“As Allie just pointed out, we don’t know what’s going to be there.” Hailey rested her arm on the center console. “This would be a whole lot easier if we knew.”
“Wouldn’t everything be easier that way?” Taylor stretched her arm out along the top of the back seat.
“There’s one other option.” Hailey pulled her legs up and turned toward Allie.
“What’s that?” I waited anxiously to hear.
“We try to get more of the herb.”
“By the way you described things, I assumed the Shadow got all of it.” It had seemed so do or die, as if there was no other choice.
“The Shadow took all of the easy stuff to get…” Hailey trailed off.
“Meaning what exactly?” I asked for clarification. “There’s some that’s harder to get to?”
“Very hard to get to.” Hailey grazed her teeth over her bottom lip.
“But not impossible?” A small ray of hope swelled through me.
“Not impossible… in theory.”
“We need to find that Shadow anyway.” Allie turned her brights on momentarily as if to see better. She turned them off. “It took your uncle.”
“Yes. We do need to, but he would tell us to find the herb first.”
“You only just met Jim, yet you know what he’d tell you to do?” Taylor rolled her eyes.
“And you know him so well?” Hailey turned around. “Care to tell us what you think he’d really say?”
“I was a friend of Jim back when I was human. He was the type who was all about focusing on the big picture. Which would mean get the herb.” Taylor put her arms behind her head and leaned back.
“How is that any different than what I said?” Hailey frowned.
“The way you made it sound it was about sacrificing himself. That’s not what Jim would be thinking. He’d be thinking about proving his point. Showing everyone he was right. He set out to find an herb. He told you it would work. He wants to be proven right. On a broader scale he probably wants to be proven right about other things. About the Allures I’m sure.”
“Does the motivation matter?” Hailey sighed. “It leads us to the same conclusion. We find the herb before worrying about Jim.”
“Unless we easily find the Shadow.” I figured ‘not impossible’ meant it wouldn’t be easy to find more of the herb. Of course defeating a Shadow wouldn’t be any easier.
“Yes. Because it might be safer than trying to find more of the herb.” Hailey said exactly what I was afraid of.
“Fighting a vapor that suffocates you might be safer than hunting for more of the herb?” Allie gasped. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“I never got a chance to answer.” Taylor complained.
“Answer what?” Hailey turned around.
“Whether the motivation matters.” Taylor ran her fingers over the leather of the seats.
“That was a rhetorical question.” Hailey shook her head and looked back toward the front. “Don’t go too fast here. I’ve gotten a ticket on this stretch.”
“When were you driving this way?” Allie asked. “You always fly.”
“I was with someone who I couldn’t fly.” She gave Allie the universal look to stop asking questions. I wondered what secret Hailey was trying to hide.
“Oh.” Allie nodded. “Gotcha.”
I figured it wasn’t my place to ask questions, but there were so many secrets swirling around that I couldn’t quite keep up.
Taylor returned to her point even if no one else cared to listen. “But it does matter. Motivation matters a lot.”
Hailey sighed. “Why?”
“Because motivation always matters.” Taylor crossed her arms.
“And a statement like that is enough? You think that proves anything?” Hailey asked. “That’s so circular.”
“Guys, stop fighting.” Allie tightened her hands on the wheel.
“We will once she stops antagonizing me.” Taylor groaned.
“No, seriously. Stop. I just heard something funny.” Allie leaned in closer to the wheel.
“What do you mean?” Hailey leaned forward as well. “I hear better than you, and I didn’t hear anything.”
“You were probably too busy arguing to hear. Let’s all shut up and listen.” Allie gritted her teeth.
The car fell into silence.
There was a wailing sound like a strong wind. It wasn’t coming from outside the windows like it normally would. It sounded almost like it was coming from the engine. At another time or place I would have written it off as engine trouble, but at the current moment, we had to assume it was something far worse than that.
“Ok. That’s weird.” Hailey broke the silence. The wailing got louder, and it almost sounded like a cry.
“Do I keep driving?” Allie whispered.
“Yes.” Hailey answered immediately. “Until we figure out what we’re going to do.”
“We’re going to keep driving with something under the hood of the car?” Taylor’s eyes bugged out. “That’s nuts.”
“What should we do instead? Stop and walk the rest of the way? Or how about stop and open the hood and face whatever it is woefully unprepared?” Hailey put her ear to the dashboard. “It’s not getting louder. That’s a good thing. I guess.”
“We’ve been unprepared this whole trip. What’s going to change now?” Taylor looked over her shoulder out the back window. The wailing grew louder again, and this time it was clearly a cry.
“We have no good options right now.” I admitted the truth. “But we haven’t had any good options this whole time. I think we need to find a safe place to stop. And I mean safe in relative terms.”
“We’re in the middle of nowhere.” Allie pointed out the front. “Do we pick an exit and hope for the best, or pull over on the side of the road?”
Hailey nodded. “Ok, let’s be logical here. Is there something wrong with the engine? Is that possible or does it have to be something supernatural?”
“What normal engine problem sounds like that?” Taylor asked. “I may not be a mechanic, but I’ve never heard a sound like that before.”
“I don’t know.” Hailey put her head in her hand. “I’m just trying to be thorough.”
“Maybe it’s the Shadow.” Taylor folded her arms over her chest. “Maybe it found us.”
I shivered. “A Shadow in the engine?”
“Stop the car.” Hailey gripped the dashboard. “Stop it.”
“Now?” Allie asked with alarm.
“If Taylor’s right… even if there’s a chance… We can’t just stay in this car and wait it out like sitting ducks.” Hailey’s face had gone ashen.
“A Shadow could hurt us through a car?” Allie slowed down and pulled over to the shoulder.
“Based on what I saw that Shadow do earlier?” Hailey unlocked her door. “Yes. I’d believe it could do anything. “
Allie turned off the car. “I really hope it’s nothing.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice for a change?” I opened my door and got out, careful to stand as far from the engine as possible. “Some good news?”
Allie opened her door but stayed seated. “Should I pop the hood?”
“I’m thinking.” Hailey waited next to Allie’s door.
“Get out!” I screamed as I watched a black smoke ascend from the engine.
Allie jumped out. Taylor had already walked over to our side of the car.
Hailey pushed Allie and me behind her as she neared the billow of blackness.
“That’s not a Shadow, is it?” I asked. My heart was beating erratically.
“I don’t know what it is.” Hailey took a step away from it and it followed her. “It’s really weird.”
“But it isn’t killing us.” Taylor pointed to the smoke. “Which begs the point, what the hell was it doing in your engine?”
“It can’t be a coincidence. There are no coincidences.” Allie looked at her car. “Someone, or something, put it there.”
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“I’d say to run, but watch.” Hailey took a step to the right and the smoke followed.
“Is it just attuned to you?” Allie asked. She stepped forward, Hailey pulled her back. The smoke followed.
“It looks like any movement gets its attention, so technically if we all ran different ways it couldn’t catch up—but if it chose Daisy or Allie we’d be in trouble.”
“Once again you’re throwing me under the bus?” Taylor laughed dryly. “Lovely.”
“I thought we went over this. They get priority.”
“I know… “
“What if it isn’t bad?” I studied the smoke. It wasn’t doing anything overtly bad.
“Then why was it making that crying sound?” Hailey asked. “That was weird.”
“Is there something else in there?” I pointed to the engine. “Maybe the smoke is just part of it?”
“Yeah… maybe we should open it.” Allie took a step toward her car.
Hailey pushed her back. “I’ve got this.”
I stepped up. “Change of plans. I’ll do it. This is about me, which means I’m the one going first. Owen isn’t here. If he was he wouldn’t want his little sister putting herself in danger either. Two can use that argument.”
Hailey gave me a long look. “We do it together.”
“I never popped the hood.” Allie pointed to the open driver’s door.
“How about you pop it, and I wait at the hood?” I offered.
“Nope.” Hailey shook her head. “Other way around.”
“I’ll pop the hood. You guys wait in front.” Taylor dove for the SUV, and Hailey and I walked up to the front.
The hood popped open a tiny bit.
“Should we open it?” I asked.
Hailey glanced at the black smoke that was still hovering right next to us. It had widened to stay near all four of us now. There went any idea of running in different directions. “Let’s do it.” She pulled open the hood, and we glanced in. We were hit by a whirl of strong wind, my ears popped as though I were on a plane that was landing. The wind got stronger, and I was blinded by a bright light. A few seconds later our feet left the ground.
10
Owen
I’d agreed to listen to the Drago’s plan even though I didn’t want to. I wanted to get back to New Orleans and to Daisy. I wanted to disappear with her and leave the mess behind, but that wasn’t going to happen. She’d lose her feelings, and we’d abandon everyone else we cared about. That wasn’t an option.
“Daisy needs to stay safe.” Nothing else mattered unless that happened. I wasn’t agreeing to anything, even to listen, until I got those assurances.
“We will do everything we can to keep her safe. It is in all of our interests to keep her away from the Allures,” Wyatt explained.
“I know why it’s in my interest.” Jared put a hand to his chest. “But why is it in yours?”
“Because she would only give the Elders more power. That would hurt us.” Wyatt’s jaw tightened. “It might destroy us all.”
“That explains why you don’t want her falling into their hands, but what about her getting hurt?” Jared crossed his arms. “How would that hurt you?”
Wyatt folded his arms across his chest. “She’s innocent in all of this. We know that.”
“But it wouldn’t matter to you.” My few moments of staying quiet were over. I had way too much at stake to remain out of this discussion. “In fact if she wasn’t in the picture, things might be better.” My body temperature rose to boiling. They didn’t care about her. Not in the slightest. They had no idea how much Daisy had to offer beyond her unfortunate connection to the Allures.
“That’s not true.” The bearded Drago argued. “If they didn’t have her, Violet would take her place, and we’d still be in trouble.”
“But you’re friends with Violet.” They’d sided with her and the Allures at Daisy’s expense.
“No one can really be friends with an Allure. We got along, but all that will change when she becomes an Elder. The Allures always change when that happens.”
“Daisy doesn’t get hurt.” Levi made eye contact with each Drago. “We won’t agree to anything unless we have that promise.”
The bearded Drago’s eyes widened slightly. “You are that loyal to your subordinate?”
Levi answered immediately. “He is my best friend. Like a brother. Therefore Daisy is like family. I have pledged my protection, and I will not renege on that.”
“Anything we do puts her at risk.” Wyatt scratched his neck. “Just as anything we don’t do does too. She is inherently in danger due to her condition.”
Her condition? His words were like nails on a chalkboard.
Before I could physically respond, Levi jumped in. “You will do everything in your power to ensure her safety or all bets are off.”
“Agreed.” Wyatt nodded. “With that in mind, you need to hear us out. Listen to our full ideas without storming off.”
“I have already agreed to hear you out.”
“Yes, but every time her name comes up you stop listening. You need to listen.”
“Owen will listen.” Levi shot me a look. “Please continue.”
“Are you familiar with the Pyrean Realm?” The Drago with the beard asked.
“The what?”
“I don’t think they are, Fletcher.” Wyatt turned to the Drago with a beard.
Fletcher nodded. “It’s our realm. The one the Dragos spend the most time in.”
“It’s different from the Glamour Realm? And the Energo place?” Those were the only other realms I knew about.
Fletcher nodded. “Yes. Very different.”
I was glad I wouldn’t have to return to the Glamour Realm. That place did not hold good memories. I’d been separated from Daisy there and met a Shadow.
“But the only way to get to it is through the Glamour Realm.”
And there went my relief.
“How do we access these realms?” Jared asked oblivious to the dangers waiting there.
“Through a tree.” At least that’s how we’d entered last time.
“That’s how the Allures enter. We have another way in.” Fletcher and the Drago with the scar exchanged looks.
“How?” Jared’s brow furrowed.
“We fly.”
“That sounds great.” Jared visibly relaxed. “My way of traveling.”
“It’s a bit different from the flying you are used to.” Fletcher’s lips twisted into a smile.
“Meaning?” Jared’s momentary relaxation seemed to already be dissipating.
“Meaning we’re not sure you can survive it.” Wyatt’s face was completely serious.
“So what do you want us to do?” I had no clue where this line of conversation was heading.
“Go the way the Allures go.” Wyatt gestured with his hands.
“But we’re not Allures.” Jared narrowed his eyes.
“Daisy is.” Wyatt shrugged.
“But she’s not a full Allure now anyway.” She wasn’t a full Allure, and she wouldn’t be.
“We can survive anything you can.” Jared’s eyes darkened. “Don’t bullshit us.”
“You’ve never crossed realms, so you don’t know.” The Drago with the scar added kindling to the fire.
“How hard is it to go through the tree?” Levi shifted his weight from foot to foot.
“It isn’t fun, and Daisy may not know how. She hasn’t exactly had training, and as I said and everyone ignored, she isn’t a full Allure.”
“She’d still get access that way.” Wyatt cocked his head to the side. “And I can go with you. Make sure you can get through.”
“And if we can’t?” I asked.
“Then we risk you flying through the realms. At least we will have tried the safer route.”
“I will accompany them too.” Fletcher walked toward us. “I have agreed to protect the girl. I will not let her get hurt entering the realm.”
�
�That settles it.” Wyatt glanced at everyone assembled. “We need to get Daisy and get to the Pyrean Realm as soon as we can.”
“That settles nothing.” My patience was wearing thin. “We know where we’re going but not what we’re doing.”
“I thought that part was self-explanatory.” Fletcher’s face scrunched up in confusion. “We have to bait the Elders, lure them into the Pyrean Realm.”
“And you want to use Daisy as the bait.” They’d as much as said it already, but I wasn’t going to make any of this easy on the Dragos. If they wanted Daisy’s help they would have to spell it out. And talk to her. “It’s up to Daisy.”
“What?” The Drago with the scar looked at me as if I were out of my mind.
“It’s up to her. I won’t stand in the way, but Daisy has the right to decide what she does and doesn’t do.”
I expected Jared to make some stupid snide remark. He didn’t. Instead he nodded. “Yes. We agree not to get in the way, but it’s up to Daisy.”
“The Society has changed.” The Drago with the scar rubbed his chin. “The Society I knew gave no thought to what a female—a non Pteron female at that— would want.”
“Things have changed.” Levi stepped toward him. “I’m king now.”
“Women have had the real power in The Society for years.” Fletcher smirked. “Your grandmother pulled plenty of strings.”
I thought of Georgina. Fletcher wasn’t wrong about that.
“So what happens once we get the Elders into Pyrean?” Jared turned the subject back to the present.
“Confident we’re going to get them there? What if Daisy says no?” Wyatt seemed to study Jared.
“She won’t say no.” Jared looked at me as he answered.
“You know her that well?” Wyatt looked between us.
“I know that any girl who’s been willing to go through so much to be with that idiot over there.” Jared pointed at me. “She has got to be strong, and she’s not going to sit back and let others take care of her problems.”
“She’s going to want to do it.” There was no reason to pretend. “But we need to keep her safe.”
“We’ve already discussed that.” Wyatt sighed. “We don’t need to keep returning to the same point.”
Love (The Allure Chronicles Book 4) Page 8