I liked flying with Vera. That was becoming abundantly clear. It was a long flight, one I’d never subject a human too, but Vera wasn’t human. Part of me hated that—hated that she was so much more complicated because of that, but the other part of me loved it. I loved that I didn’t have to worry about her nearly as much. She was spirited, spunky, and completely unafraid to speak her mind. All of that and an amazing body. Being with her was torture. She was the best thing I could never have.
“I could do this every day!” She yelled over the wind even though she didn’t have to. I would have heard her even if she’d whispered the words.
“I get to do it every day.”
“Gee, thanks for rubbing it in.”
“What he means is he’ll take you flying every day,” Owen butted in. He was good at that. He had no right to talk. He was king of keeping girls at bay. He’d only let a handful of girls get under his skin, and after one broke his heart, he never gave any others much attention. Maybe one day that would change, but currently he just needed to get off my back. He knew that my touching Vera was out of the question. At least touching her more than I had already. I started thinking about our kiss and my body heated. I needed to stop that line of thought. I was flying. Couldn’t I keep it together? Of course it was hard to do that with her body pressed against mine. Damn it. She could probably feel exactly what I was thinking about.
“I warned you about getting a hard on while we fly.”
Yeah, she’d noticed. “It’s your fault.”
“My fault?”
“Yes, you keep rubbing your ass against me.”
“I’m not rubbing anything. I’m being held by you hundreds of feet in the air. Trust me when I say turning you on isn’t on my to-do list.”
Owen started laughing. I hoped he was enjoying this. That would make one of us.
“Just stop moving,” I said through gritted teeth.
“I wasn’t moving, but okay.”
“We’re getting close.” Thankfully. I wasn’t sure how much more I could take.
“I won’t make the dirty comment I want to.”
“Man, she’s like the female version of you.” Owen laughed again.
“Do you think they’re really at Cade’s?” I asked to change the subject.
“Let’s hope so. We’ve come this far already.” Vera shifted again. Great.
“They’re in California. There’s nothing else that note could have meant. I just mean how deep in hiding.” Would they be at his house or somewhere much more secretive?
“There’s only one way we’re going to find out.”
“I’ve never been to the Daly estate, have you?” Owen asked.
“When would I have ever done that?”
“I don’t know. Just asking.”
“The Laurent’s hate the Daly’s,” I explained for the benefit of Vera.
“Or they did. Levi obviously is friendly with Cade,” Owen added.
“Or he knew the Daly’s estate would be the last place anyone would look for him.” I wasn’t sure friend was the term Levi would use. “Or maybe a little of both.” Even I had to admit that Cade was growing on me. At least when he kept his distance, and he usually did considering he had his own kingdom to take care of.
We landed inside the gate of the Daly’s sprawling estate on the outskirts of LA. Within seconds five guards surrounded us. “State your business or prepare for immediate removal,” one particularly large guard addressed us.
“Chill out. We’re here on royal business.”
“Dressed like that?” Another one asked.
“How are we supposed to be dressed to fly?”
“Don’t mess with me.” The guard straightened up. “State your business.”
“We’re here to see Cade. It’s urgent.”
“The king is not currently seeing guests.” His use of the word king pissed me off. Levi had forgiven Allie for giving away part of his kingdom, but it still annoyed me, especially at times like this.
“He’ll see us. I’m Jared Florence, head of security and this is Owen Kaye, The king’s chief advisor, and we demand to be seen.”
“I will see what I can do.” He didn’t make a motion to move.
“No.” Vera walked right up to him. “You will bring us to Cade now.”
“And who are you?” He asked.
I didn’t like his tone. He had no right to talk to her that way.
“My name isn’t your concern, but I assure you I’m a concern. Take us to Cade.”
He laughed. “Where’d you find this piece of work?”
I felt my blood boiling. “I’m only going to ask one more time. Take us to Cade.”
“Guys, guys. There’s no need to fight.” Cade strolled down his front porch. “We’re all on the same team here.” He was wearing nothing but a pair of linen pants.
The men backed up. “They’re okay?”
“Yes, they’re more than okay.” He took Vera’s hand and kissed it. “They are a pleasant treat.” He took her hand in his. “Let’s head inside and visit.” He winked at me. I resisted the urge to punch him. That probably wouldn’t go over well with the guards, and I was too exhausted from flying Vera for four hours across the Pacific to take on that many Pterons.
He opened the door to let us in. “Let me give you guys a tour.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but thought better of it once Cade shot me a dirty look. Maybe he did know what he was doing.
Cade led us into the expansive foyer. The ceiling was painted to look like the night sky, and the floor was made of dark marble. The Daly’s had spared no expense. “This is the main living space, and the bedrooms are upstairs. Vera if you’d like to see those, just let me know.” Cade smirked at me to let me know he was doing it to piss me off. Vera rolled her eyes.
I seriously liked that girl.
“Downstairs is where I have my offices. Maybe we should head downstairs since you said you were here on business.”
“Sounds like a great idea,” Owen replied, and we headed down the spiral staircase to the lower level of the house.
Cade whispered over my shoulder. “Is all clear?”
“Clear enough.”
“Gotcha.”
Cade walked down a long hallway and stopped in front of a door. “This is our safe room. We only use it in extreme emergencies.”
He typed in a code and a loud beep signaled the door unlocking. I didn’t wait for the door to open, I pushed past Cade. The only thing I could think about was the possibility of finding Levi.
“Can we help you?” Levi grinned as I busted into the room.
“You son of a bitch.” I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hug him or punch him when I saw him sitting there on the couch with Allie.
Before I could think long, Allie hugged me. “You found us.” The contact surprised me at first, but I was so glad to see her alive and well that I didn’t give her a hard time about it.
“We did.” I stepped back. The relief dissipated enough that I could focus on the larger questions that still hung in the air. “What the hell happened?”
Levi’s smile disappeared. “I sensed shifters approaching and had to think fast. I see you found our note. I left it in the one place I knew would survive. I knew you’d come looking for us eventually.”
“Why here?” Owen asked. “Why Cade?”
“I knew he was the last Pteron anyone would expect me to go to for help.” Levi seemed to finally notice Vera. “I figure she is trustworthy because she’s with you, but who is this girl?”
Vera put a hand on her hip. “That doesn’t matter as much as you continuing the story. How’d you know your friends would be the ones to find the clue? What if someone else found it?”
Levi looked at Vera questioningly. He wasn’t used to people talking to him that way.
I understood her impatience. “She’s the reason we even found you, so excuse her rudeness.”
“Rudeness?” Vera scowled at me.
Levi shook his head but continued. “The only people who knew where to find us were Jared and the pilot. I knew that eventually Jared would come looking if we didn’t come back or if the shifters thought they’d taken us out. I stuck around long enough to watch them torch the cottage.”
Allie tensed at his side, and he pulled her into his arms. “What I can’t figure out is why the pilot would have spilled the details. How much would they have paid him to betray the family he’s worked for his entire adult life?”
“Do we know that’s what he did?” Vera asked. “Does the pilot answer to anyone else?”
“Only to me and Jared. I think technically my dad and Jared’s dad still have authority, but they wouldn’t have asked for that information, nor would they have shared it.”
“Were you watching TV?” Owen gestured to the remote sitting on the couch. His question helped ease the tension. I wondered if I was the only one who felt like it was a thousand degrees in that room. The more we talked, the more I was reminded of my short comings. A few months into the job of head of security, and I’d almost lost both the king and queen.
“We needed something to fill the time.”
“Glad you were so bored.” Vera shook her head. “I know you’re royalty, and I’m supposed to be respectful, but I’m hoping my sister buys me a pass because after everything we’ve been through the last few days I’m not bowing to anyone or anything.”
“Are you Vera?” Allie walked right over to her.
“You’ve heard of me?” Vera smiled.
“Yes. Your sister talks highly of you. It’s awesome to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too. You seem a lot cooler than a queen should be.”
Levi laughed. “I wonder if you’d say the same thing about me being a king.”
“Kings don’t have the same reputation as queens. Kings have been known to be cool. It’s the queens that get the bad rep for being uptight.” She turned to Allie. “It’s clearly unwarranted of course.”
Allie smiled. “Of course.”
“Do you know what message your husband left?” Vera asked. “And did you really give away part of his kingdom?”
Allie stared at Levi. “What is she talking about? I thought you just wrote down that we were going to Cade’s!”
I nudged Vera. Did she have to stir up trouble?
Levi grinned. “I made it a little bit more fun.”
“He said you were going to visit your biggest mistake.” I smirked at her. “It was perfect.”
“Men.” Allie grumbled.
Vera laughed. “I second that.”
“Ok, enough chit chat.” I didn’t mind Vera and Allie talking. I could definitely see them getting along even though they were as different as night and day, but we still had a lot of serious discussion to tackle.
Allie put a hand on her hip. “It’s been less than five minutes and you’re already annoying me.”
“I miss you too, princess.”
Vera looked at me funny. Before I could explain, Owen butted in. “It’s an inside joke. He’s called her princess long before she was a princess.”
“Ok. Got it.” Vera nodded. She thought I was crazy, but then again, I thought she was crazy too.
“So what have you guys been up to other than stalking me?” Levi shifted his weight. I could tell he was aching to get outside.
“Stalking you?” I coughed. “That had better be a joke.”
“I take it the word that we were dead got out?”
“How can you be saying it that calmly?” Owen asked.
“Because we’re not dead. That’s obvious.” Levi may have been playing it off, but the experience had shaken him. It was clear from the way he kept watching Allie.
“Let’s stop this dance.” Vera butted in again. “We were searching for you because Tiffany told us she was going to have you killed.”
“Tiffany?” Allie said with confusion. “My Tiffany?”
“You guys are going to want to sit down for this.” I gestured to the couch.
“Would anyone like some refreshments?” Cade stood in the doorway. “I could open some wine, maybe mix some drinks. Just let me know what you want.”
I flipped around to look at him. “Are you kidding me?”
“I pride myself on being a good host.”
“But you’re not a host. We’re here to get Levi and get home. All hell is breaking loose right now. Casey’s lost her mind literally, and Georgina thinks Levi’s dead.”
“What?” Allie asked. “What do you mean Casey’s lost her mind?”
“I’m guessing you haven’t heard….” Vera looked back and forth between everyone in the room.
“No, we haven’t heard about any of this, care to fill us in?” Allie wasn’t looking at Vera.
“What do you think I was about to tell you?”
“Just start talking.” Allie crossed her arms.
Vera smiled. She seemed to enjoy watching another girl boss me around.
I gave Allie, Levi, and Cade the condensed version of what I knew. It took three tries to get Allie to believe me that Tiffany was a psycho witch. Once she accepted that, getting her to wrap her head around what had happened to Casey was a lot easier.
“It looks like we’re taking a trip to New Orleans, huh?” Cade asked.
“Yes. We can’t waste any more time. We have to get you guys to safety. Once we do that we can worry about stopping Tiffany. We can’t risk placing any calls until we’re in the hotel. We have the upper hand now if everyone thinks you’re dead. Let’s not lose it.”
“Don’t forget about protecting Casey.” Vera frowned. “We don’t know what’s going on with her right now.”
“That was part of the stopping Tiffany thing.”
Levi turned to Vera. “Of course we’ll protect Casey. She’s my sister too.”
“All right then,” I stretched. “Let’s get this show on the road.”