Lust (15 page)

shared my impatience.

“I’ll take you,” Adrian offered. “I

need to go that way anyway.”

“I’m coming too.” Both girls said

at once.

“Or you could just tell us the

general direction.” The sooner we

ditched these Dryads the better as

far as I was concerned, and it

wasn’t only because of Donna. I

didn’t trust any of them. I didn’t

trust anyone but Owen anymore.

Mayanne had been so insistent I

trust Violet. Look at how far that

got us. What if the paste she gave

me had been fake? Maybe it had

only been an attempt to slow me

down.

I sighed. I couldn’t afford to

follow that train of thought. I

needed to find information on

Taylor and somehow use that to

gain an audience with the Elders.

Whether her fault or not, Violet

wasn’t with us. Owen and I were on

our own.

“You’ll never find it alone.”

Adrian rolled up the sleeves of his

green tunic.

“You want to see Panna. She

doesn’t want to see you.” Sky

grinned.

Adrian huffed. “Panna has

nothing to do with it.”

“No? You just happen to want

an excuse to go into the Allure

village?” Sky ribbed.

I caught Owen’s eye. Was it

time we cut our losses and

searched for it ourselves? “Allure

village? There is actually a place

called the Allure Village?”

“Did you think they lived with

the rest of us?” Donna shook her

head.

Sky touched Donna’s arm and

something silent passed between

them. “The Allures are kind of in

charge here.”

“Hasn’t Roland told you

anything?” Adrian asked.

“No. He’s told me nothing.” He

hadn’t, but then again it wasn’t his

job. It was no one’s job because I

didn’t have a maker.

“And Violet didn’t either?” he

asked.

“She was supposed to, and then

we got separated.” Or ditched. I

still didn’t know which one it was.

He nodded, as if in

understanding. “We could take you

to her house too.”

“Yes. She actually said she

wanted us to go there.”

“Great. Let’s go then.” Sky

grinned. “You’ll find both in the

village.”

“Good.” Owen retracted his

wings. “What direction are we going

in?”

“This way.” Sky started skipping

across the glade.

11

DAISY

Iwanted to laugh. I needed to

laugh as I watched this tiny pixie of

a girl frolicking across the meadow,

but I couldn’t. They may have been

little, but something told me they

weren’t the kind of creatures you

wanted to anger. I guess you never

wanted to make any creatures mad.

Life was so much simpler when I

only knew about humans. But it

was all worth it. I looked over at

Owen. It was all worth it because

I’d met him.

We’d been keeping our hands to

ourselves, I figured letting the

Dryads know we were involved

wasn’t a good thing. I was

beginning to understand Allures

didn’t get involved with anyone

else. The whole not being able to

feel emotion thing probably played

a huge role in that.

Sky led the way through the lush

meadow. Every so often a bird

swooped through the sky near us,

but otherwise it was quiet enough I

could hear the wind move through

the grass. Well, aside from Donna

talking. We walked for at least a

mile before we reached another

forest.

“I have always wanted to fly.

You are incredibly lucky.” Donna

prattled on to Owen. She’d been

chatting him up the whole walk.

“Flight is great, but I’m sure

being a Dryad has its benefits.”

Owen glanced up at the red moon.

I’d been doing the same thing

myself. It was a reminder we were

far from home.

I took a few deep breaths, Owen

was only being polite. He wasn’t

flirting. I’d never been a jealous

person before, but now I couldn’t

even hold myself together. I

needed to calm down before I got

us into even more trouble than we

were already. An Allure wasn’t

supposed to be in love.

“Ignore her.” Sky fell back to

walk next to me. “She’s just

excited.”

“I was making sure she didn’t

distract him from his job.”

“His job of protecting you?” She

leaned in. “You don’t need

protection here.”

“I thought I was going to be in

trouble. I think I do need

protection.”

“His kind of protection isn’t

going to help you with the Force. It

could only hurt.”

“But I want him here anyway.”

“Listen, you are still human sort

of?” Her eyes were kind.

“Yes.”

“Then do the right thing.”

“Which is?” I didn’t actually want

to hear the answer because I was

afraid of what it would be.

“Send him back home. Give him

a chance.”

“He has a chance here. We’re

both going home.” I clenched my

fists together at my side. From

jealousy to anger. My emotions

were boiling up and mixing together

in a somewhat painful way.

“You already know you want to

leave the Glamour Realm? You

want to live with the humans?”

“I’m from the human world.”

“So? It’s not like you are going

to care about anyone there

anymore.” Her words weren’t cruel,

they were purely a statement of

fact, but they clawed at me in a

way that made my emotions more

confusing.

She was wrong. That couldn’t be

possible. Mom. Her face flashed

through my head again. I’d been so

focused on my feelings for Owen I

hadn’t been thinking about

everyone else in my life. No way. I

wasn’t losing that feeling of warmth

that coursed through me every time

I pictured my mother’s face or her

voice. Or the way my father could

crack me up, or my brother could

simultaneously annoy me yet make

everything so much more fun. “I’m

going back.”

“You can say what you want to

say now. You won’t be saying it

soon.”

“How did you know I was

Allure?” The Pterons didn’t know, so

it wasn’t obvious to all paranormal

creatures. But maybe that was

because most of them hadn’t met

an Allure before.

“It’s obvious. True nature types

can always tell.” She clasped her

hands in front of her.

“Is an Allure a nature type?”

Violet hadn’t told me anything

about what an Allure was, only

what they did.

“No. They are a type all of their

own. Well, you are. I shouldn’t talk

as though you aren’t one of them.”

She straightened up. “They are not

tied to the land or anything in

nature.”

I wasn’t one, and I wouldn’t be I

reminded myself so I wouldn’t fall

to the floor in despair. The

possibility of stopping the change

was the only thing that kept me

moving. “But they live in your

realm.”

“They predate all of us,” Sky

puffed out her chest.

“Oh.” I glanced over at Owen.

He was still deep in conversation

with Donna. Perfect.

“And the Allures all descend

directly from the gods.” She picked

up her pace.

I hurried to keep up. “People

keep saying that, but I don’t

understand.”

“I’m not the one to explain it.”

“Great. Another question to wait

for an answer to. ” My shoulders

slumped.

Out of the corner of my eye I

watched her studying me. “Did you

know what you were agreeing to

when you accepted the gift? Did

you consider what you would lose?”

I shook my head without

thinking.

“That’s a capital crime.”

“What is?”

“Changing someone without

giving proper information.”

“But I wasn’t changed. Well, not

in the way you’re supposed to be.” I

couldn’t keep up the ruse anymore.

I was going to get everyone hurt. A

capital crime? Roland didn’t deserve

that.

“Wait. Before Owen interrupted

you were talking about a witch.

What did you mean?”

So she had picked up on that.

“Forget it. Just know Roland did

nothing wrong.”

“You are lying about

everything.”

I looked down. “I don’t know

what’s true anymore.”

“If you don’t level with me, I

can’t help.”

“I don’t know you.”

“You do.” She stopped in her

tracks. “I’m Sky.”

Clearly I’d offended her.

“Knowing your name doesn’t mean

I know you.”

“Except it does. Our names

define us.” She glanced up at the

red moon.

“For Dryads?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“But I’m an outsider. I can’t see

the meaning the way you can.”

“Roland didn’t change you.”

I glanced back at Owen again.

And then at Adrian. No one was

listening. “No. I was given a potion

in the form of a paste.”

“A paste?”

“Yeah… from a witch I met in

New Orleans. I thought it was a

joke, but well, it wasn’t.” I looked

down at my body as though there

was a physical manifestation of a

change.

“Were you really with Violet and

Hugh?”

“Yes. They were supposed to be

helping me.”

“Helping you with what?”

I debated. I’d already spilled lots

of the beans. “To stop the change.

They said seeking an audience with

the Elders was the only chance I

had.”

“That’s impossible,” she hissed

as we continued across the

meadow. “If she said it was

possible, she lied.”

“I have to believe her. The other

option is something I can’t accept.”

“The Elders aren’t going to help.

The Allure numbers are dwindling.

Very few humans can accept the

gift anymore.”

“I don’t want to accept it.”

“You love him?” She looked at

Owen.

I nodded. I loved him more than

I believed possible, and it only got

stronger each day.

“Always a complication.” She

waved her arm around.

“It’s more than a complication.”

“I don’t know why Violet got

your hopes up. There is nothing you

can do.”

“I refuse to believe that. There

is always something.” I clung to

confidence I didn’t know I had. I

couldn’t lose Owen after all this.

“I hope you keep this

personality.” She looked off into the

distance.

“Keep it?”

“Yes. If you try really hard you

can hold onto it.”

“Changing takes away your

personality?”

“Not at first, but as the years go

on. It’s the nature of things.”

“How old are you?” I’d learned

that someone’s appearance said

nothing about their true age.

“Older than I look. Although I’m

not immortal. Only Allures and one

other creature have that gift.”

“You should call it a curse.” A

gift was supposed to be a good

thing. I was curious about the other

creature, but I didn’t ask.

“Most gifts are also curses.”

I sighed. “I wish I knew Violet’s

plan.”

“Not to make things worse, but

what if this was her plan?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. What if

the plan was to drop you here?

Bring you home, so to speak, while

you wait things out.”

“She wouldn’t.” I shook my

head. I’d considered the same thing

myself, but that didn’t mean I was

ready to admit it out loud.

“How well do you know Violet?”

Sky glanced back at the others and

then back at me.

“I know her.” I didn’t. Not really.

She’d told me almost nothing about

herself, and the only hint of her

past I had was from Lonnie’s story

about an old ball. That wasn’t much

to go off.

“Violet is one of the oldest

Allures I’ve ever met. She’s not the

type to come up with crazy

schemes to help someone.”

“She has a plan.” The question

was did the plan involve saving me

from the Allure fate? I pushed away

my doubts. The alternative was

that I gave up everything. Violet

had a plan to get the Elders to help

me. I needed to figure out what it

was so I could execute it myself.

“We’ll be there soon,” Adrian

called up to us. Owen and Donna

had fallen behind. I looked back

and caught his eye. He gave me a

slight smile.

I forced a smile back even

though I didn’t want to give one. I

was feeling frustrated, terrified, and

annoyed that he was talking to that

Dryad so much. I’m not doing this

for Owen I reminded myself. I’m

doing this for me.

“Here we are.” Sky gestured in

front of her. “The Allure Village.”