I tried to stay out of her way. “If you don’t stop, you might wear right through the floor.”
She turned. “Let’s hope the floor of this plane is stronger than that.”
I laughed. “I think so.”
After the pilot announced our descent, we took our seats for landing. I took her hand in mine. “You can handle this.”
She smiled. “I know. It’s going to be an awkward weekend. I might as well get used to it, right?”
I squeezed her hand. “We’ll make it fun. I promise you that.”
Moments after taxiing, the pilot let me know our passengers had arrived. I gave Casey’s hand another squeeze. It took me a second to process what he’d said. Passengers? As in more than one.
I heard voices from the front of the plane and went to investigate. “Uh uh. No way.”
“What? I told you I was coming.” Jared tried to push past me onto the plane.
“Yeah. You didn’t mention this one was coming.” I pointed at another of my least favorite people, or should I say Pterons, in the world.
“Great to see you too, Toby.” Cade patted me on the shoulder. The new Pteron king of the West Coast was dressed in a blazer, slacks, and flip flops.
“And this must be Casey.” He slipped past me and stopped in front of Casey. “It’s an honor to meet you, princess.” He kissed her hand.
I cleared my throat. “How does he know who she is?”
He gave me a long, cold stare. “Because it’s my right to know. You may help run New York, but I’m in charge of the West Coast now.”
“Yeah. I remember.” Cade was a king, I wasn’t. Instead of running my own kingdom, I did grunt work for Levi.
Casey looked between us.
Despite my distaste, I still had to introduce them. “Casey, this is Cade. He’s the heir of the Daly family.”
“Oh… is that supposed to mean something to me?”
Cade laughed. “You’ve got a great sense of humor. Come, let’s talk.” He nodded toward the seat she’d been sitting in earlier.
I knew he wasn’t trying to hit on her. He was only trying to help his position by sweet talking an ally, but I didn’t like it. I didn’t like having two other male Pterons on my plane, especially considering how long of a flight we still had.
“Is there a reason you decided to join us?” I tried to keep my voice low, but I didn’t appreciate having another uninvited guest cutting into my time with Casey. The weekend was going to be enough of a circus for us.
“You know, saving money on fuel.” Cade laughed, but no one else did. “Fine. I ran into Jared. I thought I’d join you.”
“In other words, you wanted to meet Casey before the wedding.” Jared didn’t mince words.
“That might have played a role.” He shot Casey what he probably thought was a charming smile. I’d call it predatory. Evidently, the new title hadn’t assuaged his hunger for power. If anything, it might have made it worse.
She walked back to her seat. “We’re probably taking off soon.”
I quickly sat down next to her before Cade could. Jared was clearly keeping his distance, so I wasn’t quite as worried there.
“Is everyone ready for the big event? I mean, it isn’t every day the King of The Society gets married.” Cade rested his hands behind his head. He had no problem getting comfortable on my plane.
“Oh yeah.” Jared didn’t seem particularly excited about the nuptials. Maybe I was imagining things though. I tended to see the worst in him.
“It should be fun. Besides, I’ve always wanted to go to Hawaii.” Casey seemed excited about the trip even though I knew she was still panicky about her sister. I hoped I’d have some better news for her by the time we came back. Jared seemed to have something, but you could never tell with him.
I expected a call from Tim with an update at any time. Nelly tried to come along, arguing that she had an invite, but I made her stay back in case Tim needed her help. Technically, Tim may have needed a witch’s assistance, but more importantly, I refused to subject Casey to her presence any more than absolutely necessary. Considering the situation couldn’t be easy for her, what with watching a half-brother she’d just met get married, I didn’t want to do anything that could potentially make it worse.
“Kauai is a beautiful island. If you need a tour guide, be sure to let me know.” Cade threw her another charming smile.
I put an arm around her. “She’ll be fine.”
“I’m sure…” He looked between us. “So I guess you guys are breaking all the rules, huh?”
“Don’t start.” I glared at him.
“Do you know why they have it?” Casey gripped the armrest next to her. She was obviously nervous to ask. She also carefully avoided looking at Jared. We still hadn’t discussed it.
“No. I’ve never cared to ask though.”
Jared cleared his throat. He was obviously uncomfortable with the conversation. Tough luck. No one cared how he felt.
“It’s bullshit. There’s no reason for it.” I felt confident in my answer. Even without what Rhett told me, things with Casey were too natural to be wrong.
Cade surprised me. “I agree. Besides, I assume Casey’s crow?”
“Yes.” She watched him carefully.
“The only excuse I’ve ever heard is we’re too closely related, but that’s just in the same bird. I don’t think Pterons from different types have ever had this issue. We’re supposed to hate each other.”
I scowled. “Such a wonderful way to put it.”
Cade shrugged. “Hey. I have no problem with it as long as you’re good to our girl here.” Then he turned to Jared. “But why am I getting the vibe Toby isn’t the only one who’s been close to her?”
Casey groaned and buried her face in her hands.
Jared took care of it. “End of this conversation. New one. How’s the West Coast going?”
“It’s going. We didn’t get as many attacks as you guys, but I had to deal with some serious political fall-out from the humans.”
Jared crossed his arms. “No complaining. You weren’t concerned with the politics when you took over what belonged to Levi.”
Cade held up his hands. “I’m not complaining. I’m just saying it’s been a crazy few months.”
Casey laughed. “I know the feeling.”