Grounded (28 page)

Avery was starting to sweat. The warehouse must have been over a hundred degrees and blood thumping hotly through her veins, she grew more uncomfortable by the second. The wound on her chest continued zapping her strength and crippling exhaustion threatened to set in. Closing her eyes she took a breath. The deafening sound around her finally faded away. She focused on her chest, on her blood, and on the magic.

It finally sparked and she pushed the magic out. The crate gave and flew. Avery leaned up just enough to see it clear the top. Mikhail still stood in the center of the room and he turned to intercept the crate. He threw a hand up. The flash of magic lit up but just as the falling crate began to budge from its collision course, the light flickered. The magic dwindled. Mikhail dove sideways to avoid the crashing metal. The crate hit the floor and slid.

The harpie suddenly doubled. The aura of magic was spiking and falling. Unsteady, Mikhail gripped his chest. Avery gasped. They’d done it. His body was starting to give.

“Mason!” She yelled. They needed to move on him now.

Mikhail suddenly reanimated. Jerking to a stand, his black eyes landed on Avery. Throwing his hand up one last time, he let out a weak flash of blue magic. The crate Avery clung to trembled violently, but this time she couldn’t hold on. Her sweaty grip gave and Avery fell backwards. Her hands grabbed for something to hold but she only slowed her fall. She let out a scream ten feet before she hit the floor. With nothing to brace her fall, the impact jolted through her body with an agonizing spark of pain. The wind knocked out of her, she struggled to catch a clean breath.

“You brat. You bloody human brat.” She could hear Mikhail’s voice coming closer.

Panic surging through her veins, she struggled to move. Her body ached down to the bone and her muscles refused to budge. She rolled and pushed herself up. Black crept up at the edge of her vision. She didn’t have time to stand before Mikhail trotted around the crate to where Avery laid.

His black eyes flashed with cruel fury.

“How dare you even interfere? This is above you. This is beyond you. And I will not let you—a human—stand in my way.” He hissed.

His chest was heaving and his eyes were bloodshot. He lumbered forward instead of picking up his feet and his posture was bent at an odd angle. Though seemingly unable to catch his breath, he still moved forward. She struggled to stand but every inch of her body ached and her muscles didn’t help.

“Wait!” She put her hand out. The magic in her chest refused to react, like Mikhail, burnt out. But Mikhail didn’t need that much magic to kill her.

“Wait for what? I’m done waiting.” Mikhail lifted his talons. Avery squirmed backwards, desperate to catch her grip.

“Mason!” She screamed. Mikhail caught her with one hand. She tried to knock his arms away but his grip was painful and tight. He dug his talons in until they drew blood. Her vision threatened to go black, air supply cut off. The world spun. For half a second Avery saw the end.

Abruptly Mikhail’s grip broke away. Mikhail froze, twitched, and crumbled to the floor. Only when his body hit the ground did it become visible what had happened.

Mason had returned but not alone. Mason had torn him away and Eva had come up behind Mikhail, impaling the harpie through the torso with some unseen knife. Blood had splattered over her leather suit and hands.

“What did you do?” Avery gasped.

The harpie woman never answered. Her eyes stayed glued on her arms. She flexed her fingers. Though invisible, the magic still pulsed as it sunk into to Eva’s body and then finally disappeared. Only after a moment did the harpie woman twitch to life.

“Will you look at that?” Eva whispered with the tone of her voice indiscernible and quiet. She flexed her fingers before she looked up, eyes connecting with Avery’s. “You know what I was always told? If you can’t beat them, join them. Until you can beat them of course.”

Mason came up from behind and hauled Avery up and back into his chest. He still staggered himself but managed to stand.

“Eva, stop this.”He reached out to his sister while still holding onto Avery’s waist. “Whatever you’re planning, stop now while you’re ahead. If you come back with us now, we can fix your banishment. We can get out that magic before it kills you too.”

Eva’s eyes narrowed.

“I don’t want my banishment to be fixed. I don’t want the magic to be removed.”

“It doesn’t have to be like it used to. Our father is dead and gone now. I can fix what he didn’t. Please give me a chance.” Mason was begging but his pleas fell on deaf ears. Eva shook her head. Dropping the knife, she backed up and disappeared from the room in a hurry.

Neither Mason nor Avery gave chase. The adrenaline finally quit their systems and left them both ragged. Avery cast him a sideways look, swaying on her feet.

“Are you okay? Should we go after her?” She found her resolve. Mason didn’t though. Keeping his arm around her waist, he squeezed her and buried his lips into her hair.

“No. Trouble may be coming with Eva but it won’t be today.” He said. “Let’s go home.”

Twenty-Seven

Avery had been to the harpie island once before, but seeing it with fresh eyes, it all looked new again. It was an island of flowers, waterfalls, and sand. Stranger than that, it was the island Avery had agreed to live on. Her stomach floated either from the surge of emotions or the drop in Mason’s flight pattern, but when they touched down on the beach her stomach was doing back flips.

Somewhere down the shore line, the sharp blue suits of patrol guards perked up and headed their way. Mason ignored them. Grabbing her chin, he guided her eyes towards his.

“You still with me?” Mason asked.

“Only if you’re still with me.” She earned a smile from him. He leaned in for a fleeting kiss. They had witnesses but Mason didn’t seem to care.

“It’s not going to be easy. They may be startled by the magic in your body but they won’t act on it when you’re with me. Just follow my lead.” He warned, squeezing her hand. She had the strong urge to kiss him again but the harpie patrol guards were upon them. Mason turned and the guard’s faces’ lit up with recognition.

“Mikhail’s not coming.” Mason said. “He’s been killed. The rest of the Band members escaped.”

The guards stiffened and stuttered. One finally took charge and stepped forward.

“You need to come with us. And the human-“

Mason squeezed Avery’s hand again even though she didn’t need the reassurance.

“She’s with me and she goes where I go.” He left no room to bicker. The guard obliged with the demand and led them forward.

In the center of the harpie island was a three story building made out of marble and granite, and it was adorned with insignias. The towering structure was the Grand Central Station of harpie affairs and was just as dazzling on the inside as the outside. It was exactly like Avery remembered it.

The majestic wooden doors were opened for them and inside, the guard made a ‘stop’ motion.

“We’ll need her to wait outside if you wish to speak to the council.” The guard ordered.

Before Mason opened his mouth to protest that one, Avery spoke up.

“That’s fine. I’ll be over here.” She gave a half smile and maneuvered off to the side. She had no desire to see the Council which had essentially condemned her the year before. Things had changed, time and the people in charge were on her side but she still wasn’t comfortable. Mason gave her a backwards look before being shuffled into another room. She went for a bench pressed against the nearest wall. It was marble, stiff and uncomfortable but still somewhere to rest. She sat and wiggled her phone free.

The plastic had cracked on both sides and the buttons didn’t line up with the proper places. The ink under the screen had become blurry or unclear from abuse. Still, a signal bar stayed lit up and Avery fought with the phone until it dialed out.

It rang for less than a second when a female voice picked up on the other line.

“Avery?” Leela’s voice flittered through static.

“Hey. Did you make it home alright?” Avery asked. The fatigue sounded in her voice and she slumped back against the wall. Her eyes trailed around making sure the hallway was clear. The only thing nearby was a bulletin board on the wall with papers and pictures affixed. Avery gazed over the wanted posters idly.

“Forget me! Where are you? Are you okay?” Leela answered on the other line.

“Yea. I made it to the harpie island.”

“And Mikhail?”

Avery spoke carefully.

“Gone.”

Leela let out a hissing breath on the other line.

“It’s okay. What about Adalyn and Eva?” Leela quizzed methodically.

“Eva took off like we expected. She stole the Willow magic from Mikhail. Mason told me that Adalyn bailed out after the incident at Samuel’s compound.” After what happened to her father, Avery didn’t blame the girl. “She’ll show up though. She always does.”

“What about that last one-- Patrick?”

Avery opened her mouth but then paused. It hit her like a brick wall.

“Leela, don’t freak but I gotta go.” She let the phone fall to her side. Standing up, she lumbered forward. Her eyes had been on it for ten minutes but she hadn’t really seen it until then. The bulletin board in front of her showed a familiar face. Though dirty and rugged with facial hair Avery recognized one of the harpies staring out of the photo.

Her eyes dropped to the name.

“Patrick Smith.” She read aloud. Her heart skipped a beat. It was really him. Her eyes went to the text around the photo.

“Wanted Dead or Alive. Escaped from prison in September...”

Backing away, Avery pressed a hand to her temple. Everything Patrick had said came together at once.

“What’s the deal with the gates? Are you guys locked in here at night?” He’d said once, concerned.

“I just came out of a bad place. Worse than you could probably imagine.”

She remembered where Adalyn had met Patrick too, during the battle that brought the prison down. Patrick must have escaped and owed Adalyn for saving him. It all made more sense than Avery would have liked.

She didn’t get to think on it long. The sound of her name had her glance up. Mason stood at the end of the hall beckoning her forward.

“Hey,” She glanced around the room. Harpies lingered nearby but all remained in deep conversation with each other. They wouldn’t even realize Avery was there. “We might have a problem.” She said when she reached him.

“Yea, we have a lot of problems. But none of those have to happen right now.”

“Patrick--”

He cut her off with a finger on her lips.

“I know now too. But don’t worry about it today.” He reached out for her hands and guided her back outside.

“Did everything go alright with the Counsel?”

Mason made a face.

“Yes. I guess. I am the rightful heir. That won’t stop the bickering. But I’m awesome. No one can stop me. Not even Mikhail.” He offered a cocky smile.

“I was there too!” Avery said, feigning annoyance. His smile was affecting her too much today. Matched with his green eyes, she was having a hard time being mad. This was a totally new view of Mason and she wasn’t taking it on pace.

“I did ninety-nine percent of the work. But I think I’ll let you mooch some glory.” He leaned forward and kissed her, cutting off any retort she might have had.

His lips were warm and his right hand slid over the small of her back pressing her closer. The height difference had her leaning back but the position managed to be a perfect fit. They broke for air.

Avery’s cheeks were on fire. She let out a breath to calm herself but one alone didn’t work. She breathed again and again. Avery wasn’t the diehard romantic but that also left her unsure how to respond without blushing and crying. She tried to maintain her reaction.

“I’ll have to take some time to get used to all this.” She admitted but Mason’s face didn’t change.

“You’ll have time. There’s going to a bunch of stuff going down first. Trust me. You have no idea what’s coming next.”

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