`Good plan.' Mason smiled at him. `It would be nice to meet Sally again.'
`There you go, Dad, normal conversation.' He grinned back and winked as he began to leave. `Try to stay out of trouble, will you?'
`I'm supposed to say that to you.'
Wilson shook his head at Mason's expression. Ruth began to wake up. `See you around seven.'
`I won't forget,' Mason said. He squatted down beside Ruth, touching her with great care. Wilson watched for a second, his father's simple actions saying more than any words could. He left with his mind on Sally.
Ruth took a deep breath, eyes closed, and stretched, listening to Wilson's footsteps fade away. Dappled sunlight warmed her. Hands, strong but loving, touched her face and trailed down her body.
Checking for injuries
, she thought, until they stopped at her hips.
`Hey you,' Ruth said, opening her eyes as Mason leant in. `I feel great. And damn you smell delicious.' She pulled him in and kissed him hard. Scents and flavours burst through her. Strong thumbs rolled the string of her bikini against her skin. Blood rushed through her and the fabric of her top felt delicious against her hardening nipples.
`Now you know what it's like for me,' Mason whispered. `You have always smelt divine but now it's stronger. It's so very strong.'
His fingers trailed up the inside of her thigh and she shuddered as he leant in and whispered in her ear. `It's like we're discovering each other all over again.' He kissed her neck, then her covered breast as he moved down. His thumbs rolled the top of her bikini bottom.
She gasped at the touch of cool air against her sex and arched, wanting him.
`Um.'
Ruth looked up. Nikki stood beside them, eyes fixed on what Mason had revealed.
Mason growled, snapping her bikini bottom back in place. `Christ, I forgot about you. What's wrong with me?'
`Mason?' Ruth grabbed his arm, watching his face crease, the moment lost. Everything cooled in her as he glared at Nikki. She stood up, pulling herself up on Mason's arm, inhaling Nikki's scent.
`Ah,' Nikki looked at her, a blush highlighting the vee in her neck.
Another scent touched Ruth. `Relax. Everything's fine.' She squeezed Mason's arm and he glanced at her.
`Uh-huh, so what's next then, Ruth?' He let her go, and moved away looking tense. `We invite the girls for wine and nibbles back at the villa with a good old chat about life?'
She ignored his sarcasm. `Good idea.' Ruth glanced at Nikki and Renee watching her, agog at the suggestion. `It would be the civil thing to do, Mason, since we're not going to fight any longer.' The control she had felt good. Mason stared at her, jaw clenched, but she wasn't going to back down. They needed to get to know the girls.
`Whatever,' he snapped, but she caught the flicker of his eyes as he assessed the sisters. Colour touched his ears and uncertainty clouded his face for a second. The sisters made him nervous.
`Look, this is odd, I know. But you have to trust me, Mason. Please.'
`Okay.' He glared at her. `I'll get some more bloody glasses out then.' He turned and headed down the slope towards the villa, stopping to scoop up the pistol Ruth had dropped earlier.
`You don't have to do this. We can just leave,' Nikki said, standing close as they watched Mason walk down the slope. `I'm not sure a chat would be a good idea. It may aggravate him more.'
Ruth let a smile creep out. `He's nervous, not angry.'
`What? Butcher gets nervous?' Renee drawled from behind them.
Ruth turned, her new energy buzzing in her ears. `He's not Butcher! He's Mason.' The air hummed around her. Renee stepped back, sarcasm gone from her face. Fear replaced it. Good, Ruth thought.
`She's sorry.' Nikki stepped between her and Renee, touching Ruth's arm. `My sister speaks before thinking â a lot. Fighting is more her style. Not the conversational type.'
Ruth liked the feel of Nikki's hand on her arm. `I can relate to that, but Mason is not that thing you call Butcher. Understand?' She looked at Renee still standing behind her sister with wide green eyes.
`Okay.'
She held Renee's eyes until the redhead looked away. `Good. Right,' Ruth said ignoring the odd little tingle she felt at Nikki's touch. `Try and be civil to Mason and you might be surprised.'
`That would beâ¦different.' Nikki didn't let her arm go.
`Yes, it would be. This family's known nothing but bloodshed since we discovered the existence of Unnaturals. Follow me.'
Ruth turned and Nikki's hand fell, brushing down her arm and, at the last moment, gripped her hand.
Ruth looked down at Nikki's smaller hand in hers.
`I'm sorry,' Nikki swallowed, but she continued to hold hands. `I didn't mean to do that.'
`Don't be sorry. If I didn't like it, do you think you would still be standing?'
A blush touched the witch's cheeks.
`Oh great, you're flirting with the Butchâ Mason's wife.' Renee's arms were crossed, green eyes flashing. `What is it with you, sis? It's been ages since you've shown an interest in anyone and then you...' Lost for words, Renee waved her hands in Ruth's direction.
`Drama queen, isn't she?' Ruth grinned and pulled Nikki with her, heading down towards the villa, thinking that this new thing with scents was going to be interesting.
Nikki hurried to keep up, but she didn't let go. `You're not worried about Mason?'
Ruth slowed a little, glanced at Nikki, and down. Fine dark nipples moved under the witch's top.
`Yes and no,' Ruth replied at last. `He's understandably suspicious of anyone who seems a threat.'
Nikki slowed. `We don't even know each other and Mason already considers us a threat. What about,' she raised their linked hands, `this?'
Ruth used her momentum to pull Nikki against her. `It's simple, I like you. If it goes any further then that's fine. Mason has always accepted my sexuality. Gaia just made it very clear we're all to get along. You obviously like me the same way I like you. Make no mistake, though, I love Mason and Wilson. And I would not have hesitated to kill you earlier.'
She brushed a strand of long dark hair off Nikki's face. `But if things lead us down another path, then so be it.'
`We are so screwed,' Renee muttered, walking past them. `If you're going to make eyes at each other after he's tried to kill us, then I might as well go and try biting Mason like a Bloodells and get it over with.'
It was as if she hadn't spoken.
`You're very forward.' Nikki pushed Ruth away but didn't let go of her hand.
`Yep. That's how I work and that's how Mason works. Otherwise we would not have made it as a family so long. We've never been like everybody else.'
`Huh.' Renee snorted from halfway down the slope. Ruth glanced at her and couldn't help admiring her long muscular legs. The short shorts she wore didn't help.
`She's like her father,' Nikki said, catching her stare. `The red hair, height, and legs to die for, come from his side of the family. The temper is legendary.'
`What about you â you're not like Renee?' They began walking again, hand in hand.
`Renee is the fighter. Her father was human so she missed out on lot of other things. I do the, um, you'd probably call it magic. It's more about manipulating the energies our kind is gifted with.'
`Fascinating,' Ruth lied, wanting to kiss Nikki.
Renee had stopped a short distance from the villa, waiting for them. `He still looks pissed off,' she said when they reached her.
`Try smiling.' Ruth nudged her but felt nothing from the contact, a fact she noted. She could feel Mason's eyes on her as he stood stiffly on the patio, wine glasses in hand. She called out to him. `They're afraid of you, Mason. It's not easy for them.'
`We're gunna die,' Renee muttered. Nikki's hand tensed. Mason maintained his stony silence.
Ruth stepped up onto the patio, drawing Nikki with her. Mason's nose flared at the sight of her holding Nikki's hand. Was he in control?
`Christ,' he muttered, closing his eyes. `She's the one who smells of lollies, then? Just couldn't help yourself, could you?'
`Lollies?'
Nikki blinked as Ruth pulled a chair out at the table.
`Kind of,' Ruth said, sitting down, finally letting Nikki go. She could see him relax as soon as she did. `Apparently, he has this fantastic sense of smell and, well, so do I â now. I never realised how powerful an effect it had. Wine, please.'
She waved her glass at Mason, trying to make him move. Nikki sat beside her.
`So, what do I smell like?' Renee asked, stepping up onto the patio.
`Trouble.' Mason shrugged and placed the wine glasses on the table. `Sweaty trouble.' Renee's mouth dropped open and he walked into the kitchen.
`Sweaty!' Renee's face went red as she sat down, trying to sit still.
`I think it was a compliment, sis,' Nikki whispered.
`Maybe,' Ruth sighed as Mason slammed the fridge door shut in the kitchen. Nikki sat back, resting a hand on her thigh. Ruth wriggled closer.
`We shouldn't be here,' Renee said, looking for Mason. `We have other stuff to do.'
`It can wait,' Nikki said as Mason walked out with two wine bottles in his hands.
Ruth held her wine glass up and Mason filled it, not looking at her. She sat back, wine glass in hand. `So, who was that odd-looking girl in the trees?'
`No idea,' Nikki said, watching Mason fill the wine glass in front of her. `We had her spotted just before you showed up.'
`Then it all went to shit.' Renee sank down in her chair as Nikki gave her a look. Mason filled two more wine glasses. Ruth had started the conversation, knowing he would be drawn into it. He wouldn't be able to help himself, regardless of how he felt about having the sisters here.
`You ever seen an Unnatural like her before?' he asked, sipping wine. She could see him thinking about what that meant. `She had some sort of glamour that helped her blend in with the trees, plus she was covered with scales.'
`Never seen anything like her.' Nikki sipped her wine. `But, why she was here is possibly more important. That collar wasn't for decoration. It looked like a control collar. Someone was pulling her strings.'
`Bloodells?' He dragged out a chair and plonked down on it. Ruth allowed herself a small smile. `Could they do something like this? And since we're on the subject, what are you?'
`Not Bloodells,' Renee muttered from behind her glass.
`Not what, who?' Ruth leant across the table to touch him. `They're people, Mason, not things, remember.'
His face twitched and Ruth touched his arm again. `When you say that, it sounds like those people who couldn't take it because
I
was different.' Nikki squeezed her thigh.
Mason put his glass down. Ruth saw the way his hand trembled and knew it had worked. She had made the connection he needed.
`I, ah, never saw it like that.' He cleared his throat, struggling.
`You see us as things,' Renee said, watching Mason closely.
He didn't look up, but fiddled with his wine glass.
`When it happened last year,' Mason began, then took an unsteady sip of wine.
Ruth sat up straight. He had never spoken about this, not even to her.
`When it happened last year, well, afterwards anything
not
human was just something that needed to die. I can't remember faces, just the kill. It felt good. Fantastic. Better than sex.'
Ruth put her glass down, reaching out to him. She hadn't understood how much he'd been hurting.
`All that mattered was the next kill. My revenge. Even those who were not Bloodells, the hybrids, were prey. They didn't satisfy the hunger like a Bloodells' death. I needed more. Sometimes I took it.'
`Shit.' Renee had gone white.
Mason frowned. Colour touched his neck.
`When Ruth left me, I was out of control. I had to stop, to control it. Or lose Ruth and Wilson forever. I couldn't let that happen.'
He looked up at Nikki, glanced at Renee. `But when I faced you, the hunger was reborn, but different. I think I was afraid too. You're stronger than most Bloodells, not cold to touch; you're a challenge. And here, on the island, Ruth and Wilson were involved, so I...' His eyes locked onto Renee.
Ruth drove her nails into his arm, afraid he had lost control, but his skin was hot, soft in her hand. He winced but remained focused on Renee. He was still Mason, albeit distracted by something.
`You still see us as a threat?' Nikki asked ever so carefully, her hand tight on Ruth's leg.
`Mason?' Ruth pulled at his arm. `What are you doing?'
`Trying to understand. Why they're here, on the island at the same time we're here. If they're not like the Bloodells and not here for us then why are they here? Why does Gaia need us to trust each other?'
`A war.' Ruth stood and turned his face towards her. `Gaia said a war was coming. One where
we
would all die if we could not stand together as one.'
Ruth took a deep breath, knowing she had to tell him everything. `She said I would watch our children die while you â she called you Hunter â would be lost to the darkness. No one would survive.' She kissed him on the forehead, tears in her eyes. Saying Gaia's words out loud made her fear real.
`A war?' Mason's face softened at the sight of her tears.
She sat down again, wiping her eyes, relieved to have Gaia's message out in the open. Nikki's hands were on the stem of her wine glass.
Renee slurped her wine, watching Mason over her glass. `So, who we fighting then?'
Ruth raised an eyebrow at Renee's tone. Even more when Renee put her glass down and her nipples revealed how excited she was under her T-shirt. Did thought of a fight do that to her or⦠Or was it Mason?
`Has to be Bloodells.' Mason glanced at Renee and away, so fast Ruth nearly missed it.
`Not here,' Nikki said. `They don't dare break the treaty.'
`Treaty?'
`No Bloodells has ever set foot on the shores of this country and survived a day. This is our home and they know to come here wouldâ¦' Nikki sat up. `It would start a war.'
Mason stood up. `They're coming.'