Windswept (The Airborne Saga) (13 page)

             
Squeezing her eyes shut, she waited. Wings at a time like this would have been perfect. She had to sit and wait. The pain was making her dizzy. The quiet was making her uneasy. A seeming eternity passed until she heard the call for help. It came in a voice barely recognizable.

             
“Don’t budge,” he said and swept her out of the crevasse. Only after unclear minutes of flying did she recognize him.

             
“Mr. Anti-social Guard member.” She smiled at that, but it could have just been from the delusional fog that was starting to eat away at her head. The comment made him look more concerned than angry.

             
“My name is Leon. And it’s just part of my duty to keep my allegiances only to protecting our Prince, Ms. Zane. It’s nothing personal.”

             
“Our Prince, huh? Where is he? Are you bringing me to him?” She stole a glance backwards but regretted it immediately. This was not the height for her stomach to stay intact.

             
“He was taken to another safe location. Eva has escaped, but I suspect she won’t be returning.”

             
“Yeah, I suspect.” But that wasn’t what bothered Avery. “I’m glad you guys thought about coming back.”

             
“I’m sorry,” he actually apologized as the first part of his speech. “But it is our job. In the light of the threat and the area, we must secure the Prince first. Prince Mason demanded enough I rushed here immediately after.”

             
“Thanks. I guess. If you tell off the cop that threw me into the ravine straight...he had a better shot at killing me than Eva.”

             
Leon’s eyes connected with hers but moved on quickly.

             
“Not every officer here is so well versed in your identity. It was a mistake...but I’ll be sure to see he’s reprimanded for his careless conduct.” Though he spoke in a polite way, his words never left much room to argue. It hadn’t seemed like a mistake when the harpie tossed her backwards but to be fair, if he’d been trying to kill her, there were much more effective ways than that. She forced herself to put it out of her mind and it wasn’t very hard. When Leon landed them, Mason was on her.

             
She yelped with the ambush, but recognizing his arms and scent around her, she calmed. Mason pulled away and stared her down.

             
“You’re an idiot,” he hissed.

             
“Thanks for the concern,” she snipped but regretted it. The pain showed clearly in his eyes and his hands on her shoulders loosened considerably.

             
“Look, I’m okay. I’m alive,” she amended carefully. The disbelief stayed clear on his face, but he turned and led her by the hand. The safe location Leon had spoken of was essentially a hole in the ground. Cinderblock walls built into the foot of the mountain, it wasn’t terribly far off from the actual city. The exits were more easily controllable and the structure probably stronger. Mason led her down an incline, passed the Guard members that stood at alert, and through a door.

             
“This place is laced with magic,” Mason said the second before Avery felt it. The aura of magic came in the form of a wave of nausea that came and went at the doorway. Inside, the small building was nothing more than a room. Only one Guard member stood inside and faced the walls providing some sentiment of privacy. With Mason’s help, Avery wobbled into the chair and hissed when her muscles relaxed again.

              “What happened? What did you hurt?” His eyes were on her again but his hands hovered in the air, uncertain.

             
“Just a rough landing on my back. Seriously Mason, it was just a good jolt. Nothing that I need to go to the hospital over.” She’d brush it off just so he would. Aches and pains were familiar in this life, though the fact that it was sticking around longer than usual was a bummer.

             
Mason finally settled on his knees before her and his wings crossed behind him.

             
“Avery...”

             
“When were you planning to tell me Eva was looking for me?”

             
“Never! Avery...”

             
“What happened to this being a team? Seems like something I should know. Especially when the Guard’s going to leave me to have a chat with her.”

             
“Avery!” His tone spiked so suddenly that even the Guard member looked over. She shut her mouth with a click feeling the heavy atmosphere of tension join the room. “Don’t you dare accuse me of allowing something like this to happen again. I am so angry with the Guard for leaving you behind. But I am equally angry at you for being an idiot and running out of the house and after Eva. I told you she’d be looking for you to prevent such stupid behavior.

             
“We are not a team. You pretend like I’ve wanted to be. I am supposed to be protecting you from grave danger in the harpie world. Unfortunately, I haven’t always been able to in the past and now when I can finally keep you out of it—keep you safe—you want to rush to the forefront and endanger yourself under the guise of a team.”

             
Avery’s face must have blanked because her mind did. She forgot he was in front of her and cradled her cold fingers together for the moments until the shock passed. Before she even brought herself to react, she felt Mason reach out and squeeze her hands.

             
“Please understand, Avery. We’ve been a great team. But I don’t want you to have to deal with the dangers of the harpie world that I’ve invited you into. I want you to be able to enjoy it.” He snorted at his last sentence, turning his face away with a show of the bitterness he actually felt. That made Avery react.

             
“For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.” She gave him a watery smile fueled by the distinct heart ache that now felt like a heavy knot in her chest. The adrenaline of the evening had worn away, while the pain in her bones intensified. All combined with the conversation, she was on the decline quickly. Shifting, she laced her hands to his and clung with him.

             
Mason hadn’t made any bones about protecting her in the past. It was just different, new. She’d been so used to fighting alongside him, it would be a difficult transition.

             
“Stop saying that. I’ll make it better, Avery. I promise...”

             
“I’ll stay out of it. I won’t ask again.”

             
“Eva...she was just upset about the Willow magic. I guess her vision of it didn’t quite pan out. Meanwhile, she wanted to see you since you were the first to absorb it and probably just because she could get at you more readily.”

“She did, she told me the magic was decaying.”

Mason moved abruptly, tearing one hand away and turning Avery’s wrist. Pushing up her sleeves, he revealed the Willow magic tattoo.

“What’s wrong?” She didn’t want to beat a dead horse
, but they’d been over the magic before. It wasn’t healing her well because it wasn’t doing anything. It stayed its sharp blackened color with red at the edges. Mason didn’t answer until he pulled up his opposing sleeve and laid their arms across each other’s. Avery’s breath hitched.

“You too? Mason! It’s hurting you too!”

He bared the same distinctive pattern.

“Not as bad as yours. But neither Eva
nor I will be as bad. I don’t know if it’s a time thing or a usage thing but you are the worst. I don’t understand it, Avery. Every time I think we don’t need to worry it does something else. Or in this case, it does nothing. Not even give off an aura...”

“What do we do?” She freed herself and yanked her sleeve down. Her heart had picked up and she couldn’t stop looking at his bizarre tattoo. This wasn’t supposed to happen to Mason too.
She was used to it—she had been for years and she could be for years in the future. But Mason was in danger now too. It turned the situation into something else for her and she didn’t find a comfortable way to feel about this.

“Nothing yet. I’m not telling anyone about the
Willow magic. It’s bad enough the council already knows that it exists, they need to know nothing of its power or lack of...it’s our little secret.”

She couldn’t help it. She reached out for him and twisted her arms around his neck. Mason was warm and cooling at the same time, returning the embrace and pressing their cheeks together. His fingers went to the nape of her neck and brushed through her hair. The motions were tiny but helpful and Avery gathered herself.

“Then hopefully Eva shuts up about it. That’s why the Band kicked her out, isn’t it?”

“Maybe. But Eva never led the Band, not really. After Mikhail died, it would make sense a new leader could slip in.”

“Like Patrick. He was the one who took Adalyn when she came by my school. He was with others....I didn’t see the familiar armor but it makes so much sense. Adalyn wanted to warn us. That Patrick would be coming after us.” She started talking and ended by blurting everything out. Mason pulled away to study her again, but he didn’t give the face of shock she’d anticipated. Rather the same skeptical look for her involvement. He didn’t comment on anything but her theory though.

“Maybe
, but it’s nothing new to have the Band of Thieves out there in the world.”

“Should someone help Adalyn?” The woman was, after
all, Mason’s ex-fiancé.

“She’s been so involved with Patrick, I don’t think he has any intention to hurt her. And besides, weak warning or not, if she’s allied with the Band then I have no place protecting her.” His voice waivered the tiniest.

“I’m sorry, Mason.”

“Don’t be. Just promise me you won’t go poking around into anything again. No harpie should hear you talking about those things and spinning rumors. We’re leaving for Portland in th
e morning and you should rest—especially with the magic’s condition.”

The conversation finally en
ding, Mason escorted her to a ‘bed’. It was more of a cot than anything else and nothing he could share. But dropping into it, she forgot about the Guard in the room or the aches in her body. She slept without another argument. By the time she awoke, Mason was up and ready again. He’d clearly changed from the prior night but it took her another minute to catch on what exactly changed.

             
“You cut your hair,” she said aloud when it struck her. The brown indie rocker locks were traded out for a short and careful cut. Combined with the white suit furnished with gold trim, he actually looked official. Mason really looked like a prince. If he’d noticed the difference, he never let on.

             
“Come on. Perry brought you food to eat before we leave.”

The
female harpie did make an appearance with pastries that Avery ate without taking the time to chew. She followed them outside and hurried up to Avery’s side before the group planned to take off.

             
“Oh dear, we’re going to miss you in Portland!” She gave Avery a quick squeeze. The woman nearly identical to the grandmother Avery never grew up with, it was kind of nice.