“What other choice do you
have?” Her eyes twinkled.
“Just level with me. What do
you want from all this?”
“All you need to know is that it
involves Daisy being happy and
healthy. I do not wish her ill. I’d like
to get her exactly what she wants,
but if that’s not an option, then I
will take her under my wing and
teach her everything she needs to
know to become an Allure.”
“Is that really your job?”
“Would you prefer Roland do it?
Because he’d be the more natural
one?”
“No. I don’t want him near her.”
I clenched my teeth.
“It’s not the kind of attraction
Hugh made it sound like. It’s the
essence he’s attracted to.” Violet
stood and stretched.
“Which means you kept him
away because you’re afraid of what
he’ll do.”
“I’m afraid of what he’ll try to
stop us from doing.” She rolled her
shoulders.
“But if you get the essence back,
can’t you give it to someone else?”
“If we found the right person.”
Hugh pushed back his chair. “That
isn’t exactly easy.”
“It’s that hard?” I wasn’t asking
a question.
“Yes. Very. It might take
decades. Possibly a century since
it’s a whole essence.”
“And he doesn’t want to wait
that long.”
“He’s been unhappy for a while
now. He’s craving the
companionship.”
“Then he should make his own.”
“And he will, but he wants his
maker.”
“She isn’t his maker.”
“No, she’s not, but she feels like
her. She also kind of looks like her.”
“Now you mention that.” I shook
my head.
“Not in features exactly, just
expressions. The way she holds
herself. Maybe I have it wrong,
maybe Daisy’s changed to adapt to
the essence.” Violet held up her
arms. “What do I know anyway?”
“No matter what happens we
keep Daisy safe.” That was the
bottom line.
Violet glanced over her
shoulder. “She wanted me to
promise the same thing about you.”
“And did you?”
“Well, her exact words were
about worrying that you’d be hurt. I
told her the truth. I told her if we
failed, you’d be hurt.”
“We’re not going to fail. That’s
not an option at all.” I stood. I
couldn’t sit around a moment more.
Hugh smirked. “Not an option,
but a possibility. Failure is always a
possibility, even for the strongest,
and you aren’t the strongest.”
“Do you want to antagonize
me?” I moved toward him.
“It’s the truth. Although Daisy is
one of the strongest beings I’ve
ever met.”
“She is.” We agreed on
something.
“Speaking of which.” Violet
gestured to the doorway.
I turned to see Daisy walk in
wearing jeans and a fitted t-shirt.
She looked perfect. She looked
beautiful dressed up, but there was
something about simple casual
clothes that brought out her inner
beauty even more. “Sorry about
that. I had to talk to Mayanne a
little bit more.”
“It’s fine. We’ve had a lovely
chat.” Violet picked up another
cookie. “Still hungry?”
“Nope.” Daisy shook her head.
“Let’s do this.”
“Are you leaving?” Georgina and
Levi strolled back into the room.
They’d disappeared earlier, and I
hadn’t asked questions.
“Yes. There’s no reason to hold
off any longer,” Daisy replied.
Georgina pulled her into a hug.
“Best of luck on your journey.”
Daisy stepped back in surprise.
“Thank you.”
Georgina nodded. “My bet is on
you.”
Daisy’s eyes widened slightly. “I
didn’t take you as someone who
bets.”
“Everyone is entitled to her
secrets.” Georgina winked.
“Take care of Owen for me.”
Levi held out his hand to her.
“Of course.” She accepted his
hand and shook it. “I won’t let
anything happen to him.”
“I know. He’s in good hands.”
I put an arm around her. “And I
won’t let anything happen to you
either.”
“Good.” Mayanne smiled.
“Daisy’s a friend of mine. I’m
protective of my friends.”
“As you should be.” Violet
moved toward the doorway. Hugh
pushed past her without a word.
“Where’s Hugh going?” Daisy
asked.
“Waiting outside. Goodbyes
aren’t his thing.”
“Even when they are with
people he doesn’t care about?” Levi
asked skeptically.
“What makes you think he
doesn’t care about any of you?”
Violet teased.
“Be safe.” Georgina spoke softly.
“We will do our best. Thanks for
the hospitality.” Violet turned back
around.
“Thanks for the help, Levi.”
Hopefully I’d be able to repay him
eventually.
“Anytime, man.”
My relationship with Levi was
complicated, but the bottom line
was we were good friends. I knew
Levi had my back when it counted.
“Just do me a favor. Come back
when you’re all done.”
“I plan on it.” I caught up with
Daisy and Violet outside.
Hugh was already seated in the
driver’s seat of the SUV. Daisy and I
slipped into the backseat.
“How did the goodbyes go?”
Hugh slowly backed out of the
drive.
“They went fine. I’m not sure
why you hid out here.” Daisy
buckled her seatbelt.
“I had more important things to
do.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. We’ve got directions in
the GPS.” He pointed to the screen.
“You guys need directions?”
Daisy leaned forward toward the
front.
“No, but it seemed like
something I should do.”
Daisy shook her head. “You guys
are weird.”
Hugh looked at us in the
rearview mirror. “Like you should
talk?”
“How far are we driving?” They
wanted to be secretive? Fine. They
could at least tell us that.
“We need to get to Charleston.”
“Charleston, South Carolina or
West Virginia?” That would make a
big difference in the driving time.
“South Carolina.”
“So that’s about 750 miles from
here.”
“Good guess.”
“It’s not a guess.” I knew
distances. I needed to know exactly
how long it would take to get to
any place in Levi’s territory. So
much of my life had been dedicated
to preparing to be his advisor, yet I
hadn’t realized it at the time. I’d
honestly been surprised when he’d
appointed me. I was his friend, but
politically there were better Pterons
for the position. My family held no
power. Or they didn’t before. With
Hailey and I both advisors now we
were positioning ourselves to be
one of the strongest families. I
pushed the thought from my head.
We weren’t positioning ourselves to
be anything. We were friends with
the king and queen and that helped
us get jobs. I’d abandoned my job.
Hopefully Hailey didn’t do the same
thing because I wasn’t sure what
that would mean for the Kaye
family’s reputation.
Hugh drove us down the quiet
country roads, past a large pond
with an old covered bridge.
“I had a bridge like that near my
house growing up.” Daisy looked
wistfully out the window.
“Did you also play with puppies
and kittens?” Hugh laughed.
“Stop it, Hugh.” Violet pushed
his arm. “Cut Daisy a break.”
“You are no fun.”
“I’m not concerned with whether
I’m fun.”
Hugh shrugged. “Whatever.”
I followed Daisy’s lead and
gazed out the window. I’d spent my
whole life in Louisiana, yet I knew
so little of the state outside New
Orleans. It’s funny how you can be
so close to something, yet know it
so little. Eventually the countryside
was replaced with the interstate.
We had a long trip ahead of us.
Daisy sighed, and I looked over.
“Is everything okay?”
“I’m fine.” She smiled lightly. “At
least we have a plan.”
“A plan that has to work.” It was
hard to have confidence in a plan
you still didn’t know that much
about.
“It doesn’t have to work,” Hugh
shot back.
“It does.” I wasn’t in the mood
to argue with him. I wasn’t in the
mood to do anything but find a way
to stop the change.
We stopped once for gas and food,
but otherwise we drove straight
through to Charleston. I spent the
ride trying to figure out where we
were really going, and trying to
come up with every possible escape
plan. I didn’t want to trust the
Allures, but we didn’t have another
choice. All I could do was take the
word of Mayanne and Georgina.
They had no reason to trick me,
and I hoped they didn’t have a
hidden agenda.
“I haven’t been here in years.”
Daisy looked out her window. She’d
spent nearly the whole trip that
way. I left her to her own thoughts.
She’d have told me if she were
interested in talking.
“To Charleston?” Violet asked.
“Yeah. I didn’t grow up all that
far from here, but since starting
college I missed all the family
trips.” She put a hand on her
stomach.
I cringed. I couldn’t stand to see
her in discomfort, and she was still
feeling sick.
“We don’t come all that often
either.” Hugh sounded surprisingly
nice.
“Isn’t this how you get to your
home?”
“Yes, but we don’t go home
often. We find plenty of substitutes
elsewhere.”
“Like abandoned amusement
parks.” Daisy smiled.
“Yes.”
“Abandoned amusement parks?”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Yes. They were staying at the
old amusement park in New
Orleans. The one that closed after
Katrina.”
“Oh… interesting.” They had the
ability to stay anywhere in the
world they wanted, the finest hotels
or homes, yet they choose an
abandoned amusement park that
had been under several feet of
water?
Violet turned in her seat. “Don’t
judge it until you’ve seen it.”
“It was pretty cool. Different,
but cool.” Daisy stretched. “I was
skeptical at first, but they had a
nice set up.”
“By skeptical she means she
expected us to kill her.” Hugh
laughed.
“How are you laughing?” Daisy
pouted. “It was a completely
reasonable thing to worry about
considering the circumstances.”
I loved that Daisy could see the
potential in the abandoned park.
Not many people could. It’s not like
she was an eternal optimist. She
wasn’t, but she could understand
why people saw beauty in another
person’s trash.
“This home isn’t like the
amusement park though, is it?”
Daisy rested her hand between us.
“Not because I care, but…”
Violet turned back around.
“You’ll see for yourself in a few
minutes.”
“We’re that close?” Daisy leaned
forward.
“Weren’t you the one who was
in a hurry?” Hugh asked.
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I’m
ready to face whatever is about to
come my way.”
Hugh continued down the two
lane road lined with a mix of old
and new buildings. It was one of
those areas that had been built
over time. He suddenly slowed and
turned onto a dirt road. I was glad
he’d chosen an SUV. “Angel Oak?” I
noted the sign. “I should have
known.”
“Tell anyone about it and you’re
dead, bird.” Hugh didn’t mince
words.
“I can understand secrets.
Pterons have more than a few of
our own.”
“What’s Angel Oak?” Daisy
asked over the noise from the
uneven road below us.
“It’s one of the oldest trees east
of the Missisippi.”
“Why’s it called Angel Oak?”
Daisy looked out at the dark night.
“Originally it comes from the
name of some of the people who
owned the land, but the angel
name also works because people
have reported seeing the ghosts of
dead slaves here.” Violet opened
her window. “Now that’s a time I’d
never want to go back to.”
“You were around before the
civil war?” Daisy’s eyed widened.
“That’s crazy.”
“I was around long before that.”
“Wow.” Daisy leaned back
against the seat.
“You’re not that old, Violet.”
Hugh patted her leg.
“Yeah, not that old.”
“No matter how hold you are,
you look good for your age.” I
thought I’d break some of the
tension.
Violet laughed. “Thanks. I
appreciate that.”
Hugh stopped the car in front of