Windswept (The Airborne Saga) (26 page)

Her eyes opened and landed on the bomb in front of her. It was a long shot—an impossible shot. But she reached for the magic. It happened in a second. The bomb clicked loudly and then lit up. Avery released the magic. She was thrown backwards. The magic hadn’t offset the bomb
, but the flames rocketed upward instead. The resulting jolt was deafening. The ceiling rattled. Dust exploded and rocks cascaded. She covered her head until the rattling ceased.

Avery couldn’t pinpoint what exactly had happened. Orange sunlight beamed down into the room and the ceiling and rocky mass of her prison had given way. She didn’t know where the rocks had fallen
, but she felt an agonizing electric pain throughout her limbs. Her airway had constricted and she fanned her throat to no avail. The air, packed with soot and debris, felt impossible to breathe in. She withered and cried. The Willow magic still prickled at her skin and burned inside of her skin.

Avery barely heard the voice above her turmoil.

“Avery! Avery! Come here!”

Twenty

She limped like an idiot. By the time she’d virtually crawled out of the ruins, all she could manage was a slow walk. There was no need to rush for curiosity’s sake because she’d recognized the voice. In fact, she should have expected it.

“Come here. Come here and let me out. Why
are you moving like that, are you okay?” It wasn’t the most considerate barrage of questions in the words, but coming from Adalyn, it was hardly surprising. The blonde looked better for the wear than the time she’d shown at Mayweather to warn Avery. But with no makeup, her pale face seemed washed out and with little attention to hair, her blonde curls seemed dull. It was a stark contrast to the proud and beautiful harpie that Avery had known before. Even in battle, Adalyn never had looked like this. It had taken weeks of captivity, probably months of trying to escape Patrick’s crew until Adalyn could look this worn down. The harpie’s wrists had been chained to the railing of a building only a block away.

“I’m fine. Thanks for asking,
” Avery hissed out through her teeth.

It wasn’t exactly untrue. Even though she felt like she dragged a hundred pound weight in the center of her chest and had needles in every joint, she had survived the blast without real injury. The magic had done enough to counteract the blow and the falling debris mercilessly spared her. The throwback didn’t help her move much faster though.

“I felt you. I knew it! I knew he brought you here! I told you he was coming after you first. He was coming after you so he could get to Mason.”

Avery stopped dead in her tracks.

“I know now. But they already went after Mason.”

The woman had been thrashing against her chains but went still. Her blue eyes suddenly seemed so much more hollowed.

“Is he...alive?”

The words hung in the air for a minute but Avery didn’t answer. Her silence spoke volumes. Avery didn’t know. She didn’t see him die
, but things could have changed. Avery shut her eyes for a second and forced herself to regain composure. She then charted the place around her. The smell of ocean made it clear that it was an island, but she couldn’t see or hear any lapping waves in the distance. The place was fairly sparse of buildings. It easy to see they had no company. The plot was already in execution mode. No rebels would have stuck around.

Avery came closer and squinted at the handcuffs. Adalyn had already tried to rip them off, as noticeable by her bloodied wrists. At one point in her life, Avery could have destroyed the metal cuffs with the Willow magic easily. Now even thinking about the magic threatened to make her ill, so she looked for a different plan.

“Is there a key around here?”

Her question spurred Adalyn out of a daze.

“Yes. Probably. He kept it inside so the guards could release me if they needed to. Hurry, I need to see the news.” She commanded with a violent head gesture to the building inside.

Avery did hurry. Not because of the harpie commanded her to but because
that was a brilliant idea. The news would likely tell Mason’s fate—the best source considering the massive press at the island—and though Avery feared it, she knew if he lived then she needed to help him.

It took some time to find the keys. The cabinets were filled with packaged food and bottled water. The prison was rapidly starting to look more like a vacation home. The desk held nothing but papers and no clutter sat on the tables around the building. Avery checked the last room, finding the key hidden in plain sight. A television sat in the room too. They didn’t look exactly like human models
, but the flat screen and speakers were recognizable enough. Avery fetched Adalyn and they returned to the room, staring into the screen.

              The harpie news was more chaotic than anything Avery had seen before. Even though she’d been knocked senseless not long ago, it wasn’t the only reason she didn’t follow. Adalyn watched in silence.

             
“What’s going on?” Avery finally asked.

             
“Patrick had a crew with him. As part of the coup. I know you aren’t the smartest human in the world but I’m sure you understand what’s really going on.”

             
“They’re trying to kill Mason since he’s become Prince.” Avery knew that by now.

             
“They’re trying to kill Mason and take over the island. All those harpies with Patrick are part of a coup. They’ve invaded the major harpie cities and seized the capitol. But Mason didn’t die. Their attempt to kill him in front of the press failed—so his supporters which make-up the majority of the kingdom, will fight back for his throne. And no coup can stand in the face of an entire nation. They need him dead. They need the nation to have no guiding cause, no leader. And since they don’t have him, they’re going to tear up every city looking for him.”

             
The danger clear, Avery’s mind began spinning and calculating their options.

             
“Where did he go?”

             
“The press doesn’t know. Or they do and they’re hiding him very subtly.” Adalyn’s face had paled as she spoke, but she wouldn’t let her expression truly betray her.

             
“You have to help me then. You have to help me find him before they do!” Avery exclaimed. Adalyn, Mason’s ex-fiancé, still harbored some feelings for him. While Avery had spent most of her recent years hating that idea, now it seemed priceless and impeccable. However Adalyn didn’t spring up, ready and willing.  She studied Avery with her slanted blue eyes.

             
“It’s impossible.” The woman’s voice sounded broken and something in Avery’s chest broke with it. “I would help Mason. I’d never run away from a fight. But it’s impossible. Our faces are known by every member of the coup, they won’t let just us tromp on over. And if it did come to conflict, and it might, we can’t fight alone. We are two against an army.”

             
“I’ve been two against an army before,” Avery countered immediately. Where Adalyn’s despair seemed to grow, Avery’s determination developed as well. She pressed her hand to her chest to steady herself through the continued pain in her chest, and raised her free hand. “Listen to me, if Mason has supporters, that means we have allies anyways, right? There must be someone who will help us find him. Protect us. Hide us. You must call them.”

             
“And where am I supposed to start?” Adalyn asked. “The press didn’t give any hint to his location. I think he’d go to Portland. The mob of press reacted to the attack and he escaped in the stampede. That’d be the best bet, but there are a dozen massive cities there.”

             
“I don’t think he got that far. How could he have? They slashed his wing. I think he’s still there…on the island.” Even Avery didn’t believe her own logic completely. But riding on gut instinct was all she had left. Adalyn finally stood but just to point out another flaw in her argument.

             
“Okay, sunshine, even if he is on the island, that’s the center of the coup. The rebels will be the worst there. We won’t be able to fly or swim or walk in.”

             
Avery nodded anyways.

             
“I have an idea here. A long shot. But I know where someone is and I think she might help…”

             
“Eva.” Adalyn read her mind. “I warned her about Patrick. She’s alive because of me. She’ll fight or she’ll die with us.”

             
Finally geared up, Adalyn’s wings snapped open even inside the building. She cleared the door and charted the skies, leaving Avery in her wake. The skies were clear but darkening. Based off the time since the speech and the attack, the island Patrick had left them on couldn’t have been that far from the California coast. Even the harpie capitol was within an hour’s trip.

             
Avery briefly considered, as she rattled landmark directions to Adalyn, that Eva might not still be in the same place the police had located her in. But considering they had a virtual coup on their hands and Eva was simply too dangerous to approach, the police stayed away from Eva. And Eva, beat up, wouldn’t have been on the move.

             
The plan was clear, but Adalyn stopped Avery before they took off.

             
“What’s wrong with you?” the harpie snapped. Upon Avery’s inquisitive look, Adalyn’s eyes narrowed. “Look at you.”

             
Avery’s hand still hovered on her chest and squeezed it into fist.

             
“I nearly was blown into pieces. I’m in pain.”

             
“Funny because there isn’t a scratch on you.”

             
Avery’s chin dropped to her exposed flesh. The bruises had dissipated. But the ache in her chest remained.

             
“I don’t know. The magic…has been acting up. It’s hurting me, feels like I have someone sitting on my chest. I just need some time. It’ll feel better. But we have to save Mason now.”

             
Adalyn didn’t comment or ask. The silence more intimidating than an actual snarky remark. But Avery didn’t sit around to contemplate it either. Adalyn grabbed her and they flew out. The woman, not as big as Mason or any of the Guard, assured for a rough flight for both of them. A storm brewing in the south, the wind had picked up making the weather choppy. Adalyn had trouble holding onto Avery, and the resulting position was awkward and unpleasant.

             
“How far?” Avery demanded after she’d lost track of time.

             
The sun had completely disappeared, leaving nothing but the moonlight reflecting off the violent waves.