Found (The Crescent Chronicles #3) Read online

  Found

  the

  crescent chronicles

  Alyssa Rose Ivy

  Copyright © 2013 Alyssa Rose Ivy

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written approval of the author.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Cover Design: Once Upon a Time Covers

  Formatting: Polgarus Studio

  Other Books by Alyssa Rose Ivy

  The Hazards of Skinny Dipping

  Flight (The Crescent Chronicles #1)

  Focus (The Crescent Chronicles #2)

  Derailed (Clayton Falls)

  Veer (Clayton Falls)

  Wrecked (Clayton Falls)

  Beckoning Light (The Afterglow Trilogy #1)

  Perilous Light (The Afterglow Trilogy #2)

  Enduring Light (The Afterglow Trilogy #3) Coming August 2013

  www.AlyssaRoseIvy.com

  www.facebook.com/AlyssaRoseIvy

  twitter.com/AlyssaRoseIvy

  [email protected]

  To the city of New Orleans, thanks for all the good times.

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you to everyone who believed in this series. I’m honored to have been able to share this story with you.

  Special thanks to Grant for everything, and to my amazing children for making my days so much fun. Thank you to Kris Kendall for the stellar editing, Kristina Scheid for proofreading, and Stephanie Nelson of Once Upon a Time Covers for designing such an awesome cover. Thank you to Jessica Watterson for being a fantastic beta reader, and thank you to Jennifer Snyder for being the best author BFF I could ever dream of. Thank you to all of the bloggers who take the time to help me spread the word about my books. Thank you to my readers—you make this journey so much fun.

  Chapter One

  If Levi mentioned my sex life with Toby one more time I was going to slap him.

  “I don’t see how it changes anything. You already knew I wasn’t a virgin.”

  “I thought you’d been with a human. That’s different. Human men don’t count. I assumed I was your first Pteron.” The serious expression on his face made me want to laugh despite my anger.

  “That’s ridiculous.” I tied the laces on my running shoes. I was antsy from spending so much time inside and was excited that Hailey was coming by Levi’s house to meet me for a run.

  “It was nothing like it is with us, right? Just tell me that.”

  I let out a deep breath. “How many human girls were you with before me?”

  “Uh—”

  “Yeah, I thought so. Does that mean what we have isn’t special? Different?”

  “Of course not.” He sat down next to me, leaving no space between us. “Those girls meant nothing. You mean everything.”

  “Exactly.” I decided not to berate him about the disrespectful way he treated women before me. “You may not have been my first Pteron, but you’re my favorite.” I kissed him on the cheek. I was trying to pretend it didn’t weird me out, but I was going crazy. How was it possible for me to have been with two different Pterons? I wasn’t even nineteen yet.

  His shoulder brushed against mine. “Have we had sex more times than you guys did?”

  “What?” I shot up and away from him. “No. No. No. We are not talking about this anymore. Say it again and you can forget about us having sex any time in the near future. Got it?”

  He put up his hands in mock defense. “Fine. I just don’t like it.”

  “You’ve made your feelings abundantly clear.” I turned to walk out of his bedroom to wait for Hailey. I didn’t make it through the doorway.

  His arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me back against him. “How long do you have before Hailey gets here?” He kissed my earlobe before trailing a line of kisses down my neck.

  “Not enough time.” I spun out of his arms. “I wouldn’t want to cut your amazing skills short.”

  He laughed. “Just wait until tonight, Al. I’ll show you amazing.”

  “I can hardly wait.” I leaned up and kissed him. I should have known it wouldn’t be just a quick little kiss. He wasn’t having any of that. He had me pinned against the wall within seconds. My hands were tangled in his hair almost as quickly.

  That was exactly how Hailey found us. “I’d tell you to get a room, but I guess you already have one.”

  Levi reluctantly backed up. “Impeccable timing as always, Hailey.”

  She shrugged. “What can I say? I have the touch.”

  “That you do. Let’s get out of here.” I ran a finger down Levi’s bare arm. “Don’t get too bored without me.”

  “I probably will. See you girls later.” He waved.

  We stopped on the porch to stretch before taking off running down the block. We cut over to St. Charles Avenue to run the street car line. Hailey had to try hard to run slow enough for me to keep pace. If you want an inferiority complex, spend all of your time with paranormal creatures.

  “Do you know what you’re wearing tonight?” Hailey asked.

  “I’m going to wear that red strapless dress I picked out with you a few months ago.” We were going to a paranormal New Year’s Eve party. I figured a short, sexy dress worked no matter what kind of party it was. I wasn’t thrilled about going, considering how worried I was about Jess, but the deeper I could get into Society events, the better chance I had at finding out how to get her back.

  Hailey laughed. “Trying to make Levi’s night, huh?”

  “Why not? Maybe it will make him shut his mouth about Toby.”

  “It’s crazy though, isn’t it?” She sped up again, forcing me to push myself harder to keep up.

  I watched her red ponytail bobbing in front of me. “Definitely. I just wish I knew how it was possible. It can’t be a coincidence.”

  “You think there’s more to it? Like what, you’re a Pteron magnet or something?”

  “A Pteron magnet? Those exist?” I barely got the words out. I was already out of breath.

  “Of course not.” Hailey turned, running backwards. “I thought you’ve been training with the guys.”

  I stuck my tongue out at her. It was childish, but she deserved it. “Sorry, we aren’t all as fast as you.”

  “I’m only running at half speed.”

  “Remind me again why we’re friends?” I finally gave up. I stopped and bent over, clutching my knees.

  “Because you love me.” She stopped too.

  “Do you love me enough to carry me home?”

  “No, but he does.”

  I didn’t need to turn around to know that Levi was behind us. “Normally I’d get mad at you for following us, but right now I don’t care.”

  I turned and let him pull me into a hug—a sweaty hug. I was the only one who was sweaty. He was perfectly dry in his black running shirt and gray shorts. He always looked good in gym clothes.

  “Do you really need me to carry you?” His tone was hopeful.

  “It’s tempting, but I’m going to keep going. Think you can walk next to me or something? That would probably be the right pace.”

  Hailey sighed. “I can try again. I really did try.”

  I smiled. “It’s okay, Hail. Go on ahead.”

  “See you guys in a few.” She disappeared down the street.

  I gave myself another few seconds to recover. “Ready, favorite Pteron of mine?”

  “Always.” Levi didn’t actually walk, it was more like a jog. It probably took eff
ort to go so slow, but he didn’t seem to mind. I’d only been back from Vermont a few days, and I don’t think he wanted to let me out of his sight. A week before it would have annoyed me. But after learning about Jess’s kidnapping, I didn’t mind the extra protection.

  “Did Jared find out anything else?” With Bryant locked up in The Society equivalent of a prison, Jared had moved up the chain. Although he wouldn’t be a full-fledged security officer until after graduation, he was in on all of the decision making.

  “Not really. She’s still being kept in that house, but she’s unharmed. I promise you, she’s going to be okay. If we thought otherwise, we’d go in and get her. It’s just not worth tipping the Blackwells off about our inside man yet. We need to find out more before you and your friends are safe.”

  “Is Emmett still there?” The only thing keeping me remotely calm was finding out that Jess’ boyfriend was with her.

  “Yes. They’re going to be okay.”

  “I hope so. I feel awful.”

  “Don’t.”

  “You make it sound so easy. My best friend’s been kidnapped because of me.”

  “We’ll get her back, Al. I promise.”

  I tried to smile, but it wasn’t easy. I knew she wasn’t being hurt, but she was still being denied freedom. I also had no idea what would happen when Toby found out I wasn’t going to him. What if he took it out on her?

  “Ready to turn around, or do you want to keep going?” He gestured further down the street.

  “Let’s head back. Hailey wore me out.”

  He laughed. “Sounds good. Since you’re so tired, you’ll need my help in the shower.”

  “Your willingness to help astounds me sometimes.”

  He grinned. “It’s so good to have you home.”

  “You do realize I’m moving back into my dorm when it opens, right?”

  “We’ll see.” There was a twinkle in his eye that let me know he wasn’t buying it.

  I let it go. I was sure we’d have plenty of time to argue about it later.

  Chapter Two

  “Maybe you’re right. We should stay home.” Levi’s eyes devoured me when I walked out into the living room.

  “No way. I just went through all this effort to get ready. We’re going.” I gestured to my hair and makeup.

  Hailey told me that everyone in the New Orleans shifter community would be at this party, and that tons of shifters from around the city would come in for it. I didn’t know how I’d use the night to find out more information, but I was determined to try.

  “We can just go a little late.” He took a step toward me. I couldn’t really blame his reaction. I was wearing a short dress in his favorite color—red. I’d left my hair wavy, which took just as much work as straightening it did, and I put on slightly more makeup than usual. A pair of three inch stilettos finished off the outfit. Levi might tell me he loved my eyes, but my legs were his weakness. A short dress and high heels would have him eating out of my hand. I wasn’t being mean. I’d be coming home with him at the end of the night.

  “Looking good, Allie.” Jared whistled when he walked out of his room. Like Levi, Jared was dressed in a tailored black suit. If I had to guess, they were both Armani.

  Levi glared at him. “Watch it, Jared.”

  I laughed. “You aren’t actually threatened by Jared, are you?”

  “No. I just don’t appreciate my best friend checking out my mate.”

  “Then tell her not to wear something so sexy.” Jared snagged his keys off the counter. He loved pushing Levi’s buttons.

  “Okay, let’s get this over with. I have no interest in sleeping with Jared. Okay?” I put a hand on Levi’s arm. His eyes looked dangerously close to turning. He seriously needed to calm down with his insane jealousy.

  Levi put a hand under my chin to make me look up at him. “I know. This has nothing to do with a lack of trust. I just don’t like anyone looking at you that way.”

  “I can change…”

  He moved his hand to my cheek. “No. That won’t be necessary.”

  “Good.” I slipped on a black wool peacoat. New Orleans had warm winters, but it was still cold in late December. “So Hailey says this party is at the Eiffel Society. That’s the crazy looking place on St. Charles, right?”

  “Crazy looking? You mean cool? The building was actually part of the original Eiffel Tower.”

  “As in the one in Paris?”

  “What other one would I be talking about? My family had it brought over in the 1980s. We aren’t the ones on record for the deal, but you know how it is.”

  “How it is?” I suppressed a smile. Sometimes Levi forgot I didn’t grow up in the same world he did.

  “Yeah. My grandparents are pretty connected to our French roots.” He rarely talked about his grandparents. The only other family outside of his parents I’d met was a quasi-crazy cousin who burned down a frat house to either kill or threaten me. I never did find out which.

  “So other than the building, what can I expect?”

  “Craziness. Expect craziness.” Owen joined us. He was dressed in a black suit as well. It was the first time I saw any resemblance to Hailey in him. Maybe it was the way his light skin looked against the black. Hailey had really pale skin too.

  “I’m here. The fun can start.” Hailey walked in, tossing her coat on the back of the couch. She was dressed in a short, purple halter dress. Her hair fell in tendrils around her face, and she looked incredible.

  “Did Dad see you leave the house in that?” Owen eyed his sister skeptically. Since the dorms were still closed, she was back at home. She was planning to spend the night on the guys’ couch.

  “I was wearing my coat.”

  “Please don’t do anything stupid tonight.” Owen scowled. “I don’t want to have to beat up some idiot for you.”

  “I am more than capable of taking care of myself, but it won’t be an issue. Who’s going to bother me? The only one I plan to dance with is Allie. That is, if Levi gives me the chance.”

  Levi had his arms wrapped around me. “I’m not making any promises. I don’t plan to let her out of my sight dressed this way.”

  Hailey laughed. “Like you would let her out of your sight tonight even if she were wearing oversized sweats.”

  “Very true. Like Owen said, it’s going to be crazy.” Levi leaned in to me. “You are going to be one of the only humans there. Do not go anywhere without one of us. Scratch that, anywhere without me.”

  “You’re not coming to the bathroom with me.”

  “Okay, that you can do with Hailey. But no other exceptions.” There was nothing humorous in his voice.

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

  “It’s not dangerous if you stay with me.” He pulled me back against him. “Promise me you’ll stay with me.”

  “I promise. Do you think I want to get myself hurt?” I figured I could do my investigating with Levi at my side.

  “Good. Ready to go?”

  “Sure.” I picked up my purse from the couch. “Are we driving or flying?”

  “What would you prefer?” he whispered in my ear.

  I turned in his arms. “Take a guess.”

  “Flying it is.” He took off his jacket and started unbuttoning his shirt.

  “If it’s easier we can drive…”

  “Yes, because taking off my shirt is so much work.” We walked outside, and I waited for Levi to wrap his arms around me. I loved flying with him. As weird as it sounds, I rarely felt safer. I knew he’d never drop me.

  Fighting the wind, I kept my eyes wide open. Levi flew low enough that I could watch the streets whiz by below. I watched as people walked around on the way to their New Year’s plans completely unaware of what was happening above them. The air was crisp but not freezing despite our altitude.

  It was after nine when we arrived at the Eiffel Society. Levi and the rest of the group landed in the shadows of the building, and Hailey and I waited as t
he guys put back on their shirts and jackets. Hailey’s dress had left plenty of room for her wings. Levi took my hand and led me toward the entrance. Even though I’d passed the club tons of times, it was still amazing to walk up the elaborate staircase that wound its way up from the street to the front door.

  “Sir.” A bouncer bowed his head when we reached the door.

  “How’s the crowd?” Levi asked.

  “Large but manageable. We’ve had some humans trying to crash, but we’ve been strict with the list.”

  “Good. I don’t want a problem.” Levi led me forward. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched the bouncer check something off his list. I wondered what I was listed as. I was almost positive it wasn’t Allie Davis. It was probably prince’s mate. Or maybe princess. Levi helped me out of my coat so we could check it. No one else needed one, even Hailey left hers back at the apartment. She’d only worn it so her dad wouldn’t see her short dress.

  We moved toward the main room. It took me a minute to take everything in. Loud music pulsated from every corner, while bare light bulbs and chandeliers hung down from the ceiling. The room was large, with a dance floor, stage, and plenty of tables. It was a mix between a restaurant and a bar. Levi tightened his hold on my waist as he led me over to a table in the corner. I had a feeling it was the VIP section. He pulled out a chair and pushed me in. Hailey sat down on my other side. Jared and Owen took the remaining seats. We didn’t even have to order drinks. A waiter materialized out of nowhere and brought us a bottle of Dom Perignon.

  “We’re not waiting until midnight for the champagne?” I watched as the waiter filled my glass.

  “Why wait?” Levi leaned over to kiss me on the cheek. His lips remained a moment longer than necessary and the extra seconds of contact made me shiver.

  As soon as the waiter left, Levi made a toast. “To a new year, a new night, and this amazing girl on my right. To Allie.”

  I bit back a smile. If anyone else thought it was funny that he was toasting to me, they didn’t show it. Everyone sipped their champagne.