Taken: The Pteron Chronicles

by Alyssa Rose Ivy

  “Why are you so big on reminding us that you’re a demon?” I bent my head so I could look him right in the eyes. “What’s going on?”

  He didn’t blink. “I saw her again.”

  “Who?” I gave up the staring contest and leaned back against my seat.

  “No one.”

  “Glendale.” I was losing patience.

  “The Allure.”

  “Which Allure? Daisy?” My heart rate accelerated.

  “No.” Glendale sighed. “If I was talking about your brother’s wife I would have said so.”

  “Brother’s wife is also known as sister-in-law,” Cade interjected. “Just saying.”

  Glendale yawned. “Violet. I believe that’s her name.”

  “You know her name is Violet.” Wyatt took his eyes off the road long enough to frown at Glendale.

  “Fine. Violet. That’s her name. I saw her. So she’s still around.”

  “You saw her where?” I pressed. “Details now.”

  “Pushy, pushy.” He flopped over on the dash. “Ever hear of please?”

  “Glendale.” I gritted my teeth.

  “Fine. I saw her hanging around Angel Oak.”

  “When did you have time to go there?” With everything else going on he’d been out exploring the Charleston, South Carolina area?

  “It only took a minute.”

  “You are up to something.”

  “Of course I’m up to something. It’s called self-preservation.”

  “Is this a trap?” Panic seized me. “Are you trying to hurt us?”

  “I swore to you I’m on your side. What more do you want?” he pointed his toes up toward the roof.

  “Stop being so sketchy.”

  “Sketchy?” he rolled over toward the edge of the dash. “If you want sketchy talk to your dragon.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” I glanced at Wyatt.

  “I mean you don’t know everything.”

  “What don’t I know?” I thought about the earlier part of the conversation. His weird tone about timing not being important.

  “Glendale, I’m warning you.” Wyatt scowled.

  “Do you know what he’s talking about?” I was used to being annoyed with Glendale. Not Wyatt. I really didn’t want to have a reason to be.

  “I’ve told you what I could so far.”

  “So far?” A pain shot into my chest. Is this when everything fell apart? Forget the visions Jesalyn had given me. My head started to swim. On top of everything else I now had to worry about what Wyatt was holding back from me? After he said he was the only one I could trust? In other words, I could now trust no one but myself. The reality hit me like a rock.

  “It’s not as big a deal as he’s making it out to be.” Wyatt gripped the wheel with both hands.

  “Then just tell her.” Cade’s tone was surprisingly serious.

  “It’s not that simple.” Wyatt slowed down and turned onto a smaller road. “We are almost there. Let’s get that key and then we’ll talk. I swear you can trust me. I love you.” He’d never said he loved me publicly before. That should have meant something, but did it?

  Eloise sighed. “Aw, that’s so sweet.”

  “There’s nothing sweet about the current situation.” I slumped down in my chair.

  “Who wants sugar now?” Cade patted my arm.

  “All I want is for this nightmare to end.”

  Wyatt reached out for my hand, but I pulled it away. Things couldn’t get any worse, could they?

  4

  Wyatt

  Hailey was pissed. Really pissed. And there was absolutely nothing I could do. Telling her the whole truth was important. But not as important as getting that key. She could forgive anything I had to tell her. It was all in the past anyway. In the distant past. But failing to save Allie? That she would never ever get over.

  I drove down the alley of oaks that lined the drive to the Laurent’s country estate—more often referred to as Georgina’s house.

  “Are you absolutely positive you can’t get Hunter and Anastasia out?” Eloise asked pulling me from my thoughts. She was asking Glendale of course, but I was curious about his answer also.

  “They aren’t weak. They can hold their own.” Glendale jumped onto the center console. “Stop worrying.”

  “Hold their own against Veronica?” Hailey turned in her seat.

  “Sure. Not to mention she isn’t going to touch them. It’s a trap to lure Hailey in. We just had this conversation. Now you have me wasting my breath. Let’s talk about Georgina more. I hope she’s home. I bet she’ll spoil me with treats.”

  “Didn’t you just say you are afraid to face her alone? Besides, you are a demon. Not a cat. You seemed so keen on reminding us of that.” Hailey was still slumped down in her seat. I wanted to reach out for her again, but she’d made her feelings clear. I’d talk to her and clear the air as soon as I could.

  “And demons shouldn’t have treats?” Glendale sat up tall.

  “Forget I said anything.” Hailey turned to look out the window.

  “No. I don’t think I will.” Glendale returned to Hailey’s lap. “So, Hailey. How have you been? Recovering from the big shock?”

  She laughed dryly. “Big shock? Which one would you be describing? The fact that The Society is under attack? That my best friend is missing? That people want to kill my unborn nephew? That The Society headquarters has been reduced to rubble? Should I keep going?”

  “I suppose I could have been more clear. I mean the big shock that your family members are major players in all this mess.”

  “Big players? Are we still talking about my great aunt?”

  “Oh.” Glendale looked at me. “Wow. Shouldn’t have said anything.”

  “What are you talking about?” She wrung her hands.

  “Glendale. Is there a reason you’re here other than to upset us?” That demon was getting on my last nerve.

  “I already told you. I’m invested in the cause. Let’s find that key.”

  “I haven’t met Georgina before,” Eloise jumped in. “If she is there, anything I should know?”

  “She’s not going to be there.” Hailey’s gaze returned to the window as I slowed the car. I wasn’t quite ready to reach the house yet.

  “What makes you say that with such certainty?” Glendale stretched.

  Hailey turned to Glendale and at the same time me. “Because that would make things too easy, and there is no way she would have stayed out of things.”

  “I agree.” I had to say something. To let her know I was still engaged. I pulled to a stop in front of the grand stairs that led up to the matriarch’s house.

  The house was quiet. There were no visible lights on, but that wasn’t surprising as sunset was still over an hour away.

  “You promise whatever it is you are keeping from me won’t affect what we’re doing right now?” Hailey looked straight into my eyes.

  “I swear it.”

  “Good.” She nodded. “Then let’s go.”

  She opened her door and got out. I turned off the car and followed her up toward the stairs. The others followed close behind, other than Glendale who stayed on Hailey’s other side. He was protective of her. Demons could be very dangerous, but they could also be helpful. Regardless of everything else he had done, I felt his presence was in her best interest, which meant it was in my interest too.

  Hailey stopped on the top step and stared at the door.

  I gave it a moment, and when she didn’t make a move I leaned over. “You should knock. You know in case there is a camera or something. It would be better if it was you.”

  She nodded before lifting the iron knocker and letting it hit the door.

  A bird broke into song somewhere nearby, but there was no response from the house.

  “She’s gone too.” Hailey sighed.

  “Nope. I hear something.” Glendale rubbed against her legs.

  I stepped closer to the door and listened. I hear
d the faint sound of something—maybe fabric rubbing? It was too distant to make it out.

  Hailey must have heard the same thing. She lifted the knocker and let it fall harder this time. “Georgina? You in there?” She kept her eyes on the door. “Maybe I shouldn’t be yelling since we might be being watched, but then again if we’re being watched they already know we’re here, so it doesn’t really matter.”

  “Exactly.” Someone was keeping tabs on us, there was no question. The bigger question was why. What did they want from us they couldn’t gain by bringing us in?

  “What are we going to do if she doesn’t answer?” Eloise looked between Hailey and me. “Knock down the door?”

  “Glendale, can’t you sense things or something?” Hailey turned away from the door. “Can you tell who’s in there?”

  “It’s a human.” Glendale’s tail swished back and forth.

  Hailey nodded. “So probably her.”

  “Probably.” Glendale rubbed against her leg again. It was starting to annoy me.

  “You really won’t go in there?” Hailey bent down to get to his eye level. “Find out if it’s her?”

  “Not until you knock again. The third time is often the charm.”

  Hailey straightened. “Fine.” She knocked again dropping the knocker a third time.

  The door flew open. “What is it?” Georgina’s head came into view. Her face went from angry to concerned when she took in our assembled group.

  Her eyes fixed on Hailey. “Hailey Kay?”

  Hailey nodded. “Hi, Georgina. I am so glad to see you.”

  “What happened? What’s wrong?” She put a hand on Hailey’s arm.

  “You really don’t know?” Hailey’s brow furrowed.

  “Know what?” Georgina took a step out toward the porch. “I’ve been enjoying a week of being completely unplugged. I need a break from everything once in a while. You should try it, Hailey. Quite healing.”

  “So you really have no idea?” Hailey used similar words, but they hit a very different note this time.

  “What don’t I know?” Georgina took both of Hailey’s hands in her. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  Hailey fidgeted. “I’m not entirely sure where to start.”

  “But I can tell you where to end,” Cade jumped in. “Levi and Allie have disappeared into thin air. Along with nearly everyone else.”

  “What?” Georgina pulled a hand from Hailey and put it against her chest. “Is that boy serious?”

  “That boy?” Cade’s eyes widened. “You are addressing the King of—”

  “Yes. I am aware of what my granddaughter-in-law did and the title you got out of the deal. That doesn’t change who you are to me.”

  I managed to swallow back the smile that wanted to come out. Cade needed to be put in his place every once in a while.

  Hailey raised her chin. “We’re here because we need your help.”

  “I’d think you were. Come in.” Georgina held open the door wider. “All of you.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.” Eloise bowed her head slightly as she followed her in.

  “I see you’ve got yourself a Guardian Pixie, have you?” Georgina led the way through the two-story entryway toward a small sitting room at the back of the house.

  “Yes.” Hailey took a seat on a small sofa once Georgina sat down in a high back chair.

  Georgina gestured for everyone else to find a seat. “That should have been your first sign things were going to get rocky.”

  I sat down beside Hailey. Thankfully she didn’t scoot away from me. In fact, her arm rubbed against mine. “Things have been rocky for a while now.”

  Georgina nodded. “I know. And when this is all over we can talk.”

  I met Georgina’s gaze. “I apologize for us barging in like this. We understand your time is valuable, and we have little time of our own. I assure you we are here on an urgent matter.”

  “Is this your Drago?” Georgina smiled in Hailey’s direction.

  “Yes. This is Wyatt. But he made it sound like you’d met before.”

  “And we have.” Georgina crossed her legs at the ankles. “Is he treating you right?”

  “Yes.” Hailey nodded. I searched her face for something more, but it was unreadable. Any thoughts she was having about me had been hidden away.

  “Good.” Georgina leaned forward slightly in her chair. “You are right about my time being valuable.”

  “We are looking for a key.” Hailey jumped right in. “A key to a book.”

  “What kind of book?” Georgina turned her head to the side.

  “It is a book of prophecies. Emerald Flame.” Hailey held up her backpack.

  “Ah.” Georgina leaned back. “I see.”

  “Do you have the key?” Eloise perched on the arm of a chair.

  Georgina gave a disproving stare, and Eloise quickly slipped into the normal seat. “I did have the key.”

  “But you don’t anymore?” Hailey jumped to her feet. She looked down at the floor, seemingly surprised by the motion, as if she’d done it without thinking.

  “No.” Georgina shook her head. “I had it moved for safe keeping.”

  “Moved where?” I could read her thoughts if I really wanted to, but I didn’t. It was an invasion of privacy I had no interest in committing unless it was the only choice.

  “Where did you find the book?” Georgina inclined her head toward the bag on Hailey’s arm. “Do you mind me asking?”

  Hailey visibly swallowed. “In the remains of the hotel.”

  “The hotel?” Georgina shifted in her seat.

  “The Society headquarters.” Hailey looked to me.

  Maybe she was looking to me for comfort, but I took it as being a cue to explain myself. Either way, the faster I did the faster we could be moving forward. “It was my fire, Georgina, but I only did it to protect Hailey and the others.”

  “What fire?” Georgina spoke completely calmly, but the deepening furrows of her forehead and watery eyes told a whole different story.

  “We burned down the Crescent City Hotel trying to save the world.” Cade stretched and leaned back on his joined hands. “I don’t know why that was so hard for you two to say.”

  Georgina’s hand went to her throat. “Is this some sort of joke?”

  “We did tell you Allie and Levi had disappeared.” Hailey returned to her spot beside me.

  “You mean I did.” Cade slumped down in his chair. “The rest of you are worthless.”

  “What happened?” Georgina uncrossed and re-crossed her ankles. “Tell me everything.”

  “We need that key.” There wasn’t much else to say. The important thing was getting into the book.

  “And I may help you get it. Tell me everything.”

  Hailey let out an audible breath. “It all started with my covering for Allie at the conference so she could be at your party. Or well, it started before, the conference was just a way to pull me in.”

  “To pull you into what?”

  “There’s this huge plot going on to destroy The Society.”

  “To destroy far more than just that,” Cade was ever willing to share the bad news.

  Hailey shot Cade an annoyed look. “Fine. Okay. Yes. It’s bigger. It involves demons.”

  “Other than that one?” Georgina glanced in Glendale’s direction.

  “Yes. I don’t mean him.” Hailey pointed at where the demon-cat was currently curled up into a ball. If I didn’t know any better I’d have said he was sleeping. But I knew better. He didn’t sleep. “He’s helping us. He’s not the enemy.”

  As if to prove my mental point, Glendale lifted his head. “Thank you, Hailey. But I would think Georgina knows that. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been invited in.”

  “I assumed they knew what they were doing by associating with you. Besides, you could have breached my walls whether I wanted you to or not.”

  “Very true.” Glendale stretched, his sharp teeth coming on full display as he
did it. “Randolph Is involved.”

  “I see.” Georgina nodded. “And how did this all lead to the fire? Was the disappearance first?”

  “You are taking this so well.” Eloise looked tiny sitting in the tall chair.

  Georgina rested her hands in her lap. “I have seen a lot in my years. We will make it through this as well. Staying calm is the best weapon we have.”

  “I agree.” Eloise braided her long hair. “Wise words.”

  “No one was in headquarters when we arrived—and we arrived separately, which is another story. The lack of guards should have been a tip-off that things were wrong, but then I found this guy who I think killed my great aunt,” Hailey explained.

  “Rose?” Georgina’s voice lilted ever so slightly as she asked the question.

  “You knew her?”

  “Of course.” Georgina smiled. “But that is a story for another day.”

  “Of course.” Cade smirked. “Of course you’d know everyone.”

  Georgina’s face turned stern. “Your family knew her too, Cade. Don’t pretend you aren’t part of this as well.”

  “I wonder if you know the man too. He was a Pteron. But he also had other powers. Some sort of magic.” Hailey rested her elbows on her knees. “I wanted to follow him, but I was too late.”

  “There are more hybrids out there than we thought.” Georgina looked down at her lap. “And we only have ourselves to blame for that. By ourselves, I don’t include those from your generation, Hailey. You’ve barely even had a chance to make changes yet. But all that aside, could you tell me more about the fire?” Georgina looked over at Hailey then at me.

  Hailey nodded. “There were shadows everywhere. The guy was going to kill me.”

  Georgina leaned back in her chair. “I see.”

  I waited for her to say more. She said nothing. “I’m sorry for my role in the destruction, but I would do the same thing again to save her.”

  “I would hope you would!” Georgina jumped to her feet. “Do you think I am so callous as to mourn the destruction of a building over the lives of people? Some of which are quite close to me?”

  I said nothing. I was struck into stunned silence.

  “Sometimes I wonder if I have taken my hard façade too far. Have I been so concerned with being viewed as strong that I let the rest of the world believe that was all that I was? But that is a thought for another day. May I see the book?”