Lust (13 page)

a tall chain-link fence. Large signs

spelled out the hours for the park.

We were clearly outside of them.

We got out slowly. We were all

in a hurry, yet not. Although we

were in a rush to find answers for

Daisy, the journey didn’t seem

particularly enjoyable.

“We’re not supposed to take you

through this way.” Violet spoke

calmly.

“But you’re going to anyway.”

Daisy closed her eyes.

“Yes. I really don’t care about

the rules anymore.”

“Please tell me you’re not on a

suicide mission.” That thought had

already occurred to me, but I really

hoped it wasn’t real.

“No. Not a suicide mission.”

“It’s closed right now, huh? You

guys like breaking into places when

they are closed.” Daisy looked all

around her.

“We aren’t breaking in here. It’s

ours. We just can’t use it when

tourists are around.” Violet

hesitated with her hand on the door

handle.

“Gotcha.”

“Please tell me you’re going to

return this car.” Daisy made no

motion to move once Hugh parked.

“Why are you always so

concerned with people getting their

cars back?” Hugh studied her.

“Because people pay hard

earned money for their cars,” she

answered immediately. I knew it

was for the same reason she cared

so much about upsetting Allie. She

had a guilt complex. I knew the

feeling. I’d occasionally suffered

from one myself.

“It’s just an item.” Hugh pushed

the door open. “All items can be

replaced.”

“Only if you have the money to

replace them.”

“But they can be replaced.” He

got out and went right over to the

chain-link fence. He effortlessly

scaled the fence and landed on the

other side.

Violet got out to follow, but then

leaned back in. “What he’s trying to

say is that you should worry less

about people’s things and more

about people.”

“But you guys mess with people

too.” Daisy got out and slammed

her door. I hurried out through my

side.

“We don’t hurt them.”

“Of course you do!” She threw

up her hands. I didn’t immediately

move to calm her down. She had

every right to say her piece. “You

hurt people by getting them in

trouble with the people they care

about, by taking things from them,

by making them feel or think things

that aren’t really their thoughts or

feelings. That hurts them.”

Violet pressed her lips together.

“We do what we have to do in order

to survive. That’s all we can do.”

“There has to be another way.”

She walked toward the fence.

“We’ll see what tune you are

singing—”

“Enough!” Violet glared at Hugh

through the chain link. “We need to

move. No more arguing.”

“I’ll second that.” I’d held back

so Daisy wouldn’t feel like I was

trying to get involved in all her

fights, but arguing about whether

Allures hurt people or not would do

absolutely nothing in the effort to

keep her human.

“Agreed.” Daisy touched the

fence. “Do we really have to climb a

chain-link fence again?”

“You did fine with it last time,

what’s the problem?” Violet scaled

the fence.

“I’m glad I changed into pants.”

Hugh laughed. “Think a dress

would get in your way?”

She didn’t answer. “Let’s get this

over with.” She climbed up and

over.

Violet was right. Daisy had no

trouble scaling the fence. I followed

closely behind, choosing not to use

my wings in case there were

security cameras. It would be easier

to get our faces deleted from the

footage than to explain a giant set

of wings.

I joined Daisy inside the fence

and walked with her toward the

giant oak tree.

She gazed up at it. “Beautiful.”

The tall tree was beautiful. Its

most striking feature were its low

branches that stretched out in every

direction and seemed to go on

forever. There was something

surreal about the tree.

“It’s been here for over four

hundred years.” Violet stood right

next to it. “It’s grown a lot, but it’s

still the same tree.”

“Were you around when it was

planted?” I asked.

“Didn’t you hear Georgina?”

Violet wagged her finger in the air.

“You never ask a woman’s age.”

Hugh laughed. “I don’t know

why you are so hesitant to tell them

your story, Violet. It’s a good one.”

“Why don’t you tell them yours,

huh, Hugh? If telling stories is of so

little consequence.”

He paled. “My story isn’t nearly

as interesting as yours.”

“What’s Roland’s?” Daisy asked.

“It’s his to tell.” Violet touched

one of the low hanging branches.

“This is the part that is going to

make you nauseous.”

“Touching the tree?”

“Traveling through it.”

“We’re really traveling through a

tree?” Daisy’s eyes widened. “You

have got to be kidding me.”

“With everything else going on,

it’s the tree travel you can’t

accept?”

“I can accept it in theory. I just

can’t believe we’re going to do it.”

“You are both going to have to

close your eyes.” Hugh put his

hands behind his head. I couldn’t

tell if he was stretching or flexing

his muscles.

I ignored his display. “Why?”

“Because tree travel isn’t for

humans or Pterons. It’s meant only

for us.”

“And I’m practically an Allure.”

Daisy put a hand on her hip.

“But practically doesn’t mean

anything. You’re still human.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ll close

my eyes, but this had better not be

a joke where you pretend we’ve

been transported someplace but in

reality we haven’t moved at all.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that.”

Violet strode toward the tree. “I

guarantee you’re going to feel it.”

“Why?” Daisy asked with alarm.

“Does it make you sick?”

“Slightly.”

“Really?” I wanted to make sure

she wasn’t messing with Daisy.

“Why are you surprised?” Violet

watched me with curiosity. She

seemed to like to study our

responses.

“I’m surprised you’d subject

yourself to something unpleasant.

You can avoid anything you don’t

like.”

She gently touched the trunk of

the tree. “It’s one of the only way

to get back home.”

“When we close our eyes, what

happens?” Daisy slipped her hand

into mine.

“We touch the tree and touch

you guys. We all travel.”

“How do I know you won’t leave

me behind?” She’d been almost too

willing to bring me along with them.

It made me suspicious.

“Because you’re holding hands.

She’s not going anywhere without

you.”

“So you say.”

“At this point, you are going to

have to take our word for it.”

“I’m tired of people saying

things like that.” I was used to

being in control.

“Join the club.” Daisy leaned

into my side.

Violet glanced up at the dark

sky. “We need to do this.”

“Fine.” Daisy shut her eyes.

“We’re ready.”

I closed my eyes and felt the

ground begin to shake underneath

us. I held onto Daisy’s hand as

tightly as I could. I tried to open my

eyes, but I couldn’t. It was as

though gravity was pushing down

on us at ten times the usual force.

My body felt inside out, my ears,

nose, mouth, and eyes burned, and

I needed it to be over. The shaking

died down, and it was replaced by

the sudden sensation of falling. I

felt sick to my stomach, and I

worried about Daisy. She’d been

sick even before this experience.

Before I could fully process it,

our bodies made contact with the

ground.

“Ouch!” Daisy cried.

“You okay?” I opened my eyes

to find her sprawled out next to me.

I still held her hand in mine.

“Is it over?” She blinked rapidly,

still lying down.

I sat up. We were on a sandy

beach lying underneath a palm

tree. I had no way to know how far

away we were from Angel Oak.

“Violet?” I called out. A

seemingly endless mass of dark

blue water stood on one side of us,

while a thick jungle stood behind.

“Where are they?” Daisy sat up,

and I helped her to standing.

“I don’t know.” This was great.

Fantastic. They’d transported us to

some unknown place and dumped

us.

“Where did they go?” She

glanced around. “There’s no way

they ditched us.”

“Right now it looks like they

did.” I wanted to be positive for

her, but realism was more likely to

help us out of our current situation.

“First things first. We have to figure

out where we are.”

“You make that sound easy.”

She dusted off her pants.

“We may only be a few miles

away from where we started. Violet

might have been making the whole

transporting to another realm stuff

up.” We’d definitely moved though.

We were on a beach and not one I

recognized.

“Do you really believe that?”

Daisy gazed out at the dark water.

“This doesn’t look like the

Charleston beaches I remember,

and look at that.” She pointed up at

the sky.

“It’s the most logical answer.” I

followed Daisy’s gaze and noticed

an odd glowing red ball of light set

in the darkening sky.

“What is that?” She pointed.

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

“Do we wait here or start

exploring?”

I needed to come up with a plan

and fast. Daisy was relying on me.

I’d put my trust in the hands of the

wrong people, and now we were

wasting time. Maybe that was

Violet’s plan all along. She wanted

to distract us so we couldn’t stop

the change in time.

Before I could formulate

anything useful I heard something

moving in the jungle behind us. I

grabbed hold of Daisy’s hand.

“You heard that too?” she asked

nervously.

I nodded. “Unfortunately, I did.”

“Maybe it’s just a squirrel.”

“Could be.” I doubted it. I had

great senses. I always knew what

was going on around me, but I

couldn’t place it this time. I didn’t

recognize what it was. Something

was messing with me. Nothing felt

normal, I was turned around.

The shuffling got louder, and it

was joined by loud laughter. It was

cackling that started in one spot,

but then it continued all around us.

We were surrounded.

“What’s going on?” Daisy

trembled beside me. “Is this a joke

or something?”

I turned so my back faced away

from Daisy, but I held on to her

hand. I transformed, allowing my

large black wings to rip through my

t-shirt.

I felt the familiar surge of

strength as I fully transformed. I

could handle anything that came

our way. I’d protect Daisy no matter

what happened.

“Look, we made him mad,” a

tiny voice called out. “He has his

wings out.”

“And his eyes are black.”

I hadn’t realized how complete

my transformation was. I needed to

hold onto my human side

somewhat with Daisy close by.

A petite girl with a pale

complexion and wild red hair

walked into the clearing. She held

her hands out in front of her. “We

won’t hurt you.”

“Where are we?” I tried to stay

calm, but my Pteron side was in full

attack mode. If it weren’t for the

girl’s small size it would have been

worse. I was nearly certain she was

some sort of Dryad, and they

weren’t known to be violent, but I

wasn’t willing to put my guard

down.

The laughter grew louder.

“Hello. Could you stop laughing

and tell us what’s going on?” Daisy

sounded so calm and collected. I

was impressed.

The laughing stopped, and at

least a dozen people walked out of

the woods from around us. They

were all dressed in green tunics and

brown pants. Although their skin

tones varied, each one of them had

the same shock of red hair that fell

around them in wild waves. The

Dryads I knew weren’t all quite so

wild looking, but that’s what they

had to be.

Daisy cleared her throat. “Uh hi.

We’re lost and are looking for some

friends.”

“You are an Allure?” One of the

girls walked toward Daisy. “I

haven’t seen a new one in years.”

“No. I’m hum—” Then she

seemed to think better of it. “Do