Search (The Empire Chronicles #2) (3 page)

“That’s early for you. Get here.” Levi sounded crazed, so I knew I didn’t have much time to waste.

“You know I’m in New York, don’t you? It’s going to take a while.”

“Just get your ass into my office now.” The line went dead.

I couldn’t afford to leave Levi waiting. Less than a minute later, I’d put on a pair of jeans and shoes and taken off. The nice thing about being a Pteron is you don’t have to worry about anything as annoying as a plane ticket to get places in a rush.

The wind felt amazing against my wings, and I watched the city lights dance below me as I headed toward the country. Levi hadn’t told me anything over the phone, but I knew it couldn’t be good. Levi wouldn’t wake me up without a good reason. He also wouldn’t leave Allie in bed unless he had to, and he’d called from his office.

I tried not to overthink it. He was still pissed at me for sneaking into Angola, but this couldn’t be about that mistake again. He’d already said his piece, and I was doing exactly what I was supposed to do—I was monitoring things in New York. Of course, sleeping with Casey wasn’t in the description, but as long as I didn’t let her distract me from my work, it was fine. I never let girls distract me, even ones whose bodies called to me in my dreams.

Three hours later, I landed outside my house to grab a shirt before heading down to the hotel. The manager wasn’t a fan of us walking through the lobby shirtless.

Owen was sitting on the couch when I walked in.

“Waiting up for me?” I liked giving my roommate a hard time.

“Only because Levi told me to.”

“What, was he afraid I wouldn’t show up?”

Owen shrugged. “I don’t know, he just said it’s urgent.”

“It better be. I flew three hours to get here.” I walked down to my room and grabbed a t-shirt. I didn’t put it on yet since I knew we’d be flying again.

“There’s only one way to find out what’s up.” Owen picked up his keys and phone and headed to the door.

“Unless it’s the end of the world, let’s get a drink after. I could use one.”

Owen smirked. “Trouble in paradise with Casey?”

“No.” How did he know I was thinking about her?

“But you’ve seen her. What’s the problem, bro? She too much for you?”

I grunted. “Let’s get down to the hotel.”

The flight took mere minutes, then we rushed through the lobby and down to the basement level of the hotel.

Levi was pacing the marble floored halls around his office when we showed up. “Took you long enough.”

“Flying halfway across the country takes a while.” I shifted my weight.

“Yeah. I guess you’ve lost your speed with your old age.”

“Don’t talk. You’ll be twenty-three soon enough.” I was only a few months older than Levi, but the joke was I was the old one.

“I don’t fly as slow as an old man.” Levi threw around those sorts of comments all the time, but something felt off. He didn’t have his usual joking tone.

“What’s so important you had to get us down here at four a.m.?” Owen asked. Pterons barely need sleep, but getting called in at that hour wasn’t ideal for us either.

“Let’s talk in my office.” Levi turned and headed inside his cluttered space. He really needed to learn to clean up after himself.

I took a seat in one of the extra chairs. Owen sat down next to me. Levi kicked the door closed before sitting down behind the large wooden desk. There was still something weird about talking to Levi with the desk between us. It emphasized the boss-inferior relationship we now had. I didn’t like it at all.

Levi leaned back in his chair. “Allie got some insane news tonight.”

“Is she okay?” If Allie was hurt or upset it explained Levi’s mood. He’d do anything to keep Allie happy.

“Allie’s fine. This isn’t about her.”

“Then who is it about?” Owen glanced at me to see if I had any idea what was coming.

“Casey.”

“What?” I coughed. “My Casey?”

Owen laughed. “Calling her yours already?”

“If he is, this is going to be even worse.” Levi looked away.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He put his hands behind his head. “My dad’s an idiot.”

“And this is news?” I grinned. Levi’s opinion of his father was about as high as mine was of my father. Pretty damn low.

“He fucked around behind my mom’s back.” Levi practically spit the words. I understood his anger. Sleeping around on your mate was bad for a Pteron, but it was unheard of for a royal. It could also have huge consequences.

“Uh…” Owen stared blankly.

Levi closed his eyes then opened them. “It gets worse.”

“Worse?” My voice wavered. I knew whatever was coming was going to be bad.

He sat up straight. “He got her pregnant. She had a daughter.”

“What?” This couldn’t relate to Casey. It couldn’t. “How long ago did that happen?”

“Nineteen years ago.” Levi paused. “It’s Casey.”

“No.” I shook my head. I refused to believe it.

Owen stared at Levi. “Are you seriously suggesting Casey is your sister?”

My head spun. This couldn’t be happening.

“My half-sister. Toby saw a paternity test. I had Georgina trace it. It’s legit.”

I got out of my chair and tossed it into the wall. The wood splintered into pieces.

“Whoa. Calm down, man.” Owen spoke to me, but I could only vaguely hear him over my anger.

“Calm down? I fucking slept with a Pteron.”

“You slept with her?” Levi pulled me back around to look at him. “You slept with my sister?”

“Oh, get off it, asshole. You didn’t know you were related until a few hours ago. I’m the one who slept with the fucking girl.”

“She didn’t know.” Allie’s soft voice surprised me. I hadn’t heard her come in.

“How would you know?” I turned and glared at her.

“She had no idea. She’s freaked out. She turned to Toby for help.”

“That just makes it better. She lets me fuck her then goes crying to Toby. Fucking perfect.”

“She’s a victim here too.” Allie crossed her arms. “If there’s anyone to be mad at it’s Robert.”

The door burst open and Levi’s grandmother walked in. “Where’s that idiot father of yours?” Georgina glared at Levi. I don’t generally find old women scary, but Georgina was downright frightening when she was mad.

Levi ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. He isn’t picking up his phone.”

“Make him. I’m going to kill him.” Georgina curled her hand into a fist at her side.

“Did you have any idea?” Levi asked more calmly than I could have.

Georgina dropped a large handbag on the desk. “No, but at least we have answers.”

“Answers?” Owen took a seat on the desk, careful to stay clear of Georgina’s overflowing bag.

“In all of my research on Enchantresses, I never discovered any plausible rationale for their existence. I didn’t find any explanation for why a human sometimes picked the king instead of the crown staying in the same family.” Georgina paused dramatically. I resisted the urge to tell her to hurry up. Georgina wouldn’t take that well.

“Now we have the answer.” She paused again.

“And?” Levi didn’t have the same restraint I did.

Georgina finally continued. “We’re always warned that if the king or crowned prince steps out on their mate, they’ll lose the crown—but it’s not instantaneous. Instead, it goes down to the next generation.”

Levi shifted uncomfortably.

Georgina glanced at Levi. “That’s why Allie was an Enchantress.” She gave Allie a slight smile. “Thankfully, you chose Levi.”

“Seriously?” Levi put his arm around Allie. “After all the shit my dad gave me, he’s the one who almost lost it all for us?”

Georgina fumed, her smile wiped off her face. “Robert couldn’t keep it in his pants and almost destroyed our family.”

Owen laughed. Maybe if I wasn’t feeling so disgusted with myself, I would have laughed too. Georgina wasn’t the type of woman to use that expression.

“I’m going to let him have it. I also have some apologizing to do to Helen…” Georgina looked off. There was a story there, I’m sure.

“What’s next? Where do we go from here?” I needed to separate my feelings from what was going on. This news could potentially destroy the Laurents. It was my job to protect them.

“We find out who the mother is.” Levi scowled.

“She may be a victim too…” Allie said the words lightly, but there was no softening what she was implying.

“As horrible as Robert can be, my son wouldn’t rape a woman. But, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t use his position for persuasion or to mislead her.” Georgina turned to Levi. “Talk to him. You need to find out more.”

“Me?” He pointed at himself. “What are you going to be doing?” His reluctance to confront his father was clear as day. I didn’t blame him.

“I have a granddaughter to meet.”

“What?” I lost the fight with my emotions. “You’re going to see Casey?”

“Of course. She needs to be formally welcomed to the Laurent family.” Her steely gaze set on me. “Not that I need to explain myself to you, Judd.” I was starting to think she liked calling me by incorrect names. I also had a feeling she’d overheard the part of the conversation where I admitted to sleeping with Casey. Fantastic. Georgina was going to hate me even more now.

Levi narrowed her eyes. “But she’s not really a Laurent. Dad hasn’t recognized her.”

Allie glared at Levi. “She’s your sister whether Robert acknowledges it or not.”

Georgina nodded. “Allie’s right. That’s why we’re going to New York today.”

“I’m coming?” There was excitement in Allie’s voice. Of course, she was already planning slumber parties with her future sister-in-law.

“Yes. You’ve met her, haven’t you?” Georgina watched Allie.

“Yeah. She’s really cool.” Allie smiled.

“Leviathan, talk to your father. Boys,” she addressed Owen and me, “get a plane ready for us.” She turned to Allie. “I’ll give you a few minutes with Leviathan. Be ready to leave within the hour.”

Allie only waited until Georgina walked out of the office before starting in on the questions. “When are you going to call her?”

“Why would I call her?” I knew I sounded like a jerk, but I had no choice. I’d slept with a Pteron. Worse, I’d liked it—no, loved it. My dad had my brother shipped abroad for doing that. I wasn’t going to lose my position over a girl. We needed to pretend it never happened.

“Jared. Don’t be an ass,” Allie hissed.

“What?”

“You can’t ignore her. Think about what she’s going through. You promised you wouldn’t use her.”

“Yeah… I promised you that when I thought she was human. All bets are off. She’s a Pteron. She’ll recover. Besides, she’s already gone back to Toby.”

“She went back to him for help. That’s different.”

“Get off my back, Allie. This isn’t your problem.”

“Just drop it. He’s not going to listen.” Levi pulled Allie against him. “Are you really going to New York?”

“First of all, I’m not letting Casey deal with Georgina alone. Second, do you really think I have a choice?”

Levi laughed. “No. Definitely no choice. Have fun.”

“I’ll tell her you said hi.”

Levi nodded. “Okay.”

She squeezed his hand. “This is a good thing, Levi.”

“I’m glad you see it that way.” He kissed her lightly.

“I’ll call you later.” Allie kissed his cheek before turning to me. “And don’t be a complete jerk.” With that, she disappeared.

People shouldn’t knock on your door before nine a.m. Although I didn’t seem to need quite as much sleep lately, I didn’t enjoy getting awoken just as I’d finally fallen asleep. I rolled over, assuming it was the super telling me about some maintenance issue. When that happened, he usually left a note. The incessant knocking continued. The last time someone had woken me up by knocking, I’d met Jared. Something told me it wasn’t him this time. And then my phone started ringing. With a sigh, I looked at the screen. Allie. Okay, that could be important.

“Hey,” I answered as cheerfully as possible. Toby said she was interested in helping me. I needed her on my side, and in the little time I’d spent with her, she seemed to go out of her way to be nice to me.

“Hey. You need to open your door.”

“Wait. Is that you knocking?” I struggled to sit up in bed.

“Uh, sort of.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I didn’t like the vagueness in her words. It meant she wasn’t alone.

“I can’t explain. Just open it.”

Reluctantly, I pulled myself out of bed and walked the short distance to the front door. We didn’t have a peephole, so I was completely unprepared for what was waiting for me on the other side when I swung open the door.

“Beautiful.” A woman, probably around eighty, barreled into my apartment. “You are truly a sight.”

I looked down at the oversized t-shirt and shorts I’d slept in. I didn’t need to touch my hair to know it was a mess. Beautiful wasn’t exactly the word I’d use to describe how I looked at that moment.

“Who are you?” I asked the woman but looked to Allie for help.

“I’m Georgina, but you can call me Grandma.”

“Grandma?” I coughed. But then things fell into place. “You’re Levi’s Grandma?”

“Yes. My son is your father.” She took my head in her hands. “You are a spitting image of your great-grandmother. It’s incredible.” She stared at me for a moment before she dropped her hands.

“Did you know about me?” I wrapped my arms around myself. My world was falling apart. Meeting a grandmother I never knew I had might have been great in some situations, but in my current one, it just freaked me out more.

“Not until last night. I came right here.”

“If you’re worried about me staying quiet, I will. I just want to figure out more about my father and what happened.” I stood my ground. I wasn’t going to be pushed over.

“I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about you. How did you come to live in such a place?” She looked around my living room with disdain. Just like Toby did the first time. I tried to push away that thought.

I stood up as straight as possible. Grandmother or not, she wasn’t going to put me down. “It’s my cousin’s. I needed a place to stay.”

She made some sort of grunting noise. “You will be moving. I don’t know anything about this cousin, but a Laurent doesn’t live in such squalor.”