Tempt_The Pteron Chronicles Read online

Hunter snapped right to attention. “Ok. What do you need?”

  “I appreciate you agreeing before I even tell you what you’re going to do.” At the moment I was grateful one of the guys I was stuck with was willing to be helpful.

  “I’m naked and stuck in some basement. There isn’t much I wouldn’t be willing to do to get out of here.” He made a good point.

  “Can you find any spot on the floor over there that feels different?”

  “Feels different?”

  I gestured to the floor on his side of the glass wall. “It might be a false floor or something. I kept thinking there was a way to climb up over the wall, but maybe the solution is to go under.”

  “This doesn’t sound like a Lightness solution to me.” Troy’s voice was just as defeatist sounding as before.

  I wanted to ignore him, but I struggled to hold my tongue more often than not. Hence having to take a leave of absence from my job. “Well, it’s certainly not a Pteron one. We don’t burrow underground.”

  “No, we don’t,” Cade readily agreed.

  “If it’s the only way out, we’ll do it.” Pterons, as a whole, suffered from claustrophobia. We didn’t like small places, and we definitely didn’t like moving further away from the sky. We may not fully turn into birds anymore, but we still descended from true bird shifters. Dragos didn’t seem to have the same problem. Probably because their ancestry came from dragons, and dragons had lived in caves.

  “It can’t be the only way out.” Cade looked up at the ceiling. “Now that you have light we can check out more.”

  “Be my guest.” I pointed at him. “We might as well check out all possibilities.”

  “There aren’t going to be any real possibilities unless you use your new powers. Don’t you think the monster has thought this through? She’d want any obvious escape option to lead to an even worse place.” Troy practically growled the words.

  “Well, right now I’m going to do anything to get us out of here. Would you rather starve to death? We all know she picked us for a reason. She has to be doing something horrible up there.” I gestured toward the ceiling.

  “I am all for escaping, but explain to me again how anything going on up there is our problem at all?” Troy frowned.

  “How isn’t it our problem? Our life is up there. Don’t you want something to go back to?” I fought to keep the exasperation from my voice.

  “Without my fire I have nothing to go back to.” His haughtiness was gone.

  “Really?” I knelt down in front of him. “Is that really all you are? The great and mighty Drago Prince is nothing without his fire?” My words were harsh and pointed, but I needed to wake him up. We all needed to be on our best game if we had any chance of getting out of there.

  “Shut up. You have no idea what you’re talking about.” His eyes narrowed into tiny slits.

  “I do know what I’m talking about. What happened to you sucks, but if you want any chance of getting your fire back we have to get out of here.” I was annoyed at Troy, but we needed him whether I liked it or not. Besides, he was like family to Wyatt. In a weird way now that made him like family to me. He wasn’t being left behind.

  “Getting out of here doesn’t mean we are getting the fire back from The Elders. That’s impossible.”

  I shook my head. “No, it’s not. Hard, yes. Impossible, no.” I was pretending to have far more confidence than I really had. The Elders were god-like creatures that scared the hell out of me. “You’re stronger than this, and you know it.”

  “Hailey. I think I found something,” Hunter called, thankfully ending my attempt at a pep talk. “But I need a light to get a better look.”

  “Can’t you light up now, Hailey? Isn’t that what a Lightness does?” Cade draped an arm over my shoulder.

  “Can I light up now?” I shrugged off his arm. “Are you kidding me?”

  “You got the light from the Lightness, didn’t you?” Cade furrowed his brows. “Or did I misinterpret all of that?”

  I grunted. “I’m not some light bulb. I can’t just light up.” Seeing in the dark didn’t mean I got any of her other abilities.

  “Why not?” Cade crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Because that’s not how this works.” Not that I had any idea how it worked.

  “How do you know? Are you an expert already?” Troy called me out on it. Normally it would have annoyed me, but it meant he was at least trying. That was a step in the right direction.

  “Hailey thinks she’s an expert on everything,” Cade jabbed.

  “Are you two trying to make me angry?”

  “Yes,” they said in unison.

  “What?” Anger surged through me.

  “Because latent abilities are often triggered by strong emotions…” Eloise stood calmly at my side. “They are trying to get your lightness abilities working.”

  “Well, you are doing a good job making me angry, but as we have no idea what latent abilities I might have, you may quickly regret this.”

  “Can we be in a worse situation?” Cade quirked an eyebrow.

  “Yes,” Hunter and I said at once.

  “And I thought you were an optimist.” Troy rose to his feet.

  “Me?” I put a hand to my chest. “Right. That’s exactly what I am.”

  “You are a hell of a lot more optimistic than me.” Troy walked toward me.

  “Only because of your missing fire.”

  “What was with all that Elder talk?”

  “That has nothing to do with optimism. It’s determination.” I fell to my knees in front of the glass wall, trying to see far enough on the other side to get a glimpse of what Hunter felt. It was frustrating that the basement was 100% complete darkness. Even the slightest amount of light would have been enough for shifters to see.

  “Cut the chit-chat and light it up, Hailey.” Cade knelt down beside me.

  “This is all your fault, you know.”

  “Mine?” Cade put a hand on his chest.

  “Yes. You’re the one who introduced me to Veronica.”

  “Yes, when I thought she was just a Sorceress. You can’t actually blame me for this mess.”

  “Hailey, please. A little bit of light?” Hunter glanced over.

  “I wish I knew how.” I sighed.

  Eloise took my hand. “You do know how.”

  “I do?”

  “Yes. You need to focus and think.” She squeezed my hand.

  “I thought I needed heightened emotions.”

  “That was one theory, and it didn’t work. Let’s try another.” If nothing else, my Guardian Pixie had a calming influence on me. Plus, it was nice to have another girl around.

  “I like the sound of this one better.” Even if relaxing generally wasn’t in my wheelhouse.

  “Then make it work,” Troy spoke from somewhere behind me.

  “You aren’t helping the whole relaxing idea.”

  “Oh, my mistake.” He chuckled.

  “What’s your problem?” I rose to my feet and turned to him.

  “You know what my problem is.”

  “Yes, you lost your fire. That can be temporary, but it can only be temporary if you snap out of this. Fire or no fire, you are still strong.” This wasn’t about a pep-talk anymore. This was about desperation. I couldn’t hope to figure this out if he didn’t stop acting like such a jerk.

  “Is this why Wyatt likes you? You’re his personal cheerleader?”

  “What did you just say?” I stepped toward him. “I’m his personal cheerleader?” Anger built up deep inside. I felt my Pteron nature taking over.

  “I don’t think he meant it that way.” Eloise touched my arm. “And remember, we are trying to stay calm now.”

  I shrugged her off. “You know what? I’m going to find a way out of here and leave you behind. We can even put the chains back on if you prefer.”

  I turned back to the glass wall and closed my eyes. If there was a chance I had the light power in me—whatever
that power was— I had to use it now. I thought about Jesalyn, which in turn made me think about Wyatt. Where was he? Was he in danger too? There were so many possibilities and none of them were good. I needed to get rid of the glass wall. No matter what we did, we were better off if we were all together as one group.

  Without opening my eyes, I touched the glass. It was cool at first, but then the temperature started to rise. I heard the guys talking about something, but I blocked their voices out. The temperature continued to rise. My hand burned, but I kept my eyes closed. Something about the burning felt right. Besides, no one was screaming and pulling me away. I was positive at least Eloise would jump in. The burning eventually turned to numbness, and then it faded away. I opened my eyes. There was a hole in the wall in front of me in the shape of my hands, and even more surprisingly, my hands were glowing.

  3

  Wyatt

  I was a dragon. I had scales, wings, and no clue how to get back to myself—either of my selves. Dragos descended from dragons, but we weren’t dragons. Not anymore. There was nothing familiar about the creature I’d become—yet it didn’t feel wrong. There was comfort being inside such a large beast and a sense of coming home. But comfort or not, there was still something about my new form that felt off—a tug of something magical I knew came from a very dark place. I had no idea what was happening, but I needed to figure it out quickly. Strong or not, dark magic could only be coming from one place, and being tied to a creature like Veronica was dangerous.

  Despite my own precarious situation, my thoughts kept returning to Hailey. I needed to know if she was safe. I needed to make sure Veronica hadn’t done something equally as monstrous to her.

  “You won’t be a dragon forever.” Veronica sat on a stool in front of me. Her short dress was hiked up to her thighs as if she wanted me to look or completely didn’t care. Everything about her disgusted me, and I looked her directly in the eyes to make sure she knew I wasn’t afraid of her. “Although I do like you better as a dragon. You’re quieter, and my Scarber side finds you more attractive this way. Do you feel the same way about me? Should I transform too?”

  I didn’t care what she did. After seeing her as a monster once I already knew what lay beneath her pleasant looking facade.

  “But I will return you to your humanoid form eventually, if you play your cards right. If you haven’t figured it out already, I hold all the keys here. You will be stuck as a dragon under my control forever if you disobey me. Can I get a nod?”

  I made no move.

  “I won’t count this against you. I don’t really care if you nod or not. At least not when we’re alone. When the others come, you will obey my every command. I hope you understand. And if being trapped as a dragon isn’t enough to make you obey, I’ll make sure Hailey suffers even more than you. And Troy.”

  Troy? I froze. What did Troy have to do with anything?

  “The Elders were nice enough to give him to me to play with. Without his fire that’s really all he’s good for now. Playing. I wonder if the old adage is true… a Drago’s mate will appeal to all the other Dragos. Do you think Troy might like her too?” Veronica cackled.

  Mentally I knew I had nothing to worry about with Hailey and Troy, but the animal side of me, the side that was now completely in control, thought differently. I felt fire build.

  “But Hailey loves you, doesn’t she?” Veronica stood and took a few steps toward me. “You aren’t doubting her, are you?”

  I wasn’t doubting Hailey. Not for a second, and rationally I knew Troy wouldn’t... but did he know? What if he didn’t understand why he was attracted to her now?

  She touched my wing. I recoiled. “Now, now, Wyatt. I just told you I can control you completely. Do you really want to make me mad? Don’t you want to get out of here eventually so you can see Hailey?”

  Yet all she was doing was trying to make me angry. The Troy and Hailey talk only served one purpose. I wanted to kill her. I needed to kill her, but I couldn’t. Not only would it destroy my chances of shifting back, but her magic had a hold on me. It made me listen to her even if I didn’t want to.

  “I know what you’re thinking.” Veronica touched my wing again. “You are wondering why you aren’t trying to hurt me. I already told you, you are under my control. Your thoughts might be your own, but your actions are not. It’s all a matter of how much of my magic I need to use. Right now you might be able to fight me a little. Like refusing to nod. You resist anymore and my control increases—and your chance of ever becoming yourself again disappears.

  I was in a nightmare, a horrible nightmare I would never wake up from. I needed to get to Hailey. I couldn’t wait much longer.

  “I wonder what Hailey would think of your new look.” Veronica grinned. “Does she like green?” She cackled in an inhuman way, the first break in her flawless facade. “I wonder how she’d feel about you now… if she could even figure out it was you.”

  She would know. I had to believe it. I had to believe our connection was so deep she’d know me no matter what exterior I wore. But what if she couldn’t?

  Veronica’s phone rang, and she held it to her ear. “Come up anytime. We’re ready.” She slipped the phone back into the small red purse she wore over her shoulder.

  “Looks like our company will be here very soon. Aren’t you excited?”

  Excitement wasn’t any of the things I was feeling.

  “I believe you’ve met one of our guests before. Won’t that be fun? I’m sure she’s going to love seeing you with your new skin.”

  Met her before? Who was Veronica talking about? When you’d lived as long as I had you meet many creatures over the years. I ran through the list of the evil ones I thought might possibly be willing to work with someone like Veronica.

  She turned her neck around further than a human ever could. “You get to meet some of my associates. I’m sure you are very excited at the prospect.”

  Excited wasn’t quite how I would describe my current emotional state. I normally had a plan. I always had a plan. I knew when to use brute strength and when to use intellect. I knew when to run for cover in order to take the time to spring into action at the perfect moment. I didn’t have any of those options now. None of them. I was trapped, and it was my life and Hailey’s on the line. Not to mention the possibility of many, many more innocent lives. Veronica had her sights on destroying The Society. Without The Society humans would be at the mercy of the supernaturals—and many of them wouldn’t hesitate to destroy them.

  “Remember. I expect you to be on good behavior.” She petted my head.

  What was I? Her pet? I struggled to hide my reaction. If her threat was real, the last thing I wanted was for her to up the intensity of her hold on me.

  I made no move. I wasn’t going to nod if I didn’t have to. Instead I returned to my thoughts of Hailey. We were going to make it through this. Both of us. We were both strong, and if I could only find a way out of my mess I’d get to her. That is if she didn’t find me first. Hailey was capable of the most amazing things.

  I tried to see more of the room, but I couldn’t see much. It was all white walls and concrete floors from where I was. I had no idea if I was still in Veronica’s crazy house or if she’d moved me somewhere else. The fact I didn’t know underlined just how messed up the situation was.

  I heard the sound of footsteps. Two sets. Neither were heels at least. Not that it mattered, but I didn’t want to see any other monsters dressed up.

  “Come in, come in,” Veronica called over her shoulder.

  A man and woman, both wearing sunglasses and black suits, walked in.

  For a second I worried they were Seers, but then I remembered they could be something much worse.

  They simultaneously took off their sunglasses and hung them from the pocket of their black jackets.

  I recognized the woman as soon as her shades were removed. Veronica hadn’t been lying. I did know this woman—although know was probably a tame word f
or it. Maybe Veronica wasn’t aware of the extent of our history.

  “Wait.” The woman, Dara, turned to Veronica. “That’s him? That’s Wyatt?”

  “Yes, it is. Doesn’t he look wonderful?”

  “He does. Although I did always like him in his Drago form. The best sex I ever had.” She twirled a strand of her blond hair around her finger.

  “Is that so?” Veronica eyed me. “Wish I’d known that before.”

  “Are we done talking about your sexual exploits, Dara?” The man beside her, a man I didn’t recognize at all, asked. “I do not wish to interrupt.”

  “Yes, Daniel. I’m done.”

  Dara stepped toward me. “How rude, Wyatt. This is Daniel. I made him a few decades after you left.”

  Made him? What the hell was she talking about?

  “You may have to explain more than that, darling. He’s been in living in his Drago bubble after all.” Veronica drew a circle in the air with her finger.

  “Oh.” Dara nodded. “I can see your point.” She directed her attention toward me. “I’ve developed some new skills since you left.”

  Like the ability to live for decades without aging? What was going on? Last time I saw Dara she was a regular witch. I could feel her power now, and there was nothing weak, nor typical, about it.

  “As you can tell, I no longer age. You aren’t the only one who gets to live longer, Wyatt.” She patted Daniel’s arm. “And I made myself the perfect man. He has all the traits I love, and he won’t leave. He’ll never leave me.”

  “I’ll never leave,” Daniel nodded. “I’ll never leave you.”

  Was he a robot? Either that or… a horrible thought hit me. Was he human? Was she using magic to imprison the man? To make him bend to her will? Yes. I was sure I was right. I could hear his heart beat when the room fell quiet.

  “We will have more company later, but I thought you might want some time to catch up with Dara first.”

  I’d left her for good reason. She had been experimenting with dark magic, and I wanted nothing to do with that. We’d met when we both were grieving—and somehow that had blinded me to her true ambitions.