shared my impatience.
“I’ll take you,” Adrian offered. “I
need to go that way anyway.”
“I’m coming too.” Both girls said
at once.
“Or you could just tell us the
general direction.” The sooner we
ditched these Dryads the better as
far as I was concerned, and it
wasn’t only because of Donna. I
didn’t trust any of them. I didn’t
trust anyone but Owen anymore.
Mayanne had been so insistent I
trust Violet. Look at how far that
got us. What if the paste she gave
me had been fake? Maybe it had
only been an attempt to slow me
down.
I sighed. I couldn’t afford to
follow that train of thought. I
needed to find information on
Taylor and somehow use that to
gain an audience with the Elders.
Whether her fault or not, Violet
wasn’t with us. Owen and I were on
our own.
“You’ll never find it alone.”
Adrian rolled up the sleeves of his
green tunic.
“You want to see Panna. She
doesn’t want to see you.” Sky
grinned.
Adrian huffed. “Panna has
nothing to do with it.”
“No? You just happen to want
an excuse to go into the Allure
village?” Sky ribbed.
I caught Owen’s eye. Was it
time we cut our losses and
searched for it ourselves? “Allure
village? There is actually a place
called the Allure Village?”
“Did you think they lived with
the rest of us?” Donna shook her
head.
Sky touched Donna’s arm and
something silent passed between
them. “The Allures are kind of in
charge here.”
“Hasn’t Roland told you
anything?” Adrian asked.
“No. He’s told me nothing.” He
hadn’t, but then again it wasn’t his
job. It was no one’s job because I
didn’t have a maker.
“And Violet didn’t either?” he
asked.
“She was supposed to, and then
we got separated.” Or ditched. I
still didn’t know which one it was.
He nodded, as if in
understanding. “We could take you
to her house too.”
“Yes. She actually said she
wanted us to go there.”
“Great. Let’s go then.” Sky
grinned. “You’ll find both in the
village.”
“Good.” Owen retracted his
wings. “What direction are we going
in?”
“This way.” Sky started skipping
across the glade.
11
DAISY
Iwanted to laugh. I needed to
laugh as I watched this tiny pixie of
a girl frolicking across the meadow,
but I couldn’t. They may have been
little, but something told me they
weren’t the kind of creatures you
wanted to anger. I guess you never
wanted to make any creatures mad.
Life was so much simpler when I
only knew about humans. But it
was all worth it. I looked over at
Owen. It was all worth it because
I’d met him.
We’d been keeping our hands to
ourselves, I figured letting the
Dryads know we were involved
wasn’t a good thing. I was
beginning to understand Allures
didn’t get involved with anyone
else. The whole not being able to
feel emotion thing probably played
a huge role in that.
Sky led the way through the lush
meadow. Every so often a bird
swooped through the sky near us,
but otherwise it was quiet enough I
could hear the wind move through
the grass. Well, aside from Donna
talking. We walked for at least a
mile before we reached another
forest.
“I have always wanted to fly.
You are incredibly lucky.” Donna
prattled on to Owen. She’d been
chatting him up the whole walk.
“Flight is great, but I’m sure
being a Dryad has its benefits.”
Owen glanced up at the red moon.
I’d been doing the same thing
myself. It was a reminder we were
far from home.
I took a few deep breaths, Owen
was only being polite. He wasn’t
flirting. I’d never been a jealous
person before, but now I couldn’t
even hold myself together. I
needed to calm down before I got
us into even more trouble than we
were already. An Allure wasn’t
supposed to be in love.
“Ignore her.” Sky fell back to
walk next to me. “She’s just
excited.”
“I was making sure she didn’t
distract him from his job.”
“His job of protecting you?” She
leaned in. “You don’t need
protection here.”
“I thought I was going to be in
trouble. I think I do need
protection.”
“His kind of protection isn’t
going to help you with the Force. It
could only hurt.”
“But I want him here anyway.”
“Listen, you are still human sort
of?” Her eyes were kind.
“Yes.”
“Then do the right thing.”
“Which is?” I didn’t actually want
to hear the answer because I was
afraid of what it would be.
“Send him back home. Give him
a chance.”
“He has a chance here. We’re
both going home.” I clenched my
fists together at my side. From
jealousy to anger. My emotions
were boiling up and mixing together
in a somewhat painful way.
“You already know you want to
leave the Glamour Realm? You
want to live with the humans?”
“I’m from the human world.”
“So? It’s not like you are going
to care about anyone there
anymore.” Her words weren’t cruel,
they were purely a statement of
fact, but they clawed at me in a
way that made my emotions more
confusing.
She was wrong. That couldn’t be
possible. Mom. Her face flashed
through my head again. I’d been so
focused on my feelings for Owen I
hadn’t been thinking about
everyone else in my life. No way. I
wasn’t losing that feeling of warmth
that coursed through me every time
I pictured my mother’s face or her
voice. Or the way my father could
crack me up, or my brother could
simultaneously annoy me yet make
everything so much more fun. “I’m
going back.”
“You can say what you want to
say now. You won’t be saying it
soon.”
“How did you know I was
Allure?” The Pterons didn’t know, so
it wasn’t obvious to all paranormal
creatures. But maybe that was
because most of them hadn’t met
an Allure before.
“It’s obvious. True nature types
can always tell.” She clasped her
hands in front of her.
“Is an Allure a nature type?”
Violet hadn’t told me anything
about what an Allure was, only
what they did.
“No. They are a type all of their
own. Well, you are. I shouldn’t talk
as though you aren’t one of them.”
She straightened up. “They are not
tied to the land or anything in
nature.”
I wasn’t one, and I wouldn’t be I
reminded myself so I wouldn’t fall
to the floor in despair. The
possibility of stopping the change
was the only thing that kept me
moving. “But they live in your
realm.”
“They predate all of us,” Sky
puffed out her chest.
“Oh.” I glanced over at Owen.
He was still deep in conversation
with Donna. Perfect.
“And the Allures all descend
directly from the gods.” She picked
up her pace.
I hurried to keep up. “People
keep saying that, but I don’t
understand.”
“I’m not the one to explain it.”
“Great. Another question to wait
for an answer to. ” My shoulders
slumped.
Out of the corner of my eye I
watched her studying me. “Did you
know what you were agreeing to
when you accepted the gift? Did
you consider what you would lose?”
I shook my head without
thinking.
“That’s a capital crime.”
“What is?”
“Changing someone without
giving proper information.”
“But I wasn’t changed. Well, not
in the way you’re supposed to be.” I
couldn’t keep up the ruse anymore.
I was going to get everyone hurt. A
capital crime? Roland didn’t deserve
that.
“Wait. Before Owen interrupted
you were talking about a witch.
What did you mean?”
So she had picked up on that.
“Forget it. Just know Roland did
nothing wrong.”
“You are lying about
everything.”
I looked down. “I don’t know
what’s true anymore.”
“If you don’t level with me, I
can’t help.”
“I don’t know you.”
“You do.” She stopped in her
tracks. “I’m Sky.”
Clearly I’d offended her.
“Knowing your name doesn’t mean
I know you.”
“Except it does. Our names
define us.” She glanced up at the
red moon.
“For Dryads?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“But I’m an outsider. I can’t see
the meaning the way you can.”
“Roland didn’t change you.”
I glanced back at Owen again.
And then at Adrian. No one was
listening. “No. I was given a potion
in the form of a paste.”
“A paste?”
“Yeah… from a witch I met in
New Orleans. I thought it was a
joke, but well, it wasn’t.” I looked
down at my body as though there
was a physical manifestation of a
change.
“Were you really with Violet and
Hugh?”
“Yes. They were supposed to be
helping me.”
“Helping you with what?”
I debated. I’d already spilled lots
of the beans. “To stop the change.
They said seeking an audience with
the Elders was the only chance I
had.”
“That’s impossible,” she hissed
as we continued across the
meadow. “If she said it was
possible, she lied.”
“I have to believe her. The other
option is something I can’t accept.”
“The Elders aren’t going to help.
The Allure numbers are dwindling.
Very few humans can accept the
gift anymore.”
“I don’t want to accept it.”
“You love him?” She looked at
Owen.
I nodded. I loved him more than
I believed possible, and it only got
stronger each day.
“Always a complication.” She
waved her arm around.
“It’s more than a complication.”
“I don’t know why Violet got
your hopes up. There is nothing you
can do.”
“I refuse to believe that. There
is always something.” I clung to
confidence I didn’t know I had. I
couldn’t lose Owen after all this.
“I hope you keep this
personality.” She looked off into the
distance.
“Keep it?”
“Yes. If you try really hard you
can hold onto it.”
“Changing takes away your
personality?”
“Not at first, but as the years go
on. It’s the nature of things.”
“How old are you?” I’d learned
that someone’s appearance said
nothing about their true age.
“Older than I look. Although I’m
not immortal. Only Allures and one
other creature have that gift.”
“You should call it a curse.” A
gift was supposed to be a good
thing. I was curious about the other
creature, but I didn’t ask.
“Most gifts are also curses.”
I sighed. “I wish I knew Violet’s
plan.”
“Not to make things worse, but
what if this was her plan?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean. What if
the plan was to drop you here?
Bring you home, so to speak, while
you wait things out.”
“She wouldn’t.” I shook my
head. I’d considered the same thing
myself, but that didn’t mean I was
ready to admit it out loud.
“How well do you know Violet?”
Sky glanced back at the others and
then back at me.
“I know her.” I didn’t. Not really.
She’d told me almost nothing about
herself, and the only hint of her
past I had was from Lonnie’s story
about an old ball. That wasn’t much
to go off.
“Violet is one of the oldest
Allures I’ve ever met. She’s not the
type to come up with crazy
schemes to help someone.”
“She has a plan.” The question
was did the plan involve saving me
from the Allure fate? I pushed away
my doubts. The alternative was
that I gave up everything. Violet
had a plan to get the Elders to help
me. I needed to figure out what it
was so I could execute it myself.
“We’ll be there soon,” Adrian
called up to us. Owen and Donna
had fallen behind. I looked back
and caught his eye. He gave me a
slight smile.
I forced a smile back even
though I didn’t want to give one. I
was feeling frustrated, terrified, and
annoyed that he was talking to that
Dryad so much. I’m not doing this
for Owen I reminded myself. I’m
doing this for me.
“Here we are.” Sky gestured in
front of her. “The Allure Village.”