Windswept (The Airborne Saga) (2 page)

“A month with her and I imagine you’ll back out of our deal.” Mason continued with his little overdramatic charade. The harpie never seemed concerned that Leela would win out but the fact that he wouldn’t let it go said enough.

Avery sucked in a breath, the sudden hint of a migraine starting. She was starting to feel like a rag doll in the middle of her best friend and her boyfriend.

“Mason, I appreciate your opinion but I’m not asking permission to be friends with Leela or go home,” she reminded him firmly.

“And who would protect you
while you were there?”

“Just me, Mason. Mikhail’s gone now. There’s no harpie in the world stupid enough to attack me after we just took him out. Besides, your last shot at giving me a bodyguard went way off course. The best thing is just having no one even know where I am.”

She watched him consider all the ideas possible as he stared at the white carpet. When his shoulders dropped, Avery went in for the kill. She wrapped her arms around his chest and turned her cheek to rest on him. “I just need to graduate, Mason. Then I’ll come back, just like I promised.” Her words were muffled from the position but he clearly heard them. He’d refused to touch her back, apparently unable to admit defeat with any sign of affection.

“I know,” h
e answered back, just as softly. He actually gave up the fight. “I’ll send a nurse to check you over. If you’re okay, then go. Just be careful.”

She gave him the brightest smile she could muster until he returned some semblance of it and then broke free to grab her phone. Mason agreed and she had people to alert. As if he’d read her mind, he backed up and she dialed the digits.

“Leela!” Avery hadn’t spoken to her friend all that long ago but felt the need to hit the name in a high pitch. A fresh wave of energy flooded her veins and she pressed the Nokia close to her ear.

“Are you okay?” h
er friend asked immediately.

“Psh, I’m invincible. You all know that.” Avery said while somehow managing to direct a pointed look at Mason before maneuvering towards the window and the warm sunrays that broke through. Despite her restoring confidence, she didn’t need a harpie scowl right now.

“So I’ve got good news,” Avery continued. “I’m heading back up there tomorrow. Not missing the best part of senior year.”

There was a sustained lag on the line and Avery stole a glance at the screen. The call hadn’t dropped. Pressing the phone to her ear again, she repeated herself.

“Heading home. Why aren’t you excited? You nagged me about this for days,” she questioned and reminded.

Finally, Leela’s voice replied slowly,
“I am. I miss you, Avery. But how’s California? Are you still on the harpie’s island?”

“Yea
h. Just here with Mason.”

Leela let out a breath—her mannerisms too overdramatic for the subject. The line went fuzzy and Avery could hear snippets of trees rustling and wind whistling in the background. A man’s voice—probably Nate’s—spoke up on the other line but his words were indistinguishable against the background noise.

“You should stay there. Avery, I really think you should skip the graduation and-”

The last word not even getting out of Leela’s mouth, Avery cut in
.

“Skip graduation! Leela, my Leela, telling me to skip graduation? You live and die for this kind of stuff. Are you insane?” This had come out of left field. She tried to remember the exact date she’d spoken to Leela last. Maybe a week ago? This new fear of Leela’s had a week’s time to develop.

“I’m not crazy! Avery, don’t be thick headed. It’s just a lot to consider, and I’m being rational. You nearly died. You’re still this half-magical girl with harpies on your tail and as much as I hate you being there…”

“I’m coming. I’ll see you soon and we’ll graduate and have fun.” Avery mumbled a goodbye and ended the debate.

Before she got a real chance to replay the conversation in her head, something new stole her attention away. A knock at the door summoned Mason to it and he returned back into the room in moments. This time, he wasn’t alone.

“Avery,” Mason spoke as he approached. Beside him stood another harpie. Wide shoulders like a linebacker, the other harpie’s age was only distinguished by his graying wings and sun damaged skin. His brown eyes immediately spied her in a concentrated stare that lasted the entire walk to Avery’s side.

Mason held out a guiding hand.

“Avery, this is Head Councilman
Stern. He’s now the liaison in lieu of Samuel.”

She could only pretend to recognize the positions of government. Making a mental note to work on it later, she plastered a smile and held out her hand.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“Very nice indeed,
” he parroted but never accepted her hand, looking instead at her Willow tattooed arm.

After a delayed second, she tucked it back next to her body and sought to see Mason’s face. He picked up the conversation like a professional diplomat.

“He’s going to be my right hand through the monarch’s transition.”

“And you his left
,” Stern spoke again, his voice rumbling out of his chest. “You may not have a role in government but if you affect Mason, you affect all of us as well. I would not ignore you nor should you ever hesitate to seek me out if necessary.”

The invitation didn’t manage to come off as very inviting. His stare started to make her skin crawl.

“Thank you,” she still said.

He luckily felt no need to stick around after that.

Alone with Mason, she went for his arms again and he happily embraced her. She’d miss him—ticklish feathers, musky scent and all.

“Go back, gra
duate, and then come home to me,” he whispered.

Avery’s grin stole her face
, and she tilted her chin. Mason went in for the kiss.

Two

              “Silence!” the harpie hissed, slamming his hand to her mouth and pinning her back against the tree. Shoulder blades hitting the bark, Avery froze. Her eyes scrambled to the harpie’s but his unfamiliar blues stared off in the distance.

             
Darkness still lingered in the sky and combined with the massive trees that surrounded Mayweather Academy, visibility was poor. Remembering how to breathe, Avery wrenched her face free from the harpie’s long hand.

             
“What do you see?” Avery demanded. She found herself caught between fright and anger at the harpie’s rough treatment. She didn’t know the man in front of her—only that he was a “delivery” harpie Mason had sent her home with. The trip had been awkward but quick, setting them back at Mayweather Academy close to dawn. Their feet had barely been on the ground for ten minutes before he’d violently reacted.

             
The harpie disregarded her statement, eyes still out on the woods, until he felt done with his search.

             
“I hear people. Laughing. Yelling.” He made the observation aloud.

             
“Yeah, people live here year round.” Avery said, making a vague gesture towards the grey brick buildings half a mile to the north. Those buildings made up the Academy, Avery’s school, and were well within earshot of a good listener. They’d landed far enough that the harpie’s wings wouldn’t actually be seen and walked from there on. It had been a brisk and fairly relaxing stride until now.

             
“They live here?” he parroted with his confusion evident.

             
A harpie named Patrick had once called Mayweather a prison. Its wrought iron gates and thick walls were nothing the harpies had ever seen so the definition wasn’t insane. This harpie would never grasp the idea of high school or why people would live in such a place willingly.

             
“Yeah. I know, humans are crazy,” Avery said, letting the exhaustion play into her voice as sarcasm.

             
“That’s fine. Humans are definitely not my area of expertise.” He had stiffened with that characteristic arrogance and they walked in silence towards the gates.

             
When they arrived, she expected a brisk goodbye with the same version of professionalism he’d demonstrated so far. But rather than a stiff farewell, she got a question instead. “Does it always do that? The magic?”

             
She blinked, noticing for the first time that his eyes did not rest on her but in the space around her form. The Willow magic gave off a colored aura—or at least that’s what she’d been told. She couldn’t see the energy, but could feel it radiate from others and knew it well.

             
“Do what?” she proceeded slowly.

             
“The magic appears to be flickering. It’s like a light…but one that’s about to go out. Sometimes I see it shine brightly. Sometimes I can’t see it at all.”

             
Confused, she said, “No. I mean…I don’t know what you mean.”

The harpie took her dead panned face as the new cue to leave. He headed back for the woods and some unseen location wide enough he could take off in flight. Venturing forward alone, she crossed onto the campus a few moments later. It appeared he had heard the school’s early birds. Mayweather, even for Alaska, was a massive academy. Probably the only size boarding school of its kind in the entire state. It had well over ten dormitories for students and staff, full dining hall,
a recreation hall, and half a dozen school buildings. The space Mayweather was strewn over was what really gave it the large appearance, crawling down the side steep hills and finding its base in the valley. Most people figured it made Mayweather difficult to find, but the acoustics probably made it easy to hear. People strode throughout the in the brisk cold weather of morning and hurried to some unknown destination.

Avery’s feet touching the
school grounds, she traversed the area she’d known for almost four years of her life. Avery arrived at Mayweather’s main office shortly. The smallest brick building on campus was the home of the staff that would have to reenroll her. She’d disappeared in a hurry weeks ago and didn’t exactly master her classes. She knew it wouldn’t be the easiest thing in the world to reenroll and graduate on time but if they’d float her all of the credentials, she’d be fine.

Sliding into the warmth of the office, the secretary called her out before she even reached the desk.