“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.”
14
Owen
By the time we landed back in New Orleans I was desperate to see Daisy. I’d missed her the whole time we were gone, and to top things off, I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach mid-flight. Something was wrong. I wasn’t sure if she was becoming numb again or getting sick, but I did know I needed to get to her, and I needed to do it fast.
I ran toward the entrance to the lobby of the hotel without waiting for the others.
“Don’t worry about us. We don’t mind,” Jared called after me.
I didn’t waste the time to glance back. He was only joking, and nothing was going to get between me and Daisy.
“Owen, hi!” A girl I vaguely recognized called as I hurried through the lobby.
I gave a small wave in greeting and headed right to the elevator. I may have been rude, but I didn’t have the time to worry about it.
I inserted my card and waited impatiently for the elevator to reach the basement level. It seemed to be taking double the time it normally did.
Finally the doors opened, and I walked out into the darkness of the basement.
I headed down the corridor to the sitting room we’d left the girls in. The door was closed, so I knocked. I didn’t want to get into anything with Daisy or Allie by barging in on some private conversation.
No one answered, so I knocked again. As I waited, I heard the sound of the elevator returning to the basement. Levi and Jared had caught up.
“Daisy?” I called out her name.
When I got no response, I turned the knob and the door opened into a dark, empty room.
“I wonder where they went?” Levi pulled out his phone and started typing. I had no doubt he was texting Allie.
“Maybe they went to get something to eat?” Jared suggested. “Or drinks?”
“With everything going on, they’d have never left this level. Allie wouldn’t have risked it.” Levi frowned.
I glanced at my own phone trying to calm my rapidly beating heart. There had to be an explanation. Daisy wasn’t alone. She was with the queen of The Society. Allie couldn’t just simply disappear.
“Where’s Adrian?” I asked. “Didn’t you ask him to keep a close eye on them?”
“I don’t know.” Levi took off back down the corridor. “Adrian!”
“I’m here, sir.” The Pteron appeared in front of us. “Is there anything I can do for you, sir?”
“Yes, you can tell me where my wife is.” Levi scowled. “It was your job to make sure they were safe this evening.”
“I’m sorry sir, but she insisted. And Hailey.” Adrian looked down.
“Look at me!” Levi ordered. “Where are they?”
“I tried to stop them, but they refused. They went out on a girls’ night I think the queen said.”
“A girls’ night?” I repeated the words. That was ridiculous. That was the last thing Daisy would have been interested in. “Wait, you said Hailey. She is with them?”
“Yes. She showed up, met up with them, and then they all left together. One thing that was odd though was Hailey didn’t look ready for a girl’s night.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“She was messy—Hailey never dresses up, but she usually looks clean and nice.” Adrian watched me awkwardly.
“You’re saying she was dirty?”
“And her hair was messy. It was like she’d been in a fight or something.” My worry increased. Now it wasn’t just Daisy I had to worry about. Hailey might be hurt too. But that had been before they all left together.
“Did she arrive with anyone?” I didn’t want to give away Jim, but I needed to understand how they’d gotten separated.
“She was by herself. Should she have had anyone else with her?”
I shook my head. “Not necessarily.”
“How long ago did they leave?” Jared asked.
“Maybe an hour? Not too long ago?”
“Are you sure?” Levi pushed. “The exact timing could be important.”
“Maybe two hours.”
“Let me get this straight.” Levi took two steps toward Adrian. “My wife walked out of here two hours ago and you didn’t call me? What part of watch them did you not understand?”
“Hailey assured me she could handl—”
“Did I ask Hailey to watch Allie?” Levi cocked his head to the side.
“No, but—“
“Then why would it be okay for you to push Allie’s safety into Hailey’s hands?”
“With all due respect, sir, Hailey is as strong as I am.”
“Physical strength has nothing to do with smart decision-making.” I spoke out loud without really meaning to. “Hailey doesn’t always do the smartest things.”
“Isn’t Allie allowed to go out with her girlfriends?” Adrian made the mistake of asking.
“Allie is allowed to do anything she wants to do unless her safety is at risk. And this time it wasn’t only her safety on the line.”
“Oh.” Adrian paled.
“We need to know where they might have gone. Any other information you’d like to share?” Jared pressed. “Because we will get the information out of you. The question is whether we make it hard or easy.”
“All they said was they were going out for a girls’ outing or something like that. I swear I’m telling you everything.”
“Get out of here.” Levi scowled.
“Yes, sir.” Adrian hurried away.
“They didn’t go on any girls’ night.” I figured that went without saying, but I wanted it out there.
“No kidding?” Levi pulled his phone from beside his ear and stared at it. “Allie’s phone is going right to voicemail. She’d never turn her phone off. She might want to ignore me, but she wouldn’t want to do that if my mom might call about the kids.”
“They could have gone somewhere local that has no service, but I agree. I highly doubt that’s what they’re doing.”
“Then what are they doing?” I asked the obvious question. “Why would they have left? Especially without calling? That’s the weird part.”
“Could Taylor have put them up to it?” Jared asked. “Like forced them?”
“You think anyone could force Hailey to do something like that?” Levi asked. “She’s protective of Allie, so if they went somewhere my guess is it had to be important.”
“But Hailey struggles to say no to Allie. Is there anywhere Allie would have wanted to go that Hailey would have reluctantly agreed to?” Jared looked up and down the corridor.
“I think Hailey’s appearance plays into this. Adrian is right. Hailey makes an effort to look presentable. If she looked disheveled it’s because she found herself in trouble.”
“But she made it back here. She has extra clothes down here. Why not change?” Jared’s brow furrowed.
“Exactly. She didn’t change, which means there is no way they were going out somewhere for fun. Not that any of us believe that.”
“Have you tried Daisy?” Jared pointed to my phone.
“She doesn’t have a phone anymore.” That was something I really needed to change. “But I’m trying Hailey now.” I hit her name in my contacts and waited. I wasn’t surprised when it went directly to her voicemail.
“Hailey’s phone is going straight to voicemail too.” I couldn’t contain my growing fear. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.
“Ok. One thing we do know is that they left voluntarily. First Adrian told us that, and secondly Hailey wouldn’t have let them leave without a fight.”
“What if Adrian is lying?” A wayward thought hit me. “What if Hailey wasn’t here at all?”
“I’ll make sure he’s telling the truth,” Jared offered. “You two search the rest of the rooms down here. We need to rule out the possibility that they’re hiding or anything.”
Levi nodded. “Do what you have to do.”
Normally I’d remind Jared to go
easy on the guy he was about to interrogate, but I didn’t this time. We needed answers, and we needed them fast.
“You start down that way.” Levi pointed to the right. “I’ll go this way. Call out if you find something.”
I nodded even though I already knew there would be nothing to find. Whether Adrian was lying or not, the girls had left the basement. I only hoped that wherever they were they were safe and somehow we’d be able to find them.
15
Daisy
“What should we do?” Instead of the panic that should have been there, I felt nothing but a slight irritation. Who was interrupting us and why? We had no time to waste. “Where do we go?”
“First we take care of our new visitor. Then we go.” Glendale arched his back again.
“Take care of them?” Somehow I didn’t think any visitors were going to be easy to take care of. That wasn’t how things worked. “What if they’re stronger than us?”
“Then we all die.” Glendale’s voice was flat and unconcerned. His arched back and hair sticking up on end said something entirely different.
“Ignore him. He doesn’t get out much.” Sol leaned in, kicking some dirt with his foot in the process.
“Where is the intruder? If you’re going to be annoying, you can also be helpful.” Hailey bent down to Glendale’s eye level.
“They’ll be coming from that way.” Glendale did nothing to show which way he was referring to.
“Which way?” I demanded.
“Oh, you didn’t notice that I moved my eyes toward the woods on the right?” Glendale lay down.
“You may be the most annoying creature I have ever met.” Hailey glared at the cat.
“I bet you’ll remember me,” Glendale replied happily.
“I’ll remember you if we live through this.” Hailey straightened up. “That is if there is anything to live through. I haven’t sensed anything, and my senses are good.”
“She’d have made a good Elder. All that confidence.” Glendale lowered his head in the direction of Hailey. He was perfectly capable of letting us know a particular direction—when he wanted to.
Love (The Allure Chronicles Book 4) Page 11