Focus (The Crescent Chronicles, #2) (5 page)

“
Oh, and try to wear
something red tonight. If it happens to be short, I won’t mind
either.”

I glared at him. “What’s with you and
red?”

“
It’s a family
color.”

“
See you later,
Levi.”

***

Hailey was highlighting in her
anthropology book when I got back to our room. “Hey, how was
class?”

“
Levi was in
it.”

She laughed. “So, in other words, it
was fantastic.”

“
I think I’d use another
word.” I dropped my books on my desk, leaving my tote bag on my
desk chair.

“
Yeah, I bet.”

“
But, he did tell me about
some meeting at Commander’s Palace. He’s picking us up at seven.” I
kicked off my flip flops.

“
What? Did you just
say
us
?” Hailey
set her book down.

“
Yeah. I refused to go
without you.”

“
Oh my god, I love you,
Allie Davis.” She threw her highlighter across the room when she
got up to hug me.

I laughed, detangling myself from her
embrace. “I take it you wanted an invite?”

“
This is huge. I never get
invited to meetings, let alone one this big. Owen didn’t even get
to go until last year. Wow. I can’t believe it.”

“
Owen didn’t go until last
year? Why? Was that Levi’s first?”

“
No, Levi’s been going for
years, and so has Jared. They didn’t invite Owen until he was
twenty-one and only because Levi insisted on it.”

“
So why did Jared get to
go?” I kind of assumed Owen and Jared were pretty much
equals.

“
Jared gets to go because
of his dad. Do you know anything about Jett Florence?”

“
That’s Jared’s dad, I take
it. I have no idea who he is.” I sat down on my bed, leaning my
back against the wall.

“
I guess you could call him
our General. He runs all security and military for The
Society.”

“
Oh. So where do you and
Owen fit in?”

Hailey picked up her highlighter from
the floor. “My dad’s an engineer. He doesn’t have an official
position with The Society. You can’t repeat this, but they’re
banking on Levi giving Owen a spot so our family gets more
clout.”

“
So they must like that
we’re friends and everything.” I had no clue where Hailey and her
family fit in the hierarchy. I’d always assumed they were high
up.

“
Definitely. I think
they’re just scared I’m going to do something to screw things up. I
did send you running into the arms of the Cougars.”

“
You did not! That was all
Levi. Don’t let anyone blame you.”

“
I just couldn’t lie to my
friend, even if it was to help Levi.” She sat back down on her
bed.

“
Can I ask you
something?”

“
Sure.” Hailey looked
nervous.

“
I think I already know the
answer, but I need to hear it from you. You’re not just my friend
and roommate because it’s a job, right?”

“
No way! I liked you way
before any of that. It just works out that I can protect you at the
same time, you know?”

“
Yeah, it does.”

“
So, now can we talk about
fun things?”

I laughed. “Fun things?”

“
What are we wearing
tonight?”

“
Levi wants me to wear
red.”

She picked up a skirt she had lying out
on her bed. “Of course, he does.”

“
What’s all of that about?
He just said it’s his family color. It has to do with all the ruby
stuff, right?”

“
Yeah. The ruling family
chooses a stone to represent them.”

The pieces started fitting together.
“Oh…so my wearing red, like I did at the party at his house this
summer, shows that I’m one of them.”

“
Yes. But I think Levi also
just thinks you look hot in red.”

“
He also asked me to wear
something short, so you’re probably not too far off.”

“
Are you in the mood to
torture him?”

“
Torture him?”

Hailey went over to her closet and
pulled out a short, red, halter dress.

“
Are you
serious?”

“
It’s going to look
incredible on you, and technically you’re doing what he asked. It’s
red and short, but it’s also going to drive him mad. It’ll probably
remind him who really has the power.”

“
Does the fact that I’m
totally going to do it make me evil?”

“
No, it makes you normal.
You’re mad at him, but you also want him—a sexy dress serves both
purposes.”

I threw a pillow at her. She ducked out
of the way. “What? Are you going to deny either of those
charges?”

I wanted to deny the second one, but I
couldn’t. “We kissed.” I buried my face in my hands.

“
You kissed? When? Was it
on move in day? It was, wasn’t it?”

“
Yes.”

“
What kind of kiss?” She
sat forward.

“
The ‘it almost became much
more’ kind.”

“
Yeah, you really want
him.”

“
I know.” I turned and
flopped back on my bed.

“
You do realize that it
isn’t a bad thing, right? It makes things easier, and it isn’t
something to feel bad about.”

“
Is this friend Hailey
speaking, or Pteron Hailey?”

“
Both.” She came to sit on
the edge of my bed. “Are you going to tell me about the
kiss?”

“
It was just a really good
kiss.”

“
As good as
before…”

“
Yeah, if not better
because I missed kissing him. Oh my god, what’s wrong with me,
Hailey? I can’t feel this way after what he did to me.”

“
Why not? I’m not telling
you to go jump him or anything, but you can’t just ignore the
feelings either—why not have some fun? Wear the dress.”

“
Only if you wear something
sexy too. I’m not going to be the only one.”

“
Deal. There are a few boys
going I wouldn’t mind catching the eyes of.”

“
You could probably attract
them in pajamas.”

“
Just like you could turn
on Levi, but if you’re doing it, you might as well do it in
style.”

“
All right, let’s do
this.”

Chapter Five

I checked my reflection in the mirror
one more time before grabbing a black clutch and following Hailey
out of the room. I’d opted to go with some stilettos, and I hoped
my feet wouldn’t hate me by the end of the night.

If someone’s jaw could actually be on
the floor, Levi’s would have been when we walked outside. He was
waiting for us impatiently. His face was set in a frown until he
noticed us approaching. The frown quickly became something else
entirely.

“
Wow, you look incredible.”
He took a few steps closer to me.

“
Thanks.” I turned around
to give him the full effect. “Does it meet your
specifications?”

“
Do I need to answer
that?”

“
What about me? Do I look
incredible?” Hailey teased.

“
Of course, Hailey.
Although you’re not old enough to wear a dress like
that.”

“
I’m the same age as
Allie.” She glared at him.

“
You’ll always be twelve to
me.”

Hailey shook her head. “You’re worse
than Owen.”

Levi shrugged. “I’m just being honest.
Shall we?” He gestured toward where he parked his black BMW over on
the street.

“
Sure.” I linked arms with
Hailey before he could even try to put an arm around me.

Levi opened up both the passenger door
and the backdoor behind it.

I moved toward the back. “You can sit
in the front, Hail.”

“
No, I don’t mind the
back.”

I didn’t miss the look that passed
between them.

I took a seat, and Levi lingered for a
moment before closing my door.

“
I don’t have to remind you
how important it is that you go along with everything tonight, do
I?” He pulled out onto the road.

“
No, I get it.” I looked
out the window, annoyed at myself for how much I liked the way he
looked in the navy sports coat he was wearing. I distracted myself
by watching how the moonlight lit up the beautiful live oak trees.
There really was something almost magical about New
Orleans.

He put a hand on my bare leg.
“Al?”

“
Yeah?” I looked toward
him.

“
You really do look
incredible.”

“
You don’t look so bad
yourself.” I heard Hailey laugh and turned around to see her making
a kissing face. She was lucky I couldn’t reach her.

Levi laughed. He must have seen her in
the rearview mirror.

“
So, is there anything I
should know before we get there?” If I was going into the lion’s
den, I wanted to be prepared.

“
Nothing other than the
fact that my dad thinks you agreed to marry me next
summer.”

I reached up and grabbed the ‘oh my
god’ bar. “Excuse me?”

“
Chill out, we can always
tell him we pushed it off further, but he was worried. If I didn’t
say that, he would have called your dad to make sure he wasn’t the
problem. I figured you preferred it this way.”

I sighed. “It is preferable to getting
my dad involved. It was bad enough telling him I wasn’t going to
Princeton.”

“
I told you I’d talk to
him…”

“
And what would that have
helped?”

“
He likes me—or at least he
likes my name.” That was the first time Levi had acknowledged my
dad’s response to his background and money.

“
Please tell me the wedding
is the only surprise.”

“
It is. You might get a few
questions about why you aren’t living with me. The wedding is just
a formality for you and the outside world.”

“
I’ll just say I’m
traditional.”

Hailey laughed again. “You obviously
realize they know you two have slept together, right? I mean you
wouldn’t be his mate otherwise.”

“
Yeah, but that doesn’t
mean I’d want to move in with him.” I looked at Levi even though I
was answering Hailey.

Levi turned, and I knew we were getting
close. I took a deep breath; I could handle this. Levi squeezed my
leg, and I realized he hadn’t moved his hand the whole drive. I
hadn’t stopped him. Levi grinned as he watched my realization. I
groaned.

Levi stopped the car, and a guy came
around immediately to open his door. There was something funny
about him, but I couldn’t place it. He was large and bulky. “Hello,
Sir. Welcome.”

Levi nodded, leaving his keys and
coming around the car to open the door for both of us. He helped me
out and put an arm around my waist. I didn’t shake it off. I needed
to play the part. Even Hailey had reiterated about twenty times how
important this meeting was.

“
That valet wasn’t human,
was he?” I asked quietly before we reached the entrance.

He leaned in. “Nope. He’s a
Silver.”

“
Oh, but he wasn’t
silver.”

Levi laughed lightly. “Silver as in
silverbacks.”

“
A gorilla?” I
gasped.

“
Exactly.”

I nodded. I guess I’d eventually get
used to all of these new groups. Well, only if I stuck around long
enough to find out.

“
You ready?”

“
As ready as I’ll ever be.”
I glanced behind me to make sure Hailey was with us. She was
grinning. At least I was able to get her into this meeting—one
positive thing.

I looked up at the large, blue and
white restaurant. Even before I had visited New Orleans, I’d heard
of Commander’s Palace.

“
Allison, it’s lovely to
see you again.” Levi’s dad came over and shook my hand—the one that
wasn’t currently pressed against Levi’s side. I wasn’t about to
correct the king of a supernatural society on the use of my full
name, even if he did ask me to call him Dad.

I gave him the brightest smile I could
muster. “Hi, Robert. It’s great to see you.”

“
Hello, Hailey,” he greeted
her politely.

It took Hailey a moment to respond.
“Mr. Laurent, thank you for having me tonight.”

“
Of course. I hope you
enjoy the evening. If you ladies don’t mind, I need to borrow my
son. I think Helen’s already inside if you want to go find
her.”

“
Great, I look forward to
seeing her.”

“
See you in a few minutes,”
Levi whispered before kissing me lightly.

“
Don’t take too long,” I
said flirtatiously. If I was playing the part, I was going to have
fun with it.