Windswept (The Airborne Saga) (12 page)

“Avery,” Mason suddenly croaked. She heard the difference in his voice, but looked up to confirm it. Mason
had
totally been thrown off guard. There was no cocky smirk left in him, but was taken over by a total gaping shock.

A new rush of adrenaline slipped through her veins with a sweet aftermath. She’d definitely done it and still managed to leave him virtually speechless. Going in for the kill, Avery mustered her best cocky smile.

“Too much?” she asked him.

“Uh. Avery. You. I. Uh. Avery, you’re still hurt…” It hardly sounded strong or even believable. It was probably the only thing that Mason could manage to say
, but Avery took it the wrong way anyways. Shooting up to a sitting position, she groaned at him again.

“Mason, really?” She couldn’t get out another word. Mason finally did move
, but this time it wasn’t in the wrong direction. He caught her in a kiss instantly, but kept up the momentum until she was pressed back against the sheets. Mason shifted quickly, his body now positioned on top of her and the abrupt feel of their skin pressed together came with it.

Avery let out the breath she’d been holding when Mason turned his kisses to her neck
, but it didn’t do much for her nerves. His hands kept moving, this time greedily roaming her exposed flesh. It brought every nerve to attention and warmed her body.

Something did cross Avery’s mind. The situation was becoming hot and heavy and she could stop it now, before it got out of hand. This situation was something she probably should stop. But then on the other hand, Avery could only think about one thing. It was about time.

Mason moved back up to her lips but sick of being passive, she raised her hips up against him. He let out a guttural moan in response. Shifting upward, she went to unclasp the bra that remained the only fabric between them on the top half of their bodies.

Their eyes met again when she did and she could see for the first time, Mason asking direction. Maybe he didn’t know his way around a human girl. Maybe he didn’t want to ruin anything without her guidance.

She shifted her hips again and this spurred him into actions. He found her lips, her cheeks, her chin and neck. As his lips slipped down to her newly exposed flesh, she screamed.

Mason jerked backwards and crashed into the bed banister. Avery wobbled free
, but the pain hadn’t gone. Her mind took a moment to catch up with the nauseating sensation that had rushed through her. A strong surge of the Willow magic had shocked her and remained radiating in her fingertips. But her mind clicked over to reach the second conclusion. The magic hadn’t come from her and she glanced at Mason.

His face had also washed out white.

“Eva,” he said.

The ground suddenly rumbled and dust exploded from the cream ceilings. Chandeliers jangled with deafening force and the sound reminded Avery how to move. She dove for her shirt on the floor. Just as she clutched the fabric in her hands, the door shot up and spread across the floor as splinters of wood. The Guard rushed in. Fearing she’d be trampled, Avery dove to the corner.

“Avery!” Mason barked her name as the Guard dove on him. In some semblance of a circle, they yanked and maneuvered him towards the door.

Not a single one of the Guard ever looked towards Avery. But then she wasn’t the Prince. Slipping the shirt over her head, she then followed the bumbling crowd outside. The Guard’s wings all snapped open. They planned to go airborne.

“Take Avery too,” Mason was demanding. “Avery, get over here!”

His order came just as the waves of willow magic continued pulsing through the atmosphere. Wherever Eva was, she was using the magic strongly
—too strongly. The results could be deadly to Eva eventually, potentially to Avery and Mason in the meantime. Those thoughts didn’t escape her when the ground beneath them vibrated from unseen chaos.

She held her hand out but couldn’t break the circle without getting a certain injury.

“We can’t bring her,” one of the Guard chirped. “You know why. Your Majesty, we need to get you to safety now, worry about the human later!”

“Mason?” Avery reluctantly backed up. The harpies were catching wind and this many would probably cause a hurricane.

“Damnit! Avery, she’s after you! Avery, she’s been asking for you!” Mason yelled. Avery didn’t hear anything more. When the first harpies took off, she couldn’t hear anything but the rest joining in suit. Mason probably wasn’t even flying himself but being dragged along by that many chaperones, he didn’t have a choice. Backpedaling again, she fell onto her backside in the dirt. It was the first time she became truly aware of her surroundings now and the words she’d just absorbed.

Eva wanted her.

This side of the mountain was empty. Night in the sky, only the weak light from the building lit up the area. The harpies disappeared and Avery really recognized that she was alone. Scrambling to her feet, she braced herself. The Willow magic always gave out an aura, especially when being used. So in theory, Avery should feel her coming.

She closed her eyes and focused. The area had gone quiet. Even in the distance, she couldn’t hear panic and noise. The silence should have helped her concentrate but instead just made her impatient. Was Mason coming back? Had Eva taken off after him? And why did Eva even want Avery? It seemed a bit
too reminiscent of Adalyn—this was what Adalyn had probably even warned her about. They’d take Avery first, and then go for Mason.

Her feet made her move
, and her head followed on a swivel. She finally felt the magic. But rather than nauseating waves, she felt weak traces until it led her straight to the raven-haired women.

Eva was Mason’s sister, a notorious outlaw, and the woman who had once saved Avery’s life. She hovered near the deep crevasse, legs thrown over, as she rocked her body. Face turned away from Avery, Avery couldn’t see much besides bloodied wings w
here shackles had been.

“Eva.” Avery said against her better judgment. Something made her say it though. Something about the situation just wasn’t right.

“You… what have you done?” The voice was dark and raspy. The coldness in it made Avery stiff.

“What?”

“This magic. This was a mistake. But I had seen you. We’d all seen you—oh using it so very well. You didn’t see this coming though? Didn’t warn us? This magic is decomposing within my very body.” Eva shot up and turned towards Avery. Her mud-smeared face and furious green eyes were nothing against the black-webbed tattoo that peeked out beneath her clothes.

“What do you mean decomposing?”

“You tell me.” Eva gave her a pointed look. At least the women hadn’t rushed to attack. Her magic still pulsed but in an oddly controlled way. Like the simmering after the boiling. “I can barely feel your magic anymore. I can’t see it. I bet you can’t even use it. You’ve had this the longest—whatever is happening to us all will happen to you first.”

“No. I just overused it. It’s just…” Avery’s argument faltered. Eva had begun to pace. Avery braced herself but Eva was right about one thing, she couldn’t fight. She couldn’t feel her own Willow magic and nothing to match the levels that she was throwing off. She had wit but that hadn’t been going t
oo well yet. She shifted to face the harpie as the harpie circled.

“Is that what you’ve been telling everyone? Are you trying to stop them from killing you? Oh now, once they find out you can’t defend yourself.”

“But not you” —Avery caught onto something and kept on—“because soon you’ll have my same problem. You can’t control the Band like that. I guess the magic didn’t reset every time it changed persons, huh?”

“I still have so much longer than you. And Mason. Our bloody royal line should
, for once, help us instead of getting us killed.”

The distinctive sound of wings could be heard in the distance. Knowing time was running out, Avery jabbed in one last question.

“Why were you asking for me?”

“I was hoping you had answers. I was hoping you had
hope
. But you have neither, do you? Adalyn warned you, right? Better heed it, girlie. You will be the first to die.

Avery heard the very last comment. And that’s when the harpies attacked.

Ten

They dive-bombed, slashing and swooping at the same time. Avery sprung backwards and felt the rush of wind as they skirted over her. Eva didn’t stay in the position to be a waiting target. For her sluggish and slow movements earlier, the woman was quick to dart backwards. Avery felt it all the way through her navel when Eva summoned a jolt of Willow magic. She threw it out in the air and knocked the attacking harpies right out of the sky.

             
One of those harpies landed next to Avery with crimson tarnishing his blue suit from the rough landing. The other corrected and went back in for the attack. Suddenly urging her feet to obey, she stood and reached the fallen harpie’s side. This much Willow magic would level the town. Her fingers barely grazed the rough fabric of his collar before the harpie’s eyes snapped open. His hands lashed out and caught Avery. She yelped when the talons dug in and the harpie jolted to a stand dragging Avery along like a rag doll.

             
“Lemme go. I’m not the enemy!” she yelled. In the corner of her eye she saw Eva take flight. The harpie was trying to escape, the other police not letting her, and that meant Eva would be desperate in the next few moments. Her gut turned again from the stirring of magic. She pulled her wrist more frantically. “I’m human. I’m Avery. Mason’s Avery!”

             
His brown eyes concentrated on her but the thoughts behind them remained indistinguishable. The sweat on his twitching brow and the intensity of his stare convinced Avery the harpie wasn’t on this same planet. Just before Avery could get another word in, his head abruptly swiveled. She followed his erratic stare but saw nothing but other than the harpies battling in the sky. He moved before she got the chance to turn back around.

             
“Hey,” she barked when he pushed her. She backpedaled but when the back of her heel met nothing but air, her heart stopped. He’d pushed her forward and knocked her into the crevasse. She didn’t get the chance to scream when she plummeted, or when her knees met the jagged deformity in the mountain. It brought her to a quick halt with a surge of agony. She rolled on her back as a gasping cry escaped her.

             
A face poked over the edge, and she quieted immediately. The harpie that had knocked her in followed her expected path with his eyes. Something instinctual made her stay not only silent but to edge up against the rock wall the best she could. She’d maybe fallen...ten feet? Twenty? Enough that the darkness of the hole would shade her while the lights of the starry night had the harpie stand out.

             
Too afraid to move enough to cradle her knees, she waited. The Willow magic in her body once healed her, helped her become something almost superhuman. The ache that remained in her bones was unusual, and it scared her. She felt one more tug in her chest, but it wasn’t her use of the magic. Eva shot off another blast and she heard the impact, the scream of police harpies. Nothing was left but silence.