I thank Manning for the update and hang up. I numbly stare out the window onto the darkening tarmac. I hear them announce pre-boarding for our flight, but it doesn't register in my brain.

"What's wrong?" asks Guillermo.

"Liz is missing," I answer not taking my eyes off of the nearly dark world outside.

"Who's Liz?"

I finally turn and look at him.

"She's the lady I told you about earlier," I reply, "the lady without a family."

His eyes get wide and he gets a worried look on his face. They announce first class boarding.

"You know," he says, "I never thought I'd hear myself say this."

"Say what?" I ask him.

"We'd better get on the plane."

I realize he's right. I pick up my bag and we head for the jet way. After we get to our seats, I just stare out the window, and I wonder. Are we too late? How is Liz going to be able to destroy the world? I've touched her power, and as strong as she is, she's not that strong.

As these questions run around in my head, the plane finally taxis and takes off. I decide that the best way to deal with the stress of waiting is to give the plane a little "push." It takes me a couple of minutes, but I finally manage to rearrange the wind currents enough to give us a tail wind just as we reach cruising altitude. After I'm done, I realize how tired I am and I lean my seat back. I get comfortable and close my eyes.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," says Guillermo. I open one eye and look at him.

"Wouldn't do what?" I ask him.

"Sleep," he replies.

"Why?"

"Because of the dream you'll have," he answers.

"What dream?" I ask opening the other eye.

"The one where you and your young man get, um," he hesitates, "physical."

I can feel my face heating up. I put my seat back up.

"What exactly do you mean?"

"When you're apart from your young man, do you have," he pauses again, "rather vivid dreams?"

"How did you know about those?"

"It's the same for all of us," he says. "After the First Kiss and before the wedding night, you will have very graphic dreams when you and your beloved are far apart."

I think about it for a while, and I realize that every time I've had one of those dreams, I've been pretty far away from Abe. Great. I haven't had a chance to take a shower since yesterday, and now I'm not allowed to sleep. I sigh and try and think of a way to stay awake.

"How much of the book did you and Daddy get translated?" I ask.

"Enough to have me worried," he answers. He pulls out his notes. "We managed to find out that it involves someone without a family, some type of blood altar and a certain alignment of the planets. In fact, the only part that I'm positive about is the time. I've checked all of the astronomical readings and the planets are almost in position. Also, it's supposed to happen on the eve of the dark of the moon. That's supposed to be this Sunday."

"It's Tuesday now, and it'll be close to midnight when we land," I say. "That gives us less than a week to get the book fully translated. There's also the little matter of finding Liz. Her boyfriend is probably on the verge of breaking things, if he isn't already doing so."

"Is her boyfriend a violent man?" he asks.

"I wouldn't say violent, but he does have a temper," I tell him. "And he's big. Very big."

"Speaking of boyfriends, why don't you tell me about yours," he says, smiling. What the heck. He's going to have to meet him soon anyways, but I also don't want any one else on the plane know I'm dating a merman.

"His name is Abe Sapien," I start. "He's tall, has the most incredible blue eyes, and he can read my mind."

"And?" he prompts. I can tell he's enjoying this. I narrow my eyes and I'm almost tempted to not say any more.

"We met a little over a week ago," I continue. "He works for the government doing research."

"So, how long did you know him before you Kissed him?" he asks, a smile stretching his lips.

"I didn't Kiss him," I inform him.

"Ok, how long did you know him before he Kissed you?"

"About 7 hours," I mumble. He starts laughing. I try and disappear into my seat as people turn and stare.

"Jeez, girl," he finally says, gasping. "I knew that when you finally met Mr. Right that things would go quickly, but that's got to be some sort of record."

I glare at him and then I turn and look out the window. There's not much to look at since it's full on dark now.

"I'm sorry," he says, resting a hand on my shoulder. "How did you meet Liz?"

"I sort of met Liz through Abe and H.B.," I tell him.

"Who's H.B.?" he asks.

"Liz's boyfriend," I answer

"What does 'H.B.' stand for?"

"I'll tell you later." I don't think mentioning Hellboy's name in such a public place would be a good idea either.

"So, how did you meet Abe and H.B.?"

"That's a bit more complicated," I tell him. "I'll tell you when we have a bit more privacy."

"Ah," he says.

We sit for several minutes in silence. I do a quick "check" on our tailwind to make sure it's doing its job. I finally decide it's my turn to play inquisitor.

"Is there anything else I should be warned about now that I've been Kissed?" I ask.

"Well, I've told you about the dreams, and I know that your father warned you about your First Kiss some years ago. I imagine your grandmother told you about the whole year and a day thing?" he says that last part as a question. I nod. "Did she also warn you not to try and jump the gun?"

"What are you talking about?" I ask him.

"You can't consummate the relationship until after the wedding," he tells me.

"Why not?" I ask.

"I'm not entirely sure why, but you won't be able to even if you want to," he says.

"Who's going to stop us?"

"No one, everyone," he replies vaguely. "What ever Powers that be that created us have a very strict set of rules. You must marry the one you give your First Kiss to, you must wait a year and a day to have sex after that Kiss, you have to be married, and no premarital sex is allowed. You can hide away on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean with no one knowing where you are, and you still won't be able to have sex. I've heard some pretty amazing tales of couples who did try. But they always got stopped. Always. So save yourself the aggravation, and don't even try."

"Are these Powers that be the same ones who give me those blasted dreams?" I ask in frustration.

"Probably," he responds. "They do seem to have a sense of humor. All be it a sick sense of humor, but a sense of humor none the less."

"Great," I grumble.

I look at my watch and notice that we still have some time before we land; luckily the meal and movie take up a good chunk of that time. But afterwards, I can feel myself starting to drift off again, so I grab some things out of my bag and head for the lavatory. I try and get as cleaned up as possible in hopes that that will wake me up a little bit more. Luckily, shortly after I take my seat, the captain announces that we'll be landing about half an hour before we're scheduled to arrive. It seems we caught a tailwind all the way.