Lure Read online

  “A guy I met online.”

  “Online?” Roland’s eyes bugged out. “Don’t you know it’s dangerous to talk to strangers like that?”

  “Is it any more dangerous than spending time with you guys?”

  “She’s got a point.” Hugh leaned against the back of a chair.

  “And it’s not like I met him on a dating site. We’ve been talking on a paranormal forum for a few years.”

  “A paranormal forum?” Hugh asked. “That would be…”

  “A place where humans talk about paranormal creatures and how to find them.” As I’d already predicted it sounded even more pathetic when I said it out loud. At least they didn’t know I’d been telling my therapist we were seeing each other.

  Hugh laughed so hard he almost fell over. “Please tell me this is a joke. You aren’t chatting up boys on weirdo boards.”

  “I wasn’t chatting him up. He was just someone to talk to.” I looked down. “He believed me when no one else did.”

  Violet put a gentle hand on my shoulder. “I’m not laughing. It’s human instinct to search for companionship, and it must have been nice to have found someone who believed in you.”

  “Did you guys have online sex?” Hugh grinned.

  “No! It’s not like that. He’s in love with some girl. All we talk about is paranormal stuff.”

  “Then how do you know he’s in love with some girl?”

  “Because he doesn’t think she’s human.”

  “Oh…” Violet pursed her lips. “Interesting…”

  “Yeah. We have stuff in common.”

  “Where are we meeting him?”

  “We’re not meeting him.” I shook my head. “I am.”

  “Why?” Roland asked. “Why can’t we come?”

  “Because he’s going to freak out if I show up with a bunch of people. Besides, I don’t want you messing with him.”

  “We won’t mess with him.” Violet waited next to me. “We’ll be on our best behavior.”

  “I don’t like this idea.”

  “You know we’ll follow you if you don’t take us with you.” Roland didn’t beat around the bush.

  “Seriously? Did you mean to say that out loud?”

  “Yes.” He narrowed his eyes. “You’ve got Allure in you. It’s our right to make sure you’re not up to anything bad.”

  “In other words he wants to make sure you don’t try to screw your internet friend.” Hugh smirked.

  “She’s in love with a Pteron. She’s not going to screw a human.” Roland wrinkled his nose.

  “Ok. That’s it. That’s enough talk about my sex life.”

  “What are you going to wear?” Violet asked, moving the conversation away from what was becoming seriously awkward.

  “This.” I glanced down at my dark jeans and pink tank top.

  “Great.” Violet smiled in a way that seemed genuine, but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know how to read any of these Allures.

  “Daisy would look good in a paper bag.” Roland smiled. “But I prefer what she’s wearing.”

  “I’m not concerned with how I look.”

  “I was only making sure you weren’t going to wear something sexier. I know your conversations with this guy have been platonic, but did you forget something, Daisy?”

  That’s when it hit me. “Seduction’s Kiss.”

  “Exactly. How old is he?”

  “Around my age.”

  “And it seems like it works the strongest on men in their most virile state. What Roland really meant,” she glared at him, “was it’s not safe for you to go alone.”

  “I’ve been out around men my age plenty of times in the past two years.”

  “Yeah, but did you see that kid yesterday? What would you have done if I hadn’t walked over?”

  “Something about being back in New Orleans is making it worse,” Hugh said under his breath.

  “So if I leave, it will die down again?”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.” Violet looked thoughtful. “We still don’t really understand what the witch gave you. Theoretically you’ve set it off, and it’s going to get worse and worse.”

  “Or not.” I couldn’t believe that. My life was crazy enough.

  Roland’s eyes widened. “Yeah, we’re going with you.”

  “I can take care of myself.”

  “I get that, but don’t you want to make sure you live long enough to see Owen again?” Violet asked. She knew how to play to my concerns.

  “Fine. You guys can come, but please try to be nice to him. He’s the only one who believed me, and because of that he’s important to me.”

  “Where are we meeting him? If it’s a busy place we’ll have plenty of other emotions to manipulate.” Hugh’s eyes danced.

  “At Fritzel’s down on Bourbon.”

  “Great.” Violet ran a hand through her hair. “Let’s go meet your friend. What did you say his name was?”

  “I didn’t. It’s Andrew.”

  “Ok. Let’s meet Drew then.” Hugh headed toward the door.

  “He doesn’t go by Drew.”

  “Now he does.” Hugh winked.

  I groaned. “You guys can be very annoying.”

  “But the loveable kind of annoying, right?” Violet asked.

  “Uh, mostly.” If either of the guys had asked, I would have had a very different answer. “Wait. Why aren’t you guys wearing hoods tonight?” I hadn’t seen them do it since the first time I’d seen them.

  “Because we have no problem getting noticed tonight.” Hugh winked.

  “Great.” So much for them not causing trouble.

  The lobby was crowded, but everyone seemed to notice us as we stepped off the elevator.

  Violet linked her arm with mine as we walked briskly across the lobby toward the front door.

  “Is it always like this for you?” I asked as we stepped outside. A man nearly tripped over himself trying to get another look at us.

  “Pretty much. Now you know why we often wear hoods and sunglasses.”

  “I wish I’d have thought of that idea.”

  “I still don’t believe you didn’t get a lot of attention before you got the magic.”

  “I didn’t. I got almost none.”

  “I find that hard to believe.” Roland took his usual spot on my other side.

  “It’s true. I pretty much blended in.”

  “There had to be something there for that potion to have worked so well.” Violet winked at a guy walking past. His face lit up like a light bulb.

  I rolled my eyes. “Do you have to play with people?”

  “What? He’s going to be in a good mood all night.”

  “Because he thinks you like him. You don’t.”

  Roland looked over his shoulder. “She has a point, Violet. He’s following us now.”

  She sighed. “Fine.” She released my arm and turned around. “Hi, why don’t you go turn back the way you were?”

  “I’d be happy to.” He smiled and started walking the other way.

  “It’s an easy fix.”

  “I wish I had that ability. It’s like I have an on switch but no off switch.”

  “We can fix that,” Roland mumbled.

  Violet glared at him. “Let’s focus on finding Owen first. But of course right now we need to find Andrew. Do you know what he looks like?”

  “Yes. He added me as a friend on his other social media so I’d know he was who he said he was.”

  “Oh. That was smart, unless that social media was fake too.”

  “It seems real. He even has baby pictures up.”

  “Could still be fake.” Roland shrugged.

  “Then it’s a good thing I have you to protect me.”

  “I’m just saying, how do you know he’s even human? For all you know he’s one of the vampires who kidnapped you, and he’s been waiting for a chance to get you in his claws again.”

  “Roland!” Violet snapped. “That’s enough.”

&nb
sp; I shivered. “That’s not true.”

  “But you don’t know. You’re such easy prey.”

  “You’re right.” I turned to him. “I don’t know. I also don’t know if you guys are luring me to come with you so you can kill me.”

  “I already assured you, we’re not going to hurt you.” Violet pulled our linked arms in closer to her as we walked down the street. “We mean you absolutely no harm.”

  “But I can’t know that.”

  “Yet, you’re still coming with us.” Hugh glanced over his shoulder. “Interesting.”

  “The thing is, you never know anything in life. You never know who or what to trust.” I’d learned that the hard way time and time again.

  “And you really want to find Owen, isn’t that part of it?” Hugh was very good at getting at what I was really feeling.

  “I’ve already wasted two and a half years of my life. I don’t need to waste more. I need to find him and get this over with.”

  “And you will.” Violet sounded resolute. “Oh, and we’re here.”

  She stopped in front of a brick building with a wrought iron balcony above it. It fit right in on Bourbon.

  Jazz music poured out the front door, beckoning us in. I was glad Andrew had chosen a place that would give us a break from the typical club music. New Orleans was known for jazz, and I’d been excited to finally experience it.

  We walked inside, and Violet and Roland stood glued to my side. I wasn’t sure what they planned to do if there was a problem, but if you could manipulate emotions, you could probably do a lot to protect someone.

  “Daisy!” someone called from across the room. Miraculously I could hear it over the loud jazz music being played by a live band. At another time I’d have been up there dancing to their intoxicating beat.

  I turned to see Andrew waving. He looked exactly like his pictures, kind of cute in that nerdy sort of way.

  “That’s him.” I nudged Violet.

  “We assumed.” Roland rolled his eyes, and we headed over to where he stood.

  “Uh, I guess you didn’t come alone either.” Andrew smiled sheepishly in greeting.

  “Who are you here with?” I searched around. Did he bring friends too?

  “Me.” Levi stepped around a small group of people. “Great seeing you again.”

  My chest clenched. What was going on? Was this a trap? I was suddenly glad to have the Allures with me.

  “Uh…” I had no idea what to say. I was moving into panic mode, a mode that I was getting more and more used to.

  “Andrew is my brother-in law. He mentioned he was meeting a friend, and when I saw your picture I remembered you. You’re the old friend of Owen’s, aren’t you? It’s been far too long.” There was a warning in his tone. He was lying about when he last saw me, but he didn’t want anyone to know. I didn’t want them to know either. I’d purposely kept our meeting from them.

  I was overwhelmed by a mix of confusion and anger. What was I supposed to do? Roland squeezed my hand and brought me back to reality. “Nice to see you again too. These are my friends.”

  “I see.” Levi held out his hand to Violet first. “Have we met before?”

  “Not formally.”

  “Oh.” He studied her. “I see.”

  Andrew cleared his throat. “This whole introduction stuff is great and all, but we’re only here so Daisy and I can meet.”

  Levi nodded. “I’m sorry if we’re intruding on your little meeting. Why don’t you two sit down and chat.”

  Violet glanced at a nearby table and caught the eye of one of the girls. “I can tell that the people sitting there would be happy to give up their seats. They were ready to leave.”

  And just like that the table vacated. They smiled at us. “It’s all yours. We hope you enjoy the seats!”

  Andrew’s eyes bugged out.

  “Uh, great timing,” I stammered.

  Roland glowered at Andrew. “Maybe I should keep them company. It’s always tough to make conversation when you’ve just met.”

  “We’ll be fine. Daisy and I know each other well.” Andrew winked.

  Roland looked at me. “We won’t be far.”

  I nodded before taking a seat at the small table. Andrew sat down next to me. “That was weird.”

  “It was.”

  “And you look different than your pictures.”

  “Different?” I asked. This was the moment of truth. How affected was he by Seduction’s Kiss?

  “I guess you’re not photogenic.” He held up his hands. “No offense, because you’re wow. Just wow.”

  “The pictures are accurate.” There was my answer.

  “Who are those guys?” He gestured to where the Allures stood with Levi.

  “First, tell me why you lied to me.” Now that I was alone with Andrew, my anger had surfaced. “You’ve been playing me like a fool.”

  “No I haven’t!” Andrew appeared stricken by my accusation. “Of course not.”

  “Levi knows Owen. You heard it with your own ears. Your brother-in law knows Owen.”

  “That’s the lead I was talking to you about. I really don’t remember much from my step-sister’s wedding, it’s all fuzzy for some reason, but the other night it hit me. I knew an Owen that fit your Owen’s description.”

  “You just suddenly remembered this?” I crossed my arms. I wasn’t convinced.

  “I’m telling you the truth. And he’s Hailey’s brother! How crazy is that?”

  “Hailey? As in the girl you’re obsessed with?”

  Andrew looked over his shoulder and then leaned in. “Keep it down. I’m not public with that. My step-sister, Allie, would kill me if she knew I wanted her best friend.”

  “Why? Why would your step-sister care?”

  “She doesn’t want me near her friends.”

  Was he even weirder than I thought? I shrugged it off. It didn’t matter. What mattered is he might know more than I did about how to find Owen.

  “My step-sister told me I was crazy when I suggested it, but I don’t think Levi is human either. My guess is he’s the way you describe Owen, and this means I was right about Hailey. She’s not human either. She probably has wings too.” His face lit up with excitement. “Isn’t that awesome?”

  “Your step-sister is human though?”

  “Yes. Very. We went to high school together.”

  “Let’s say for a minute I believe you…”

  “You do believe me, don’t you? I really wasn’t lying to you.”

  “Let’s say I do. Did Levi tell you anything about Owen? Where to find him?”

  “Only that he’s not here. Hailey isn’t either. I just missed her.” His smile faded. “But that’s all right. At least I know what she is. Or sort of. You never did tell me what Owen is exactly.”

  I looked down. I guess I hadn’t been completely forthcoming. “I’d ask Levi. He’d be able to tell you a whole lot more than me.”

  “He’s not going to admit it to me.”

  “Then what did he tell you?”

  “I’m staying with them, and I mentioned you and how you were looking for this guy you’re kinda obsessed with.” He gave me another sheepish smile. “Then Levi got all weird and said he was coming.”

  “None of this makes sense. We’re obsessed with siblings, and your brother-in-law isn’t human.”

  “Pretty much sums it up.” He smiled. “So now it’s your turn. Who are those people you are with?”

  “Some new friends.” I still didn’t know what to say or not say to Andrew. I believed him, but it all seemed too strange to be true.

  “Daisy? Are you ready?” Violet walked over. “It’s getting late.”

  It wasn’t late. It wasn’t even nine thirty, but there was something in her voice that had me nodding my head. “Sure. It’s been a long day.”

  “And just like that you’re leaving?” Andrew gripped his bottle of beer. “We have so much more to talk about.”

  “I’m sorry. We
can try to meet up again later.”

  “Another ten minutes?” His eyes pleaded with me, and I knew most of it was coming from Seduction’s Kiss. That made it even easier to stand up.

  Violet smiled at Andrew. “You guys can talk again soon. I have some important stuff to talk to Daisy about.”

  I had to make a quick decision. Did I stay and make sure Andrew didn’t know more than he was letting on, or did I go with the Allures who may have learned more from Levi?

  I stood up. “Sorry, Andrew. I have to go.”

  I really hoped I was making the right decision.

  Chapter Twelve

  Daisy

  “You have some explaining to do.” Violet held onto my arm as we wove our way through the crowds on the street.

  “I could say the same to you. What was all of that about? You only gave me a second to talk to my friend.”

  “Your friend?” Roland sneered. “Either you’ve been lying to us, or he’s been lying to you.”

  “I should have told you I met Levi.” I elbowed my way through a large group of drunk tourists that wouldn’t move.

  “You think?” Hugh’s icy tone had me glancing up in time to see his frown. “Do you really not know who he is or are you playing stupid? For your sake it had better be the former.”

  “Who who is?”

  “Levi.” Hugh signed with frustration.

  Violet glanced over her shoulder. “Let’s shelve this conversation until we get out of town.”

  “Out of town?” I stopped short. “Who said anything about that?”

  “Owen left which means there’s no reason to wait.” Hugh watched me impatiently.

  “Levi told you?”

  “Yes. Wouldn’t it have been convenient to have told us that before? What were you planning to do, sit around hoping he’d come back?”

  “I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I was more focused on the interview.” I was also determined not to give them any more information than necessary until I knew they could be trusted.

  “The interview is over. You’ve got the job.” Violet fell back to walk next to us.

  “I’ve got a fake job.”

  “Does that matter?” Violet asked without any inflection in her voice. I couldn’t tell if the question was serious or not.

  “Probably not.”

  “My point exactly.” She stepped toward the curb. “Let me get us a ride.”