From Deities (11 page)

“I sent the workers home,” Everett informed us. “I told them to take the rest of the day off with pay.”

“Good idea,” Amanda said.

Nick came in with a tray holding multiple glasses of water, and placed them on the table. “Just in case.”

Mason stared at him with a questioning look.

“What?” He shrugged his shoulders. “Noah and Tim are useless without water. I guess if worse comes to worse, they can use their saliva.” Nick raised a brow with a smirk, then winked to show he was fooling around.

“Watch what you say, Nick.” Noah’s tone was half threatening and half playful. “I might give you some of my saliva just to prove your theory.” The water rose high enough out of the cup to know he had caused it.

Mason cleared his throat, trying to break up their conversation before it got worse. “Don’t worry. This room is secure. I had it custom built in case the vultures decided to show up.”

I glanced around. What could Mason have done to it? It was like any ordinary private room, but it was grand, almost the size of a ballroom. Decorated with a few paintings, the main centerpiece was a dark wooden table, surrounded by several matching chairs. Behind Mason was a long wooden cabinet that showcased bottles of wine.

“Good.” My dad nodded in approval. “I’m going to start with the introduction of my trusted leaders, and then I’ll explain our theory. To my left is Colin. He is a descendant from Ares, the God of War.”

I noted Colin had blond hair and beautiful blue eyes, and looked like a warrior with broad shoulders and big muscles. Behind him, he wore a circular shield, a spear, and bow and arrows.

“Next to Colin is Aaron, a descendant of Apollo,” Victor continued. “Apollo was the God of the Sun.”

Aaron flicked his thumb up, imitating the way one would turn on a lighter, and a small fire lit on top of each fingertip. Victor cleared his throat harshly, disapproving of his actions. Instantly, Aaron closed his fingers with an apologetic grin, causing the flames to die.

“Anyway, next to Aaron is Sarah. Sarah is a descendant of Athena.”

Sarah gave a short smile of greeting. Behind her were a shield and a sword. Her hair was in a high ponytail, and the way she sat—seeming guarded—expressed that she was not to be messed with.

Victor shifted his view to his right. “You already know Noah and Tim. Next to Tim is Kevin. He is a descendant of Hephaestus. Hephaestus was a son of Zeus and Hera. If you know your Greek mythology, he was good at making weapons. Thank goodness, this skill was passed down through the generations.”

“Wasn’t Hephaestus somewhat distorted looking?” Amanda asked. “At least that wasn’t passed down.” She snorted.

“Actually….” Kevin waved his hand in front of his face and down his body, revealing a deformed figure. Half of his face had scars, and he had a crooked nose. His shoulders were hunched over like
The Hunch Back of Notre Dame
.

From the shock of Kevin’s new appearance, all eyes were wide. With one swipe of his hand, he changed back to his original form.

“There are many more from different descendants back home,” Victor said.

“You can meet the rest if we decide we can trust you,” Colin finished my dad’s sentence, but his tone was challenging. I could sense Mason tensing up. His fingers curled tightly into a ball on the hand that was resting on the table. I could feel his anger crawling up my skin.

“Trust us?” Mason huffed angrily. “How do we know we can trust
you
?” His eyes darted back at Colin.

I placed my hand on Mason’s lap and he looked at me. I could tell he was calming down from my simple touch when his facial expression relaxed.

“What Colin meant to say is that we were lucky to have found each other,” Victor intervened. “Many of the descendants have been on their own for quite a long time. Most of them have lost their families to the vultures. Now that we have the introductions out of the way, let’s talk about what’s happening to Sky.” He paused for a second to look at me. “Noah told me what you are now able to do.”

I cringed when all eyes went to me. I didn’t want my dad to know, but I couldn’t get mad at Noah for reporting back to him after the incident at the club.

“I didn’t do anything. I don’t understand.” I stared at the palms of my hands for a few seconds, but when my dad cleared his throat, I looked up to him.

“As you are already aware, the vultures you encountered can use their powers without needing to change into their hideous form,” my dad informed us. “This is not only bad for us, but for the human population as well. I don’t know what this evil being has in mind. All we know is that he is altering their DNA, but we don’t know how or what is causing their evolution, just like Skylar. Meanwhile, I suggest Skylar stays with us. We can protect—”

“No.” Mason cut in before he could finish his sentence. “There is no way in hell I’m letting Skylar out of my sight.”

“I’m her father,” Victor stated with conviction.

“The one who tried to harm her. The reason you had to leave,” Mason reminded.

“I’m different now.”

“Can you guarantee that?”

“It’s not up to you.”

“You can’t just walk into her life and start ordering her around. We’ve kept her safe to this point, and my family and I are more than capable.”

“You have no idea what you are up against.”

“And I don’t think you really do either.”

“Enough,” I said loudly, glaring back and forth from Mason to my dad. “Victor is right.” It was strange to call my dad by his name, but I refused to say the words “my dad” out loud. “We don’t know what we’re up against, but at the same time, I’m not going to stay with complete strangers.” Those words stung my heart sharply. I could tell they hurt my dad, too. He wasn’t a stranger. I should be able to trust him, but I doubted him. Feeling overwhelmed with mixed emotions I couldn’t control, I stood up and held on to the edge of the table for support. I could feel the warmth tingling in my arm as everyone’s eyes set on me again. Oh God…please don’t start now. Unfortunately, whatever it was had already been triggered; it was too late.

Something was happening. The sensation started from my stomach, spreading outward, through my veins, through my blood, through my muscles. I could feel the energy growing. It always seemed to happen when I was angry or upset. Taking deep breaths and trying to tame my emotions wasn’t working. Before I could blink, electricity zapped out of my fingertips, traveling along the edge of the table, making everyone back away. The whole table lit up with beautiful silver lights, as the volts covered the table.

Shocked and embarrassed by my display, I pulled my hand back. “I’m so sorry,” I said, my words muffled because I was holding my hand against my lips. With one quick look to Mason, I scrambled for the door. I needed air. I needed space. I needed to get out of there.

“Sky,” Mason called
and started to follow me, but I ignored him. Just as I reached the door, it was suddenly thrust open. Shocked to see someone there, my reflexes were slow at responding. I had just barely turned around to escape when an arm was placed around my neck, while the older hand held a dagger in front of my chest. Everyone froze. There was dead silence at first, then the weapons were slowly drawn out.

I could see all eyes wide in surprise and ready to attack, only they couldn’t. The wretched smell confirmed a vulture had seized me, but again, it was in human form. And he was not alone.

“Trust us, huh? How did they find us?” Nick hollered angrily. His fingertips lit up.

“We didn’t do it,” Colin, shouted back, ready to shoot his arrow.

“What do you want?” Victor demanded.

“Don’t try anything. Stay back,” it said in a hoarse, raspy voice. The tone was deep and robotic.

I was horrified when I was forced to back away with him. The dagger was nicking, threatening on my neck, but they obviously knew better than to cut me.

“Sky, shock,” Mason yelled, zapping his bolts to the vulture that had entered.

I understood. I was trying to, but for some reason, my fingers wouldn’t light up. Why? Then I remembered. It only came when I was mad. I couldn’t think of anything that upset me at the moment…I was scared for everyone. Until…I broke my eyes away from Mason to my dad, then to the strangers I had just met. The strangers he called his children. He had been their father for the past ten years. Even with his explanation, I couldn’t help my jealousy, my anger at the situation, and not meaning to…I moved toward him.

Feeling the energy building within me, it tingled in the palms of my hands. Placing my hands where I could touch the vulture, light zapped out of them. The vulture convulsed.

When more vultures crashed through the door, I saw arrows, icicle spears, and lightning flashes across the room.

“Light ’em up, Aaron!” I heard Colin shout, and a blast of fire darted across the room like a torch.

Aaron used his power to scorch several of the vultures that came for them. The vultures yelped with a horrendous, piercingly painful cry. They flailed their arms and ran without any direction. When they slammed against the wall, the fire spread rapidly, scaling up the wall. The back wall was on fire within seconds.

It had happened so fast, and smoke quickly filled the room, but thankfully, Noah and Tim extinguished the fire. They used the water from the cups—expanding, creating more water—and put out the flame. It was magical to see the amount of water that grew from the several cups. Unfortunately, it made the floor wet.

“Run, Sky,” Mason yelled, reaching for me after he had turned behind him to push down a bottle of wine. The other remaining bottles of wine darted across the room, hitting the vultures around me. Suddenly, pockets of the floor slid open beneath our feet. Now I understood what Mason meant about how this room was specially built. I watched my dad and his people fall through. I even heard them cursing, most likely wanting to stay and fight…I assumed. At least I knew they were safe.

It was difficult to reach Mason when the vultures were shooting lightning bolts, too.

“Jump,” Nick ordered to Everett and Amanda. “Mason and I will hold them back.” Nick’s light sizzled a couple of them, but more came through the door. There seemed to be an endless number of them.

“Don’t worry about us, and don’t wait too long to close the floor. We’ll meet you at the end. We’re going now.” Everett grabbed Amanda and forced her to jump in with him.

“I’m not going in without you,” I said aloud to Mason, while shooting lights at the vulture coming toward me, but it was no use. The vulture’s light was stronger, blocking mine. It was strange to see this man, who looked absolutely nothing like a vulture, come at me with a growl and an expression of rage.

“Get in,” Mason yelled to Nick. “I’m closing the floor.” Mason leapt over chairs and the table that was split in half, while shooting and blocking the volts aimed at him. I felt his arms wrap around my waist as he drove us into the opening, but just before, he zapped his light on the fake wine bottle. The floor then sealed behind us.

Down and down we went, descending as if we were on a slide. I would have screamed for my life if I’d been alone, but being with Mason calmed me. And though I had no idea what awaited me, I knew I was safe. Mason continued to hold onto me until we landed with a thud.

The underground was lit with small electric lanterns, hung high above and spaced every few feet. The air was dry, filling my nose with the smell of soil. I suddenly shivered from the feel of the cold ground and the change in temperature. It was dim, but I could see my surroundings. The only sound I heard at the moment was a body falling down the slide. Somehow, whoever it was had made it through before the floor sealed. It happened so fast, we didn’t have time to react.

Suddenly…bam! Something landed on us.

With a loud, irritated groan from Mason, he yanked me up next to him, ready to zap the intruder.

“Don’t kill me. I’m one of you,” it said quickly, raising both hands in surrender. He was bent down on his knees with his head low. He was muscular with dark hair. Though he looked like any ordinary human, the stench of him surely indicated he was not.

What in the world?
It was the craziest thing, except everything about my life was crazy anyway.

Mason gracefully slid one arm in front of me, pulling me behind him, a way of protecting me. How did he do that so fast without me knowing until after the fact? “Get up,” he ordered. “Why should we believe you? As far as I’m concerned, I’ve yet to meet a friendly vulture.”

“I know. Let me explain.” With his hands still up in the air, he stood up slowly, one leg at a time. He towered over Mason. “He calls me Adam.”

“Who is ‘he’?” Mason asked.

“Victor.”

“Victor? You mean my dad?” When I asked that question, I thought twice. Would Adam even know Victor was my dad?

“Yes. Your father.”

I was shocked and my expression mirrored Mason’s. Confusion filled my mind, wondering why on Earth my dad would associate with a vulture.

“Victor has a lot of explaining to do.” Mason didn’t look thrilled with the news. “I don’t care if you’re friends with Victor, but until I get some clear answers, you’re my prisoner. Now…walk.” He pointed. “Follow the light and don’t turn around. We’ll walk behind you. One funny move, I’ll ace your sorry ass.”

With a nod, Adam started walking.

“Wait. You don’t even know the way,” Mason said, as he waited for Adam to stop.

That’s when I noticed four tunnels. Suddenly, I got worried. What if my father and his people picked the wrong tunnel? Did they all lead to the same destination? “Mason, why are there four?”

“To confuse our enemies, of course.”

“Do they lead to the same place?”

“No. Only one way is correct. The others each lead to a dead end, but they won’t know that until they are miles in. That is how long the tunnels are.”

“Do you think my fa—” I started to say, but stopped. I couldn’t say it out loud. “I mean…Victor and his people picked the right one?” I didn’t know why I was worried. After all, I’d told myself I wasn’t going to care about him.

“Everett and Amanda slipped through the floor almost right after your father and his team. I’m pretty sure they went to the right tunnel together.”

“Which tunnel?” In my mind, I had picked the tunnel to the right, closest to the center.

“None of them,” Mason said.

“What?” My tone went up a notch, feeling baffled. Had I heard Mason’s words correctly?

“There is one tunnel, but you can’t see it because it’s behind the slide we just fell through. The intruders would never have the chance to survive down here, especially if they were lost. We did it to confuse them. Only the five of us knew.” Mason looked somewhat reserved when he said the last sentence, as if he didn’t want to say it, or accidently had said it. He knew how guilty I would feel hearing his name.

Five?
I had forgotten about Remus. “Clever,” I said with the most upbeat tone.

“This way, Adam.” Mason pointed to the darkness.

Adam hesitantly dragged his feet through the pebbled ground. Once he passed some distance, as if the lantern was on sensor mode, the tunnel lit up.