Flight (16 page)

Figuring that honesty was probably the only way I was getting my proverbial foot out of my mouth, I admitted to my fear. “Fine, I’m glad you’re here. Tonight was pretty scary. I mean Hailey took care of the situation quickly but I’ve never had someone pull a gun on me before.” Admitting it out loud made it more real and I started to shake.

“
It’s okay. I promise that guy has been taken care of.”

“
What do you mean?” I wasn’t sure that I wanted to hear the answer.

“
He’s been apprehended. Leave it at that.”

“
Okay…”

“
Come here.” Levi sat down on the couch, opening his arms up to me. Without hesitating I snuggled into him, leaning my head on his chest. His warm skin felt good against mine as he gently kissed the top of my head.

“
It’s normal to be scared. Not everyone is like Hailey and can just let something like that slide. Don’t fight it.”

I didn’t say anything; I just let him hold me.

“
Do you want me to stay?” he asked quietly.

I wanted to take him up on it, but my pride wouldn’t let me. “No, I’ll be fine.”

“
If it makes you feel any better, this hotel is probably the safest place in the city.” He didn’t press his offer further and I appreciated it.

“
Oh.” Remembering the secret rooms beneath the hotel, I figured that security was probably pretty good. “It does make me feel better.” I picked my head up from his chest, and smiled to let him know I was okay.

“
Call me if you need anything or you just want to talk.” He stood up and walked toward the balcony door before pausing. “Thanks, by the way.” He grinned sheepishly and I was afraid to take the bait.

“
For?”

“
The image. I was wondering what you slept in. Goodnight, Al.” As usual, he suddenly took off before I could respond. I didn’t mind his comment, he had been attempting to lighten the mood and it worked.

“
Goodnight, Levi,” I whispered even though I knew he couldn’t hear me.

Chapter
Twelve

“
What kind of party are we going to?” I asked while slipping into the passenger seat of Hailey’s jeep. When she called me during work to see if I was free, I thought it was to hang out like usual. I wasn’t expecting a party, especially not one that came with warnings.

“
Well, you might be the only human there, but I guess there could be a few others.”

“
Lovely. You do realize how weird it is when you say things like that, right?”

She laughed. “Uh-huh, but you’ll get used to it. Just be careful who you talk to, and don’t go off alone with anyone, okay?”

“
Really? Because I was planning on going home with some random guy tonight.”

“
Seriously, Allie, these guys aren’t the type to mess around with. Not to mention I’d have my head served up on a platter if you did that.”

“
You do realize I was joking, right?”

“
Yeah, but I just wanted to emphasize how important it is that you’re careful.”

“
If it’s so dangerous, then why are we going?”

“
Because it’s going to be a good party, and I know for a fact my brother and his friends won’t be there.”

“
Okay, good enough reasons.”

“
I’m glad, because I wasn’t going to turn around even if you didn’t like them.” She gave me a cheeky grin.

Something about Hailey’s expression reminded me of Owen, so I decided to ask a question that I’d been mulling over for a while. “Can I ask you something about your brother?”

“
My brother? Sure…”

“
Why is he single? I mean I haven’t seen him even flirt with anyone.”

“
So you noticed? Yeah, he got hurt pretty badly and hasn’t dated since. I think he’s too scared of being that vulnerable again.”

“
Why, what happened?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

“
He met a girl freshman year, Chloe. They got pretty serious, and he planned to propose to her.”

“
He wanted to get engaged at what, 19 years old?”

“
Yeah, I know, pretty young. But anyway, he knew before he could ask her he had to tell her the truth about who we are, and well, let’s just say she didn’t take things as well as you did.”

“
She broke up with him when she found out he was a Pteron?” It’s not that I could blame her, it was shocking, but at least for me it was also incredibly cool.

“
She did more than that. She transferred schools, changed her number and everything.”

“
Oh, geez.”

“
Yeah, he was crushed and never really got over it. I think he was worried you would do the same thing to Levi.”

“
Oh… So I understand him not wanting to be with another human, but why not date a Pteron? Wouldn’t that solve the problem?”

“
Uh, we’re not exactly encouraged to date our own. Plus, there aren’t too many girls.”

“
Why aren’t you supposed to date each other?”

She peeked over hesitantly. “Well, dating would be fine, but we aren’t supposed to get serious and Owen wants serious. But anyway, it’s about keeping some variation in the gene pool. It’s supposed to keep us stronger. The Pteron gene is 100% dominant so as long as one partner is a Pteron, your kids will be.”

“
Oh. Great.” I wasn’t sure what to make of the genetics talk, but I appreciated Hailey being open with me.

“
So why doesn’t he just date other shifters then?”

Hailey laughed dryly. “That’s seen as the worse affront possible.”

“
Wait, so you are encouraged to date humans but not other shifters?”

“
Yeah. It’s considered dating down. Humans are like a blank slate, whereas other supernaturals are considered tainted. Don’t ask.”

“
Okay…” I decided not to press further and tried to steer us back to a safer topic. “So where are we going exactly?” I looked down at my tank and short jean skirt, glad that Hailey was dressed similarly. I wasn’t quite sure what to wear to a shifter party.

“
It’s at a warehouse on Tchoupitoulas street.”

“
Say that again.”

Hailey laughed. “Chop-a-too-lus.” She exaggerated the phonetic syllables of the word. “Try saying that five times fast.”

I smiled. “No thanks. I’ve never been to a warehouse party before, but then again I’ve never been to a party with shifters either, so I guess the location is the less important part.”

“
It should be fun. These things are usually pretty entertaining.”

“
Who’s throwing this party anyway?”

Hailey parked. “Just a couple of Weres I know.”

“
Weres? Wait, like werewolves?”

“
Yeah. And just follow my lead.” Hailey got out of the car, slamming her door behind her. I hopped out and we walked up towards a large abandoned building. I didn’t say anything, but the whole thing had me a little nervous.

Hailey led us to a doorway and I stopped short when I noticed two large guys standing on either side like bouncers.

“
Code,” one boomed while simultaneously checking us out. The other guy didn’t even acknowledge us.

“
Howling wolf,” Hailey said evenly. If I wasn’t so nervous the password would have made me laugh.

“
Head on up.”

“
Come on.” She grabbed my hand and we moved inside and into an industrial elevator. Pulling the grate down, she gave me an encouraging grin. “Let’s do this.”

I could feel the beat of the music as Hailey pulled up the grate when the elevator reached the top floor. We took a short flight of stairs to the roof. We could now hear, as well as feel, the loud dance music as we stepped out. Strands of lights illuminated the roof, giving it a warm feel I wasn’t expecting. After a quick glance at each other, we moved into the crowd of dancers.

We danced with each other for a while, laughing as a few guys made a ridiculous attempt at break dancing.

“
All right, I need a rest,” Hailey said after several songs, walking away from the crowd. I followed; glad I had decided to come with her. There was something fun about going to a party where you knew no one. So much less pressure and work.

“
Hailey?” A couple of guys headed toward us.

“
Hey, Jason.” Hailey smiled at a guy around our age with light brown hair.

“
I didn’t expect to see you here.” He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

“
Yeah, there wasn’t much else going on,” she said nonchalantly. “This is my friend, Allie.”

“
Hey, Allie, nice to meet you.” Jason reached out his hand, but it was quickly pushed away by his friend.

“
Hi Allie, I’m C.J. Welcome to our party. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around before.” With spiky black hair, a sports coat and a pair of Chuck Taylors, C.J. was like a walking contradiction. I had a feeling he thought it was part of his charm.

“
She’s from New York,” Hailey interrupted.

“
Ah, trading up are you?” C.J. asked. I wasn’t sure what he was asking, so I looked over at Hailey for help and she nodded.

“
Yeah, I needed a change.”

“
I get it. You wanted to check out some new stomping grounds, or I guess skies.” He gave me a flirtatious smile and it hit me; he thought I was a Pteron. I smiled back at him, pretty happy about his assumption. It wasn’t a bad thing if guys thought you were super-strong and able to fly.

“
Want to dance?” C.J. asked, gesturing to the swelling crowd.

“
Umm, I think I’m going to get a drink,” I replied, trying not to hurt the guy’s ego, but I wasn’t interested.

“
All right, let’s get some drinks then.” He reached to grab my arm and I stepped away. If he had been a regular guy I would have made my feelings clear, but the knowledge that he was actually a werewolf made me rein in my temper.

“
Great. Hailey, you want to come?”

Half expecting Hailey to pull a Jess and ditch me for the guy she was talking to, I was pleasantly surprised by her response. “Definitely, we do
everything
together.”

Trying to make sure he understood Hailey’s implication, C.J. just stared after us as we slipped away arm in arm.

“
Nice one.” I laughed.

“
Yeah, he seemed like a clinger.”

“
So, can they really not tell?” I asked, hoping she got what I was actually asking.

“
Nope. You can only sense a Pteron when we shift.”

“
Oh. I guess I was thinking there was a scent or something.”

“
A scent? Nope, I mean what would a crow smell like?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, a bird?”

Hailey laughed.

After grabbing some drinks, we decided to dance again, and I groaned inwardly when C.J. and Jason caught up with us. I didn’t push to lose them again because Hailey seemed to like Jason enough, but I wasn’t so gentle removing C.J.’s hands from my waist the second time.

“
Feisty one, huh?” he whispered in my ear and I cringed.

Ready with a comeback, I was startled as two arms wrapped around my body possessively.

“
Put your damn paws on her again and you’ll be short one,” Levi growled from just above my shoulder.

“
Oh, hi Levi. I didn’t realize you hadn’t had this one yet. What do you care anyway, don’t you usually go for the humans?”

Levi’s arms released me and he pushed me behind him, placing me right between Jared and Owen.

“
Humans are superior to you lowlifes,” Levi spat.

“
You have the nerve to come to my party and insult me?”

“
I can insult you anywhere I want,
dog
.”

I glanced over at Hailey, noticing that her eyes had gone all black again. Jared and Owen’s had as well, and I could only assume Levi’s had done the same. Before I could dwell on it too long, I watched with shock as the air seemed to buzz and C.J. shifted into a giant wolf. Unlike the transformation of the Pterons, C.J. became a wolf completely; there was nothing human about him.