Lost (The Allure Chronicles Book 3) (8 page)

“Because I do.” I absolutely didn’t know, but I knew that was what Roland needed to hear.

“No self-preservation,” Hugh whispered under his breath.

“I’ll survive this,” I said for their sake more than my own.

“You will.” The man nodded. “I’m under explicit orders not to kill you.”

“Orders from an entity you still won’t reveal to us.” Violet crossed her arms.

“Correct.” The man smiled.

“But you’ll reveal to me after our little walk.” I wanted a little bit of reassurance of my own. If I survived this run in, I wanted information. Maybe whoever he worked for could help with the numbness.

“After I’m done with you.” He took my hand.

At first I felt nothing, but the longer he held my hand the hotter my hand became. It felt close to burning as a current of electricity surged through me. It was slightly painful but gloriously not numbness. “You are differentiating between our walk and being overall done?” His choice of words had not gone unnoticed by me.

“Yes. I am,” he said unapologetically.

“Let’s get this over with.” I turned my body so I was directly in front of the man. “What’s your name?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“I’m not walking with you until I know it.” That was my only demand.

“Sol.”

“Okay, Sol. Let’s take this walk.”

“Do you really want to do this alone?” Roland kept a distance from us, but I could tell it was a struggle for him to refrain from intervening.

“You heard it from Sol. He is under orders not to kill me.” Somehow it felt more believable now that I knew his name.

Roland sighed. “That doesn’t mean he won’t hurt you.”

“Anything he can do can’t be worse than the numbness I’m feeling.” Nothing could be worse than that. Although a nagging in the corner of my head disagreed. There was something worse, I just couldn’t remember it.

“You should have told us how bad it was.” Violet finally stepped out of the car and walked around.

“You couldn’t have done anything.”

She nodded. “No, but I would have wanted to know.”

“Will you guys be here when I’m done?” I assumed I’d be back in a reasonable amount of time, but maybe that was an unrealistic assumption.

“Do you think we plan to leave you?” Hugh asked.

“Not Roland.”

Roland nodded. “Of course not.”

“We’re staying put. I’d be bored without you around.” Hugh winked.

“All right guys, see you soon.” I waved before following Sol toward the large building.

“We aren’t going there,” Sol said under his breath.

“What do you mean?” I glanced back over my shoulder to where the others waited.

“You may not know why your friends picked this location, but I do. We will go to a neutral spot.”

“Okay.” I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of going into a place that might overwhelm me. Maybe normal Allures could use emotion as a weapon or tool, but I wasn’t a normal Allure.

“You’re agreeing easily.” He put a hand on the small of my back leading me around the building. He was trying to trick the others. I figured Roland was watching us like a hawk.

“I just want to get this over with.”

“Why the rush?”

“I don’t honestly know.”

“What’s the numbness? How does it feel?” He asked with what sounded like genuine interest.

“Like my whole body fell into this pins and needle sleep.”

He smiled. “You have a colorful way of speaking.”

“Do I?”

He wove back further behind the building and kept walking.

“You do.”

“Great.”

“Are you afraid of heights?”

“No.” I thought of how much I loved flying with Owen. I could remember the rush of the wind. The adrenaline kick. The physical memories had remained, and they made me think of him.

“I hope you’re telling the truth because I don’t want to clean up anything.”

“I’m telling the truth.”

“Good.” He grinned, and I savored the thrill. He tossed a small black stone down on the ground. A bright light emulated from the stone, and in its place stood what looked like a glass elevator. The sight should have shocked me, but I’d seen far weirder things in the past few weeks.

“Come on.” He tugged on my arm and pulled me into the elevator. The door slammed closed in front of us. He pressed a button, and we started to surge up toward the sky.

I looked out. I could see everything, but no one seemed to notice the glass box speeding up toward the sky. Not even the Allures noticed. They were all standing exactly where I left them next to the Suburban. It was as though we were invisible.

Finally we stopped moving upward. Sol hit another button and the door opened. A flow of intense wind and heat filled the small space. I fought to keep my eyes open, but the pressure from the air was too much. I closed my eyes until the intensity stopped. By that time, Sol was leading me off the elevator.

I blinked a few times and looked around trying to get my bearings. We were in what appeared to be a normal living room. The room was neutrally painted, with recessed light and pale blue window treatments. The furniture consisted of one large leather couch, an oversized chair, and a wooden coffee table. “Where are we?”

Sol released my arm, and I stumbled away.

“You like it here?” Sol asked with a smile.

“Uh, it’s nice, but you didn’t answer my question.”

“It’s my house.”

“You live in a house floating in air?”

He pulled back the drapes. “We’re not floating.”

He was right. The house was situated in the middle of a green meadow.

“Then how did we get here?”

“That’s a secret, my friend.” He grinned.

“Now I’m your friend?”

“You didn’t throw up on me and ruin my jacket.”

“You’ve got high standards.”

“Being my friend would be a very good thing for you.” His voice was full of warning.

“Why? You already assured me you couldn’t hurt or kill me.” I was taking that promise at face value.

Sol nodded. “I did assure you of that, but that is temporary. Besides, I can make your life much more comfortable.”

“I doubt that.” Nothing about my numb existence was comfortable. It was growing increasingly painful, and even the diversion Sol was providing didn’t help.

“I’ll prove you wrong.” He leaned in toward me. “Later.”

“Why later?” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Because first we need to take our walk.”

I
’d never been particularly
good at putting my faith in others. I preferred to control my own fate. Trusting Jim didn’t come as second nature. He may have been family, but he was also a complete stranger to me. Blood doesn’t instantly forge a connection even if you want it to.

Hailey was generally as untrusting as I was, but she was doing a great job of hiding it. She was following Jim around as he packed a backpack full of the most random things. Some items made sense. A book, a few bottles of water, but then he started adding in candles, household cleaning products, a canteen full of apple juice, a can of spray cheese, and two pairs of socks. He probably slipped in a few other things, but I was so surprised by his actions that I was more focused on whether we were making a mistake by trusting him.

“Just stay calm,” Hailey leaned in to whisper. “It’s not going to help anyone if we get all weird on him right now and doubt his actions.”

“What the hell is he doing?” I watched as he added a box of saltine crackers and a thesaurus to his bag.

“Who knows? We’re about to go searching for a magical herb. Does any of it make rational sense?”

“Nothing in our life makes rational sense anymore.” Not that it ever had. We weren’t human, and that fact alone changed everything, ensuring we’d never live normal lives. I’d finally accepted that when Daisy was torn away from me.

“And that might just be a good thing.” Hailey smiled.

“You’re saying that because for once you aren’t the one in the mess.”

“You’ve been in plenty of messes before.” She put a hand on her hip. “Don’t pretend this is the first time.”

“Technically yes. But none this big.” I had always been the good kid. Or at least I never got into trouble with my parents. When I ended up in a mess I managed to get out of it without anyone finding out. Hailey on the other hand always got caught.

“Jim can help us. He’s weird, no doubt there, but he seems to know a lot.” She nodded toward where he ran around his kitchen.

“I know, but there has to be a reason Dad kept him from us for so long.” I wished we’d had more of an opportunity to ask questions. Dad had left quickly, which was seeming stranger and stranger. He’d seemed so unsurprised when Jim asked him to leave. He’d never been particularly protective of me, but he was of Hailey.

“Dad was protecting us. You were best friends with Levi.” Hailey made a valid suggestion. “There are plenty of reasons, and we’ll figure it out.”

“You’re taking this well.” She seemed to be enjoying herself.

“There isn’t much to take.” She shrugged.

“An uncle neither of us knew?” I raised an eyebrow.

“He’s cool, and we have to trust Dad.” There was more than she was saying. She liked Jim. She trusted him for more reasons than just our dad, and I hoped she was right. Hailey was usually a good judge of character.

Still, she hadn’t acted that way before Dad left. “You were giving Dad a hard time about it.”

“It’s my job to give Dad a hard time.”

I laughed. “And me.”

“Right now I’m helping you, so that makes up for any time I did.”

“Sort of.” I was grateful to have her around. I knew she was unequivocally on my side, which was more than I could say about our uncle. I didn’t know if he was doing it out of a familial bond, or because he wanted information, or because Allures fascinated him. I bet it was a combination of all three, and I hoped the combined interests worked out to our benefit.

“Are you two ready?” Jim pulled his bursting at the seams backpack on his back.

“How can you fly with that on?” Hailey pointed to the full bag.

He adjusted the straps. “We’re not flying.”

“Uh, then what are we doing?” Hailey looked to me, and I shrugged. I was done trying to predict what Jim was going to do or say next.

“We’re walking. Or hiking is probably a better word.” He pushed his glasses up on his nose.

“Why would we do that?” I tried not to make my question condescending. I enjoyed hiking, I’d spent a great deal of time doing it out in Colorado, but it definitely wasn’t a typical mode of transportation for us. When flying was an option, nearly every other means of transportation paled in comparison.

“Because if we fly we’ll miss what we’re searching for.” He said it like it explained everything.

“I thought we were looking for friends of yours or something.” He’d seemed confident we’d find what we needed. Hiking had definitely not been discussed.

“We are, and these friends will be where we’ll be hiking. It’s going to take some effort to find them.” He adjusted the bag.

“Fantastic.” Hailey laid on the fake enthusiasm. Or maybe it wasn’t fake. She was acting odd even for Hailey standards.

“You don’t have to pretend with me,” Jim adjusted the weight of the bag on his back. “I get that you both think I’m crazy. I’m used to people thinking I’m crazy, but this time my craziness is going to help.”

“Ok. Then let’s go.” We were making him uncomfortable, and that wasn’t going to help anyone. “I hope it’s okay that we didn’t pack anything.” Hopefully he wouldn’t take my comment to be a jab at him.

“I have everything we need.” He smiled. “But we have to make a quick stop first.”

“A stop on our hike?” I tried to keep the skepticism out of my voice. Jim’s plan was getting crazier.

“We’ll drive to this one.”

“Uh, where are we going exactly?” I wasn’t sure I even wanted to know considering all the random stuff he’d put in his backpack.

“Just a quick stop at a local bar.” Jim smiled to himself, and I wondered what he wasn’t saying out loud. Was he playing us?

“We’re going to a bar? It’s morning. Bars are closed.” In New Orleans things stayed open all night, but even there you didn’t show up when the sun was already on the way up.

“Are you guys sure you’re Pterons? By the way you’re talking I’d have thought you were raised by two humans.” Jim laughed.

I decided to take another tactic. Talking logic with Jim wasn’t going to get us anywhere. “Ok, so we’re going to a bar. Is there a reason for this stop?” The one thing I refused to do was waste time. “I mean other than alcohol or whatever.”

Jim wrinkled up his nose. “This stop has nothing to do with alcohol. Do you really think I’d waste your time for a drink? Who do you think I am?”

“Of course we wouldn’t think that. Ignore my brother.” Hailey shot me a look. “So what does it involve?”

“What do most stops in life involve?” Jim asked.

“I don’t know.” I let out a slow deep breath. “Many things.”

“They all involve getting things.”

“But you just said you have everything you need.” I pointed to his backpack.

“I have all the items, but we don’t have all the information.” He held up a finger as if emphasizing how great a point he’d made.

“What kind of information?” I forced myself to stay calm even though I was anything but. With the weird stuff in his bag and the sudden need to check out a bar early in the morning for information, I was increasingly regretting out decision to trust him.

“Information on how to find the creatures who will know about the herbs.”

“The first people with the information won’t know how to find the herbs?” I asked.

“No.” Jim looked at me like I was crazy. “When is the last time in your life you’ve discovered something that easily?”

“Pretty much never,” I admitted. Jim had a point, but one could hope.

“Ok…great.” Hailey pointed to the door. “Shall we?”

“Absolutely. There is no time to waste.” Jim led the way to the front door, and we followed him outside. He closed and locked the door behind him, trying the door afterward to make sure it was really locked.

After all his concern with the books in the basement, the double checking didn’t surprise me at all. Yet I was impatient, and waiting even a few extra seconds annoyed me. I’d always been a laid back person, but losing Daisy had sent me into a tailspin.

We waited while Jim walked over to a detached garage. He manually opened the door. “I’ll pull ol’ Margret out.”

“Ok. Sure.” I’d never named a car, and I never planned to. Somehow I wasn’t surprised that my crazy uncle had done it. However, I was surprised when a minute later he backed a Toyota Camry out of the garage. I’d been expecting a classic car, or even a truck. Not a newish sedan.

Hailey gestured to the front passenger door. “You can ride shot gun.”

“Gee, thanks.” I rolled my eyes before opening the back door for her. She wanted to keep some space between her and our uncle. I didn’t blame her.

Hailey looked ready to change her mind when she took in the messy back seat. It was littered with papers and books and a few water bottles.

“Don’t mind the mess. You can’t hurt anything.” Jim misread Hailey’s hesitation.

“Ok.” Hailey pushed the books and papers across the seat.

“Thanks for giving me the front.” My laugh was short lived when I opened the passenger door and found a similar mess on the seat.

“What were you saying?” Hailey laughed. She’d made herself enough room to get inside the car.

“Nothing.” I picked up the books and papers and placed them on the floor between my feet.

Jim backed out of the driveway. “My car is often my office when I’m on the road. Hence the mess.”

“Do professors travel that much?” Hailey flipped through the pile of papers closest to her. She was never one to worry about violating privacy. I learned that first hand growing up with a bedroom next to hers.

“Some, not all. My research constantly has me on the move. You’re lucky you found me at home.” Jim started down the road.

“Yeah, real lucky,” I mumbled under my breath.

“What was that?” Jim asked.

“Nothing,” I quickly replied. “I appreciate all the help.” I was being ungrateful. Like the impatience, it wasn’t like me.

“We’re family. I’d do anything for family.” He turned off onto another side street. “I haven’t stayed away from you by choice.”

The whole situation was strange. We’d never met the guy, yet he was so big on being part of our family. It was a story I needed to learn more about, but he didn’t seem interested in sharing. He also seemed quirky enough that if I set him off he might snap. Hailey was keeping her mouth shut on the topic as well which said a lot. But since he was opening the line of conversation, I wasn’t going to ignore the chance. “Dad made it sound that way. We had no clue you even existed until a few hours ago.”

“I know. And your father was right to withhold it from you. It was the smart choice.”

“Why?” Hailey asked before I could.

“To protect you. You might have gotten curious and gotten yourselves into trouble.” Jim glanced into the rearview mirror and appeared to catch Hailey’s gaze.

“But you’re not worried about that happening now?” Hailey asked

“You’re not kids anymore, and you are both in favor with the new king. It’s a different situation.”

“I still don’t really understand why you had to leave.”

“Do you really want to understand it?” Jim asked.

“Yes,” Hailey and I said in unison.

Jim shook his head. “I don’t think you do.”

“We do.” Hailey leaned forward toward the front.

“I’m sure you’re curious, and you think you want to know, but understanding will rock your faith in an organization you believe in.” Jim adjusted his hands on the steering wheel.

“We both understand The Society isn’t perfect. It has serious flaws, but overall it serves a good purpose.” My feelings about The Society had changed over the years, but not my faith in Levi. He was a good king.

“It does serve a good purpose, but it also has its own agenda.” Jim’s face darkened.

“I know Robert has made many mistakes.” I’d learned too much about the former king over the past few years. He’d been hiding many secrets.

“And I am sure his son has too.”

“We all make mistakes,” Hailey swung her arms at her sides.

“Yes.” Jim nodded. “And we all have secrets.”

“So what happened?” Hailey rested her hand on the headrest of my seat. “Tell us.”

“Robert didn’t like my suggestion that many of the creatures we believed were extinct may have been alive and well.” Jim turned onto a highway. “It didn’t serve his purposes.”

“Because some of those creatures might have challenged his power?” I suggested.

Jim nodded.

That much made sense. “But why did you run? Why not just stop trying to convince him?”

Jim laughed dryly. “You’ve never been on the wrong side of an organization like The Society. You wouldn’t understand.”

“You really believed Robert would come after you?” I had a hard time believing Robert would exert his energy on something like that.

“As I said before, this isn’t a conversation you really want to have. So the conversation is over.” Then as if nothing had transpired he started humming some song I’d never heard before. I wanted to ask more questions, but it didn’t seem appropriate. All we’d do was make him mad. Still, I couldn’t stop the nagging feeling that this was important. What were the chances that my uncle happened to research the very creatures that the love of my life became? I didn’t believe in coincidences, and if I wasn’t already worried sick about Daisy, I would have spent more mental power thinking about it, but I couldn’t take the risk of losing the one lead we had.

Hailey stopped asking too. She wasn’t the type to sit back silently, but my guess was she was thinking the same thing I was. We’d have a lot to talk about the next time we were alone.

I looked out the window as we drove through the quiet city. We were finally moving toward finding a way to help Daisy, but she still seemed so far away. I hoped wherever she was, she was doing okay.

Jim drove down an alleyway I was nearly positive wasn’t designed for cars. Like everything else he did, it didn’t quite surprise me. Jim parked right in front of the back entrance of a red-brick building with an industrial feel and turned off the car. “We’re here.”

“That didn’t take long.” Hailey opened her door.

After a brief moment of hesitation as I wondered about the intelligence of letting my sister tag along on these shenanigans, I got out too. Hailey was tough. She’d be fine, and I’d be around to protect her.