Flight (14 page)

“
You mean he’s a player?”

“
That’s one way of putting it.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I know that, I’m not letting myself get too attached.” I hoped my words were true.

“
I’m not telling you that to scare you off. I’m letting you know he’s been different with you, that’s all.”

I chose to press on with my own question, ignoring Natalie’s implication. “Are you going to tell Levi I was down here?”

She looked towards the door suddenly. “I won’t have to.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
Doing some exploring?” Levi materialized through the doorway, walking towards us at a quick pace.

I tried to come up with an excuse but realized it was pointless. “All right, you got me.”

“
Natalie, can we have a minute?”

“
Sure. I’ll see you at work tomorrow morning?” she asked.

“
Allie won’t be at work tomorrow, we have plans.” My mouth dropped open as I listened to him order her around. I waited for her rebuff. It never came.

“
Of course. Goodnight.”

I stared after her as she left, debating whether I should just follow. My curiosity got the better of me.

Levi closed the gap between us, standing directly in front of me. I couldn’t help but shiver. I knew it was just Levi, but somehow he seemed a little scarier now that I was all alone with him in a room below ground that wasn’t even supposed to exist. His next words did nothing to alleviate the growing unease.

“
What am I going to do with you? You ever heard the saying ‘curiosity killed the cat’?”

I said nothing, watching him carefully, repeating over and over to myself that the guy who kissed me so intensely the night before wasn’t suddenly going to turn on me.

“
I think I know what to do.”

I tensed.

“
Are you afraid?”

“
Maybe.” I said in barely a whisper. I shivered again.

He leaned towards me and I held in a breath. Confused and at a loss of what to do, I closed my eyes. I opened them seconds later when I felt his lips on mine. I pulled away, and he laughed.

“
You were actually scared, weren’t you?”

“
Give me a break, Levi, it’s creepy down here and I really know almost nothing about you. Of course you scared me.”

“
Well, you’re not going to learn anything down here, let’s go upstairs.”

“
At least tell me what this room is for.”

“
It’s for meetings, Al. You happy?”

“
Meetings? Is that really all you are going to give me?”

“
Listen, I’d tell you more but then I’d have to kill you, and I already scared you enough for tonight.”

“
Levi!”

“
Okay, okay. What do you want to know?”

“
Everything. What is this? How do the Pterons fit in? Were you joking when you said there were actually vampires? What else is there—?”

“
Whoa. Slow down there, babe. I can’t answer them all at once.”

“
Well, you have to start somewhere.”

“
Does it have to be here? I can think of a few more comfortable places to discuss this.”

“
If this is another attempt to get into my room, forget it.”

“
Fine. This is the meeting room for
The Society
. The Pterons oversee it, but the council includes members from several different shifter groups. Lower lying groups like the vampires don’t have seats.”

“
Vampires are low lying?”

“
They suck blood from people, how much more of a bottom dweller can you imagine?”

“
True. But I don’t know... they seem more glamorous in books and movies.”

“
Yes, because books and movies always get things right.” He shook his head.

“
Fine. So why are the Pterons in charge?”

“
We’re the most powerful. Our hybrid form helps, as does our strength.”

“
So is your strength one of those abilities you promised to tell me about later?”

“
Yes. Not that it should surprise you.” He folded his arms across his chest, accentuating just how muscular he really was.

“
No, I guess it isn’t surprising.” It was hard not to be impressed by his incredible physique. Even without knowing his secret, he appeared superhuman.

“
If that about answers your questions, what do you say we get out of here?”

“
This isn’t over, but I’ll take what I can get for tonight.”

Levi walked me back to the elevator. He stayed behind, telling me he had a few things to do. I accepted his answers; glad I hadn’t found anything more sinister. I reminded myself that this was just a summer fling—no reason to worry too much.

Chapter
Eleven

Levi waited for me by the front entrance of the hotel the next morning. He grinned, and in the light of day I couldn’t believe he had scared me the night before. I followed him outside to find his car. His black BMW matched him perfectly. It was such an obvious fit that I headed toward the passenger side door before he even told me it was his.

“
How’d you know it was mine?”

“
You said you were parked down here, and it seemed more you than an old Civic or a pickup.”

He smiled and I could tell he was thinking. “I like how you don’t hold back, Al. You just say it like it is.”

“
So you are really sticking to the Al thing, huh?”

“
It fits.”

“
Whatever.”

Taking the day off was a little too easy, and I felt bad about how quickly Natalie agreed when Levi asked. When I double-checked with her in the morning, she insisted I take the whole day and not worry about coming in that afternoon. I argued at first, but I could tell she wasn’t going to budge. I had decided to stop worrying about it by the time I slipped into Levi’s car, dressed as he suggested in jeans and sneakers.

“
Are you ready to tell me where we’re going?

“
Patience, patience.”

I yawned, tired from a fitful night of sleep. No matter how much I liked surprises, I couldn’t deny the slight apprehension permeating my otherwise good mood.

Levi pulled up in front of a construction site. “Seriously? Do I seem like the type to like construction work?”

“
No, but I think you’ll like this.” He smiled.

“
Okay...” I stepped out of the car wondering where he was going with it.

A man in a hardhat greeted us as we walked closer to the house. “Levi, you made it.”

“
Hi, Phil. Of course. I brought another set of hands with me.”

“
I can see that.”

“
Allie, this is Phil. Phil, Allie.”

“
Nice to meet you,” I said politely, taking his outstretched hand.

“
The pleasure is all mine. We are always looking for new volunteers.”

“
Volunteers?” As the question slipped out, I looked around me, noticing for the first time that most of the people weren’t your typical construction types.

“
Yes. We’ve been doing rebuilding work since the storm, but it seems there is always more work to be done.”

“
I’m sure.” Aware of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina everything clicked. Levi had taken me to a rebuilding project.

“
Do you know how to use a hammer?” Levi asked.

“
I can’t say I’ve ever used one, but I’m game to try.”

***

Hours later with a tool belt slung around my hips and a hammer in my hands, I had successfully nailed together more boards than I could count. Sweaty and physically exhausted in a good way, I accepted the bottle of water Levi offered.

“
Having fun?”

“
Yeah, I actually am. It seems I have a hidden talent for hammering nails, huh?”

“
It seems so.” He laughed lightly, taking a swig from his own bottle. “We can head out if you want. I think Hailey wanted to steal you later.”

“
Steal me?”

“
Absolutely, today was all mine, remember?”

“
Do you do this a lot?” I asked.

“
Usually once or twice a month. I did more right after Katrina, but I never really stopped.”

“
I’m glad you brought me.”

“
See, I’m not all bad.”

“
No, only 90%,” I teased as we went to give back the tools.

“
Ouch, this only buys me 10%?”

“
What can I say, I have expensive taste.”

“
I’ll keep that in mind.”

***

Hailey was waiting for me in the lobby when Levi dropped me off. She followed me up to my room and flipped through some magazines while I showered and changed. “Did you have fun today?”

“
Surprisingly, yes. I never would have thought construction would be my thing but it was fun, aside from the fact that my forearms are killing me. Honestly, I’m just shocked Levi does it.”

“
You know I’m not exactly a Levi cheerleader, but he’s really not that bad, and no matter what you can say about him, he loves this city.”

“
Yeah, I get that sense.”

“
He’d do anything to help this place, and the city needs him.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
I think that’s for Levi to explain.”

“
Great, another opportunity for him to give me two word answers.”

Hailey chuckled. “Yeah, he’s pretty good at that, isn’t he?”

“
The best.”

“
You ready to go shopping?” she asked, replacing the magazines in the neat pile where I left them.

“
Sure, but you never told me what was up with this impromptu shopping trip. Not that I need an excuse to shop.”

“
I wanted to hang out without the guys for once. There is only so much of my brother I can take.”

I laughed. “Let me grab my bag.”

***

Hailey drove us uptown in her red Jeep Cherokee. “Are you aware that your car matches your hair?” I asked as she wove her way through traffic.

“
Ha ha, my hair is not that red.”

“
Okay, but it’s close.”

“
If you’re jealous, why don’t we dye your hair purple like your car?”

“
It’s lavender and low blow. I didn’t pick out the color.” I regretted pointing my car out to her.

“
Sure, sure. I thought we’d head up to Magazine Street. It’s no Madison Avenue, but it’s kind of fun and different,” Hailey explained as she parallel parked along the street.

Hailey was right; Magazine Street was fun. Lined with a good mix of trendy and vintage boutiques, it kept us busy for several hours. Surprisingly, we didn’t buy anything in the first few stores, but just as I was ready to congratulate myself on not spending any money, I found a dress I couldn’t leave behind. Little, black, and a bit racy, I wasn’t sure when I’d wear it, but it looked too good to resist.

“
I might have to borrow that dress sometime,” Hailey said as we waited for the clerk to put it in a garment bag.

“
Deal, as long as I can borrow that skirt you picked out.”

“
Think of the clothing collection we’d have if we combined,” Hailey laughed. Trying on clothes at the first store we had discovered we were the same size.

“
Good point, maybe we can mail things back and forth.”

“
It’s always nice to get packages.” Hailey glanced down at her cell phone as we walked back to her car. “Wow, is it that late already?”

“
Why? Do you have somewhere to be?”

“
Kind of. I mean I can get out of it.”

“
What is it?”

“
My soon to be roommate is in town for orientation and wants to meet up.”

“
Why aren’t you at the orientation?” I asked.