I work with and what I do is important to me is like trying to explain nomadic migration habits and patterns of tourists to a hermit that just wishes people would piss off.

I left home with three weeks of vacation and I’ve got nineteen days until I have to head back to be on time for work. Initially, I was supposed to take a bus ride to Budapest then a quick flight to London before another bus ride to Scotland. But now… who knows.

If Natalie knew that I was letting someone else manage my travel plans, she’d swear I’d gotten a lobotomy and demand I call the nearest embassy. Plus, she’ll probably try to kill me or worse when she realizes I flew in a plane with Frank Stein and his fiancée and didn’t tell her, not to mention vampires are real.

The less she calls the better.

“So, Elena. You’ve been traveling to see some sort of beetle bug?” Aubrey asks.

I meet her bright blue gaze, and notice how attentive she looks with her elbows propped on the table’s surface and her head resting over her laced fingers.

I fight against wriggling in the expensive jetliner chair and place my champagne glass down. Most of my family and friends are bored to tears when I get to talking about my favorite subject, and I don’t want to bore her. “Yeah, I’m researching the habitat of an aquatic beetle near the highlands that’s in the same family I sampled at your castle, except this one is way more rare,” I answer.

“Oh that’s neat. Have you traveled to see them before, or is this your first time?” she asks, smiling at me.

It strikes me how nice they’re all being, and a warm feeling washes through my middle.

It’d be stupid and reckless to have no feelings of fear when faced with the fact that the supernatural and monsters exist, but so far none of them have made the slightest attempt at anything other than getting help for their friend.

And Aubrey is so kind.

“I’ve flown a lot, actually. All over the country really. Just never left the states till now,” I tell her.

“Oh wow, and traveling all by yourself.” Her brows go up in surprise and she glances at Bernadette like this is a big deal.

Bernadette rolls her gaze to the heavens in response then quirks a brow at me. “Aubrey is scared to travel alone.”

“You would be too if your first flight alone landed you at a vampire’s castle,” she says.

“Looks like it’s working out for you so far,” Bernadette snarks back.

Aubrey turns and her gaze scans me over as she observes me closely. “You know, you’re taking all this rather well. I had money on you being a crying mess in the corner like I was when I found out vampires and the supernatural are real.”

My neck grows hot. “I’ve four brothers who make it their life’s mission to shock me. Plus, the world is a lot weirder than anyone likes to admit given that ninety percent of life on Earth is undiscovered. I’ve seen deep-sea creatures that look like aliens, so to me, a vampire is just another life form that hasn’t been added to the textbook yet.” I glance back over at Vlad, noting the pale color of his skin and wonder how no other humans have noticed.

Vampires are interesting, but a creature that can shapeshift and change with aquatic abilities, is far more fascinating.

“Perfect for Lachlan,” she titters.

Relief floods through me when she picks her phone off the table as if done questioning me, and I toy with the stem of my glass as Bernadette clacks on her slick silver laptop.

Frank and Vlad sit at one end of the cabin while us ladies snack at the small table in the middle of the plane, and Lachlan stares out one of the tiny windows a few feet away.

When we first boarded the jet, he insisted on keeping by my side, until realizing how different it looks out among the clouds and how tiny the mountains below seem from this high in the air.

“The world is a massive place, but isn’t it bonnie?” he murmurs.

I smile, and excitement rolls through my middle at the thought of how many questions I’ll be able to pepper him with soon. A monster with a tail and gills who can breathe underwater. Oh my god, it’s like my most secret Waterworld fantasies come to life.

Mermaids are my favorite and always have been ever since I was a little girl watching Ariel on my small bedroom T.V. and now, I may get the chance to study one for real.