Love (The Allure Chronicles Book 4) (11 page)

“That’s good because we’re not laying all of our cards on the table either.” Hailey’s lips twisted into a tiny hint of a smile.

“Ok then. Shall I get us out of here?” Glendale stood up and stretched again.

“Yes, but try not to kill us.” Hailey grabbed hold of my arm, and I didn’t complain. I wasn’t looking forward to another one of Glendale’s transports.

A
drian knew nothing
. Absolutely nothing. The idiot had let the girls walk out without stopping them. Without asking any of the right questions. He should have called Levi. He should have told them to wait. Instead Daisy was out there somewhere, and I now understood the feeling in the pit of my stomach. She was in danger. I’d left her, and that had been a mistake. I was pissed at the guard, but it was really my fault.

“I’m sorry.” Jared apologized. I could count on one hand how many times he’d said that within my hearing.

“Why are you apologizing exactly?” He wasn’t the idiot who’d let them walk out. Or left Daisy. I could have let Levi and Jared do it on their own.

“I am responsible for all security here. I should have known Adrian was an idiot.” Jared looked down at the ground. “And I know you’re beating yourself up about this. Stop.” He looked at me. “You needed to see the Dragos. You couldn’t have sat back and left that conversation to us.”

“It doesn’t matter whose fault it is.” Levi’s eyes were nearly black. “What matters is finding the girls, and finding them soon. I’m just as much to blame as either of you and yet I’m not here bitching. I don’t want to hear another word about fault.”

“We will find them.” Jared’s usually confident expression returned. “I promise.”

“They are going to be fine.” Levi sounded like he was trying to convince himself. “We just need to figure out where they could have gone.”

“Did they take Allie’s car?” Jared asked. He pulled out his cell phone.

“Maybe, but we don’t have a GPS tracker on it anymore. Remember?” Levi put a hand in the pocket of his pants.

Jared looked away guiltily. “Yes we do. I also have one on yours.”

“You have a tracker on my car?” Levi’s mouth fell open. “You have to be kidding me.”

“You are the king and queen. I run security. What was I supposed to do?” Jared shrugged. “It’s not like I’m always tracking you. I have the ability to track you. And right now this might actually be helpful.”

“What if the program fell into the wrong hands?”

“It’s encrypted. Owen and I are the only ones with access.”

“I have nothing to do with this.” I shook my head.

“It’s in your account under emergency access. Not that you’d bother to ever check something that important.” He frowned.

“I know now.”

“We’re taking it off my car later.” Levi’s expression left little room for debate.

“We can argue about this later, but Jared’s right. At the moment the tracking ability can be a very good thing. Do we think they took Allie’s car?”

“We don’t know that they took it, but it’s worth a shot.” Levi fidgeted.

“I had one on Hailey’s car too.” Jared locked eyes with mine. “Just so we have full disclosure.”

“You don’t have one on mine.” I wasn’t asking a question. Jared didn’t really care about what happened to me.

“Nope. Hope you aren’t too disappointed to hear that.”

“No, not in the slightest, but what do you mean
had
one?” The tense of the word hadn’t been lost on me.

“I mean she found it and got rid of it.” Jared smiled. “Your sister is observant.”

“As compared to me evidently.” Levi shook his head. “I’m surprised you’re alive to talk about it if Hailey found out.” Levi messed with his phone again. “But I don’t care right now. Find the car.”

Jared typed something in his phone. “It’s already loading.”

“Good.” Levi appeared just as impatient as I was, and no one could blame him.

Jared glanced at his screen. “Well Allie’s car is on I-10 east of here. Do we assume they took hers and head that way? Split up and search here as well?”

“Why else would her car be there?” Levi asked. “Are you thinking decoy?”

“Possibly, but that’s if we assume they didn’t leave willingly. That’s a huge assumption to make based on the information we have.”

“Is the car moving?” Part of me was afraid to find out. If it was stopped it probably wasn’t a good thing.

“No.” Jared turned the screen so we could see it. “But that might not mean anything. They could have stopped for many reasons.”

“On the side of I-10 at this hour?” Levi raised an eyebrow. “Have our men search the city for them while we head to her car. We stay together. My gut is they took the car, and we’re going to have to follow the trail from there.” What he didn’t say was the trail likely wasn’t going to lead anywhere good.

“I’ll get a security detail set.” Jared disappeared down the corridor.

“Do you think it’s odd that Allie didn’t call you?” I didn’t want to piss Levi off, but Daisy had an excuse not to call me. “We’re going off the assumption the girls left voluntarily. If that’s the case, why didn’t she give you a heads up? Doesn’t this seem weird to you? She knows how much you worry about her.”

“I think she would have unless she purposely didn’t want me to know where she was going.” He took out his phone again.

“And why would she do that?” I was treading a fine line but finding the girls was top priority. If that meant I made Levi uncomfortable then so be it. “She isn’t one to keep a lot of secrets.” At least I didn’t think she was. They never seemed to have any communication problems now. In the beginning, that was a different story.

“Because she was planning to do something dangerous. You’re right, she knows I worry about her. That’s exactly why she wouldn’t have called me. She didn’t want to be stopped.” Levi’s expression darkened. “And yes, I know what that means for you as well. We have to assume this has to do with Daisy.”

“Yes.” I pushed away the guilt over Allie being involved. Levi was the one to suggest she spend time with Daisy. I was also positive Daisy hadn’t forced Allie to help her with anything. She was far more likely to have tried to do whatever it is she wanted to do by herself. She would have done exactly what Allie did. She never would have called me even if she had a phone. Except, she wouldn’t have been motivated out of worry that I’d stop her, it would be worry that I’d get involved. Which is why I knew Hailey had to be involved in the decision-making progress. Daisy would have kept Allie out of it. I was positive.

We’d find them, and it wouldn’t matter in the end. “We do have to assume it’s because of Daisy. Assumptions can be dangerous, but in the scope of our situation with the Elders it’s the most logical explanation. I can’t imagine any other reason they’d have driven off that way.”

“Unless it’s Hailey. That’s the other option.” Levi looked at the palm of his hand before flipping it over. “Could she be into something?”

“The only thing she’s into right now is helping Daisy.”

“True.” Levi nodded. “But could she have discovered something when she was with your uncle? Maybe that was the impetus for leaving so quickly?”

“I had the same thought myself. Something had to have precipitated them leaving before we got back. The only thing we know of that changed since we left is Hailey’s arrival.”

“You don’t think Taylor got them into a mess, do you?” Jared reappeared. “Made up a story to lure them out?”

“They aren’t stupid.” None of them were. “And Daisy doesn’t trust Taylor. I heard some of their conversation, and Taylor is trying to become an Allure again at all costs. Daisy isn’t going to roll over and give up her life.”

“I knew I didn’t like that girl.” Jared grimaced.

“Let’s find the car.” Levi started walking toward the elevator. “We’ve wasted enough time already.”

“If they aren’t at the car, we’ll figure out where they went. I agree they’re smart, but that doesn’t mean they can disappear without a trace.” Jared inserted his key card and the elevator went up the ground floor.

When the doors opened in the lobby, we came face to face with the same girl who had called my name earlier. “Owen, hey!” She waved her arms around even though I was right in front of her.

I studied her face again, finally placing where I knew her from. “What are you doing here, Marta?” Marta was a waitress at the diner in Coleville. There was absolutely no reason for her to be in New Orleans—especially not at The Crescent City hotel unless she was something entirely different than I thought. I used to think I could tell whether someone was human or supernatural—now I knew the truth. There were so many more creatures out there than any of us knew about. “I’m say it again. What are you doing here?”

“Hey.” She put her hands in front of her. “Easy there. Don’t shoot the messenger.”

“Messenger?” I looked at her again. “What message do you have for me?”

“Who is she?” Jared pointed to Marta. There was a time when he would have flirted with a girl like her. She fit his busty blonde type. But that was a time before Vera.

“I’m a friend of Owen’s,” Marta replied before I could.

“She’s from Coleville,” I further explained. “But I don’t know what she’s doing here.” I assumed it couldn’t be a good reason. I’d thought she’d seemed like a nice girl. Perfect for Clyde, but looks can be very deceiving.

“I have a message for you.” Marta flicked her blonde hair off her shoulder.

“One you had to be here in person to give?” I narrowed my eyes. “I find that hard to believe.”

“I have a message neither of us want someone to intercept.” She glanced over her shoulder and back at us. “There are eyes and ears everywhere.” She glanced over her shoulder again. Either she was paranoid, or she knew something I didn’t.

“What are you?” I knew for sure she wasn’t human. Otherwise she wouldn’t be talking openly in front of my friends. She knew who they were. She would have also had no way of finding me. I hadn’t made it a point to get to know many locals in Coleville.

“What I am isn’t important. What’s important is the message.” She grabbed hold of my arms. Her grip was far tighter than I would have expected. I tried to carefully shake her off. When she didn’t get the hint, I pried her hands off.

“What’s the message?” Levi loomed over Marta’s relatively small frame. I knew he was just as impatient as me. I also knew everything was different now that Allie was missing. Finding her was top priority. Lucky for me finding Allie would hopefully mean finding Daisy. If they weren’t together, the outlook was bleak.

Marta appeared unperturbed by Levi. “The message is don’t underestimate the Allures.”

“The Allures specifically?” I was more concerned about the Elders. They were more powerful than the Allures.

“Yes.” She stepped around Levi. “They came into town yesterday.”

“To Coleville?” I tried to figure out why they were out there. They were looking for Daisy and not me. What evidence would have sent them to Coleville? I’d just been in Colorado, but not to visit that town.

“Violet got her claws into Clyde.” Martha mimed her own hands being claws.

“Why?” I was getting more confused by the situation every minute. “How could Clyde possibly help? Please don’t try to tell me he isn’t human.” He was more human than almost anyone I’d met.

“He’s human.” Marta’s bottom lip tugged as if she wanted to smile but was hiding it. “That’s part of the problem. He’s so easy for her to manipulate it isn’t funny.”

“Ok, so get to the point. What can this Clyde guy who’s just a human do?” Jared asked. He’d stayed fairly quiet which meant he’d been listening.

“I’m not sure. What have you told him?” Marta watched me expectedly.

“You think I told him anything about my life?” I’d barely even put up with the guy let alone dished out personal secrets.

“There has to be a reason she went to him.” Marta tapped her foot. “I assumed you’d know.”

“Why do you care?” Everyone had a motivation. I needed to figure out what hers was. And what she was. It was unnerving not knowing what kind of creature I was speaking with.

“Because I do.” She tapped her foot again. “And you are lucky I do. I will bring nothing but help. There is no ill will here.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“Where are you headed?” She nodded toward the door.

“How do you know we’re headed anywhere?” I asked.

“You came upstairs. You are headed somewhere.” She rolled her eyes. “You can give me some credit.”

“I need to find Daisy.” I decided to admit I didn’t know where she was. Maybe Marta mysteriously could help with that too.

“She’s not in this world at the moment.” Marta pressed her lips together in a firm line.

“What?” I felt my eyes bug out. “What are you saying?”

“I am not saying she’s dead.” Marta quickly amended. “Just not in this world presently.”

“I assumed that.” I’d have been in a much worse state if I believed Daisy was dead. I’d have been on a rampage.

“Then what do you mean?” Levi asked. “And is Allie with her?”

“Allie?” Marta furrowed her brow. “The queen you mean?”

“What other queen would I be talking about?” Levi frowned. “And I expect a straight answer. No dancing around it.”

“How am I supposed to know where she is?” Marta frowned. “I am not the keeper of the queen.”

“You know where Daisy is, or where she’s not,” Levi pointed out. “What stops you from also knowing the whereabouts of my wife?”

“I know about Daisy because of who she is.” Marta clasped her hands in front of her.

“Because she’s an Allure?” Jared asked.

“No.” Marta shook her head. “Because of her connection to Owen. I thought that much was obvious.”

“How would that be obvious? Nothing you’ve said explains that at all.” I fought to rein my annoyance in. Marta was slowing us down, and she had better have had a good reason for that.

“Oh.” Understanding crossed her face. “I forgot that you don’t know what I am.”

“No. We don’t.” Levi scowled. “We have no time for this. We need to find Daisy.”

A loud commotion by the bar had us all tensing. It didn’t take long to realize it was just a bunch of drunks. The bartender, one that had been there for years now, escorted both of them out the front door of the hotel.

“There’s no
we
involved in this.” Jared jumped back into the conversation as though no time had passed. “We don’t know who or what you really are, so why would we want you to go anywhere with us?”

“Because I have Owen’s best interests at heart. Well, if I had a normal heart.”