Tempt_The Pteron Chronicles Page 14

  I followed, giving just enough distance that she wouldn’t notice me. I shrunk back into the shadows when she looked over her shoulder before slowly climbing a fire escape.

  Now this was interesting. Why was little miss prim and perfect climbing a fire escape that had nothing to do with her assignment?

  I watched from below as she made her way up the stairs. She pushed open a window on the fourth floor.

  I sighed. I was going to have to follow. I didn’t want to. There were so many other humans I would have rather extinguished, especially now that I knew she was willing to live a little. Too bad we couldn’t have dealt with her differently. How difficult would it be to change the mind of a human woman? Besides, they were all going to die eventually. Why waste my time and energy on this one?

  But if I didn’t do as Randolph asked, the deal was off. And where did that leave me? Oh, I imagined other possibilities. Once I even went as far as to picture a life where I stayed with the Drago. But that would have been a worthless decision. Dragos mated once, and only with their true mate. He couldn’t give me the gift of immortality even if he wanted to.

  I needed Randolph; he was my only chance. If that meant killing this human woman, I would. It was something I’d had no trouble doing for him before.

  I rationalized my hesitation on preserving energy. It was entirely possible she’d come right down. I could kill her in the ally and hide the body very easily. I watched for a light on the fourth floor but none came. The fire escape remained empty. With another sigh, I readied my knife—a far inferior weapon to my magic—and headed up the fire escape. The windows of the first three floors were completely dark. The same was true of the fourth, but I was positive she’d gone in there.

  I tried the window, and it easily moved under my fingers. She hadn’t locked it. Did that mean she didn’t plan to stay? The room was dark. Completely dark, and I stumbled around staying close to the side of the room. My boot caught on something and I went down, catching myself with my hands. I pressed my palms to the cold floor, ready to get up and investigate what I’d tripped over when I heard a deep male voice from far off.

  “You did it for the flame. Everything we ever do is for the flame.”

  “She could have lived. I could have made her see our side.” A second man spoke. Lived? The girl? Had someone gotten to her first? Did Randolph send another? I waited quietly. Now wasn’t the time for reckless action.

  “Forget the girl. You would have had to shake her anyway.” The first man was curt. To the point. My kind of man. “I told you from the beginning not to develop feelings for her.”

  “You also told me to sleep with her if I had to.”

  “Sex and feelings have nothing to do with one another.” The first man chuckled. “Didn’t your father ever teach you that, son?”

  “Her absence is going to be noticed.”

  “So what? Protectors get themselves killed all the time.” The first man laughed again. This time louder.

  “But not by their handlers.”

  I heard the sound of patting, as if the second man was patting the shoulder of the first. “Come off it, boy. There will be others.”

  The voices disappeared. I waited a full minute before feeling around on the floor. I touched the object I’d tripped over, and the warmth made the identity crystal clear. I reached up for the curtains, pulling them back to let in just enough moonlight to reveal what I already expected to see. The body of Ms. Rose Norman.

  17

  Wyatt

  “Ok, why aren’t we going anywhere?” I waited, assuming Sol had some way of transporting us out of the dungeon and to the Elders.

  “What do you mean?” Sol stared at me with a blank expression. “I thought you were going to call Glendale.”

  “But you can transport us, right?” From what I understood Seers could do it. Seers could do a whole lot of things.

  “Technically, but not easily, and not all of you.”

  “So your whole plan involved us calling the cat?” I searched his face, looking for evidence he was joking, or maybe stalling us. I normally never relied on others. This was why if I had any other solutions to finding Hailey I would have used them. There were so few Lightnesses left I couldn’t have hoped to find one even if I did get myself out of the maze.

  “Why not? Glendale seems particularly concerned with your plight.” Sol unzipped his leather jacket halfway. He pulled out a small notebook, flipped through it and returned it to his coat.

  “I wasn’t aware Glendale could be called for.” From my experience, he just showed up whether his appearance was welcome or not.

  “Oh. I guess it’s Hailey he’s tied himself to. That’s a bit of a problem.” Sol zipped up his coat.

  “Tied himself to?” I wasn’t a fan of the terminology. I didn’t want Hailey tied to a demon—a helpful one or not. I was quite sure she’d feel the same way. I was still amazed she’d changed her mind about having a more official tie to me. But then again maybe it wasn’t her choice as much as it was accepting the way she felt.

  “Temporarily I’d assume. Otherwise how would he ever plan to come back?” Sol took a few steps back until he was right next to the wall. “Wait. Oh wow. I can’t believe I just thought of this.”

  “Thought of what?” Troy snapped. “If it turns out you’re just wasting your time there’s going to be hell to pay.”

  Sol waved Troy off. “Maybe Glendale never intended to come back. How did he leave things exactly?”

  “Leave things?” Eloise let several drops of the hot wax from her candle fall to the floor. They narrowly missed her hand. “He transported us and dropped us back here.”

  “He didn’t specify when he’d be back?” Sol leaned a foot against the wall.

  “No.” And for the first time I realized that was odd. At least it was different than the previous time when he said he’d be back when we were ready. But maybe it was nothing and all because of the lack of time. He’d transported us all of a sudden, I assumed because he was tired of arguing with us.

  “All right, so that makes my plan less useful.”

  “If you can’t transport us out, how are you here?” Eloise walked toward Sol.

  “How did I get here?” Sol laughed. “How do you think I got here?”

  “Don’t you have to grasp a string or something like that?” Cade asked. “Although that’s just what Daisy said.”

  “I got thrown down here. Just the same as the rest of you.” He used the toe of his boot to scuff Eloise’s candle wax from the floor.

  “Wait. What?” I hadn’t seen that part coming.

  “Truthfully I could have fought her off, but I thought I might be more useful here than up there.” He pointed to the ceiling.

  “Wait. You’ve been down here the whole time?”

  “Sure. I hid out and waited for Veronica to move on. I’m not her target so she could really care less.”

  “But you used to live here, right?” I started to formulate a plan.

  “Yes.”

  “So you know this maze?”

  “It wasn’t a maze originally… but I know it well enough to get us out of here. I can at least lead us into the sewers and then we can regroup.”

  “The sewers?” Eloise crinkled her nose. “Lovely.”

  “Would you rather stay here?” Sol’s lips twisted into an amused smile.

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Give me a few minutes to pull up my memories.” Sol removed his sunglasses and closed his eyes.

  Cade inclined his head toward the far wall. I followed. He leaned in. “Now what? Do we trust Sol enough to let him lead us out?”

  “Well, we can’t just sit here and wait. Not that I’m ready to leave. I need to make sure Hailey is really gone.”

  “I’d give you my take on that, but I know nothing about light portals. Tell me something. Do you think she’s in immediate danger?”

  “The short answer is no. She should technically be safe, but I’
m sure she’s going crazy. She might be trapped, and personally I’m worried that it feels like a small space. I really hope it doesn’t.”

  “Yeah, she’s claustrophobic. Even more than most Pterons.”

  “Don’t let her hear you saying that out loud.”

  “I wasn’t planning on it.” He gave the barest hint of a smile. “I’m not keen on leaving her behind either. We’ll find her.”

  “I wish it were easy, but light portals don’t exist in a way that’s physically visible. We need to find someone with the ability to see them, or find them.”

  “Like the Elders.”

  “Yes. Or another Lightness.” That would be the more desirable option, but it wasn’t an option as far as I knew.

  “Hey, Pixie,” Troy called to where she stood in the middle of the corridor. “Don’t you have some special connection with Hailey? You know, to help you do the whole Guardian Pixie thing.”

  “I do have a special connection with her, but that doesn’t mean I can find the light portal. I don’t even really get what it is.”

  “Yet you made it sound like you did.” Cade rolled his shoulders. “Made me feel like the one who knew nothing.”

  “I inferred from the name.” She gazed down at her melting candle. It was melting far faster than the rest of ours for one reason or another.

  “It’s a tunnel made entirely of light that can connect her to other light sources,” Troy explained. “Does that help? Can you find her now?”

  “No. I don’t know why I thought more information could help.”

  Cade took a seat on the floor. “I wonder why your mom didn’t show up for you. I mean couldn’t she have shown the hologram thingy again? Maybe there’s a clue in all that.”

  “The message was for Hailey. I still don’t understand how it worked, but it couldn’t have been easy for her to project.”

  “You mean because she’s dead?” Cade gave an apologetic shrug.

  “Light never fully dies, so a part of a Lightness lives on infinitely even if the rest of them is gone.” I recited some of the rudimentary things I knew of Lightnesses, but my knowledge was relatively small for someone raised by one. She’d been rather closed lipped about who she was.

  “I’m sure there’s a reason she only did it for Hailey.” Eloise rested her chin on her hand. “There’s always a reason. Or maybe she assumed you’d be with her when she gave it. We’ll never know.”

  “Did you hear that?” Sol returned his shades to his eyes.

  We all fell silent. There was nothing at all at first, until I heard the faintest drops of water. I was about to ask if that’s what he meant when I heard something else. Something similar to a low buzz. Troy looked over as if he was about to speak but I held up a finger. I wanted to keep listening.

  The buzzing sound wasn’t anything I’d heard before. It wasn’t that of an insect or an electronic device. It wasn’t anything I could recall hearing before, and that was a rare phenomenon when you’ve lived as long as I have.

  “Do you hear that ringing?” Eloise asked quietly.

  “You mean buzzing?” I gave up on hearing more. Not if my companions were going to start talking.

  Eloise shook her head. “No ringing.”

  “I hear the buzzing.” Troy put a hand to his ear. “It’s definitely a buzzing.”

  “I don’t hear a ringing or buzzing.” Sol fully unzipped his jacket, pulling it off his shoulders. “It’s more a tremor. I can feel it more than hear it.”

  “What about you Cade?” I turned to him. “Is it a buzzing, ringing, or a tremor?”

  “None. I hear absolutely nothing.”

  “And they say Pterons have good hearing,” Eloise mumbled under her breath.

  Cade frowned. “Don’t hate on the Pterons. I’d think you’d be more careful since Hailey’s one.”

  The ground beneath us started to shake.

  “Oh no. Not this again.” Cade groaned.

  I didn’t know what he meant by again, but I shared his sentiment about it not being good. Sol still hadn’t figured out a way to get us out of there, and now what was coming?

  Large rocks fell from the ceiling. One narrowly missed us as it slammed down just to the right of me. The buzzing sound was long gone, covered by the sound of slamming rocks and something else. Something that sounded suspiciously like water.

  “What is that?” I don’t know why I bothered asking. It was out of habit.

  Within seconds water flooded into the corridor.

  “We have to find higher ground!” Eloise yelled.

  “Or fly.” Troy released his wings, wrapping his arms around Eloise’s waist and moving up toward the low ceiling. He managed to do all this without losing his candle.

  I released my wings and looked at Sol. “Need a hand?”

  “No.” He shook his head. “That isn’t going to help much.”

  “What do you mean?” Cade had released his wings as well. Seeing Pteron wings made me miss Hailey even more. We had to find her.

  “The water is eventually going to reach the ceiling. We’ll have better luck swimming.” Sol spoke so insanely calmly.

  “Swim where?” Cade glanced around the hallway. “Do you see something we don’t see, or remember a trick out of this area? We’re walled in.”

  “Just follow me.” Sol tossed his candle and dove under the water.

  “Come on.” Troy swept down. “If he knows a way out we have to try.”

  I shook my head. “Not yet. What if the light portal is here? How can I leave Hailey?”

  “She can’t drown in a light portal. We can. Besides, it’s not here.”

  “We don’t know that.” We knew nothing, which was the really frustrating part.

  “We do know. Come on.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “You go without me.”

  “And let you die? You think Hailey is going to like that?” Cade grabbed one arm, knocking the candle out of my hand. It hit the water and the flame extinguished, sending us into darkness as Troy dropped his and grabbed my arm.

  I fought against them, but the water was rising rapidly. They easily pulled me down under the dark and murky surface. We were in complete darkness, and my arms were still prisoners of Cade and Troy. I held my breath and hoped Sol had some clue what he was doing.

  Minutes passed. My lungs burned, begging for air. Then there was a boom. A distant sound that somehow carried through the depths of the water.

  We burst forward like a bullet being shot out of a gun, propelling forward until we came to rest on a hard, damp ground.

  I pulled myself to my feet, glancing around. There was enough light streaming in from an unknown source that I could see the others.

  “Where are we?” Eloise wrapped her arms around herself. Like the rest of us, she was soaking wet.

  “By that smell I’d say the sewers.” There were downsides to having superior smell.

  “How’d you know that wall was going to give and lead us into here?” Troy eyed Sol suspiciously.

  “I didn’t, but it was our only chance.”

  “You staked our survival on a chance?”

  “Says the guy who thought flying to the ceiling was going to help him.” Sol pulled his soaking wet jacket back on. Amazingly he’d kept it with him the whole time.

  “Let’s find help. We have to get Hailey.”

  “My guess is Hailey is just fine.” Sol smiled. “Don’t you agree? What did you think that buzzing was?”

  “Wait. This. You think she did it all?” I thought over the trembling, the rocks falling, the water. Sure that could have been some sort of monstrous creature, but could it not have instead been a Lightness destroying a light portal? Could she have done it and made it possible for us to escape? Stranger things were known to happen. “Maybe, maybe not. But right now I need to find Hailey. I don’t care about anything else until that happens.”

  “How incredibly dedicated you are.” Glendale sauntered over in slow, deliberate steps.

>   “Now?” Eloise’s expression screamed of incredulous anger. “You are showing up now?”

  I knew exactly how she felt.

  18

  Hailey

  Getting out of the tunnel had been far easier than I’d thought. Like many things, I’d been overthinking it.

  I took a chance. Troy had been quite confident about light leading me to a good place. If it had been Troy alone I’d have been hesitant to trust him, but Wyatt had unilaterally agreed. That had to mean something.

  Not all light had been good. The red glow from the stones hadn’t brought me any luck, but that hadn’t been a light specifically, and maybe in some messed up way I was supposed to end up in this place so I could hear the Rose conversations. Either way, it didn’t really matter. Following the light was the only solid lead I had of how I could use my Lightness powers to get where I wanted to go.

  Truthfully, I didn’t know where I wanted to go. I mean I needed to get back to Wyatt and the others, but what if they weren’t where I left them? What if they assumed I’d left and went ahead without me? But once again I was worrying about things that couldn’t help me in my current predicament. I needed to find a light to follow and then I’d go from there.

  I started by focusing on the flashing orbs. It took me a few tries to even focus on one of them. Then when I finally did it successfully I ended up with a headache. After a dozen attempts I was still floating in nothingness.

  Time for a new plan. And here is where the over thinking it part came in. I glanced down at my glowing torso. That was it. I’d been so concerned with what the tunnel was that I’d forgotten what I was. I was a light. Albeit I was also a person, a Pteron-Lightness or Lightness-Pteron depending on how you wanted to view it. But I provided light, and maybe that was the same thing.

  I stopped looking outwardly. I stopped looking for flickering lights and listening for dripping water. Instead I focused inside. The more I pulled my focus in, the warmer I became. I also glowed brighter. Far brighter. The kind of brightness where it was even hard to look. The sane part of me panicked. What if I made myself so bright I exploded? Was that even possible? I pushed the panic down. I wasn’t going to explode. Besides which, what was the alternative? To spend an eternity floating?