Windswept (The Airborne Saga) (35 page)

             
“Mason!” she screamed.

             
“It’s done,” he answered, but not to her. The whole Guard now hovered in the air. “It’s done, Stern’s dead.” Crimson splattered over his stark white shirt, the blow he landed must have been fatal.

             
A tense and absolutely still moment followed in the room before the Guard finally moved. Diving for the door, they widened the gap and escaped outside. Blinding sunlight pierced into the room and the figures disappeared as blurry shadows.

             
“Mason!” Avery called again desperate to reach out for him. The small girl clung to her leg instead. Avery moved unconsciously, seizing her tiny torso and hefting her up. Avery pressed the girls face into her neck and buried her fingers in the girl’s auburn hair. This time, nearly alone in the room together, Mason gave her attention.             

             
“The Guard!” she gasped.

             
“Avery, their leader is…” he paused as if he couldn’t quite say the word dead twice. His green eyes did steal a glimpse of his bloodied hands, but he finally spoke again. “They aren’t going to target us anymore. They’re going to try to escape. I have to go after them!”

             
He didn’t wait for an answer. Wings widening, he dashed for the door. Avery attempted to follow, but her feet struggled to dance over the rubble and obstacles. While the little girl hardly weighed anything, Avery still clung to her cautiously. At the doors, she stopped and breathed. Rebels could have been anywhere. Her eyes went to a spear in the corner and she snatched it with her right hand. Two daring steps outward and she found the place clear. The commotion must have moved to outside.

             
“Stop! You stop!” the screaming made Avery’s blood turn to ice. She whirled, weapon in hand, but sight of the older female stopped her.

             
“Momma!” The girl recognized the voice and started to squirm. Avery lowered her to the ground and she ran over to the harpie. Blonde hair and aged leathery skin, they hardly looked alike, but the smile on the girl’s face didn’t lie.

             
“Are you alright? Are you alright?” She madly clawed at her daughter, yanking, and twisting the girl to see any injury.

             
“She’s fine,” Avery interjected even while the question wasn’t meant for her. “Take me down to the lower level. I need to help the Prince.”

             
She didn’t say please. She didn’t have to. The harpie took the command like it was an executive order. Offering a hand, she clenched the girl in the other arm and dropped them safely to the ground floor. Avery released her instantly and clenched the spear till her knuckles turned white. Her feet hit the sand outside and her eyes scrambled for the nearest fight. She saw more loyalists lingering in the area.

             
“Help catch the Guard! Help Mason!” She hollered. None of them took action and they didn’t have time to stand around. “Come on!” She madly gestured as she ran down towards the open market.

             
Someone seized her from behind. Avery buckled wildly but only succeeded in loosening the spear from her hand rather than using it to her advantage. Then the voice sounded in her ear.

             
“Put it down, Avery.” Recognizing it as Mason, she stopped thrashing. “We’ve got them lined up.”

             
She tilted her chin up but didn’t believe what she saw. Hardly any people crowded around, but the Guard still rested on their knees with heads dropped. They waited in submission.

             
“We’re okay. Now, Avery, please put it down.” Mason’s hands slowly slid down her arm. The hot trail finally reached her hands where Mason wrenched the spear free. She didn’t realize she’d been clinging to it so much or trembling so hard. The spear hit the dirt with a clunk and she let out a gasping breath.

             
“We’re okay,” Mason cooed in her ear. She clenched her eyes shut and tried to will the adrenaline away. The Guard had been lined up which surely meant the council was soon to follow—even if comparatively they posed no danger. Mason stood without grievous injuries and he clung to her, keeping her upright. He kept talking in her ear.

“It’s over, Avery.”

Twenty Seven

              She didn’t turn around in time. The impact nearly smacked her off balance, but with the assistance of the wall, she recovered.

             
“Yo, you have to stop that. Announce yourself first,” Avery sighed more from relief than anything else. Hands covered in plaster, she was careful when she tapped Lily on the head. The little girl released her knee and hurried off with a smile, dodging passed Leon who stood stiff in the corner.

             
Avery’s eyes skirted back to the bucket of cream paint that luckily remained intact. The ground covered in a plastic lining might have been protection from splatter, but if the can tipped fully, she’d be scrubbing it off hard wood floor for days. Dusting her hands together, she pulled back and looked at her work. During the time she’d been helping rebuild, the sickly scent of the house began to bother her. Old smoke mixed with recent rain and the peroxide of cleaning supplies, it created a cocktail of gas that she could take a break from. Plaster on this wall done already, she excused herself out the side door. The harpies huddled over their own projects, and only gave her a grunt of acknowledgment. She skirted out into the warm sunlight with Leon on her tail.

             
“I see you’ve become quite a favorite with the children,” Leon murmured when they stepped outside. Avery hadn’t been wearing shoes so she indulgently buried her feet into the sand, plopped to the ground to sit, and stole a breath of fresh air. Her lungs lit up and the rush of cool felt wonderful reaching down her throat, once raw from screaming.

             
“Yeah, the children weren’t the ones jamming cameras in my face this morning and asking how I’d taken part in the conspiracy,” she pointed out, but after her eyes did a survey of the area, she saw no more of the rambunctious packs of press. The locals had probably thrown them out. A harpie who’d lost their home was in an even fouler mood than usual and probably physically
threw
the press off the island. Some others strolled around, like she had earlier today, doing a cursory look at all the rubble and houses burnt and blackened.

             
“You’ve selflessly helped with reconstruction of homes of families you don’t even know.” He took another awkward step forward. Though the Guard had basically been wholly dismantled and his official job discharged, he didn’t seem ready to sit in the dirt alongside her.

             
“I pointed that out. That they should get the cameras out of my face and take them to the people pleading for help. After the third time I yelled at them, I think they reacted okay.” Well, they’d reacted terribly. The woman’s face couldn’t have reddened anymore. Avery might have made the attacks on the press a little personal, but she had no great love from them right now. Avery’s chin dropped when her thoughts led her to the inevitable—to the woman who’d taught her how to act in public.

             
“Have you heard anything about Adalyn?” Avery asked.

             
She didn’t see the frown but did catch the click in his throat. Not a good subject to be questioning—Adalyn had ran off with the fugitive that had attempted to murder the Prince. Even if she’d assisted them in the past, that remained unforgivable amongst the loyalists and more so to Leon. But after the ordeal they’d all faced together, he kept any more judgmental grimaces to himself.

             
“I honestly could not tell you, Ms. Avery. Our forces have been too scattered. The police and army have been combing their ranks for any hint of the rebel cause. They’d assigned the only safe ones to Mason—though that hasn’t quite stopped the loyalists from watching over him too. With no one to look for them, we simply haven’t picked up any trails…”

             
She smiled despite his opposing opinion. Hopefully by the time they did, the trail would have gone cold. She completely understood the others’ fears, but Patrick had not been working for himself and Adalyn still desired to protect Mason. Somewhere between there was the fact that Avery was still human and wanted to forgive them. She wanted to believe in a happily-ever-after for the most war-torn couple she’d ever known.

             
“Ms. Avery!” A harpie from the house hollered. So covered in grime and sweat, she didn’t recognize him well enough to answer with his name. But it didn’t matter. “We’re giving up for the day. We thank you for your help,” he said.

             
She pulled a mock salute and stood. She’d spotted plenty of other houses in need of rebuilding along the way. The hut-like houses didn’t stand a chance against the rebel flames. Explosion and physical trauma destroyed the area and there was nothing left but scorched wood and twisted metal. They’d have to be scraped out and rebuilt from the ground up. The unmistakable sense of dread washed over her again when she realized these people’s lives had been taken even if they didn’t die. Her phone buzzed and spared her from the excessive thought. She knew who it was before she even looked at the screen.

             
“Hello, Leela.”

             
“Happy first day of college, Avery!” The girl’s tone was more pointed than innocent even if Leela tried to hide her agenda in a cheerful tone.

             
“Yea,” Avery tugged at the collar of her shirt realizing it had suddenly grown hot out here. “I feel like I should stick around and help with the rebuild a little while. Also I don’t want to bother anyone with a flight over California.”

             
“Avery,” Leela’s tone dropped warningly.

             
“Also, I have an appointment with the doctor. Like five minutes ago.” She flipped her wrist over to glance at an imaginary watch. It was semi-truthful at least.

             
“Avery, if you miss the first day they drop you from the class. And it’s an evening class. Wrap up work this afternoon, get some food, take your no doubt grimy little self to the shower—a shower without Mason—and then get to class!”

             
“Okay, yes Mother…” She dragged out the last word. Her eyes skirted to find Leon too far away to even help her. Her feet led her back towards the capitol building instead. Compared to every other structure on the island, it held up the best even though it’d been the center of the action. That’s because it was probably built to last—marble and concrete didn’t come down as easily as the huts. Vicious harpies…always planning on avoiding destruction somehow.

             
“Good. I’ll call you after class to see how it went.” Leela’s voice peaked with a sure smile on the other line. Avery let herself laugh.