Dark Flight Chapter Twenty - One

Disclaimer: I do not own the Carpathian Series.

Sierra woke to extraordinarily bright sunlight hitting her in the face. She raised her head off of a throw pillow and glanced around the room, trying in vain to figure out where she was. The events of the last night hit her, and her head immediately began to slump downward again. A voice from the doorway quickly made her head pop back up again, though. The woman from last night, Vicky, was leaning against the door.

The pretty blonde woman was wearing a pair of glasses. Her hair was tied up, and she was wearing jeans and a blue shirt beneath a black coat. "Yeah, I've felt like that before. Feel free to sleep for as long as you want, I just want to tell you that there's coffee out here."

Sierra sat there for a moment. She figured that she should be totally out of her comfort zone, but now she was more occupied with whether to pick more sleep or to drink some coffee and call it good. She wanted the sleep, but it was rude and, her brain rationalized, it was good to get as much fluid as possible. Her body complained, but the mention of fluids had reminded Sierra that she really had to pee. She stood up and looked around. Vicky cleared her throat and grinned. "The bathroom is out in the main office, second door on the left." Sierra thanked her and took off to take care of her business.

When she came back out, Corrine gestured over to the couch. "Here, why don't you sit down? I'll get you a cup of coffee." Sierra smiled at her gratefully. As she was handed a steaming mug, Sierra studied Corrine's clothing. A purple and black lace-up old-fashioned bodice was worn over a mesh long sleeved tee shirt. Her black pants had zippers sewn randomly all over them, and her chunky black Goth boots were the stuff of Sierra's dreams. A handcuff bracelet (one black handcuff and one purple handcuff) circled her narrow wrist and a purple and black spider perched on the bare skin of Corrine's collarbone, hanging from a black silk ribbon. Her hair was teased up into a large pile on her head, but some still hung down, brushing her shoulders and back. Her makeup was done in a style that was half Goth and half Emo, perfected with bright red lipstick. It was awesome.

Sierra shook her head admiringly. "Corrine, I love your outfit."

Corrine pressed a hand over her spider. "Thank you! Like I said, I'm totally digging the necklace, but you were pulling on it in your sleep, so I tried to take it off for you. I couldn't find the clasp, though."

Just like that, Sierra's mood was shot. "Yeah, I know," she grumbled. She tugged on the necklace some more, hoping that it would give and come off, but with no luck. The thing stayed locked around her neck, reminding her of Zane's claim to her: all of her. She sighed.

Vicky and Corrine exchanged glances. "Sierra, you also seemed like you were having bad dreams," Corrine said, "And you kept saying the name Zane."

Sierra could feel the troubled look on her face, but she couldn't do anything to prevent it. Vicky spoke, her voice more gentle than Sierra would have given her credit for. "You know, Sierra, we're private detectives. We can help you with your problem, and we're totally discreet. If you are in trouble, I would be glad to help you."

Sierra shook her head. "I'm sorry, but it's not really the kind of thing someone could help me with. Thank you for the offer."

Vicky leaned closer. "Are you sure? We deal with a lot of things that it wouldn't seem like we could help with. Why don't you give us a shot?"

She didn't want to tell them everything, but Sierra knew that Vicky and Corrine would feel guilty if they didn't help her. She gave them a watered-down version of the story. "Well, I have this crazy boyfriend that's trying to find me. He gave me this necklace with a - a sort of tracking device in it. He put it on me, and I have no idea how to get it off. There isn't a clasp and it's not big enough for me to pull over my head. If you could get the necklace off, I would be really grateful. And I would pay you, of course, whatever your normal rates are."

Vicky waved her off. "That's not an option. consider it my payment to you for what happened last night. It was my fault, I should have made sure Henry was okay before he left the building."

Sierra shook her head. "It wasn't your fault, and you saved me."

Obviously trying to avoid the question about payment by changing the subject, Corrine moved closer and studied the necklace. "It's beautiful, but I can understand why you wouldn't want a tracker on you. Do you have any idea what it's made of?"

Shaking her head regretfully, Sierra said, "I'm sorry, but I don't have any idea what it's made of. Do you think you can take it off anyway?" She did her best to not sound too hopeful, but it leaked out between her words.

Corrine nodded. "Yeah, I should definately be able to take it off of you." She studied the necklace for a moment longer. "Hm, that's unusual." Vicky raised her brows at Corrine, and Corrine explained, "This looks like an ordinary, if organic, material. However, when you look at it from an angle, or tilt it slightly, it appears to have a slight red luster." She ubruptly dropped the necklace and grinned, walking over to her seat behind the computer. "I can use that to help me find a way to remove it. Give me... maybe two hours, at most?"

Vicky nodded like this was normal and turned back toward Sierra. "I'll be happy to help you remove this necklace, but I have to ask: Have you given any thought to what you'll be doing with it after it's off? Will you want to throw it away, or just leave it here? If you're still running, you obviously wouldn't take it with you, but it could make an awesome decoy for when you were leaving for somewhere else."

Sierra thought about that for a second. It would distract Zane should the idiot remember that she had been wearing the necklace, and it would appear that she was still in Canada. She laughed and slapped her hands down on her lap. "That would be perfect! If only there were somewhere we could put it so that it looks like I'm moving around. If I'm staying in the exact same place all of the time, it could look suspicious."

Vicky laughed suddenly. "I have the perfect place for it, and it would take your boyfriend forever to find it, let alone retrieve it! I've also got an ex-boyfriend that I don't care for, and he's always driving."

Corrine's head snapped up, and she spoke chidingly. "Vicky! You can't be thinking you're going to put it in Mike's car!"

Vicky nodded happily.

Sierra looked from one woman to the other. "Who's Mike?"

Corrine leaned toward Sierra, who also leaned forward out of instinct. "Mike is a cop. He and Vicky used to have a thing, but when she wouldn't pick him over Henry, Mike dumped her. He's a real idiot, and neither of us can stand him."

Sierra furrowed her brow. "Then why didn't you want her to put the necklace in his car?"

Corrine shrugged. "Habit, I suppose. You should have seen the two of them, Mike and Henry, fight over Vicky. They used to argue all of the time, especially after Mike almost got Henry killed." Sierra gaped and Corrine nodded. "Yeah, I know. Well anyway, Vicky blamed Mike, Mike got pissed off at never being trusted and took it out on Henry. It almost makes me relieved to know that we won't have to be dealing with either of them anymore."

A throat cleared across the room. Vicky glared at them. "You know, I'm still in here, and I can hear everything you're saying. I'm still a little upset over all of that, so if you wouldn't mind..." For the first time, Sierra noticed the lines of strain on either side of Vicky's mouth, the opposite of the slightly puffy red regions under the woman's eyes.

Sierra and Corrine apologized to Vicky, and Corrine got back to work looking up Sierra's necklace.

Zane felt as though he was ready to shout with frustration. The plane had been found to have mechanical failures, so they had not been able to fly on it. The second plane was also found to have mechanical difficulties. The three had bought tickets for yet another flight, but Zane had been exhausted by the constant mask he had kept up around the humans. Natalya had lent him some of her strength, but she was still a relatively young Carpathian, so Zane had been afraid of taking too much. Jordan had donated blood, but Zane had only been able to take a few mouthfuls before they were interrupted by the approach of a human.

Zane - exhausted from working-, Natalya - exhausted from donating energy -, and Jordan - exhausted from donating blood-, all fell asleep and missed their third flight. Another one had not been scheduled to leave until late in the morning. Zane thought seriously about calling Sabin and asking him to allow Zane to borrow their jet, but the flight really was only hours away. Frustrated, pissed off, and still tired, Zane sat back in his seat between the sleeping Natalya and Jordan. He stretched out his legs and allowed himself to relax, but just then, his cell phone rang.

Swearing, Zane extracted himself from the sleeping pile and pulled his phone from his pocket. "Yes," was his short, crisp greeting, spoken as he strode far enough away from Jordan and Natalya so that they would not be woken by his conversation.

His cousin's voice rang in his ear. "Hello, cousin. I know that it is imperative for you to find your lifemate and bring her back to the homeland, but I must protest the absence of my lifemate." Vikirnoff's voice grew lower, almost ashamed. "I miss my little hellcat, Zane. Have you found Sierra yet?"

Zane swallowed a lump in his throat. Natalya was a large help to him, and he did not want to lose her as a member of his retrieval team, but more than that, he wanted this level of affection between him and his own lifemate. He missed his Sierra, and his arms ached with the need to hold her. He cleared his throat and tore his mind back to Vikirnoff's question. "No, we have not found Sierra yet, but we are close, my cousin. Very close. I can almost feel her. If I can borrow Natalya for just a short time longer-"

"No." The answer was short and very to the point. Zane's shoulder slumped. "I understand," he began, but Vikirnoff interrupted him once again.

"I cannot stand to be without my lifemate any longer, but this situation makes me realize how much I care for my lifemate. I cannot imagine being in your situation. I will come myself and help you track down your lifemate."

The lump rose again in Zane's throat. With the return of his emotions, he realized just how much he cared for everyone around him. "I would be honored should you decided to aid me. I would be extremely grateful."

Vikirnoff spoke again. "I will be wherever you want me to be in an instant or less." His voice softened, became more gentle. "Do not worry, Zane. We will find your lifemate. All will end as it should."

Zane thanked his cousin, and both hung up.

Corrine shot up from her chair. "I found it! Never say I didn't do anything for you, Sierra. You are going to be grateful to me for forever," she said, and a look of confusion covered her face. "Not that we'll ever meet again. Well, I want to see you again, don't get me wrong, I really think we could be friends-"

Vicky, standing in the corner, said, "Uh, Corrine? Would you like to tell us what you've found that will make Sierra grateful forever?"

Corrine shot Vicky a grateful smile. "Well, the metal used to make this necklace is from the Carpathian mountains. It has certain elements used to make it that an unnatural element should melt right away."

Sierra frowned. "I don't get it. How does that help me? What is an unnatural element and where would I even find one?"

Corrine yanked on a desk drawer and pulled out a small container with a sealed rubber lid. "Right here! ...Just pretend you didn't see this, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, Corrine opened another drawer and pulled out a small velvet bag. From the bag, she took out a small glass stick. Corrine looked up at Sierra. "Why don't you come over here?" Sierra obliged, and when she got over there, Corrine was speaking quietly, perhaps to herself. "First, we'll take the glass wand, then dip it in the container, make sure it's coated, and - darn!" She left the glass wand to sit in the container, and Sierra leaned forward to look inside, but Corrine popped back over with a large metal bowl in her hands. At Sierra's look, she explained, "I don't really know how the necklace will react to the unnatural element, so you might want to get ready."

Reaching across the desk, Corrine grasped the necklace and held it so that there was a small amount of slack. She then picked up the wand, stirred the stuff in the container for another few moments, then raised the wand to press against the chain of the necklace. There was a loud hissing sound, then a pop noise. The necklace dropped down into the bowl, clanking as it hit the bottom.

Shaken, Sierra reached up to hold her neck. "What was that popping sound?"

Corrine looked intrigued. "I don't know, let's check." She gingerly lifted up the necklace by one end. "Wow!" She dropped it. "I don't know where your boyfriend got that necklace, but it was strong. All of that unnatural element that I put on it only removed one link of the chain, when it broke, the power inside of it snapped, which made the noise. Every single link in this chain has that much power." She stared at Sierra. "I don't know who your boyfriend is, but he's not someone I would want to mess with."

Sierra immediately felt guilty, since messing with Zane was almost exactly what she had asked Vicky and Corrine to do. She grasped the necklace and turned toward the door of the office. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

Vicky grabbed her elbow. "That's not what Corrine meant. She was just speaking without thinking about it again." Vicky got something off of a shelf, a flat, matte black case. It was slender, and Vicky placed the necklace in it. "Now, we'll put this in Mike's car and you can get going. I'm not trying to chase you off, but if your boyfriend was connected enough to get soemthing like this," she waved the case with the necklace inside of it, "I think you're in more danger wherever it is."

Sierra had to agree. She decided that she would take a cab back to the hotel while Vicky took care of the necklace. She thanked the two one final time, and left.