“She’s got the beauty too.” Sol pointed a thumb at Hailey.
“Ugh.” Hailey shuddered. “I have no interest in being a soulless being.”
“Allures have souls,” Sol argued. “Besides, do you want to offend your friend?”
“She doesn’t want to be one either.” Hailey looked over. “Right?”
“Obviously not.” Still, I didn’t like to hear her say Allures had no soul. What did that mean for me if we failed? I wouldn’t fail. I couldn’t.
There was a rustling of leaves—the first physical suggestion we weren’t alone. Hailey and I both turned toward where we heard the leaves. Not surprisingly, it was in the same direction Glendale had suggested. I wasn’t sure how the cat could tell, but he’d been right.
“Stay behind me at all times. If I move, you move. Got it?” Hailey moved in front of me.
“I’m not going to let you get hurt for me.” I stepped to the side of her. I was done allowing that to happen. It was time to fight my own battles.
“Yes, you are.” Hailey edged in front of me again. “We discussed this. My brother loves you. I will protect you.”
“But your brother loves you.” And that love was just as important. Her life was just as important. “And I’m not human. You can’t use that excuse either.”
“Fine, then I’ll use my authority with The Society. Levi put you under Society protection. That gives me the power to tell you what to do.” She stepped in front of me again.
“No it doesn’t.” I moved around her again. “It means you can help protect me, not that I have to listen to you.”
“Whatever. I’m not letting you die or get into their hands. If these crazies are right, letting you get into their hands is going to be a mess for all of us.”
“We’re not crazy. It will be a big mess.” Glendale spoke from right beside me. I hadn’t noticed him move over.
“You really have no idea who we’re facing?” I asked, hoping he’d suddenly share more information.
“I know now.” Glendale rubbed against my leg.
“Then tell us!” For the first time I felt my temper ready to blow. A real emotion that wasn’t tied to Owen. Hopefully that was a good sign.
“It is someone I can handle on my own.” He slipped passed us.
“Uh, you’re a cat.” Hailey gritted her teeth. “Who can you take on your own?”
“Be patient. Very patient.” Glendale slipped passed us toward the woods.
“Who is it, Sol?” I hoped that he would give us a straight answer.
“I don’t know.” He stared off into the woods. “But if Glendale says he can take them, we’re fine.”
“You trust his word that much?” Hailey asked with surprise.
“He’s a coward most of the time. If he thought his hide was in trouble he’d be off hiding. If he’s playing the hero, it’s because he knows he’ll be successful.”
“I am no coward.” Glendale hissed. “Watch and learn.”
As if on cue the rustling grew louder. I fixed my eyes on the woods, waiting for something to appear.
I saw nothing. Hailey and I exchanged looks momentarily before we returned to watching.
“What are you doing here?” Glendale spoke.
“You know why we’re here.” Hailey huffed.
“That’s not a good enough reason.” Glendale pressed.
“Shut up, cat,” Hailey snapped.
“I’m not talking to you.” Glendale called back before starting further into the woods.
“We don’t need your help. You should leave.” His tail switched behind him as he disappeared into the woods.
“A boy? Which boy?” He continued his conversation once he was out of sight.
Had Glendale completely lost his mind?
Sol put a hand on my shoulder, and I interpreted the touch to mean I should wait and see.
“Very well.” Glendale came back into the clearing. “Do you know a boy that goes by the name of Andrew?”
“Andrew?” I startled. I hadn’t thought about my online friend in weeks. “Allie’s step-brother?”
“You know Andrew?” Hailey raised an eyebrow. “How?”
“It’s a long story, but the short version is we met over our obsession with finding the paranormal.”
“Finding the paranormal?” Hailey shook her head. “Why would Andrew care about that? He hasn’t figured us out yet.”
Since I knew the real reason for his interest was Hailey, and I tried my best to keep people’s secrets even if I didn’t particularly care anymore, I didn’t say much. “He’s figured out Allie’s new friends are different.”
“Ok. Anyway, why are you asking Daisy about him?” Hailey looked at Glendale.
“Our visitor claims Andrew knows how to help us.” Glendale inclined his head to the side as if someone were standing there.
“What could Andrew possibly help us with?” Hailey scrunched up her face “He’s just a nerdy guy.”
“Would you like to talk to our visitor yourself?” Glendale asked.
“I don’t see anyone.” No reason to pretend. I saw nothing.
“That’s the point. You can only see him when he wants to be seen.”
“Yet you can see him?” I squinted toward the spot Glendale had made a gesture to. “And hear him?”
“Yes. It’s one of my many abilities.” Glendale raised his head proudly.
“Seeing people who aren’t really there?” Hailey stepped forward. “Because there’s no one here.”
“Ow.” She stepped back. “What the heck?”
There was a shimmer and suddenly there was a man standing right in front of Hailey. “Are you all right?”
I stared at the man standing there in jeans and a t-shirt. I recognized him as though from a dream. It had been so long. “Harold?” He was the reason I saw Kalisa. He was the reason I ended up with Seduction’s Kiss.
Harold bowed his head slightly in greeting. “Hello, Daisy. It has been a long time.”
“What?” I stumbled forward. “Why? How? I hate you.” The words tumbled out in a tangle of sounds.
“Hate me?” Harold put a hand to his chest. “That’s a strong word.”
“You are the reason I’m in this mess. You sent me to her. You sent me to Kalisa.” I wanted to muster more anger, but I couldn’t.
“I was only doing my job. I never intended for an innocent to get hurt.” His eyes appeared genuine, but doing a job didn’t excuse putting me in such danger.
“Your job? A photographer doesn’t send people to become a supernatural creature.”
“You know he’s not really a photographer, right?” Glendale settled in the grass beside me. “You’re young, but you’re not stupid. You’ve never seemed stupid.”
“Yes. I mean obviously he’s not human. He appeared here and was invisible and inaudible at first, but what job?”
“It was the job I was summoned for. I have no choice over the assignments I am given.”
“What job?” He was nearly as bad as Glendale in giving straight answers.
“Finding someone who could handle the potion.”
“You sat in that store waiting?” That seemed quite extreme. If finding someone pre-destined to be able to handle being an Allure was as rare as everyone made it sound, he could have been waiting years.
“No. No. Don’t you know what I am?” He narrowed his eyes. “I would have thought by now you would have received a thorough education on all creatures.”
“Someone who can make themselves invisible and silent?” That was all I’d seen so far. “And unfortunately I must have missed the Creatures 101 class that is supposed to be given to Allures.”
“I’m a Grantor.” Harold held up his head proudly in much the same way Glendale had. If the situation had been less intense and dire I may have laughed at noticing the similarity.
“You can’t be serious.” Hailey groaned. “This is too much. Next thing you know a Boogieman is going to walk in here.”
>
“I know a few of those. Do you want me to invite one to meet us?” Glendale made his cat-laugh again, and I wondered if he were joking.
“No!” Hailey snapped. “I want to go back to a time before all this creatures suddenly showed themselves. I liked it better that way.”
Harold laughed. “I’m sure you did. Believing you were on top of the world.”
“Pterons are strong.” Hailey tensed.
“I do not doubt your strength, but your abilities are limited to that and flight. Wouldn’t you rather have more abilities?” Harold’s eyes were larger now and seemed to twinkle.
“I’m not taking anything from you if that’s what you’re offering.” Hailey crossed her arms. “I already see how well that worked out for Daisy.”
“Daisy should have been fine—great even. I thought she was the right one.” He turned his attention to me.
“The right one for what?” I was getting tired of all these implications without answers. “Who are you, how did you show up at that store, and why did you send me to Kalisa? And if I wasn’t the right person, who was? What was the goal?”
“That’s a lot of questions.” Harold rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know where to start first.”
“Start with what you are.”
“If a Grantor is what I think it is, he is a genie of sorts,” Hailey explained.
“A genie? Like he lives in a bottle?” I tried picturing Harold small enough to do that.
Harold laughed. “I’ve never lived in a bottle. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Then what do you mean?” I was beyond caring if I sounded stupid. Those emotions are a complete waste of time.
“If someone captures him they can make him do their bidding. He has no choice but to do it, and because of that he automatically gets the abilities to do it. At least that’s the story. Of course I never believed that was possible because, well, that’s insane.” Hailey watched Harold warily.
“It’s not insane. Not anymore than we’re crazy.” Glendale sat up. “You’ve been brainwashed into forgetting how much magic and power exists in the world. Your rulers tried to convince the masses you were alone—of course you weren’t. Most of us have chosen superior realms to live in, but we’ve never left. No gate is strong enough to keep us out. No magic powerful enough to bind us.”
“Who sent you?” A chill ran through me. “If you’re really a Grantor, then you’re probably here on a job. Someone captured you.”
“Yes.” Harold nodded. “You’re starting to understand.”
“Who?” I glared at Glendale. “And you didn’t let us attack him?”
“I already told you who he’s working for.” Glendale’s tail flipped to the ground and back up again.
“Andrew?” Hailey laughed. “Like he could catch a Grantor.”
“Why not?” Glendale continued flipping his tail. It made a sound each time it made contact with the grass beneath him. “What would preclude him from doing it?”
“He’d have to know about a Grantor.”
“And he did.” Harold nodded.
“All his research… he did it for himself and to help me.” I’d forgotten about him so easily. That didn’t speak highly for me. I wanted to blame it on everything I’d been through, but it wasn’t like the girl I was before. I didn’t forget about friends. I was determined to find myself again.
“I admit he found me in a compromised position. It made it easier. But he is currently my master.” Harold shifted his weight from foot to foot.
“And he told you to find me?” Now that I’d accepted Harold was a Grantor, I decided to go with it and get some answers. “And so you were given the ability to do it.”
“Yes. He was worried about you. He was also worried about her.” Harold nodded toward Hailey.
“About me?” Hailey put a hand to her chest. “Are you serious?”
“Why do you find that surprising?” Glendale rubbed against her leg. “Are you unused to people caring about you?”
Hailey scowled. “What I’m used to has nothing to do with this. The real question was how the kid caught, Harold did you say?”
“Harold is a fine name to use.” Harold grinned. “It’s catchy.”
“Fine. I’m calling you Harold then. Does Andrew know what’s going on? Does he know how to help us?”
“That’s for him to explain.” Harold held his hands up to the sides.
“Well, we aren’t going anywhere with you unless we know.” Hailey stamped her foot down into the grass.
“Then I can bring him here, but as my arrival means this plane is no longer secret, I wouldn’t stay here too long if I were you. I’m likely to have been followed.”
Hailey groaned. “I hope Andrew can help. Otherwise he just screwed with us for no reason.”
I turned to Sol. “You’re the one who wanted us here. What do you think?”
“I think Harold is right that it isn’t safe to stay.”
“What was your plan?” I asked. “I mean you brought us here for a reason. You say you can use my power to help us… what does that mean?”
Sol nodded. “Let’s find this Andrew. After that I’ll lay some of my cards on the table.”
“Only some?” Hailey narrowed her eyes.
“I try to be honest. I wasn’t going to lie and say them all.”
“That’s good because we’re not laying all of our cards on the table either.” Hailey’s lips twisted into a tiny hint of a smile.
“Ok then. Shall I get us out of here?” Glendale stood up and stretched again.
“Yes, but try not to kill us.” Hailey grabbed hold of my arm, and I didn’t complain. I wasn’t looking forward to another one of Glendale’s transports.
16
Owen
Adrian knew nothing. Absolutely nothing. The idiot had let the girls walk out without stopping them. Without asking any of the right questions. He should have called Levi. He should have told them to wait. Instead Daisy was out there somewhere, and I now understood the feeling in the pit of my stomach. She was in danger. I’d left her, and that had been a mistake. I was pissed at the guard, but it was really my fault.
“I’m sorry.” Jared apologized. I could count on one hand how many times he’d said that within my hearing.
“Why are you apologizing exactly?” He wasn’t the idiot who’d let them walk out. Or left Daisy. I could have let Levi and Jared do it on their own.
“I am responsible for all security here. I should have known Adrian was an idiot.” Jared looked down at the ground. “And I know you’re beating yourself up about this. Stop.” He looked at me. “You needed to see the Dragos. You couldn’t have sat back and left that conversation to us.”
“It doesn’t matter whose fault it is.” Levi’s eyes were nearly black. “What matters is finding the girls, and finding them soon. I’m just as much to blame as either of you and yet I’m not here bitching. I don’t want to hear another word about fault.”
“We will find them.” Jared’s usually confident expression returned. “I promise.”
“They are going to be fine.” Levi sounded like he was trying to convince himself. “We just need to figure out where they could have gone.”
“Did they take Allie’s car?” Jared asked. He pulled out his cell phone.
“Maybe, but we don’t have a GPS tracker on it anymore. Remember?” Levi put a hand in the pocket of his pants.
Jared looked away guiltily. “Yes we do. I also have one on yours.”
“You have a tracker on my car?” Levi’s mouth fell open. “You have to be kidding me.”
“You are the king and queen. I run security. What was I supposed to do?” Jared shrugged. “It’s not like I’m always tracking you. I have the ability to track you. And right now this might actually be helpful.”
“What if the program fell into the wrong hands?”
“It’s encrypted. Owen and I are the only ones with access.”
“I have nothing to do
with this.” I shook my head.
“It’s in your account under emergency access. Not that you’d bother to ever check something that important.” He frowned.
“I know now.”
“We’re taking it off my car later.” Levi’s expression left little room for debate.
“We can argue about this later, but Jared’s right. At the moment the tracking ability can be a very good thing. Do we think they took Allie’s car?”
“We don’t know that they took it, but it’s worth a shot.” Levi fidgeted.
“I had one on Hailey’s car too.” Jared locked eyes with mine. “Just so we have full disclosure.”
“You don’t have one on mine.” I wasn’t asking a question. Jared didn’t really care about what happened to me.
“Nope. Hope you aren’t too disappointed to hear that.”
“No, not in the slightest, but what do you mean had one?” The tense of the word hadn’t been lost on me.
“I mean she found it and got rid of it.” Jared smiled. “Your sister is observant.”
“As compared to me evidently.” Levi shook his head. “I’m surprised you’re alive to talk about it if Hailey found out.” Levi messed with his phone again. “But I don’t care right now. Find the car.”
Jared typed something in his phone. “It’s already loading.”
“Good.” Levi appeared just as impatient as I was, and no one could blame him.
Jared glanced at his screen. “Well Allie’s car is on I-10 east of here. Do we assume they took hers and head that way? Split up and search here as well?”
“Why else would her car be there?” Levi asked. “Are you thinking decoy?”
“Possibly, but that’s if we assume they didn’t leave willingly. That’s a huge assumption to make based on the information we have.”
“Is the car moving?” Part of me was afraid to find out. If it was stopped it probably wasn’t a good thing.
“No.” Jared turned the screen so we could see it. “But that might not mean anything. They could have stopped for many reasons.”
“On the side of I-10 at this hour?” Levi raised an eyebrow. “Have our men search the city for them while we head to her car. We stay together. My gut is they took the car, and we’re going to have to follow the trail from there.” What he didn’t say was the trail likely wasn’t going to lead anywhere good.
Love (The Allure Chronicles Book 4) Page 12
