Taken: The Pteron Chronicles

by Alyssa Rose Ivy

  “I’d offer my services, but you know my power with time is limited. I can’t turn it back for them,” Franklin explained.

  “I know.” Everyone had limitations. I definitely had them. I was facing that more and more lately.

  “But I can watch the prisoner for you. Make sure he doesn’t get far.” Franklin arched his head in Xander’s direction, where his eyes were still closed. So he was still in his sleep state, or pretend sleep state.

  “Yes. Don’t let him leave, and if you can get information out of him all the better.”

  Franklin grinned. “I might be able to do that.”

  “I have no clue what he is, Dad.” Galloway frowned. “Be careful.”

  Franklin chuckled. “Aren’t I the one who’s supposed to be warning you?”

  “You haven’t had to worry about me in a long time.” Galloway put a hand in the pocket of her jeans.

  “I’m your father. It’s part of the job description. Forever.”

  “How long is it going to take to get me a clear path to Violet?” I didn’t want to interrupt their father-daughter chat, but we had to get moving.

  “Not long,” Galloway reassured me.

  “Good.”

  “Galloway?” Franklin glanced at his daughter.

  She looked at him. “Yes?”

  “Be good.” He shook a finger at her.

  She grinned. “You know I will be.”

  “I mean really be good. There is a lot on the line here.” Any trace of humor was gone from his face.

  “Everything is on the line...” Galloway trailed off.

  Franklin nodded. “Yes. That’s nearly true.”

  “I will get back to you as soon as I can.” Sol opened the door and stepped back into the party. I’d expected him to vanish into thin air—Seers could do things like that, but maybe he had another plan.

  “Seers are strange.” Galloway watched as the door closed behind him.

  “And you aren’t?”

  “Maybe to some.” She shrugged. “Am I strange to you?”

  “No. But then again I’ve known you your entire life.”

  “What’s it like?

  “What’s what like?” I eyed Xander again—true name or not, it was easier to refer to him as that than the prisoner or fedora guy.

  “Being with someone so young.” She pulled up a stool and sat down.

  “Amazing.”

  “You like robbing the cradle?” She arched an eyebrow.

  “No. I mean her. She’s amazing. She makes me feel things I never thought I could.”

  “Worth waiting for?”

  “Of course.” I would have waited forever to be with Hailey.

  “And you’d do the same thing all over again if you had to?”

  “Yes, but why are you asking me that?” As much as I loved talking about Hailey, right now we had other things to focus on.

  “I think it’s important to know what’s really true for you. To know what’s important. Messing with the things we’re messing with are bound to muck up the waters.”

  “The waters have been mucked up for a long time.”

  “For all of time,” Franklin muttered.

  “Yes. That’s probably right.” I couldn’t remember a time when everything was clear, but right now things seemed particularly bad.

  “Okay. I need to make sure there’s no one on your tail right now.”

  “I’m sure someone is on my tail. Positive.”

  “You saw someone following you?”

  “No. But just because you don’t see anyone doesn’t mean they aren’t there.” And I’d felt it.

  “Are they at this party?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess it depends on how gutsy they are.”

  “Fine. Then we are going to have to start from somewhere else.”

  “Where?”

  “I know the perfect place.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door. I followed her back out to the party.

  “I thought we were trying to lose whoever was following me.”

  “Don’t worry. We will.” She walked back through the large room where music pulsated through the speakers. She towed me toward a narrow staircase and headed down. She continued down further and further.

  “Oh. I know where we’re going.”

  “It’s usually really quiet down here. And this is one of the only entrances to the tunnels left. I can lock the door behind us, and we’ll be secure so I can work.”

  “You can’t magically transport, so how are we getting to her?”

  “Just let me work. I can take care of everything.”

  “I really hope you are right.”

  10

  Hailey

  The words started to disappear before I could read them—as if someone was deleting the type. They blurred and flew off the page like wet ink. In seconds the entire page was blank. I stared down at the weathered and discolored sheet of what I assumed had once been white or cream parchment. It was now vaguely brown. “Oh. Fantastic. Anyone know what that was about?” I asked no one in particular.

  “Aren’t you supposed to know?” Cade leaned over me to get a better look at the blank page. “You are the Lightness.”

  “And a Lightness is an expert on why words would disappear off a page?” I shot back.

  “No. Yes.” Cade sighed. “I don’t know. I’m going off what we were told.”

  “Whatever it is, we need to work fast.” Noah folded his hands on the table in front of him. “What if it all disappears before we read it, and the time spent searching for the key was a complete waste?”

  “Don’t you think I’ve already thought of that?” I stared at the page again while I debated what to do. There were many different possibilities of what was at work. “What if turning the page makes the words disappear? Like there is a timer that starts when you turn? I don’t want to test that out until I’m ready.”

  “When will you be ready?” Cade snapped.

  “When I’m ready. I don’t know what to tell you.” I buried my face in my hands. I usually loved being in charge. However, at that moment I would have paid nearly anything to let someone else take the reins. I was exhausted, stressed, and unbelievably worried about everyone and everything.

  “Okay. Stay calm.” Eloise gently patted my back. “Help her stay calm, Cade. Otherwise, you leave.”

  “Leave?” Cade chortled. “Like you can tell me what to do.”

  “Just shut up.” I put my hands over my ears. “Okay? I’m stressed enough already. What if we lost something hugely important on this page?”

  “Then we lost something hugely important on this page. There is nothing we can do about that now.” Noah sounded almost as calm as Eloise. “Can’t look back. Only forward.”

  “Sounds like you are speaking from experience.” His words weren’t empty the way they usually were when someone usually made that kind of statement. It wasn’t off-hand; it was weighted with understanding.

  “I am.” Noah gave a terse smile. “It’s not the greatest lesson to have to learn.”

  “Okay. Enough getting to know you stuff. Let’s stay focused.” Cade pulled the book toward him.

  “Focused. Right.” I removed my hands from my head. “Because if I focus I am going to suddenly figure this whole thing out.”

  “You never know. Stranger things have happened.” Eloise moved from patting my back to rubbing small circles. It was quite relaxing. “Especially to you.”

  “Lots of strange things happen to Hailey.” Cade nudged me with his elbow.

  His words didn’t bother me. It was different when I knew for sure he was joking. I’d grown up surrounded by guys who liked to argue with me. To rile me up. I’d complained about it—kind of like how I complained about them underestimating me—but now I missed it. I especially missed it coming from Owen because I missed Owen. No matter how old I got he’d always be my big brother. I needed him more than ever, but I understood he had problems of his own.


  “Okay. What can we do to help?” Eloise abruptly stopped with the circles. “Give us tasks.”

  “I’d tell you if I knew.” My first thought was to close the book and then reopen it. See if the ink only disappeared for that one opening. The only thing stopping me was my fear of discovering I was wrong. “Okay. I’m going to close the book.”

  “And see if the words are back?” Noah asked. “That’s what I’d do.”

  I looked across the table at him. “Then why didn’t you suggest it?”

  “Because you seem to be the one in charge.”

  “Fair enough, but if you have ideas you should share them.” We needed any help we could get. I didn’t really believe in fate and destiny, but maybe he was there for a reason.

  “Duly noted.” Noah rose and walked around the table to stand behind me. I tried not to let that make me nervous, but I was always uncomfortable when I couldn’t see everyone in the room.

  I shrugged off the worry. Noah wasn’t looking to attack me. Maybe we didn’t know for sure how trustworthy he was, but we were sharing tons of information with him. We had to hope he was truly on our side. “Okay. Then we all need to be prepared to read super fast if the words are there.”

  “Or take pictures.” Cade help up his phone. “Ever think of that?”

  A picture. That might buy us some time with the words. “That’s actually a pretty good idea.”

  “A pretty good idea?” Cade narrowed his eyes.

  “Hey, take what you get.” He wasn’t the only one who liked to joke.

  “You forget who I am. Just like everyone else,” Cade complained.

  “You’re Cade. Just like I’m Hailey. Let’s leave the labels at the door and see what happens. Remember you chose to come with me.” I hadn’t forced him. I was never going to force anyone to help me. It was far too dangerous. I felt bad enough about getting Eloise involved in this, Guardian Pixie or not.

  “I did, and I still think it was the right decision.” Cade put an arm around my shoulders. “I’ll try to be better. Maybe I need to eat. I get cranky when I don’t eat.”

  “We can eat after we’ve saved the world, okay? You have your camera ready?” I pointed at his phone.

  “And what happens if there is no ink there?” Noah asked from behind me.

  “Then we are right where we are now. No better. No worse.”

  “Well, it could be worse. Right now as we talk more and more text might be disappearing.” Cade removed his arm from around me.

  I slammed the book shut. “And you didn’t suggest that until now? Really, Cade?”

  He shrugged. “I didn’t want to spook you.”

  “This isn’t about spooking me. It’s about saving people.”

  “It’s about saving life as we know it,” Cade added. “I get it. This time I’m serious. I’ll stop.”

  “This stuff really does go deep, huh?” Noah said quietly. “Way deeper than I imagined.”

  “It does.” Which was why we had to get working to fix things quickly.

  “Okay. Are you ready to reopen it?” Eloise scooted her chair closer to me.

  “Is everyone ready?” I glanced over my shoulder at Noah.

  Everyone nodded.

  “Okay.” I set my fingers up on the cover of the book and hesitated.

  “What’s wrong?” Noah asked. “Is it stuck or something?”

  “No. I’m nervous.”

  “Get rid of the nerves, Hailey. You got us all ready, you can’t leave us waiting.” Cade didn’t hold back. For once I appreciated it. I needed the push.

  “Okay. Ready, set, go.” I pulled the cover open.

  “It’s still blank,” I stated the obvious as I stared at the blank page. It was exactly as it was when I’d closed it.

  “Yup,” Noah agreed. “But remember what you said. No better, no worse.”

  “Or so we think.”

  “Let’s do this.” Cade patted my arm. “You need to turn a page.”

  “Or someone else can. Maybe it’s me. We hadn’t thought of that. Maybe if someone else was in control the words wouldn’t disappear.” I was more than happy to give someone else the job.

  “No. This is for you to do,” Eloise shot me down immediately.

  “What’s with the crazy intensity all of a sudden?” Cade looked between us.

  “It’s not all of a sudden. When I have an instinct I follow it.” Eloise raised her chin.

  “And your instinct is I really have to be the one to do this?” I turned to look at her. “Because I could be right. Maybe someone else should try.”

  “Yes. Unequivocally. It has to be you.” She made complete eye contact with me. “But maybe there’s more.”

  “More what?” I didn’t really want to hear what she had to say. I couldn’t take anything else, but if it could help I knew I needed to listen.

  Eloise took my hand in hers. “Maybe you should be doing this alone.”

  “Alone? Then who is going to take the pictures?” Cade held up his phone.

  “Maybe that’s the point. There should be no pictures. She should be reading this all alone.” Eloise sat up completely straight in her chair as if trying to appear taller.

  “Because the book is only written for certain eyes?” Noah asked. “Is that why?”

  “But Georgina has seen the book,” Cade pointed out. “And she’s human.”

  “But she’s Georgina.” Eloise pressed the palms of her hands into the table. “She’s special.”

  “Says the girl who just met her. As in literally just met her.” Cade rolled his eyes.

  “Hailey, this your call.” Noah moved around so he was back in my line of sight. “Do you want to do this alone, or do you want us with you?”

  “I want you guys with me.” And it wasn’t because I was afraid. “I know you have your instincts, Eloise. But I have mine. And it’s telling me I’m not supposed to do things on my own. That’s what the old me would have done, and look at where that got me.”

  “The old you?” Cade grinned. “You’ve changed so much?”

  “Well, I have become a hybrid and faced some pretty crazy challenges, so yeah I’ve changed. But then again you’ve changed too. We all have. Well, I don’t know you Noah, but Eloise too I bet.”

  Noah smiled. “I get your point.”

  “I can abide by that,” Eloise clasped her hands together. “But you need to be the one touching the book. I don’t want any of us messing it up.” She looked right at Cade when she added the last part. I was sure that didn’t go unnoticed by him.

  “Fine. Sounds like a good compromise. Is everyone ready?”

  “Yes. This time really do it, okay?” Cade pushed the book over so it was directly in front of me.

  I glared at him. “I love how you are so patient and determined to be helpful no matter what.”

  He grinned. “And I love how you are never sarcastic.”

  “Are you two related?” Noah looked between us.

  “No.” I looked away from Cade. “Thank goodness.”

  Noah seemed to consider what I’d said. “It seems like you’re siblings or something. That or ex-lovers. There’s something weird between you.”

  Ex-lovers? I cringed. Not a chance.

  “We’ve known each other a while,” Cade explained. “She’s like my surrogate little sister.”

  Noah nodded. “Gotcha.”

  “But she’s going to mate with a dragon, so I wouldn’t get any ideas,” Cade added.

  Noah’s forehead furrowed. “I wasn’t getting ideas.”

  “And who is getting us off course now?” I glared at Cade.

  “Okay. Right. Sorry. Go ahead.” Cade made a shooing motion with his hand.

  I caught the edge of the page and turned.

  Black words jumped from the page in front of my eyes and disappeared just as quickly. I struggled to keep up and hoped Cade was having luck taking pictures.

  * * *

  And there will be no past. And there will be
no future. There will only be the now. That will be the great equalizer. The power of the emerald dragon will become static. Not a weapon. Not a tool. Not what it ever was before. Unless it does not. Unless there will be a past. Unless there will be a future. There will be a past, future, and a now. There will be no great equalizer. The power of an emerald will move off its axis. It will be a weapon. It will be a tool. Exactly what it was before.

  * * *

  The words stopped flowing. I blinked.

  “Anyone else lost?” Cade rubbed his eyes.

  “So that didn’t make sense to you guys either?” I blinked over and over. My eyes burned like I’d gotten something in them. Annoyance seized me. “What was the point of it? Why give so many contradictions?”

  “Maybe that’s the point. It was supposed to be contradictions,” Noah suggested. “Want to keep going?”

  “You think the words will continue to move like that if I flip the page?”

  Noah squinted as he gazed at the book. “Well, it seemed to have been doing the same thing on the page before. My best guess would be it does that continually.”

  “I want to see something.” I flipped back a page. The page was still blank.

  “Hoping it would reappear?” Noah asked.

  “Yup. Too bad.” That would have been convenient.

  “I think you should keep going.” Cade gestured to the book.

  “Did you get a picture?” I’d read the words and remembered them strangely well, but sometimes it was easier to analyze things when you could physically look at them.

  Cade looked at his phone. “Just a blur.” He held out the screen so I could look. It was just as he said, a blur of gray and black.

  “Well, we read that page in time. It’s all about being ready.” Eloise’s hands were neatly folded in front of her.

  “Okay. Let’s all get ready.”

  “Ready,” the assembled echoed.

  I turned the page.

  And if history repeats itself again an emerald will be the only chance for survival. An emerald will lead the way toward a new order of things. An emerald will need the help of those pure of soul and mind. And if history repeats itself again an emerald will be the only chance for destruction. An emerald will lead the way towards an old order of things. An emerald will be hurt by those pure of soul and mind.