“What subject?”
“Owen.”
My body shook. His name resonated with me. I could almost feel him.
“Arabella sensed something was off.” Sol seemed to be talking to himself. “Which means she’s sending Abe.”
“Then what are we still doing here?” I was ready to leave. I was ready to find Owen.
“I’m thinking. I have to find a way to get you to Owen, but I’m not sure how.”
“There’s always a way.” I was impatient. Now that I knew seeing Owen again was a real possibility I didn’t want to wait. “Do you know where he is?”
Sol looked away. “Not precisely.”
“Then what do you mean?” I felt a surge of frustration flood me. My own frustration, and I reveled in it. I would never get tired of true feelings, whether they were good or bad. They were the reason we lived and breathed.
“I am working with someone who is searching for him.”
“Searching for him where?” I would find Owen myself if I had to. I could feel. We could be together.
“I assume he’s in Louisiana. He works for The Society, doesn’t he?”
“He used to.” He’d left it before we reunited. Although maybe now that I was gone from his life he had gone back. My chest clenched as I thought about him moving on without me in his life. Having feelings again was going to take getting used to.
“Why did you bring me here?” Now that Arabella had left, maybe I could actually get some answers.
“Listen, we don’t have much time, but you need to understand that you are in even more danger now.”
“Why?” I asked. “Why now?”
“I already told you.” Sol looked at something over my head. “Arabella sensed it. They hired me to see how it was possible that you survived being given a full Allure essence while you were human. They wanted to see what made you special.”
“And? Did you figure it out?” There was nothing special about me so I doubted there was anything for him to find.
“No. Instead I brought your feelings back. Or I did temporarily.” Sol shrugged. “I didn’t predict any of this. I didn’t see it. That’s the problem with my skills. They don’t work on me. They only work on others.”
“So now what?”
“Now we get you as far away as possible. You need to find Owen. Your feelings tie back to him the strongest. If you’re going to get them back permanently it’s going to be through him.”
“Then take me to him now.” The thought of seeing Owen again made my heart soar.
“I can’t.”
“Why not?” I demanded.
“Because Arabella is going to be back with reinforcements. If I’m gone the Elders are going to know I crossed them.”
“And you’ll be in trouble.”
“We’ll both be in trouble. Right now she thinks you’re drugged and obedient.”
“Yes, drugged by the drug you pushed on me.”
“It’s probably good you resisted.”
“Probably? I’d say more than probably.” I had no interest in losing consciousness or clear thought.
“I was trying to help… I didn’t want to hurt you.” He looked down at the ground as he spoke.
“Yeah well, that doesn’t matter right now.”
“No it doesn’t. We don’t have much time so I need to explain to you how you get out of here.”
“You mean I can’t just take your glass elevator back down?”
“No, that would be entirely too easy.”
14
Owen
I stepped in front of Hailey. I didn't like the way Wyatt was looking at her, and even worse, I didn't like the way she was looking at him. She was annoyed at his comment but also intrigued. I knew my sister far better than she understood, and I didn’t have time to deal with any other problems. "What kind of help do you want?" I went straight to the point. He knew where Daisy was. Or he said he did. If that was true, we were way farther ahead than we'd been even a few minutes before.
"The kind of help you wouldn't give without getting something in return."
"And you think I'd do it to find her?" Of course I would. I’d do anything, but he didn’t need to know that yet. I wasn’t laying all of my cards out until he did the same.
"I heard what happened.” Wyatt pointed to me. “Your wings."
Every time I thought about those last few moments in the palace my heart ached. There had to have been something else I could have done. "She's an Allure. It's not like I can just get her back." I’d go after her anyway. I wasn’t giving up until I saw her with my own eyes.
"Maybe, maybe not." Wyatt’s lips twisted into a smile.
"What do you mean?” I shouted.
"I have someone figuring out the details as we speak, but Daisy hasn't fully turned."
Relief flooded me. I had no idea how Wyatt had gotten his information, but I was going to believe him. I’d never needed hope more.
“I take it you are willing to help me then?” Wyatt smiled.
“Take me to her.” I stepped toward him. Ready to physically convince him if necessary.
“Not so fast.” He held out a hand in front of him.
"It's the rosimo, isn't it? The herb." Jim interrupted. “It’s the reason she hasn’t turned.”
Wyatt made a face. “What does an herb have to do with this?”
"It’s what’s blocking the change. It’s the most likely possibility I’ve been able to come up with.”
"This is the genius Pteron you were babbling about?" Wyatt looked at Sky.
She shrugged. "Yes, and I was right. He helped us find Owen."
"He did." Wyatt nodded. “And why are you together anyway?"
"Jim is my uncle." I wasn’t going to bother explaining we’d just met. It didn’t change anything, and it was none of Wyatt’s business.
Jim beamed. "My brother was kind enough to finally introduce me to his kids."
Wyatt shook his head. "I always knew Pterons were weird."
"Weird is probably a good way to describe our family situation at the moment." Hailey rolled her shoulders back. "But you still didn't tell Owen what kind of help you need from him.
Wyatt cracked his knuckles. "I need you to help me take out the Elders."
"Uh, what?" I had to have heard him wrong. The Elders weren’t the type of beings anyone ‘took out.’
"You heard me."
"And why would you want to do that exactly?” I had a reason, a huge one, but the Dragos had seemed perfectly fine with the immortal beings.
"Because they have Troy." Wyatt’s eyes darkened as he mentioned the name of his Drago friend.
“Why do they have Troy?" I assumed they had him against his will. I felt a twinge of sympathy for the cocky Drago, but it quickly faded.
"Because they know he's on to them." Wyatt crossed his arms.
"On to them?" I was so new to the world of Elders and Dragos I wasn’t sure what to make of Wyatt’s words.
“The Elders aren’t what they seem.”
“You mean they aren’t arrogant beings set and determined to ruin our lives?” I didn’t mince words.
Wyatt laughed. “Ok, then they are as they seem except for one important detail.”
“Which is?” I waited.
“Do you know how an Elder becomes an Elder?” Wyatt tilted his head to the side.
“I have absolutely no idea. At the time I met them that wasn’t my concern.” Saving Daisy had been my only concern.
“They are former Allures.”
I let that piece of information sink in. “Former?”
“When they become an Elder they take on a god-like stature. Their power is endless.” Wyatt’s voice dropped lower.
“And I am guessing there is more. Why is this so important?”
“They become an Elder by taking another Allure essence. They find one that is compatible with their own.”
“But how?” The wheels in my head started spinning. “What are you getting a
t?”
“They kill another Allure.”
“The Allure essence Daisy was given by the witch came from an Allure that was killed. Did an Elder kill her?” At least that’s what it seemed. No one else had any other explanation for how Daisy wound up with it.
“Maybe. I don’t know of too many creatures who can take down an Allure.” Wyatt glanced over his shoulder. “And I know of several who have gone down trying.”
“But how did it end up in the paste? And given to Daisy?” That was what we still didn’t know or understand. I’d pushed it out of my mind, convinced it couldn’t help the situation, but maybe I shouldn’t have. Anything could potentially be the key.
“That’s my point. Only a few creatures could have killed her.”
“But Daisy has a whole essence.” That was what made her even more unique as an Allure. “Does that mean she can become an Elder?”
Wyatt shook his head. “In theory, but she wasn’t an Allure when she got it. I think it only works if you were an Allure first and then add on. Or so it sounds.”
“Do the Elders want Daisy for something? Do they want to take the essence from her? If so why didn’t they just do it?” I shuddered at the thought of them laying a hand on her, but my question was serious. None of what Wyatt was saying made much sense.
“I don’t know what they want with her, but they want something. The guy I have working for me was originally hired by them.”
“A double agent?” Hailey grunted. “How do you know you can even trust him?”
“We can trust him.” Wyatt emphasized the word we as though we were all part of a team or something. I’d agree to any team that would bring Daisy back as a human.
Jim nodded. “And now I know the true identity of the Elders. All this time I thought they were omnipotent.”
“They like to think they are. They have power, but they want more. They’ve tried to get it from other ancient creatures.”
“Like you.” I knew there had to be more involved than Wyatt was saying.
“Yes. Like me.” Wyatt shifted his weight from foot to foot. “They’ve been experimenting, and it hasn’t been in a friendly way.”
“When is experimenting ever friendly?” Hailey rolled her eyes.
“Good point.” Wyatt appraised Hailey again.
“What do you think I can do to help? I distinctly remember you calling me a bird.”
Wyatt waited a moment longer than I expected before answering. “We need your influence with The Society.”
Jim coughed.
Wyatt scowled at him. “Is there a problem?”
“No.” Jim shook his head. “None at all.”
“I’ve left my position at The Society. You are aware of that.” Everyone seemed to be.
“You still have influence.” Wyatt seemed unmoved by my words. “We need that influence.”
“Why?”
“Because we need numbers. The Dragos can’t do it alone.”
“Do what exactly? Are you really going to try to take on these Elders?” Hailey asked. “Doesn’t their crazy level of power pretty much mean they are unstoppable?”
“No one is unstoppable.” Wyatt flexed his arm, accentuating his elaborate tattoo. “It’s when you start believing someone can’t be stopped that you are in trouble.”
“I don’t know what we can do to help, but if you get me to Daisy and help me change her back, I will do my best.”
“I can’t promise we’ll change her back. She may be the weapon we need.”
Anger swelled through me. “Daisy will not be used as a weapon.”
“Not on the front lines. That’s not what we mean.”
“Then what do you mean exactly?” I tried to hold in my anger, but it wasn’t easy. Daisy had been through enough. No one was using her.
“She has a full Allure essence. That means she should be as powerful as they are even if she’s not an Elder.” Wyatt looked at Hailey as much as me as he talked. He was mostly ignoring Jim and Jonathan.
“Should be is the right word. She may not be.” And we weren’t going to test her to find out.
“We agree to help if—” Hailey started.
I cut her off. “Hailey, this is my decision to make.”
She put a hand on her hip. “And you aren’t going to be making a stupid one. I’ll finish what I was saying. We agree to help if you bring us to Daisy and we can come up with a way to restore her humanness.”
“We may not be able to do that. I said she wasn’t fully changed, but it’s not that simple.” Wyatt gritted his teeth.
“Yes we can.” Jim jumped in. “Or we can at least restore some of her human capacities. I need to find out if rosimo was used.”
“Weren’t you convinced the Dryads could help?” Hailey pointed to the group that had stayed quiet.
Jim nodded. “Yes.”
“What do you need from us?” The smallest Dryad asked. “We don’t support the Elders. They are trying to use our powers as well. That’s why so many of us are back here.”
Jim nodded. “I need to know who’s growing rosimo. It can’t be that easy to hide the evidence.”
“If anyone can find your answer, we can.” Adrian pointed to himself. “We’ll find it.”
“We need to find a witch we can trust.” Jim pulled out a small notebook and a pen from a pocket of his backpack. “Got any suggestions?”
“Mayanne.” Hailey and I said in unison.
Jim groaned. “Not her.”
“You know her?”
“If we are referring to the same Mayanne.”
“She lives out in the country outside New Orleans. She’s an old friend of Georgina.”
“Yes we are talking about the same one.” Jim sighed. “She’s the reason I discovered Allures were still around.”
“What do you mean?”
“So she didn’t tell you?” Jim frowned.
“Tell us what?”
“That she fell in love with an Allure.”
“Uh…” I looked at Hailey who only shrugged.
“Yes. She fell hard. He seemed to care for her, and he offered her half his essence,” Jim explained.
“She didn’t take it?”
“He disappeared before she could.” Jim looked off into the distance as if lost in thought.
“No offense,” Hailey began, “but how do you know any of this?”
Jim turned back to us. “Because I was friends with her daughter.”
“Mayanne has a daughter?” Hailey asked all in one breath.
“Yes.” He shook his head. “Mayanne was widowed when she was still relatively young.”
“She’s never mentioned a daughter.” Not that she’d told me anything about her personal life.
“Her daughter disappeared at the same time the other Allure did.” Jim looked down.
“Oh no.” Hailey narrowed her eyes. “Did he take her instead?”
“Maybe. None of us have ever heard from Taylor again.” Jim’s voice was full of disappointment.
“Wait.” Wyatt startled. “Did you say Taylor?”
Taylor was a common enough name, but hearing it again got my attention.
“Why?” Jim asked.
I steeled myself before answering. “Because that’s the name of the Allure whose essence Daisy has now.”
15
Daisy
“Ok, so if there’s no elevator what do I do?” Getting to his house in the meadow was easy. Somehow I wasn’t surprised that it wasn’t as simple to leave it.
“First repeat after me.” He put his hands on my shoulders again.
“Uh, are you kidding me?” I stepped back, but I didn’t manage to offset his hands.
“No. I didn’t accomplish the coolest thing in my existence to have us both killed a few hours later.”
“Us both killed?” Theoretically I knew it was possible, but I wasn’t thinking death when Sol told me I had to run. “You think the Elders would go that far?”
“Yes,” h
e didn’t hesitate with his answer. “But to be fair they might have killed you anyway.”
“Hey!” I glared at him. “Whatever happened to you being under explicit orders not to kill me?”
“What do my orders have to do with the Elders?” He dropped his hands to his sides.
“Whatever, fine. What do I have to repeat?”
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I will not trust anyone.”
“I will not trust anyone.” That was easy enough to repeat. There was only one person in the world I really trusted, and Sol couldn’t have meant to include him. “Wait. What about Owen? I’m going to trust him.” If I couldn’t trust Owen I wasn’t sure if I had anything I could count on.
Sol nodded. “Ok. I didn’t see a single vision of him hurting you, so he’s probably safe.”
“But that’s it?” He’d made it seem like I would be repeating a lot.
“Yes. Especially don’t trust the Allures.”
He didn’t need to tell me that. I never fully trusted them, and I trusted them even less now that I knew there was a way for me to feel again. Did Violet know that all along? Was she keeping it from me? Still, I wondered why he specifically mentioned them. “I already don’t really trust them, but any particular reason?”
“It’s not in their interest for you to become human again.”
“Become human again.” The words soaked in. “You said that.” I remembered his words. Human. You will be human again. “But I’m not human.” I wasn’t. Having some feeling back didn’t change that I was an immortal creature.
“No you’re not,” Sol admitted. “But you’re closer to a human than any of them will ever be. Once they find out what I managed to do they’ll be as dangerous to you as the Elders.”
“Although they aren’t as powerful.” That’s what made the Elders particularly worrisome.
His expression darkened. “Don’t underestimate Violet.”
“I won’t. So tell me how to get out of here.”
“You need to focus on a place from your memories. A place you know every detail of.”
“That’s a hard thing to ask an Allure. I mean if I’m not picking something from my memory of the last few weeks.” Most of my other memories were grey scale or missing crucial details. It was as though someone had tried to paint them over, only leaving hints of what used to be there.
Lost (The Allure Chronicles Book 3) Page 14
