“Why does the rain matter?” Although the lack of information frustrated me, I couldn’t deny some excitement. I loved a good surprise.
“Are you ready to find out just how far the rabbit hole goes, sweetheart?” Levi reached out his hand waiting for a response.
“Rabbit hole?” I searched for a hidden meaning in the words beyond the Alice in Wonderland reference, but I couldn’t find one. Ignoring my unease, I went with my gut instinct. “Umm, sure?”
I accepted his hand and he led me through the crowd once more. My chest tightened with anticipation. I didn’t know what Levi and his friends had in store, but I hoped it was enough to take my mind off Jess.
We walked out past the elevators and into a stairwell.
As Levi ushered me up the stairs, I realized where we were headed.
“Okay, why are we going to the roof?”
“No more questions,” Levi insisted.
“But—”
Levi pressed the palm of his hand into my back gently. “No more questions.”
“It’s all right. We’re not taking you up there to kill you.” Hailey laughed but I started to question my trust in these people I hardly knew.
I thought about turning around but with Jared in front of me and Levi behind me, I didn’t see too many options. I took a deep breath. “Fine.”
I followed Jared out into the humid night. The lights of the city danced off the water and the colored lights of the Hibernia building created an eerie glow.
So enthralled by the view, I was surprised when I felt Levi’s arms wrap around me. Through the thin fabric of my tank top, I could tell he was no longer wearing a shirt.
I struggled to turn around and he loosened his arms. I took a step back. “What the hell…” I trailed off. The guys all had their shirts off and even Hailey had shed her cardigan and was now in a thin strapped tank.
My attention first went to staring at Levi’s bare muscular chest, but I quickly snapped out it.
Levi leaned over to talk to me quietly. “Now don’t freak out. I promised you I wouldn’t hurt you and I always keep my promises.”
“Are you guys in a cult of something? Because if you are, I’m really not interested. I won’t tell anyone anything, but if you don’t mind I’m leaving.” My thoughts returned to the Alice in Wonderland reference, and I wondered if they were on drugs.
“Chill out!” Jared yelled as his eyes changed from brown to solid black just like they had that first night in Jackson Square. Evidently, it wasn’t a drunken illusion.
“Don’t talk to her like that,” Levi said with authority and Jared visibly relaxed, his eyes slowly returning to normal. Weird.
“We’re not a cult. It’s more like a very special society,” Hailey explained taking a few steps toward me.
“A special society?”
“Maybe it would be better if we just showed her,” Owen said giving me a reassuring smile. “You were sure you wanted this Levi, so there is no turning back.”
Owen walked over to the edge of the building and raised a hand in a small wave before taking a backwards step and disappearing from sight.
“Oh my god! What the hell? Did he just kill himself?” I started shaking, I felt the tears splashing down my face.
“Owen’s fine,” Hailey said before jumping off with Jared right behind her. I knew with sickening certainty I would be getting off the building the same way.
I started to pray. It was probably the first prayer I had said in at least five years but it came automatically.
Closing my eyes, I tried to block it all out. Convinced I was about to die, I was only partly aware of Levi’s arms around me.
“You said you wanted an adventure,” he said quietly, teasingly, as he tightened his hold.
My stomach dropped out as an intense and complete feeling of weightlessness engulfed me. The wind stung my face as memories flooded my mind. I thought of my parents, of all the things I wanted to tell them but never did, my friends from home, and the experiences I longed for. Quickly my thoughts changed to more recent memories, to Levi.
“Open your eyes,” he whispered, somehow knowing my eyes were clenched shut.
Against my better judgment, I listened. The scream died in my throat as we hurtled toward the water that had been so beautiful from the roof above.
Just when I was sure we were going to crash, we started gliding horizontally to the water for a moment before heading further away. I didn’t close my eyes. As completely terrified and confused as I was, there was no way I was going to spend the last few moments of my life with my eyes closed. I was only vaguely aware as my feet hit solid ground again.
I stumbled away from Levi and fell down to the grass below me, grabbing on to the slightly damp strands as if they were my only anchor to the world. I hesitated to look up, terrified of what might be awaiting me.
Catching my first glimpse of them, my jaw dropped and my voice cracked before I could get words out. Giant black wings extended from each of their backs nearly blocking out the moonlight. “What the hell are you? Oh-my-god you’re angels, aren’t you? I’m dead. I’m actually dead?”
Levi laughed, making the large black wings move slightly, the effect only made him appear more frightening. “Do you really think I’m an angel?”
“A fallen angel?” I asked, grasping for a way to understand what stood in front of me. I peered around Levi to Hailey, most surprised to see her wings; the contrast of the black with her red hair was intense.
Levi laughed again. “We’re not angels of any sort.” He took a step closer to me.
“Then what are you?” I scooted back slowly, closing my eyes, hoping that when I opened them again there would be normal people standing in front of me.
“Open your eyes, sweetheart.” Levi’s hands were on my shoulders urging me to obey him. “Open your eyes.”
“No, this has to be some messed up dream.”
“It’s not a dream.”
“Yes, it is.”
“No, it’s not. Accept it already.” It was Jared’s bluntness that made me open my eyes again.
My words of anger died on my lips when I was faced once again with four sets of black wings.
“If this isn’t a dream, then what are you? What’s going on?”
“We’re Pterons,” Hailey said gently.
“Pterons?” I asked, repeating the unfamiliar word.
“We’re shifters, Allie,” Levi said almost as gently as Hailey. He was trying to put me at ease but I knew I was shaking.