“What if we miss it? We can’t afford any more human attacks, and we know they’re still after Casey.”
“Do you want extra security on her?”
Levi nodded. “Yes, but I don’t want it obvious. I think she’s like Allie. She doesn’t appreciate being looked out for.”
I smiled, remembering how much Allie resisted what she considered to be our babysitting of her. She’d gone as far as to sneak out a window to avoid her Pteron guards once. “Got it. I do have a few leads to follow up on. I know there’s a Silverback with some intel. I’m sure he can be bought off.”
“Do whatever it takes. We need to keep things under control.”
“I know, but…” I needed to broach a topic I knew Levi would be sensitive to. “If Murphy is going to attack, there is one event coming up that might draw his attention.”
“I’m having my wedding.” Levi rubbed the back of his neck.
“I know, but maybe we should move the location? What if they strike New Orleans while we’re gone?”
“We’re leaving plenty of men here.”
“I just think you should consider—”
“No. We’re having this wedding exactly as planned. Allie wants to get married in Hawaii. It’s happening.”
I nodded. There was no point arguing. “Gotcha. I’ll check in with you later.”
***
The last place I expected to spend my evening was the Bronx zoo, but evidently the Silverback I was looking for worked nights there. I guess he felt a close connection to his animal form. Despite the fact that there were plenty of places I’d have rather been, I followed the lead and sought out the gorilla in the primate section.
“Bradley?” I called his name before I got too close. Shifters tend to react on instinct and having someone creep up on you might trigger a less than ideal situation.
“Who wants to know?” He walked out of the shadows, and I got a look at him. He had the typical bulky figure of a Silverback.
“I’m here on Society business.” Someday I’d have to make a fake badge or something.
He stepped toward me carefully. “Why would The Society need anything from me?”
“Now don’t play games with me, Bradley. I happen to know you have information and a taste for the finer things in life.”
He straightened. He knew there was money on the table. “What can I help you with?”
This might be easier than I thought. “Where’s Murphy?”
I watched his face carefully. A look of hesitation crossed it before his features smoothed out. “I don’t have specifics.”
“But you have an idea?”
“Maybe.”
I pulled out two hundreds. “Where?”
He shook his head. “I’m going to need a lot more than that.”
I exaggerated the motions as I counted out ten more hundred dollar bills. “And there will be more if your tip pans out.”
His eyes widened. “It will pan out.” He grabbed the cash. I’d be able to take it back in a second if he didn’t spill.
“Upstate. I’ve heard it’s within spitting distance of the Blackwell estate. He’d been negotiating something with the old man before he died.”
“Interesting. Thanks for the info.” I waited for Bradley to recount his money and walk away. You never want to turn your back first. I didn’t have an exact address, but I knew where to start searching. I also had to decide what to do with the new information. Was Toby’s grandfather somehow involved in all this before he died?
Chapter Eleven
Casey
“Bachelorette party? I’m not sure I should stay for that.” I sat crossed legged on Hailey’s bed. We were hanging out in her dorm. Hailey had taken me on a short tour of Tulane’s campus without Allie, and I now knew why.
“Of course you should stay. Allie will want you there. You’re in the wedding party after all.”
“Yeah… that’s weird too. I mean we hardly know each other.”
“So? You’re Levi’s sister. You have to be in the wedding.” Hailey pushed a pile of clothes off the end of her bed to make room for me to sit.
“It’s not that I’m complaining, but I hope it’s what Allie actually wants.” She seemed excited when she asked me to be a bridesmaid, but maybe she was only doing it to please Georgina.
“It is what she wants. She really likes you. We both do.”
“Does Levi?” I dared to ask the question to the person who seemed to be insanely honest about everything.
She hesitated for a second too long. “Yes. He likes you.”
“Nice try.”
She leaned back on her hands. “He likes you. He’s just confused. It’s not like he’s ever had an amazing opinion of his dad, or I guess your dad too, but stepping out on your mate is pretty much the worst crime if you’re a royal Pteron. It can cost you the crown.”
“Then how is Levi king?”
“It’s because Allie’s an Enchantress. She picked him. It’s a long story, but I guess your existence explains everything.”
“Explains it all, but also makes the patriarch of the family look horrible.”
“Pretty much.” Hailey smiled. She had such a light and exciting personality. She kind of reminded me of Vera. She was definitely the life of the party.
“Okay. I appreciate the honesty. Let’s try another.”
She laughed. “Jared?”
“How’d you know?”
“It’s a Pteron trick. We can read each other’s minds.”
I felt a wave of horror at the thought until I caught her smile widen. “Good one.”
“I just know. You guys slept together, huh?”
“Slept together is a tame term for what we did.” Sleeping together implies a bed. We also used the kitchen counter, the shower…. You get the picture.
“Ugh. Too much information. Jared is like a brother to me.”
“All right. Well, what do I do?”
“He still hasn’t called you?” She stretched out her long legs in front of her.
“No. Not that I really want to talk to him.”
“Don’t you think you’d feel better if you got it over with?”
“Got what over with? The cold water splashed in the face?”
She shrugged. “I’m not going to argue. Jared’s most likely not going to want to see you anymore…but honestly, I doubt he would have seen you much longer even if you were human. He’s not a one girl kind of guy.”
“Yeah. I get that. I’m kind of mad at myself for even getting involved.” No matter what Nelly told me, I should have resisted. I knew Jared was trouble.
She turned to me. “Jared has that effect on girls. I’d say you’re only human, but well, you’re not.”
“Do you think he’d see me? I mean getting that over with is going to suck, but so is overthinking it.”
“He will if we don’t give him any warning.”
I clasped my hands together, set on my decision. “Let’s do it. Then afterwards, we can get drinks and plan Allie’s party.”
“That sounds like a good plan.”
“Thanks.”
“For?” Hailey stood up and searched around her messy floor for her flip flops.
“Everything. You didn’t have to be so friendly.”
“I didn’t have to, but I wanted to.” She winked. “Let’s help you move on with your life.”
***
He didn’t blink when we walked into the lobby. His face remained expressionless as we dodged a group of tourists on our way to the hotel bar. Hailey had called Owen to find out if Jared was back in town. He didn’t even ask why she needed to know. She hung up as soon as she found out they were at the Crescent City Hotel. I wasn’t sure how I felt about facing him in public, but at that point, I just needed to get it over with.
My chest tightened to the point where I thought I couldn’t breathe. His face was covered with a thin layer of stubble. That one change was the only hint that the news had affected him in any way. That I’d affect
ed him. And, of course, it could have been unrelated. His failure to shave may have had nothing to do with me. It probably had nothing to do with me.
I stopped. I couldn’t walk any further. He looked up and glanced at me before turning away. His blank expression was nothing compared to the way he turned away like he didn’t even recognize me. Hailey squeezed my hand. It was exactly what I needed. I crossed the remaining distance, taking small but determined steps.
“Jared.” His name came out softer than I’d planned. Where was the confidence I’d been rehearsing in my head the whole way over?
It was Owen who looked at me. Jared continued staring at his glass. It was dark brown, and I was sure it was alcoholic.
“Jared, you at least owe me a conversation.”
“Do I?” He spoke without turning. He swirled the ice around in his glass. “I wasn’t aware I owed you anything.”
Hailey smacked him in the back of the head. “Quit being an asshole.”
“What?” He looked at her, still not at me. “If I owed something to every girl I fucked, I’d be paying debts the rest of my life.”
My vision tunneled. Did I really mean that little to him? I had to press on. “I had no idea what I was, not that I have to explain myself to you.”
He finally looked at me. His eyes were cold and empty. The emptiness was so much worse than the anger I expected to see there. “No. You don’t. Just like I don’t have to pretend you exist.”
Normally I’d have been crying, but the ache in my chest became something else entirely. I felt a twitch in my back and knew my body wanted to transform. I let the anger wash over me, but I forced myself to stay in control. “Like I don’t exist? You don’t have to make this so much worse. You want to pretend I’m no more than a girl you slept with? Fine. But you can’t avoid me.”
“Just because Levi decided to acknowledge his bastard sister doesn’t mean I have to.”
My hand moved on its own volition. My palm made contact with his cheek in what felt like slow motion. His head jerked sideways. Then he had his own hand on his cheek with his mouth gaped open.
I turned away. “Good seeing you again, Owen.”
“Same to you, Casey.” Owen gave me a tight smile. He felt bad for me.
I didn’t need his pity, but I needed to act tough. I forced a smile at him before I headed right back to the front door of the hotel. I made it back to Hailey’s Jeep before the tears started. They started lightly, barely noticeable drops of warm salt sliding down my face, but then they changed. I sobbed, and Hailey just sat there. She didn’t put a hand on me, she didn’t make sounds of understanding, and that silence was the greatest gift she could have given me. She gave me the chance to grieve without being alone. I spent an hour that way. We sat in Hailey’s Jeep while cars drove by and happy tourists strolled past. I thought over the night we spent together and then the tears stopped. It had been a night. It was an intense and passionate experience, but it wasn’t a relationship. I’d made a mistake spending that night with Jared, but that’s all it was, and it was a mistake I wouldn’t make again. I began to laugh.
Hailey looked over questioningly, but she remained silent.
I was lucky. I found out my true nature before my feelings for Jared could become something more, before my memories would take an entire night to relieve instead of a few minutes. I was also stupid, but I couldn’t dwell on that part yet. “We can go.”
“Yeah?” Hailey fiddled with the driver’s side visor.
“Yeah.”
“Okay. I know what you need.” She pulled away from the curb and drove back uptown. I stared out the window the whole time, trying to get lost in the scenery instead of the dull ache in my chest. Rejection never got easier, not even when you expected it, but I could get stronger. How I responded to rejection was entirely up to me.
One large frozen strawberry daiquiri later, and I was starting to feel like myself again. Who knew there were actually drive through daiquiri stores? Obviously, the alcohol and sugar couldn’t do anything to make Jared’s words hurt less, but I took what I could get. I leaned back on my hands, dangling my feet over the edge of the building. Hailey had taken me to one of her favorite places. The roof of an abandoned house a few miles outside the city. We arrived just before sunset, and now the sky was completely dark. The night was warm, and I was comfortable in a fitted t-shirt and jeans. I could have stayed up there all night.
“You feeling any better?” Hailey watched me with concern. She’d been mostly quiet, seemingly lost in thoughts of her own. There was so much I didn’t know about her, but it wasn’t the time to find out. She’d open up to me eventually.
I took a final sip of the sweet, frozen drink. “Yeah. I’m going to be okay.”
“Yeah. You are.” She smiled. “Tell me when you’ve recovered enough to talk about Allie’s party.”
“I’m ready.” I still felt ready to throw up, but focusing on the negative wasn’t going to help me. Jared had clearly moved on, so it was time for me to do the same.
Chapter Twelve
Jared
I don’t like being an asshole. I really don’t. Sure, I like pushing buttons and messing around with people, but hurting someone I cared about sucked. It seriously sucked. I just kept seeing her face. That look of complete and utter devastation and betrayal that filled her eyes and made her lips, those damn gorgeous and perfect lips, quiver with anger. I’d only done what I had to do. There was no reason to regret it. She’d move on if she hadn’t already. So would I.
I tried to get drunk. I tried to get shit faced to make the feelings disappear, but it didn’t work. I switched to shots, but they eventually wore off, making me feel even worse. Those eyes. Why couldn’t I get them out of my head? And her voice… the voice she used when she spoke to me, so different from the breathy one she used in the heat of passion. Why her? Why did the one girl who managed to physically fulfill me and who made me actually feel alive have to be a Pteron? It wasn’t fair. I replayed the night for the millionth time in my head. For once, it wasn’t her body I focused on, but her words.
I’ve never been able to give myself to someone so completely before.
Yeah?
The one guy I was with… I didn’t even like having the lights on.
I’d be able to see you even in the dark.
I know… and I like that.
I took another shot before burying my head in my hands. I needed to be numb. I needed to stop picturing the way her eyes lit up and her chest heaved when I was inside her. This was ridiculous. She was just a girl. Just a stupid Pteron girl I needed to forget.
“You look like shit.” Owen broke his silence. I gave the guy a hard time, but he knew when I didn’t need his nagging. Well, most of the time he did.
“I feel just about that good.” We were at one of the hole in the wall bars near our house. I needed to be somewhere that I couldn’t possibly run into her.
“You didn’t need to do it.” He took a swig of his beer. He followed me over there even when I told him I wanted to be alone. He was annoying like that. Maybe in another state of mind, I would have appreciated it. He just sat there watching me drown myself in alcohol for well over an hour.
“Yes, I did.” I picked up the discarded cap to his beer and squished it in my hand.
“Why? Why couldn’t you have just let things happen?”
“You know why. You know what she is.”
“Yeah. But so what? Do you even know why we’re not supposed to mate with Pterons? Have you ever wondered why?”
“It’s wrong. It could be incest for all we know.”
“Bullshit. We all know who we’re related to.”
“Do we? What if Levi had slept with her.”
“We’re not talking about Levi. We’re talking about you.”
I tossed a hundred down on the bar and got up from my stool. “You saw what happened when Bryant spent too long with Michelle.” I cringed thinking how close I got to his fate. Being sent away by
my father had hardened him, had ruined him.
“You’re smarter than that.” Owen caught up with me outside.
“Smarter than what?”
“Ever stop to think that the fault for Bryant’s break down is on your dad? Why did he have to send him away? Bryant was in love with her….and her with him. Why did your dad have to get involved?”
“My dad has done some pretty shitty things, but Bryant knew what he was doing. He knew what he was getting himself into. Now I know the truth, and I was strong enough to stop.”
“Strong enough? See, that’s the reason why you don’t deserve her anyway.”
“Shut the fuck up, asshole.” Some friend.
“I’m just being honest. If you really wanted her, you’d keep her. You don’t. That’s okay, but it means you can’t sit around here moping like someone did something to you. And you owe her an apology. You’re not ready to give it now, and she’d probably break you in two if you tried.”
“Oh you think so?”
“Have you seen your face?” Owen gestured to my cheek. I could still feel the sting from the contact of her hand.
“Let’s go home.” I didn’t bother to go into the shadows. I ripped off my shirt and transformed right there on the sidewalk. Who the hell cared if someone saw? I was tired of caring about anything. What good did caring do for anyone? Walking wouldn’t have taken long, but I needed to stretch my wings. I needed something.
The flight home was far too short. I did an extra loop before heading inside. Levi sat on the couch, playing some video game.
“Forget you don’t live here anymore?” I snapped.
He ignored my obviously pissed off mood. “What? I can’t come by and hang out with you guys?”
“I know why he’s here.” Owen took a seat on the couch next to him.
“Why?” I grabbed a beer from the fridge. At least the alcohol provided some numbing.
“He heard about the bachelorette party that Hailey’s planning for Allie.”
Levi groaned. “Can’t you talk your sister out of it?”
“Yeah… that’s a good one.” Owen put his feet up on the ottoman.
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