Stay

by Alyssa Rose Ivy

  “There’s only one way we’re going to find out.”

  “I’ve never been to the Daly estate, have you?” Owen asked.

  “When would I have ever done that?”

  “I don’t know. Just asking.”

  “The Laurent’s hate the Daly’s,” I explained for the benefit of Vera.

  “Or they did. Levi obviously is friendly with Cade,” Owen added.

  “Or he knew the Daly’s estate would be the last place anyone would look for him.” I wasn’t sure friend was the term Levi would use. “Or maybe a little of both.” Even I had to admit that Cade was growing on me. At least when he kept his distance, and he usually did considering he had his own kingdom to take care of.

  We landed inside the gate of the Daly’s sprawling estate on the outskirts of LA. Within seconds five guards surrounded us. “State your business or prepare for immediate removal,” one particularly large guard addressed us.

  “Chill out. We’re here on royal business.”

  “Dressed like that?” Another one asked.

  “How are we supposed to be dressed to fly?”

  “Don’t mess with me.” The guard straightened up. “State your business.”

  “We’re here to see Cade. It’s urgent.”

  “The king is not currently seeing guests.” His use of the word king pissed me off. Levi had forgiven Allie for giving away part of his kingdom, but it still annoyed me, especially at times like this.

  “He’ll see us. I’m Jared Florence, head of security and this is Owen Kaye, The king’s chief advisor, and we demand to be seen.”

  “I will see what I can do.” He didn’t make a motion to move.

  “No.” Vera walked right up to him. “You will bring us to Cade now.”

  “And who are you?” He asked.

  I didn’t like his tone. He had no right to talk to her that way.

  “My name isn’t your concern, but I assure you I’m a concern. Take us to Cade.”

  He laughed. “Where’d you find this piece of work?”

  I felt my blood boiling. “I’m only going to ask one more time. Take us to Cade.”

  “Guys, guys. There’s no need to fight.” Cade strolled down his front porch. “We’re all on the same team here.” He was wearing nothing but a pair of linen pants.

  The men backed up. “They’re okay?”

  “Yes, they’re more than okay.” He took Vera’s hand and kissed it. “They are a pleasant treat.” He took her hand in his. “Let’s head inside and visit.” He winked at me. I resisted the urge to punch him. That probably wouldn’t go over well with the guards, and I was too exhausted from flying Vera for four hours across the Pacific to take on that many Pterons.

  He opened the door to let us in. “Let me give you guys a tour.”

  I opened my mouth to argue, but thought better of it once Cade shot me a dirty look. Maybe he did know what he was doing.

  Cade led us into the expansive foyer. The ceiling was painted to look like the night sky, and the floor was made of dark marble. The Daly’s had spared no expense. “This is the main living space, and the bedrooms are upstairs. Vera if you’d like to see those, just let me know.” Cade smirked at me to let me know he was doing it to piss me off. Vera rolled her eyes.

  I seriously liked that girl.

  “Downstairs is where I have my offices. Maybe we should head downstairs since you said you were here on business.”

  “Sounds like a great idea,” Owen replied, and we headed down the spiral staircase to the lower level of the house.

  Cade whispered over my shoulder. “Is all clear?”

  “Clear enough.”

  “Gotcha.”

  Cade walked down a long hallway and stopped in front of a door. “This is our safe room. We only use it in extreme emergencies.”

  He typed in a code and a loud beep signaled the door unlocking. I didn’t wait for the door to open, I pushed past Cade. The only thing I could think about was the possibility of finding Levi.

  “Can we help you?” Levi grinned as I busted into the room.

  “You son of a bitch.” I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hug him or punch him when I saw him sitting there on the couch with Allie.

  Before I could think long, Allie hugged me. “You found us.” The contact surprised me at first, but I was so glad to see her alive and well that I didn’t give her a hard time about it.

  “We did.” I stepped back. The relief dissipated enough that I could focus on the larger questions that still hung in the air. “What the hell happened?”

  Levi’s smile disappeared. “I sensed shifters approaching and had to think fast. I see you found our note. I left it in the one place I knew would survive. I knew you’d come looking for us eventually.”

  “Why here?” Owen asked. “Why Cade?”

  “I knew he was the last Pteron anyone would expect me to go to for help.” Levi seemed to finally notice Vera. “I figure she is trustworthy because she’s with you, but who is this girl?”

  Vera put a hand on her hip. “That doesn’t matter as much as you continuing the story. How’d you know your friends would be the ones to find the clue? What if someone else found it?”

  Levi looked at Vera questioningly. He wasn’t used to people talking to him that way.

  I understood her impatience. “She’s the reason we even found you, so excuse her rudeness.”

  “Rudeness?” Vera scowled at me.

  Levi shook his head but continued. “The only people who knew where to find us were Jared and the pilot. I knew that eventually Jared would come looking if we didn’t come back or if the shifters thought they’d taken us out. I stuck around long enough to watch them torch the cottage.”

  Allie tensed at his side, and he pulled her into his arms. “What I can’t figure out is why the pilot would have spilled the details. How much would they have paid him to betray the family he’s worked for his entire adult life?”

  “Do we know that’s what he did?” Vera asked. “Does the pilot answer to anyone else?”

  “Only to me and Jared. I think technically my dad and Jared’s dad still have authority, but they wouldn’t have asked for that information, nor would they have shared it.”

  “Were you watching TV?” Owen gestured to the remote sitting on the couch. His question helped ease the tension. I wondered if I was the only one who felt like it was a thousand degrees in that room. The more we talked, the more I was reminded of my short comings. A few months into the job of head of security, and I’d almost lost both the king and queen.

  “We needed something to fill the time.”

  “Glad you were so bored.” Vera shook her head. “I know you’re royalty, and I’m supposed to be respectful, but I’m hoping my sister buys me a pass because after everything we’ve been through the last few days I’m not bowing to anyone or anything.”

  “Are you Vera?” Allie walked right over to her.

  “You’ve heard of me?” Vera smiled.

  “Yes. Your sister talks highly of you. It’s awesome to meet you.”

  “It’s nice to meet you too. You seem a lot cooler than a queen should be.”

  Levi laughed. “I wonder if you’d say the same thing about me being a king.”

  “Kings don’t have the same reputation as queens. Kings have been known to be cool. It’s the queens that get the bad rep for being uptight.” She turned to Allie. “It’s clearly unwarranted of course.”

  Allie smiled. “Of course.”

  “Do you know what message your husband left?” Vera asked. “And did you really give away part of his kingdom?”

  Allie stared at Levi. “What is she talking about? I thought you just wrote down that we were going to Cade’s!”

  I nudged Vera. Did she have to stir up trouble?

  Levi grinned. “I made it a little bit more fun.”

  “He said you were going to visit your biggest mistake.” I smirked at her. “It was perfect.”

  “Men.” Allie
grumbled.

  Vera laughed. “I second that.”

  “Ok, enough chit chat.” I didn’t mind Vera and Allie talking. I could definitely see them getting along even though they were as different as night and day, but we still had a lot of serious discussion to tackle.

  Allie put a hand on her hip. “It’s been less than five minutes and you’re already annoying me.”

  “I miss you too, princess.”

  Vera looked at me funny. Before I could explain, Owen butted in. “It’s an inside joke. He’s called her princess long before she was a princess.”

  “Ok. Got it.” Vera nodded. She thought I was crazy, but then again, I thought she was crazy too.

  “So what have you guys been up to other than stalking me?” Levi shifted his weight. I could tell he was aching to get outside.

  “Stalking you?” I coughed. “That had better be a joke.”

  “I take it the word that we were dead got out?”

  “How can you be saying it that calmly?” Owen asked.

  “Because we’re not dead. That’s obvious.” Levi may have been playing it off, but the experience had shaken him. It was clear from the way he kept watching Allie.

  “Let’s stop this dance.” Vera butted in again. “We were searching for you because Tiffany told us she was going to have you killed.”

  “Tiffany?” Allie said with confusion. “My Tiffany?”

  “You guys are going to want to sit down for this.” I gestured to the couch.

  “Would anyone like some refreshments?” Cade stood in the doorway. “I could open some wine, maybe mix some drinks. Just let me know what you want.”

  I flipped around to look at him. “Are you kidding me?”

  “I pride myself on being a good host.”

  “But you’re not a host. We’re here to get Levi and get home. All hell is breaking loose right now. Casey’s lost her mind literally, and Georgina thinks Levi’s dead.”

  “What?” Allie asked. “What do you mean Casey’s lost her mind?”

  “I’m guessing you haven’t heard….” Vera looked back and forth between everyone in the room.

  “No, we haven’t heard about any of this, care to fill us in?” Allie wasn’t looking at Vera.

  “What do you think I was about to tell you?”

  “Just start talking.” Allie crossed her arms.

  Vera smiled. She seemed to enjoy watching another girl boss me around.

  I gave Allie, Levi, and Cade the condensed version of what I knew. It took three tries to get Allie to believe me that Tiffany was a psycho witch. Once she accepted that, getting her to wrap her head around what had happened to Casey was a lot easier.

  “It looks like we’re taking a trip to New Orleans, huh?” Cade asked.

  “Yes. We can’t waste any more time. We have to get you guys to safety. Once we do that we can worry about stopping Tiffany. We can’t risk placing any calls until we’re in the hotel. We have the upper hand now if everyone thinks you’re dead. Let’s not lose it.”

  “Don’t forget about protecting Casey.” Vera frowned. “We don’t know what’s going on with her right now.”

  “That was part of the stopping Tiffany thing.”

  Levi turned to Vera. “Of course we’ll protect Casey. She’s my sister too.”

  “All right then,” I stretched. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Toby

  “I need to talk to both of you, now.” Georgina didn’t wait to make sure we’d heard her. She headed out of the chamber. We both followed behind. There was something in her tone that made this order seem particularly urgent.

  She moved down the hall at a quick pace until she finally stopped in front of a door. “In here. This room is sound proof.”

  Without asking questions about why we needed a soundproof room, we followed her in and she closed the door. We were inside some sort of library. The walls were lined with shelves of books. The room was also furnished with several arm chairs, a table, and a couch. It was easy to forget we were in a basement.

  Georgina gestured for us to sit down on a couch. She remained standing.

  “First, thank you for acting so fast, Toby. Who knows what that foul witch could have done to Casey if you hadn’t been so observant?”

  “Of course. You know how important Casey’s safety is to me.” More important than anything.

  “Which is why I know you’ll take what I say next seriously.” Georgina glanced at the closed door before continuing. “Casey, I need to know everything your mother told you about your conception.”

  “She doesn’t remember much,” Casey admitted.

  “She has to remember something. Who she met. What happened after.” Georgina sat down in a chair caddy corner to us.

  “Oh. She did tell us about that,” Casey said quietly.

  “Ok, tell me.”

  Casey looked to me, and I nodded. It was more Casey’s story to tell. I sat back against the couch and listened to her relay everything Taliana had told us, from the witch asking for help, to the Pteron mate warning her.

  Georgina grew pale when she got to that part. “Did she describe this woman? The Pteron mate?”

  “Just that she was with a high ranking Pteron.” Casey crossed her legs.

  Georgina seemed lost for a second. “Something the witch said brought back a memory for me.”

  “Which part of what she said?” I asked.

  “The part about me always remembering a face. Not everyone knows that about me. I’m horrible with names, but I never forget a face. For someone to know that they had to be close to me, much closer than a witch I’d met once.”

  “So what are you thinking? She was working with someone close?”

  Georgina folded her hands in her lap. “I’ve done some research. Based on your birthday and Robert’s brief recollections, the meeting must have happened at the Apex summit of that year.”

  I nodded, waiting for more. “Helen usually attended meetings with Robert, but not those conferences. Mates rarely attend. But Jett brought his wife.”

  “Jett? As in Jett Florence?” Jett, better known to some as Jared’s dad, was a legend. He ran security like no one else.

  “Exactly. And Jett brought his wife so she could visit with family in the area.” Georgina let out a deep breath. “Jett knew me well. He knew me better than most since he spent so much time in our home. Plus, someone had to let Tiffany in today. She wasn’t on the guest list I gave security, but someone added her on at the last minute. That someone would have had to have had high level clearance. The kind of clearance Jett has.”

  “You think it was Jared’s mom who warned my mom?” Casey asked.

  “That’s my suspicion. I don’t like it. The thought that Robert’s most trusted friend betrayed him doesn’t sit well with me, but it fits for another reason.” She looked off.

  “What other reason?”

  “Mothers hear everything.”

  “Meaning?” I sat forward.

  “Meaning I always knew what was going on with my son even up into his adulthood.”

  “And?” Casey asked.

  “Jett found Helen first, but Robert wanted her.”

  “You think this is all over Helen?” Why did everything always come down to a woman?

  “Helen, power, all of it. My guess is Jett got tired of always playing second fiddle.”

  “But there’s something else. What aren’t you saying?” Casey pushed. She must have sensed something I didn’t.

  “Are you positive that Tiffany captured Jared?” Georgina avoided both of our gazes.

  “What are you implying?” I wasn’t Jared’s biggest fan, but I certainly trusted him.

  “Isn’t this all too convenient? Jared was the only one who knows where Levi was. Levi and Allie were attacked there.”

  “Someone else knew. Maybe it was the pilot, or someone working on the plane,” I suggested. Was I really defending Jared so quickly?<
br />
  “I’ve always liked the boy. He’s been a good friend to Levi, but after what his brother did…”

  “But he isn’t his brother. Jared would never betray Levi.” It was Casey’s turn to defend him. “Jared’s a complicated person, but his loyalty to Levi is unwavering.”

  “That’s what I would have said about Jett.” Georgina held up her hands. “I’m not going to fight you over Jared right now, but we have to find out for sure what Jett’s role is. Until then none of us are safe.”

  “Ok. So how do you suggest we do that?” I wasn’t going to sit back and wait.

  “If he’s in on it, he’s going to find out what happened. I have that prison being watched like a hawk, and the guards are under orders not to let Jett in. My guess is I’ll get a call from Jett soon asking for entry.”

  “That’s a good plan. What do we do until then?”

  “We get ready for the coronation tomorrow.”

  I nodded. “All right, just keep us posted.” We headed upstairs to our room at the hotel for what would hopefully be a quiet evening. I was wrong—of course.

  We’d just finished a sorry attempt at eating the room service we’d ordered when we heard banging on the door.

  “Casey!” A loud voice boomed.

  We looked at each other. Could it be?

  “Robert?” Casey said quietly as she looked through the peep hole. She yanked open the door.

  He stepped in and pulled her into a hug. “Thank goodness you’re okay.”

  “What’s going on? Where have you been?” She asked.

  Robert looked disheveled. His gray hair was all out of place, and it looked like he’d been wearing the same clothes for days. I tried to hide my surprise, but Robert was the former king. I’d never seen him looking anything but perfectly put together. “I was sent on a wild goose chase by the friend I trusted best.”

  “Jett?” I asked, already knowing the answer. Georgina was right. I hadn’t doubted her, but we now had proof.

  “Yes. I won’t go into details now, but I’m lucky to be alive after he sent me searching for an enemy that was actually him. I’m just so glad you’re safe. To think I could have lost both of you.” He held on to her arms with a mix of concern and hopelessness.

  We knew exactly what he meant.