by Mary Ting
Everett lost his patience. He extended his arm and grabbed Skylar by her throat. “Tell me who sent you,” he sneered through his gritted teeth.
Pinned against the tree by Everett’s right hand, she tried to pull him off.
“Everett! We’re not sure who she is. Don’t kill her. Mason likes…I mean, she’s Mason’s friend,” Amanda pleaded.
“Since when do you care who I kill or not?”
“Since now, since Mason. You’ve never killed anything in your life besides the vultures. If you’re wrong…well, I don’t want to think about what Mason will do to you.”
“Let…her…go,” Mason demanded, having a difficult time getting his words out. Wearing shorts and a white T-shirt, he rested his hand on the tree for support. Looking extremely lethargic, his movements were sluggish as he held loosely onto a small flashlight. Though he looked somewhat aware of what was going on, he looked like he was struggling to stay alert.
Everett released his grip and stepped away. Letting out horrendous coughs and taking in breaths of fresh cool air, Skylar composed herself. Ecstatic to hear Mason’s voice, she knew she would be fine.
Mason continued to confront his family. “Who…drugged…me?”
“I did,” Everett confessed. “I drugged your wine. I needed to know who she really is.”
“And exactly…what…is…she? Do you…even know…what you’re…talking about? Now…I have to explain everything…to her. How…why we exist. She can’t…even defend herself…from you, how could you assume…she killed Remus?”
Skylar already knew how and why they existed. She knew he only said those words to throw them off.
“I can feel some kind of energy from her I didn’t feel before. I don’t understand. If she isn’t one of us, she must be something. I’m almost certain she is a keeper of death. Can’t you feel it? Or are you blindly in love?” Everett laughed out loud.
Mason didn’t answer. He shook his head, seemingly trying to stay in focus.
“Oh, joy. My little brother is in love with a killer,” Everett continued.
“Stop it! I’m not…in love and she is not…a killer. You’re too obsessed…thinking a keeper…on our trail.” Mason turned to Amanda. “How…could…you?”
Amanda locked her eyes on the ground to where her flashlight shone brightly, then she looked up. “This is totally your fault, Everett. I’m not helping you again.” Then she turned to Mason. “I’m sorry, but I was only thinking of you. You know what the prophecy says. Something as critical as this, we can’t wait around and find out.” Then she turned to Skylar. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Now you know we’re…different. Welcome to our crazy world.” Amanda headed back to the house.
Everett offered no apologies and stormed off angrily. Skylar looked distraught, her back still against the tree. Too terrified to move, she felt as if her legs were planted to the ground like the roots of the tree.
“I’m…sorry,” Mason mumbled, stumbling toward Skylar. “I didn’t know he…she…had…or would do this. I knew something was up...so sleepy, but couldn’t…control it. I tried to fight…it off.” Mason shook his head, trying not to fall asleep. “We should get out…before I crash on the ground. Here…take this flashlight….go straight this way.” Mason pointed ahead.
“Let me help you.” Skylar did as told and draped his left arm over her shoulder to hold him steady. The weight of his body caused Skylar to bend low. Dragging her feet, sometimes stumbling, she managed to find her way back with Mason’s directions.
Without a word, Skylar took Mason straight to his bedroom. She accidentally fell on top of him when she eased him onto his bed. Blushing, she tried to wiggle off, but Mason’s hold was too strong even for someone who could barely control his mind and body.
“Smell…nice,” he sniffed her hair, then his arms dropped down to his sides.
“Thanks, but right now you have no idea what you’re doing.”
“Stay…lay…to me,” he mumbled. “I’ll…keep…you safe.” His words were soft and sluggish. His right arm reached for her, then he rolled over to his side with his eyes closed.
“Okay, I’ll just lay here next to you,” Skylar agreed reluctantly, taking off his shoes then hers. Not wanting to keep her sweater on, she took it off and placed it on the edge of the bed. Though she didn’t feel comfortable sharing his bed, she felt safe just from his presence, even though he was almost asleep. Thinking it was an opportunity to ask him questions since he was drugged, she asked freely. “Mason….”
“Hmm…?”
“Do you blame me for Remus’s death?”
“No.”
“Are you and Amanda close?”
“Umm…what? Close? Amanda…yes.”
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
“No. No more…no questions. Go sleep. Tired.” He snuggled against the pillow.
Did “no more” mean he’d recently broken up? “Are you mad at me?”
“No…but…I…will.” He moaned.
“What if I hurt you?”
“You…won’t.”
“How do you know? I don’t even know what I did to Remus. I—”
“I…know. Echo…sleep.”
“Why…why do you care?”
“Trouble….”
“Trouble?”
“Trouble…Echo…trouble…I…think...like…Echo.”
Chapter 18
Something hot lay against Skylar’s body. Slowly, she peeled her eyes open to settle on Mason’s beautiful face. She loved the scent of him; faint musky spice from his after-shave that still lingered from yesterday. When her eyes gazed over what she could see from her position, she knew she wasn’t at her cousin’s house. Then suddenly, vivid images of last night’s events pooled to the forefront of her mind, making her aware this wasn’t a dream.
Shock from seeing their bodies tangled sent exhilarated tingles through her, but she didn’t know what to do. His arms and legs were on top of hers, flesh against flesh, snuggling her as if she was a body pillow, while her hand rested on his biceps.
Breathe…no, don’t breathe…no, breathe…afraid to wake him up. She wanted to stay in his arms as long as she could, but she couldn’t help but wonder how he would react when he saw their bodies positioned in such an intimate way.
Though she enjoyed being in his arms, she knew he wasn’t aware of what he was doing. Instead of pulling him out of his sleep, she studied his facial features. With her eyes, she traced the curves of his eyebrows, to his thick eyelashes, moving her gaze to his strong cheek bones, to his nose, and last, down to his kissable lips. How she wondered what it would feel like to press her lips on his.
When he snuggled tighter, she held her breath and held it longer when he leisurely rubbed his heavy leg against her bare skin. Simultaneously, his hand slid down her back to the hem of her shirt, lifting it with his fingers while mumbling words she couldn’t understand. Gliding upward, warmth produced from the palm of his hands, and erotic heat spread through her whole body.
Skylar gasped when his hand started to move again, caressing her in a circular motion. The same electrical feeling, between a mild shock and heat that emanated from him, aroused her in ways she had never known. The heat started from her belly button, igniting with pleasurable sensations, spreading to the rest of her body, making her hot and quivery. Oh Mason…what are you doing in your sleep and with whom? She desperately wanted to know.
When the motion stopped, she wondered if he was dreaming or aware of what he was doing. Slowly, she tilted her head back to see if he was awake.
Mason’s eyes were wide open, and he looked flabbergasted. Startled, she jerked out from his hold, almost falling on the floor. Mason sat up and raked his hair back as confusion showed on his face. “Hmm…did…we…umm…did I try to…do…something happen last night?”
Embarrassed he would ask such a question, Skylar got out of bed. “No…what kind of girl do you think I am?” She suddenly realized she was wearing what she had wor
n to bed last night, and she was braless. Embarrassed at the thought, she crossed her arms without making it obvious.
“You’re in my room. On my bed,” he said matter-of-factly.
“You told me to stay here last night.”
“I did?” He paused, seemingly deep in thought as his brows angled crookedly.
“Don’t you remember anything that happened last night? Your brother Everett tried to kill me in the woods.” Skylar was irritated. She didn’t want Mason to think she was trying to take advantage of him.
“Oh…okay…now I remember. Sorry. I just woke up and saw you…here.”
Would it be such a bad thing?
“So…we should…you should…,” he started to say.
Skylar didn’t know what to say or do. She knew he was baffled and most likely still dazed from being drugged…or maybe he wasn’t. She didn’t care anymore. “I’m going to go back to my room. Obviously, I’m safer there than here.” At least her heart was.
“Stop…hold on a minute. I didn’t mean to offend you.” Mason tumbled out of bed. “I need to think. Please…keep your voice down. They may hear us.”
Skylar’s hand was on the doorknob, already turning it. “They may hear us,” repeated in her mind. Did he not want the others to know she’d spent the night in his room? “You need to think? Think about what?”
Mason chuckled lightly. “Here we go again, Echo.”
“I’m not repeating your words,” she snapped. Or was she?
“We should leave. I’ll take you to your room to pack,” Mason said, heading to the door. Skylar stepped aside for him, knowing she had no choice. As soon as Mason placed his hand on the knob, the door automatically thrashed open. He flew across the room as if he was punched in the stomach, bounced off the bed from the impact, and tumbled to the floor. Stunned by what had just happened, Skylar hid behind the door. Unexpectedly, a claw gripped her shirt and yanked her out.
***
Still on the floor, Mason shot his eyes up to find Skylar, but she was gone. Dashing out the door with lightning bolt speed, he saw her in the arms of a vulture as it sprinted down the stairs. She was desperately trying to fight him off, kicking and punching, but her size and strength was not comparable.
Looking to the right, he noted Nick was a step ahead of him. He had already flung himself down to the first level near the front door, and gestured for Mason not to make a move. Knowing Nick was waiting for the vulture, he positioned himself, ready to jump. When Nick dashed forward, Mason made his move and landed behind the vulture.
Nick tilted his head back and looked at his opponent with revulsion. “You’re one ugly, giant dude, and you stink like hell. What planet did you come from?”
The vulture hissed loudly, reaching for the door, but Nick stood in the way.
“Where do you think you’re going? I don’t think she’s your type, and you’re certainly not my type with those long nails.”
The vulture growled, holding Skylar with one arm. It swung with the other and missed Nick by a hair’s breadth. Given the opportunity, Mason jumped on its back and grimaced from its body odor…it stunk with the smell of sewer and urine. Its cold, leather-like skin was hard to grip, and Mason’s hands were slipping.
In anger, the vulture twisted its body, swatting its free hand to get Mason off its back. Ineffective, it weaved from side to side. With one wild twirl, Mason’s body knocked the tall vase over, sending it to the floor where it shattered into pieces.
Losing his grip on the monster, Mason tumbled to the floor and struggled to get up. A broken piece of the vase had pierced his upper arm. He yanked it out to see scarlet liquid soaking through his T-shirt as it trickled down his arm. Though he was in throbbing pain, he could feel his arm slowly healing.
Just before Mason got back to his feet, the vulture gripped his shirt and tossed him with one hand. The weight of the impact caused Mason to fall on top of Nick. Before Mason had time to adjust, the vulture picked him up and tossed him again.
Everett and Amanda rushed out of their rooms at the same time to see Mason sliding across the floor. His body swept the broken vase pieces like a mop, leaving a clear path.
“What are you two looking at? This isn’t a free show. We could use some help here,” Nick said out loud, ducking another blow. He saw two more men charging from the other side of the cabin, morphing into vultures right in front of him, advancing toward him. “What the hell? Where did they come from?”
Everett stayed where he was with an impassive expression on his face. With elbows on the banister, he didn’t budge. As for Amanda, she ran to her room and came back with a sword in her hand. Looking eager, she flung herself over the rail and landed gracefully on her feet.
Mason grabbed a long broken piece of vase off the floor and stabbed it into the back of the vulture who was still swatting at Nick. It screeched in pain and lost its hold on Skylar. Pulling Skylar out of the way to the corner, Mason stood in front of her protectively.
“Amanda, go back upstairs. Nick and I’ve got this handled,” he demanded, moving from side to side, contemplating what the vulture would do next.
“And let the boys have all the fun? No way.” Amanda twirled her sword and missed. She leapt to the left, swung, and missed again. “Dang, they’re fast for being so chubby.” She rapidly flipped over the vulture in front of her, confusing it, but it caught onto what she was doing and turned.
When Amanda jolted back, she scraped her sword across its chest. Black fluid squirted out. The wounded vulture turned away from her. “Where do you think you’re going?” Amanda huffed and chased after it.
The other vultures continued to make ear piercing, horrendous sounds as they angrily fought back. Mason knew that one way to end the beasts’ lives was to use his power, but their swift movements made it difficult. He could have easily bolted deadly light out of his hand, but he would be taking a risk if he missed. Not only that, he worried about what Skylar would think of him.
An opportunity finally arose when Nick knocked one to the floor. Mason gripped its shoulders and zapped it with volts of electricity that flowed out from within him. Bright light emanated from Mason’s body as if he, himself, was lightning. Then the vulture’s body seared and fizzled, looking like barbecue gone wrong.
The beast bellowed in pain, burning from the inside, turning back into human form. Suddenly, as if it was a torch, fire blasted out of it and it flailed its arms in a fanning motion. As black smoke circulated through the air like a magic trick, it emitted a giant puff of smoke and crumbled into ashes.
“Well…that was very toasty,” Mason said, turning around to see Nick zap his power to the other vulture. Wondering where the third beast was, he turned to Skylar to make sure she was safe.
Skylar was shivering in the corner where he had left her, bent down with her back flat against the wall. Black ooze mixed with red liquid was seeping out of her hands. Looking as pale as the white wall behind her, she looked frightened and fragile.
At the sight of her, Mason’s heart dropped. An emotion filled with empathy and a feeling he couldn’t quite understand tugged at his heart. He’d promised himself he wouldn’t let her in. Had she been peeling a layer at a time and unknowingly found her way in?
Sure he flirted with her, big time, but what guy in his right mind wouldn’t? She was attractive, but there was more to her than a pretty face. He had never met anyone like her before—innocent, strong willed, spunky, and her heart beat purely.
It was getting more difficult to fight the feeling he had been trying to conceal since the day he first met her. All he could think at this moment was to take her away from all this madness and make crazy love to her. Wait…what was he thinking? He had to wipe that thought from his mind. He had told himself many times over he wouldn’t let her in. He had to remain strong.
Peeling his eyes away from her, he saw the motionless beast flat on its stomach. Oddly, it hadn’t turned back into human form, which they always did before they died. Dec
apitated, a long sharp piece from the shattered vase was sticking out from its back. Next to it was Amanda, holding up her sword dripping with black liquid. With one foot on the vulture’s back, she looked proud and victorious.
Soon after, the vulture turned into stone, just like Skylar had said Remus had done, and simmered into ashes. Amanda, Nick, and Mason were alarmed to see the transformation. It had turned into stone, which was not normal, before it burst into ashes, which was. The other two flashed their eyes to Mason with questioning looks.
“Not a word. I don’t want to hear it,” Mason stated, then turned to Skylar. “Skylar,” Mason said softly, disregarding the ashes on the floor. “You’re bleeding. Let me clean that up.”
Seeing that she was unable to move, Mason swept her off her feet and took her to the kitchen. There, he ran her hands under the water at the kitchen sink. The wounds were not as deep as he had thought, but there were long gashes across both of her palms. It was most likely not the cause for her to bleed that much. The black fluid indicated that she had the vulture’s blood on her hands, as well.
Opening a cabinet to his right, he pulled out an emergency bag. With cotton balls, he dabbed the cuts with antibacterial ointment, then wrapped them with bandages for extra protection. “It’s not too bad,” Mason said, cradling Skylar’s hands as if they were wounded doves.
***
Skylar couldn’t take in air…Mason was standing too close. When she caught his eyes, they stared back at her. Then he blinked and looked away. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Mason was so sweet, taking care of her, but she was so awed by seeing him using his powers that she was completely speechless and couldn’t stop gawking at him.
“Don’t stare at me,” he said, making sure the swathe wouldn’t come undone.
“I…I….” Skylar couldn’t muster her sentence. It was caught in her throat.
“What happened?” he asked, peering up under his thick eyelashes to catch her eyes.
“You…you…your hands…they…the monsters turned into ashes by your hands,” Skylar rambled. “I saw lights…I mean flashing, lightning lights, like the ones you see up in the sky. They came out of your hands, or fingertips, or somewhere…and your eyes too. And you move…you all move, like, with impossible speed…like vampires…but vampires don’t exist, and how did you…oh my god! I can’t even believe I’m saying all this.” Flabbergasted, she was so caught up with what Mason was able to do she didn’t answer his question. “I saw what you all did.”