Free Lust by Alyssa Rose Ivy

creatures you need to talk
    to will not give you an audience.”
    “Then what’s the point of
    going?”
    “They will however give me
    one.”
    “Who are these creatures
    anyway?”
    “The Elders.” Violet tossed her
    dark hair off her shoulder.
    “They are as close to the gods
    as…” Georgina trailed off.
    “They do say we descend from
    the gods don’t they?” Violet gazed
    off into the distance.
    “And you think they will help?”
    “No. I doubt they will.”
    I froze. “Then I ask again, why
    bother seeing them?”
    “Because they are your only
    hope.”
    8
    DAISY
    Mayanne led me into the same
    room I’d slept in the last time I’d
    been in Mayanne’s house. This time
    was different. I wasn’t begging
    Owen to stay with me—for him to
    kiss me. But the memory was there.
    That first kiss, the first taste of the
    man who would get under my skin
    in a way that no one else ever had
    or ever would.
    “Why don’t you lie down?” She
    gestured to the bed that held so
    many memories it made my chest
    clench. Whether I wanted to admit
    it or not, I was changing. Intense
    emotions were becoming harder
    and harder to handle.
    “Still don’t believe you were
    destined for him?” Mayanne asked
    as she laid out several vials and a
    glass flask on the bedside table.
    “I believe he’s the most amazing
    man I’ve ever met.”
    “But you doubt destiny?”
    “With everything looming over
    us, the only thing that seems
    destined is that we’ll both get hurt.”
    “Stay confident. You will need
    it.”
    “That word has been thrown
    around a lot in the past few days.”
    “Because it’s an important one.”
    Mayanne smiled lightly.
    “It’s hard to feel that way right
    now.” I ran my hand over the soft
    bedspread.
    “You are still in control of your
    emotions. Don’t forget that.”
    “Sometimes I am. Sometimes
    I’m not. I’ve had enough angry
    bursts and mood swings lately to
    prove it.” I’d also manipulated a
    man again, and from Owen’s
    reaction and the waiter’s, I’d done it
    well.
    “Then try harder to control
    them.”
    “You make it sound easy.”
    She laughed. “What in life is
    easy?”
    “Not much apparently.”
    “Exactly. It all takes hard work,
    at least at times.”
    “Do you really think this is going
    to work?”
    “Confidence, Daisy. Confidence.”
    “Oh no.” I groaned.
    “What?”
    “Is this one of those things that
    is all in my head? Like it’s not going
    to do anything except push me to
    fight against the change harder?”
    I’d read a lot about placebo sugar
    pills and things like that.
    “Fighting it will help, but this
    should make the fight easier.”
    “What is it?”
    “It’s called a slug. It might make
    you sick, but it will also make the
    essence weaker.”
    “Great. I’m hoping it’s called a
    slug because it slows things down
    and not because it’s gross.”
    “It’s both actually, and I can tell
    you don’t want to be sick or weaken
    the Allure essence.”
    “I want to weaken it, but I
    don’t.” I was attached to the new
    side of me though, even if it
    terrified me.
    “It’s already become a part of
    you.”
    “No.” I shook my head. “I’m still
    human.”
    “You are human, mostly.”
    “I’m human.” I was confident
    about that. Aside from my ridiculous
    mood swings, I was still me,
    bumbling along toward some sort of
    solution.
    “Still don’t trust me?”
    “I trust you enough to let you do
    whatever it is you are going to do.”
    “I was right about Owen coming
    around.”
    “After I searched for him for
    years.”
    “But he came around, didn’t he?
    I thought he was going to lose it
    when you told him to wait in the
    other room.”
    “He’s protective, in a surprisingly
    nice way.”
    She rested her hand next to me.
    “Why surprisingly?”
    “I don’t usually go for those kind
    of guys. I mean, yeah, I loved that
    he saved me, but I don’t need to be
    the damsel in distress again,