Stay by Alyssa Rose Ivy Page A

anything else?”
    “We have no clue, but something happened. I certainly wouldn’t have sent her over there if I wasn’t sure of that.” I gestured toward the water. The boat had completely disappeared, and with my eyesight, that meant it was really far off.
    “Where exactly is the cave where they held her?”
    “Oh no.” I shook my head. “You’re not going there.”
    “Why not? We need to find Jared and Vera. I get that you have to stay here for Casey, but I don’t.”
    “I can’t let you do that alone.”
    “Why? Because I’m a girl?” She stood up, looking down on me.
    “We all know how strong you are. That’s not it.”
    “Then what is it?”
    “Jared’s strong too. Arguably one of the strongest.” It took a lot to admit that, but it was true. “If he’s in trouble, do you really think you can handle it?”
    “How great would it be if I saved him?” She grinned. “It would be legendary.”
    I had to smile at her excitement. I understood what it was like when people didn’t take you seriously. When they doubted your abilities. But that didn’t mean you could be stupid about proving yourself. “And ridiculously hard. You realize that.”
    “Yes. I do.”
    I looked back out at the water. “I can’t let you go alone.”
    “Why don’t you leave someone here then? Someone you trust.”
    I’d promised Casey I’d stay close. I couldn’t leave. She’d understand that I wanted to help find Vera, but what if she needed me? What If she got in trouble? “Let me make a call.”
    “To who?” Hailey started pacing. She was so excitable.
    “Just give me a sec.”
    I dialed the new number Eric had given me. The one that was supposedly not tapped.
    “Toby?” Eric answered on the first ring. “Is she okay?”
    “I think so.”
    “What do you mean by that?” He yelled loud enough that I had to pull the phone away from my ear. “She isn’t with you?”
    “They wouldn’t let me go with her.”
    “So? You’re a Pteron. Since when do you listen to what anyone tells you to do?”
    “Casey needed this. I couldn’t mess up her chance.” I appreciated Eric’s concern, but he needed to calm down. I was already plenty worried about Casey without him making it worse.
    “Yeah, I’m sure.”
    “Where are you?” I might as well cut right to the chase. “Did you find them?”
    “I got detained, but it’s all okay.”
    “Detained?”
    “Ran into some old friends .”
    Old friends that weren’t really friends was never a good thing. “Okay… are things cool now?”
    “Yes. It just slowed me down. Why? You’re not leaving her to come.”
    “No. Of course not.”
    “Then what do you want?” His voice relaxed slightly. Had he really worried about me ditching her?
    I stamped down my growing annoyance. I needed to get to the point and get off the phone. “Do you want some help?”
    “What kind of help?” he asked suspiciously.
    “A kick ass Pteron.”
    Hailey grinned. Everyone needed their ego stroked once in a while.
    “Depends. Who is it?” The suspicion was still there.
    “She’s the head advisor to the queen.”
    “Hailey? I haven’t met her, but I’ve heard she’s hot.”
    Hailey could hear every word and grinned even bigger. I grinned back. “Yeah, but I wouldn’t tell her that’s her reputation. She’s pretty tough.”
    “Sure. But that’s fine. Give her this number and we’ll meet up.”
    “Nice.” I hung up and turned to Hailey. “Ok working with a bear?”
    “One that’s heard of me? Sure.” She pulled my phone from me and typed his number into her phone. “Call me as soon as you hear from Casey.”
    “Same to you on Vera and Jared.”
    “This is all insane, isn’t it?”
    “Says the one who grew up in The Society world.”
    She laughed. “It isn’t as much of an advantage as you’d think.”
    “I never said it was an advantage, just that none of this should be as surprising to you.”
    She shrugged. “Try to relax a little. She’ll be okay.