Seduction's Kiss (The Allure Chronicles) (11 page)

The friend looked at
me. “Can I help you with something?”

“I was wondering if you
could tell me where to find your friend Owen?”

“Owen?” His eyes
widened. His other friends looked at me funny.

“Yes.” I kept my
expression neutral. I had to play this all calm even though I felt
anything but.

“Do you know him?” he
asked.

“Yes.”

He nodded to his
friends. “I’ll be right back.” He walked away, and I followed.

“I’m sorry to bother
you, but I really need to find your friend.”

“What’s your name?” he
asked.

“Daisy. What’s
yours?”

He laughed. “I don’t
get that question a lot. I’m Levi.”

“We met once before,
but it’s been a long time.”

“You look vaguely
familiar.” He seemed to be contemplating something, as though he
was trying to place me.

“Glad I was
memorable.”

He laughed again. “Nice
sense of humor. I wish I could help you, but Owen left town.”

“What?” My chest
clenched. “When?”

“It’s been months
now.”

“Oh.”

“Sorry I couldn’t
help.” He started to turn away.

“Wait.” I looked at him
closer. He had to be a Pteron. He had the same look as Owen. “I
know what you are.”

“Excuse me?”

Maybe I was going to
get myself in trouble, but I was desperate and unwilling to give up
on my only lead.

“I know you’re a
Pteron.” Saying that word out loud felt good. So natural despite
how little I understood it. The only thing I knew was that these
creatures were strong and hiding a substantial set of wings. I’d
kept the name to myself for years, not even sharing it with Andrew.
Owen had emphasized the importance of keeping it secret, but now
that I knew he wasn’t even in the same city I didn’t care. He saved
my life, but that didn’t mean I was going to keep his secrets
forever. If they wanted me to shut up, they were going to have to
explain why.

Levi looked over his
shoulder at his friends before returning his attention back at me.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes you do. Owen told
me, and I’ve seen his wings. I know he’s one too.”

Levi shifted nervously.
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Please stop. I’ve been
waiting years for answers. I’m tired of waiting.”

He leaned over and
stared into my eyes. “Listen, I don’t know who you are, but you
need to stop. You’re only going to get yourself in trouble.”

“I’m already in
trouble.” I sighed. “Please, just tell me I’m right. I need to know
I’m not losing my mind.”

He ran a hand through
his hair. “Fine. Let’s say hypothetically that you’re right. What
do you want? Why are you looking for Owen?”

“I need to thank him.”
My reply was far too simple. There were so many reasons I wanted to
find him, but thanking him again seemed like a start.

“Thanking him for?”

“For saving my
life.”

His eyes widened
slightly again. “Listen, there isn’t much I can do. Owen’s
gone.”

“Can’t you get a
message to him for me then?”

“I haven’t heard from
him in months. He needed a break and went off the grid.”

“Off the grid?” I eyed
him skeptically. “Somehow I doubt that.”

“It’s true.”

“Fine. Thanks for your
time.” I turned away.

“If it helps, I’m sorry
I can’t help you more.”

“It doesn’t help, but
thanks.” I should have headed for the elevator, but I didn’t.
Instead I headed outside.

Four
Owen

I thought moving to the
mountains would give me some peace and quiet, but I was wrong. It
seems I was a magnet for people as desperate for company as I was
to be alone. They say when you’re lonely the best thing to do is to
surround yourself with people, but that’s not true. The more people
I was around, the lonelier I felt. It was only a reminder of how I
was still single and in the same place while everyone else in my
life had moved on.

I’m not human. Maybe I
should start there. The reason I was single—and as a result
lonely—was because of that fact. I’d only told two girls what I
was. The first one ran away and broke my heart, and I never gave
the second girl the chance. Her kiss, the heart stopping kiss that
left me hungering for more, was the only warning I needed. It was
too dangerous. I needed to run from her before she could do the
same.

It had been over two
years since I’d kissed a girl. I know that sounds pathetic, but
really what was the point? Sex for the sake of sex gets old when
there’s nothing to back it up. My best friends had never agreed
with me. They’d spent their time sleeping with any girls they
could, but even they’d settled down.

“Owen?” Clyde called as
soon as I stepped outside my front door. You’d think living five
miles from the nearest town would make visitors scarce, but I
wasn’t that lucky.

“Hi. Is there something
you need?” I tried to keep the edge out of my voice. I didn’t need
to make enemies. I was trying to blend in.

Clyde laughed and
adjusted the rim of his cowboy hat. He was a Montana boy who’d left
his parents’ ranch to rough it in the Colorado mountains. He might
have given up the ranch life, but that cowboy hat was still always
on his head. “It’s always great to see you, man. Such a great sense
of humor.”

“I’m on my way
out.”

“Out where? You aren’t
even wearing a shirt.”

He was completely
right. A shirt was only going to get in the way for what I was
heading out to do. “Who says I need a shirt?”

“Pretty much any store
or restaurant. That is where you’re going, right? Into town?”

“No, I’m going for a
hike.”

“With no shirt? And no
water?”

“You sound like my mom.
Is that the point?” I wasn’t used to guys like Clyde. I’d grown up
alongside the royal members of The Society, the highest paranormal
elite there was. None of them worried about water or proper
clothing choices.

“I’m here with an
invitation.”

“An invitation?” I
arched an eyebrow.

“An invitation to a
whole new world, man. I’m telling you, this is the real deal.”

“It sounds like you’re
offering me drugs or a prostitute. I don’t want either.”

He laughed. “Good one.
That’s a good one, man.”

“Does that mean the
invitation is for something else?”

“Let’s just say I have
some capital for an investment that can’t go wrong.”

“Oh yeah? An investment
that can’t go wrong? Sounds likely.” I crossed my arms. I was
getting inpatient.

“What does Coleville
lack?”

“Good seafood.”

“Come on, seriously.
What don’t we have that every other town out there has?”

“Get to the point,
Clyde. I don’t have all day.”

He shifted his weight
from foot to foot. He was wearing cowboy boots. As if the hat
wasn’t enough. “A bar.”

“We have a bar. It’s
just not running.”

“Exactly. We need to
reopen it.”

“And you want my
help?”

“Yes. You don’t have to
contribute any money. Like I said, I have the capital.”

“Then what do you need
me for?”

“Your presence. You
know how much everyone in town loves you. They’ll sign everything
if you’re in on it.”

“I see. You want my
influence.”

“Maybe.” He shoved his
hand in his back pocket.

I looked at the kid. He
wasn’t technically a kid at twenty-two, but he seemed so young. I
was only a few years older, but I’d been through enough to make
those years seem a hell of a lot longer. “What’s in it for me?”

“Free booze, access to
the hottest spot in town, and of course the money.”

“There’s no money in
Coleville. We both know that.”

“There’s some, and
we’ll bring in more. We need to make Coleville the hottest tourist
destination this side of Denver.”

“The only way to make
Coleville that way would be to develop a ski resort. I doubt your
capital is going to get you that far.”

“This is only the
start.”

“I need to think about
it.” I didn’t. I wanted nothing to do with his little bar, but I
also wanted to get on with my day.

“All right. That’s
fair. Call me when you’re ready.”

“Sure thing.”

He tipped his hat. “See
you, around. Looking forward to doing business with you.”

“I never said I was
going to.”

“No. But I’ll make that
maybe a yes.” He hurried off back to his truck.

He wasn’t a bad kid,
just over eager, I reminded myself as I walked back behind the
cabin. I waited until I heard his truck pull out towards the road
before transforming. I always felt better with my wings out.

I took off into the
sky, my long black wings taking me higher than the tree line.
Luckily high altitude sickness doesn’t bother Pterons. We once
shifted into crows, but evolution had different plans. We’ve been
spotted a few times, and people seem to think we look like fallen
angels. We aren’t angels—fallen or not.

There was nothing that
could compare to the feel of flight; the wind rushing around my
wings, the sensation of weightlessness, and the knowledge that all
of my troubles and worries were miles below me. I’d been flying
since I was a kid, but I knew I’d never get tired of it. My wings
were part of me. They represented my strength. In a perfect world
I’d never have to hide them, but this world wasn’t perfect. Not by
a long shot.

I landed down by a
small stream high in the mountains. I left my wings out. There was
no around for miles to see.

I started walking with
no destination in mind. I usually didn’t have one. Maybe getting
involved in Clyde’s plan wasn’t a bad one. I needed something to
do, and a reason to keep me from going back to New Orleans. I
wasn’t ready to face my real life yet.

I noticed a pop of
color on the other side of the stream. I walked around the long
way.

I bent down and touched
the stem of the pretty purple flower. “A daisy. A wild daisy.” Just
saying the name of the flower brought me back to the kiss again,
back to my Daisy. At least that’s what I thought of her as. I
didn’t know where she was. She could have been married by now for
all I knew, but I’d still always think of her that way.

I’d never told my
friends about the kiss. They made fun of me enough. I didn’t need
to add fuel to the fire, but I got the sense that my friend Jared
knew that the girl meant something to me. It would be easy to find
her if I’d bothered to ask for her last name, but finding her again
had been the least of my worries that night. I needed her to
promise to stay quiet and keep our secrets.

I released the flower.
There was no reason to pick it just so it could die. I turned and
headed back the way I came still thinking about Daisy, and one long
ago kiss.

Lure is releasing on
February 16, 2015!

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