Love (The Allure Chronicles Book 4) (9 page)

“She’s more than a queen. She’s my best friend.”

“Do you feel anything when you hear that?” Sol turned to me.

“It’s nice. True friendship is rare.” I wasn’t sure what reply he was hoping for.

“I mean feel it.” He put a hand over his heart. “Did I truly open up all your feelings, or was it only just the surface?”

“It was more than surface.” I thought over my time with Owen. “Definitely more.”

“Forget the love of Owen part. That’s the emotion and connection that’s strongest for you. What about the others?”

“I feel worry.”

“About who?” Sol reached out a hand toward me and then let it fall. “Owen? The thought of losing him or your feelings for him?”

I looked down. “I’ve felt annoyed and that has nothing to do with Owen.”

“You felt annoyance before I got involved. Besides, who is the annoyance at?”

“Taylor.”

“That’s separate.” He rested his chin in his hand. “So it really is all tied to Owen.”

“Why?” Hailey’s brow furrowed. “Because she feels so strongly about him?”

Sol nodded.“Yes, but that alone shouldn’t be enough.”

“I know this is all really important.” Hailey’s expression softened. “But could you tell us where Allie is?”

“On another plane,” Sol explained simply.” We’re checking out Taylor before we can reunite the four of you.”

“Why not send Allie and go back for Taylor?” Hailey asked.

Sol laughed. “You haven’t warmed to her yet either?”

“Do you know her?” I asked quietly. “Or did you know her when she was an Allure?”

“Are you asking me whether she was more pleasant as an Allure?”

“Yes,” I admitted. “I can’t tell if her personality comes from losing her essence.” I worded it that way rather saying someone stole her essence.

“I’d say she was happier back then, but Allures are never really happy. Right? They can’t actually feel so it’s unfair to assign any emotion to them.”

“But she was more pleasant?”

“All Allures are pleasant when they want to be.” He smiled.

“Except for me.”

Sol’s smile became and all out grin. “You’re pleasant sometimes.”

“You’ve only seen me once.”

“But I really got to know you. Great quality time.”

I laughed despite the situation. “Real quality. I mean you tried to drug me and caused agonizing pain.”

“The drugs would have eliminated any pain.” Sol’s eyes held no apology.

“Or so you say.”

“I do say, but you made the right decision saying no. It was smart. Smart is good, and it’s essential in the current situation.” He tapped his temple.

“I try to be smart when it suits me.”

Sol laughed. “And a sense of humor is good too.”

“Why are we here?” Sense of humor or not, there were a lot of questions we needed answers to.

“Didn’t Glendale explain it?” Sol looked at the cat.

“Glendale explained nothing. Absolutely nothing.” Hailey scowled.

“Glendale?” Sol bent over. “Is there a reason you didn’t?”

“Cat got my tongue.” Glendale laughed.

“Not funny. Not funny at all.” Hailey groaned.

“I thought you’d do a better job.” Glendale rose to his feet again. “Women like to hear news coming from attractive men.”

“They wouldn’t mind it coming from a fluffy cat.” Sol pointed to him.

“Fluffy?” Glendale tried to look offended. “Do I look fluffy?”

“No. You’re not fluffy, but I would have loved to have heard the information from you.” I spoke calmly. I thought about what Sol was saying— my feelings were only on the surface for things that didn’t involve Owen.

“Glendale saved your life, Daisy.” Sol gave me a warning glance.

I nodded to acknowledge I got the message. “Does this have anything to do with that black smoke thing that wasn’t a shadow?”

“Oh you mean the mist I sent up?” Glendale arched his back.

“That was more than mist.” Hailey tilted her head to the side. “Mist is clear and is part water. This was black and thick.”

“It’s what we call a mist. I sent it up to get your attention. It worked quite well I must say.”

“It scared us. We’re lucky Allie stayed calm. That crying thing wasn’t nice.”

“I thought the crying added some drama.” Glendale walked toward me. “No?”

“No. It freaked us out more.” Hailey took a few steps toward the cat. “But then again it did make us more motivated to stop, and if you’re telling the truth about us being in danger then maybe that bit was helpful.”

“Speaking of which, what danger?” I assumed it was the Elders, but you never know.

“What danger?” Sol raised an eyebrow. “So you are aware of how things have escalated?”

“Escalated?” A shiver ran through me. That wasn’t the answer I’d been expected. “What do you mean escalated?”

Sol and Glendale exchanged looks, and I knew I wouldn’t like the answer.

W
e stood there staring
at Fletcher. Did he really just say the Elder’s weakness was hubris? I would have thought he was joking, but his face was completely serious.

“It’s true. They expect everyone to bow down to them, to find them beautiful. We need to bring in people who won’t agree. People who can resist their allure.”

“Like us.” Understanding dawned on me. I needed to think bigger picture. “Pterons are immune to their allure because our brains are protected from mental magic.”

“Exactly.” Wyatt smiled.

“But the Elders know that.” They knew our strengths and weaknesses far better than we knew theirs because our leaders had taught us to believe they didn’t exist. That put us at a distinct disadvantage.

“They know you are immune to an Allure’s pull, but not theirs. They think they’re above that.” Wyatt’s eyes were bright once again. “They thought you fell prey to it when you were at the palace.”

“The only thing I cared about at the palace was Daisy. Plain and simple.” And it was still the motivating factor for me now.

“They don’t think so.”

“But you believe we are?” I watched Wyatt to make sure he gave an honest answer.

“Yes. I saw you afterward. I could tell.” Wyatt seemed to be watching me as intently as I watched him.

“How do we use that to our advantage?” The wheels in my head were turning, but I was still unable to see how we could use this to our benefit in a fight.

“Are you in?” Wyatt asked. “Because we need to know you’re in before we go any further.”

“We’re not agreeing to a plan without the details.” That would be dumb.

“We need to trick the Elders into believing you are not immune to them. Let them believe they can control you.”

“I still don’t understand how this works.” I didn’t, and I wasn’t agreeing to anything I didn’t understand.

“We have other creatures on board. Creatures that can only help when the Elders are distracted.”

“There has to be an easier way to distract them. This all seems extreme.”

“We need you there either way.” Fletcher watched us. “Are you going to come with us, or are you going to wait for the Elders to attack and destroy Daisy in the process?”

The skin on the back of my neck prickled. No one was destroying Daisy.

Levi looked at me. “You feeling ok with this, Owen?”

“I’m never going to feel okay about Daisy being in potential danger, but hopefully when this is over she won’t be anymore.”

“Have you heard from Jim?” Wyatt changed the subject.

I’d forgotten he knew all about the hunt for the herb. “No. I will try Hailey.”

“Good. Go back and talk to Daisy. Fletcher and I will meet you back in New Orleans tomorrow night. We’ll make the flight to Charleston and go in.”

“When will the rest of you return to Pyrean?” Jared asked.

“Once we are sure all of you have come through.”

Jared nodded. “Fair enough. But be warned that if you fail to show up there will be consequences.”

“If we fail to show up, we lose the last key to the Drago’s power. We will be—”

“Stop.” The Drago with the scar interrupted Fletcher. “Don’t tell them the rest.”

“Don’t tell us what?” My skin prickled again “What are you hiding? I thought we made it clear we wanted no more secrets.”

Wyatt and the Fletcher exchanged looks.

Fletcher nodded to Wyatt, and he finally explained. “Troy is our last tie to our dragon ancestors. He must find his mate and continue his line, or the Dragos will not survive. You must know we have a lot to lose in this. As do you. They will find your weakness as well. The Elders want to wipe out all creatures that could ever challenge them. They will stop at nothing to do just that.”

“They cannot wipe out the Pterons.” Jared’s hands balled into fists at his sides.

“Do not let your own confidence be your downfall.”

“We won’t.” I shot Jared a look and turned to Wyatt. “We’ll expect you tomorrow night.”

“We will be there.” Wyatt nodded.

Levi led the way back out of the den. We all released our wings and took off into the still dark sky. If we moved fast enough, we’d make it back to New Orleans just before sunrise.

“Wasn’t that a barrel of laughs.” Jared glided down lower before returning to the altitude Levi and I were at.

“I don’t trust them, but I don’t see any other choice.” I didn’t. We needed to stop the Elders.

“I agree.” Levi turned around to look back through the darkness at the cave. “But just in case we need to be prepared.”

“I’ll come up with a bunch of contingencies, but it’s hard to plan when I don’t know the terrain. Do you think Pyrean is anything like the realm you saw, Owen?” Jared flew alongside me.

“If it is, it isn’t the terrain as much as the creatures we need to worry about. I saw some I hope to never see again.” I thought of the Shadow and how close I came to dying.

“Like what?” Jared asked. “I need to know these things.”

“A Shadow. Ever hear of those?” I shuddered thinking about it.

“No.” Jared shook his head.

“Black vapor that suffocates you. Not great, and I’m sure there are worse things.” And it was the worse things that scared me even more.

“We need to call in our best experts.” Levi glanced back again.

“You need to call in my uncle. I’m calling Hailey as soon as we land.” Maybe there was an easier way to handle the Elders. If anyone knew it was Jim. Weird or not, he was knowledgeable.

“Worried about her?” Jared asked. He wasn’t mocking me. He cared about my little sister more than he did me. In some ways she was like a little sister to him too. Levi felt the same way. She certainly annoyed them enough when she was little.

“Yes and no. I know she can take care of herself in most situations, but we’re in uncharted territory with all these creatures. The very fact that we need experts says something. I shouldn’t have let her stay with Jim.”

“Do you really think you could have stopped her?” Levi finally stopped looking back “She’s more stubborn than Allie.”

“I don’t know if I’d say more stubborn.” Jared laughed. “Allie may take the cake on that. Well, second to Vera. You don’t even want to know how hard she makes things sometimes.”

“What’s she doing while you’re here?” I asked.

“She’s dealing with some bear clans out west. There’s some mess going on out there.” He pointed back toward the direction we’d come.

“Sounds exciting.” Levi smirked.

“Yup.” Jared flew higher. “I don’t mind missing it.”

“Ok. So you call Hailey as soon as we land.” Levi soared up to match Jared’s altitude. “Second to Jim, I think our best bet is my grandma.”

“You’re probably right. Georgina seems to know everything.” I flew up to keep pace with them. “Do you think the Elders are really after The Society?” I voiced the question that had been nagging at me. Was the threat real, or was this just the Dragos needing an excuse to pull Levi in?

“I believe them about that.” Levi looked over at me. “It’s whether they’re going to use us for their own gain that has me worried.”

“A trap?” Jared asked.

“Yes.” Levi nodded. “And there isn’t much we can do about that now.”

“Except deviate from their plan,” Jared suggested.

“The threat is real. We can’t put everyone at risk,” Levi explained.

“Give me some time. I have an idea.” Jared grinned.

“Uh oh.” Jared’s grin could only mean one thing. It wasn’t a safe plan—but it might just work. “That may not be a good thing.”

“Shut up and trust me on this one.” Jared’s eyes twinkled.

I would trust him. I had no other choice. I only hoped he was serious about his promise to help keep Daisy safe. “Let’s get moving. The sun’s going to be up soon.” I flew ahead.

“Who’s the one slowing us down?’ Jared took off, flying by me, and leaving us in the dust.

“He cares.” Levi remained by my side. “Despite what you think, he cares.”

“I know,” I admitted. “I just hope he really understands what’s at stake.”

“We all know what’s at stake.” Levi lowered his voice. “And we have no intention of letting you down.”

“
T
he Dragos are involved
.” Sol pushed his sunglasses up further on the bridge of his nose.

“They’ve been involved.” Hailey rubbed her lower back. Maybe she’d been more injured by the Shadow than she was letting on. “At least Wyatt has been.”

“What did you think of him?” Sol looked to Hailey. “Was it instant hate?”

“Should it have been?” Hailey dropped her hand and straightened.

Sol nodded. “I would have thought so. Pterons and Dragos don’t get along.”

“Since he was the first one I met I can’t say much. But if you’re implying the Dragos are somehow involved on the opposite side—well then I hate them.”

“They are fighting the Elders. Or rather they are upset with the Elders. That much I can promise you.” Sol ran a hand through his dark hair.

“Then what do you mean?” I was tired of being given so many answers that only led to more questions.

Sol lowered his sunglasses for a fraction of a second before putting them right back. “They are going to try to use you to get what they want. And they want a lot.”

“They want Troy back.” That was all I got from Wyatt. “Right? That’s why Wyatt helped Owen find me and everything… you were the one he was in contact with.” I knew that for sure now.

“I was the one.” He unzipped his jacket.

“But that means you are on Wyatt’s side. So why are you telling us any of this?” I steeled myself.

“I am not friends with Wyatt. I work with him sometimes.”

“When your interests align, right?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yes.” He nodded.

“So what happens now? When your interests can’t align with both of us?”

“I make them align.” He said simply, as though it were the most obvious answer.

It wasn’t obvious to me. “Meaning?”

“Meaning I get involved and make sure things work out the best way for everyone.”

“What do you want from all this?” The thought dawned on me. Why was he even involved now? And another thought crossed my mind. “And how did you get away from Abe?”

“I told him you entranced me. Your Allure was strong enough.”

“Uh, that can’t be good.” Great. Now the Elders thought I was more powerful than I was, which would only make them angrier or make them want me more. Neither was good for me. “They can’t be happy about that.”

“No. But it was the only way I was getting out of there. I figured they were already after you. This way I’m free to help.”

“But they just let you go? Didn’t they worry you’d fall under my spell again?” Something wasn’t adding up. My suspicion grew. The Elders wouldn’t have let him go that easily.

“I pledged to make sure I stayed out of things.”

“But you’re not. You are deeply involved.” And what did his pledge mean if he could be easily manipulated? What if he was being manipulated by them and only thought he wasn’t?

I needed time to think. I had to make sure I knew he was of his own mind before I put any trust in him.

He shrugged. “On a plane that they don’t know exists.”

“They’re going to find out.” If the Elders were as powerful as everyone said they were, then hunting down a Seer—or me—wouldn’t be too hard.

“Maybe, maybe not. Either way they want to get rid of me. They kept me around in hopes I’d prove useful later.” He took off his sunglasses.

I looked away. I didn’t fully understand a Seer’s powers, but I was pretty sure a lot of it came through their eyes.

“That still doesn’t explain the Dragos' role or why we’re here.” Hailey followed my lead and looked away. “Care to help us with that?”

“Wyatt isn’t the only Drago leader. He isn’t anywhere near the strongest. He has a soft side for humans, most don’t have.” Sol walked so he was in front of where our eyes were looking. I compensated by looking up.

“But she’s not human…” Hailey trailed off.

“She is in the most important ways.” Sol touched my arm. “She is fighting the change—the part of her doing that is human. There is no doubt about that.”

“Ok. So what are the Dragos going to do? How do they plan to harm Daisy?” Hailey stepped closer to me.

“It won’t be intentional exactly; it is more that they think she is expendable. They’d rather she be dead than in the hands of the Allures anyway.”

“Why?” I tried to ignore Sol’s hand on me, but it was hard. The spot he was touching was starting to heat up. “Are they afraid of what the Elders would do to me?”

“More what they’ll do with you.” Sol squeezed my arm.

I still refused to look at him, or where he gripped me. “I don’t see what they can do. I’m just a broken Allure.”

“You’re an Allure who was given a full, pure, essence who is defying all odds. They don’t see you as broken. They see you as a potential weapon.” He put a hand on my cheek.

“Don’t touch her,” Hailey snapped.

“She needs to look at me.” Sol kept his hand on my cheek.

“She doesn’t have to do anything.”

“I need to know she trusts me.” His voice sounded close to pleading, which didn’t fit with the image I had with Sol.

“I don’t trust you enough to look at you. I know what your touch and your eyes can do.”

“I helped you. I didn’t hurt you.” Sol released my face. “But I need you to know I’m on your side here.”

I took a deep breath. “I will look at you, but if you do something to me, you will be in trouble.”

“You seem to forget your Allure does work on me—some.”

“Whatever.” I debated and finally turned my head.

He released my arm and smiled. “See. Nothing to be afraid of. I’m here to help.”

“Then prove it.” Hailey crossed her arms. She was also looking at him now. “The Elders want to use her to do something bad. Got that. What I don’t get is what the Dragos plan to do. Are they going to try to kill her so the Allures don’t get her?”

“Nothing that extreme. I already said it wouldn’t be intentional, but that doesn’t make them any less dangerous.” Sol met my eyes as if he were trying to convince me he was being completely open and honest. I didn’t doubt him on this. The thought of the Dragos using me didn’t surprise me. I was only one person. I meant little to most of these creatures.

The part I didn’t get was how he knew. “I don’t get how you know any of this.” I tried to find some logic in his words. “Wyatt likes me, so he told you this to warn me?”

Sol shook his head. “No. I’m a Seer. I did some seeing.”

“But you’d have had to touch those Dragos right?”

“Sometimes visions come to me.”

“And this one did?”

“Many visions did. Somehow in the process of reaching into your memories I set off a chain of visions that have played over and over in my mind. “

“In other words you broke him.” Glendale rolled around on his back.

“I didn’t break him.” At least I hadn’t meant to. I’d been numb and desperate the last time I’d seen Sol. Now I was less numb, but still desperate.

“You did something to me. I’m not pointing fingers.” Sol’s lips twisted into a tiny smile.

“I am.” Glendale sat up. “Or I would be if I had fingers.”

“Does he have a medical condition?” Hailey nodded toward Glendale. “I mean he switches who he likes and doesn’t like over and over again.”

Sol chuckled. “Glendale doesn’t like anyone.”

“He told Daisy he liked her,” Hailey pointed out.

“Yes, but he’s probably changed his mind since then. He’s a cat after all.”

“He’s not a regular cat. You’ve already explained that to us.”

“Enough of this. There is real business to attend to.” Glendale stretched.

“Is there a plan involved in this business? If so, I hope it involves more than us hiding on another plane or wherever we are.” I was done hiding. Hiding didn’t help anyone. “We can’t stay here forever.”

“No, we can’t,” Sol admitted. “But this at least saved you from riding right into the Elder’s hands.”

“They were the ones who sent the Shadow.” Hailey said as a statement rather than a question.

“Yes.” Sol nodded. “They had the Force summon it.”

“The Force?” Hailey asked. “Is there more I don’t know about?”

“I know the feeling.” I’d spent so much of the last few weeks feeling as if I knew nothing. “It’s this police kind of thing that the Allures have.”

“And the Allures are controlled by the Elders,” Sol explained. “But you knew that already, Daisy.”

“Did all the Elders start as Allures?” Hailey asked.

“Yes.” Sol nodded. “Unfortunately.”

“Have you always disliked the Allures?” I asked.

“It’s not dislike.”

“It’s that your interests don’t currently align.” I put on a fake smile.

“Something like that.” He gave me a genuine smile in return.

“Ok. Now that we know everyone wants to get Daisy, and you saved us from a perilous death, can we talk about the next steps?” Hailey put a hand on her hip.

“We need to take on the Elders.” Sol spoke calmly. “We can go along with the Drago’s plan to give us a fighting chance. You can’t hide forever.”

“Take on the Elders?” I could feel my eyes widen. “Are you kidding?”

“They want you so they can turn you into the ultimate weapon—well, or use you to make themselves stronger. Either way, they want you for your power.”

“How do we know you aren’t just using Daisy?” Hailey asked.

Taylor’s words rang through my head.
Trust no one
. I needed to keep my guard up. Thankfully I knew Hailey was doing the same thing.

“You don’t know. You can’t possibly know, and as I’ve told Daisy, she can’t trust anyone.”

That was right. He told me that too. Everyone was telling me that, but it’s not as though I had a choice. I couldn’t do this entirely on my own.

Unless I could. The wheels in my head started to turn. Maybe that was the answer. Maybe I needed to go off on my own. I was already separated from Owen. Separating from everyone else couldn’t make all that much more of a difference.

“You can trust me for now.” Sol seemed to be reading my thoughts. “Let me get you close, and then you can do what you want.”

“You just told her she can’t trust you, so why would she trust you?” Hailey narrowed her eyes.

“Because there’s no choice.”

“Oh drat.” Glendale licked his paw again.

“What?” Despite how unconcerned he sounded, I knew it was worth listening.

“Someone else found this plane.” Glendale moved on to his other paw.

“What kind of someone else?” Hailey straightened and glanced around.

“I only know I sense a presence. We should go.” His back arched.

“What if it’s Allie?” Hailey turned her head as if to listen. “Didn’t you say they were coming?”

“I never said they were coming here.” Glendale’s back relaxed, but his fur seemed to be standing up more.

“I’m done listening to this feline.” Hailey pointed toward the trees. “We’re not waiting around to be ambushed.”

I contemplated her suggestion. “Do you have any idea how to get off this plane or whatever it is we’re on?”

“No.” Hailey shook her head. “But if a cat can do it, it can’t be that hard.”

Sol grabbed my arm. “You can’t do it on your own. Don’t be stupid.”

“So we’re just supposed to wait here like sitting ducks?” I watched him incredulously.

“We’re out of time anyway.” Glendale switched his tail.

“Perfect.” Hailey sighed. “Just perfect.”