“Sure,” I say, “but why? I thought you’d want to go up and be with Mason.”
“I do,” Molly says hurriedly.
“Then what?”
Molly wiggles her feet, devoting all her attention to watching her untied laces flick back and forth. I look over at Hayden worriedly. He smiles a sad, half-smile and pulls Molly out of the beanbag and into his lap. His strong arms engulf her and it’s easy to see why little Lydia adores him so much. A moment ago, he was struggling with his own fears, but somehow he has diverted all his attention to Molly.
Hayden leans down close to her and says, “I’m not ready to say goodbye either.”
Tears film over Molly’s eyes, but they don’t fall. “What if Mason forgets about me?” she asks Hayden.
The instant shake of Hayden’s head isn’t enough to reassure her. He looks down at her seriously. “Mason won’t forget you. Big brothers don’t do that, and I should know, because I am one.”
“But, it’s such a long time,” she whispers.
“Time doesn’t matter. Mason will always love you and think about you, because you’re part of him. You’re his family.”
“What if he finds our mom and dad and then he has enough family?”
Hayden shakes his head again. “That’s not how it works.”
“It’s not?” she asks.
“Nope.” Hayden nudges her playfully. “Once you’re family, you’re always family. No forgetting. No backsies.”
Molly giggles at his silly word choice. She reaches up and takes one of the strings dangling from the neck of Hayden’s hoodie. She tugs on it gently until he folds her up even tighter. “Can you …” Molly’s face falls into a frown as she struggles to say what she wants to say. “Can you be my Escort, Hayden?”
Turning Molly gently so she can look straight at him, Haden asks, “What do you mean? I know you understand that Escorts don’t get to choose their Aerlings.”
“I know, but can you still be mine, until… until I find my real one?” She wipes her drippy nose on her sleeve. “Being with Olivia makes me feel safer. Mason makes me feel safe, too, but they’re both going away tomorrow and I won’t have anyone to make me feel safe anymore.”
A tear slips down my cheek as I watch Hayden’s expression soften. He pulls Molly into his arms and cradles her like only a big brother knows how to do. His voice is pure hope to Molly’s little ears as he whispers, “Of course I’ll be your Escort. I’ll keep you safe, Molly. I’ll always keep you safe.”
It is a long time later when Hayden and I stand at the front door. Both emotionally exhausted, saying goodbye is simply too much to ask. Molly is asleep on the couch, and part of me wants to join her, but letting Hayden leave is much harder than I realized it would be.
“I don’t want this to be goodbye,” I say with a heavy voice.
“Neither do I,” he says, “but it has to be. I won’t see you before you leave tomorrow.”
This is by far the worst part of our plan. In order to make sure Robin doesn’t try anything, Hayden will be watching her closely all day until we’ve either made it to the Aerling world or failed. We won’t have another chance to say goodbye.
“I never would have made it through all of this without you,” I tell Hayden.
The corner of his mouth crooks up. “Yeah, you’re a lot weaker than I thought you’d be.”
I laugh, even though it sends a couple of tears running down my cheeks. Hayden reaches up and slowly brushes them away. His hand lingers on my skin. I can feel the tremor running through his fingers. “You can do this, Olivia,” he says quietly. “I know you can.”
“We never played basketball,” I say, changing the subject to something easier to talk about.
Hayden chuckles. “That’s okay. No amount of coaching was ever going to fix you.”
“Thanks, that’s reassuring.” I try to laugh off his comment, but I can’t. Terrible fear crashes down around me and suddenly I am sobbing. Hayden’s eyes widen and he pulls me into his arms.
“Olivia, what’s wrong?” Hayden begs.
“What if I’m broken?” I cry. “What if it’s just like basketball, and no matter how hard I try, I won’t be able to take Mason home? What if he dies because something is wrong with me and I can’t do it?”
Hayden shoves me back roughly, but doesn’t let go of my arms. I am so startled by the strength behind his grip that I meet his gaze with wide eyes. “You are not broken,” he says almost angrily. “You are as damn near perfect as a person can be. Everything you’ve been through lately, it has only made you stronger. You will figure this out, and you will take Mason home, and you will not die! Do you understand me?”
I nod sharply because it’s the only thing I can think to do.
“Good,” Hayden says.
His grip loosens and his hands slide away slowly. I know he’s scared, terrified, just like I am, but there is more determination in his eyes than I can even begin to understand. If sheer willpower was enough to get Mason home, I could walk away feeling confident. Maybe the added burden of knowing what my death would do to Hayden should make me more scared, but oddly, it doesn’t.
“Everything okay?” Mason asks as he walks up behind us.
Rather than answering, Hayden looks to me for an answer. “Yeah,” I say quietly.
Mason seems a little confused, but he doesn’t pry. “Hayden,” he says, “I’m going to miss you, man.”
“Words you never thought you’d say,” Hayden says with a laugh.
“No kidding.”
I’m a little caught off guard when they pull each other into a massive hug, the kind that nearly knocks your breath out of your body. They clap each other on the back in that manly way that somehow shows more emotion than two girls bawling all over each other. When they pull apart, Mason sniffs and Hayden blinks several times.
“You guys be careful tomorrow,” Hayden says.
Mason nods. “You too. Don’t take any risks. If you see something out of the ordinary, just call us.”
“I will,” Hayden says.
For a long moment, nobody says anything. The air is charged with emotion and fear, and speaking seems too difficult. Hayden turns to leave, and I take a half step toward him. That’s all the prompting he needs to throw his arms around me. He doesn’t say anything when he pulls back, and neither do I. A moment later, he is gone, and I feel strange knowing I may never see him again.
Mason locks the door slowly and takes my hand. “Come on,” he says gently.
“Wait… Molly,” I say.
“Your mom already took her up and put her in bed with Evie. She said she’d sit with them for a while, but for now,” Mason says, “I just want to be alone with you. I don’t want to think about tomorrow, or Sentinels, or anything else. I just want you.”
Before I can respond, Mason brushes his lips against mine. I close my eyes and relish the rush kissing him gives me. It is the only thing capable of banishing my fears. I let everything slip away as he kisses me again.
I whimper softly as Mason pulls away. His lips turn up as he pulls me toward the stairs. I follow without speaking, without thinking about anything other than him. Each step sends a jolt of fear and excitement through me. When we reach the top step, my shoe catches on the lip and I stumble. Mason’s strong arm catches me easily and we stand only a few inches apart.
The silver band around Mason’s pupils has nearly taken over the blue completely. It reminds me of the night on the riverbank when I saw his birthmark turn silver, and my hand slides up toward his shoulder. The beautiful silver disappears as Mason closes his eyes. His free hand stops mine from moving any further, and a second later he is pulling me into his bedroom. I take in a shaky breath as he locks the door. My mom is just down the hall in Evie’s room and my dad will be home any minute. Those two facts should be enough to erase the thoughts running through my head, but they aren’t.
Mason’s eyes are blazing now, his hands clenched into fists as if he can’t decide
what to do with them. His voice is rough as he whispers, “You are so beautiful, and strong, and good. I love you so much and I am terrified of losing you tomorrow.”
“It’s okay,” I say shakily as my hands touch his chest. “You aren’t going to lose me.”
The tortured expression on Mason’s face tears at me. “I want to believe that, but …”
I don’t let him finish. I can’t bear to hear him say it, so I press my lips against his hungrily. Tomorrow vanishes. Mason’s hands wrap around my waist, crushing my body against his. I gasp as his lips kiss their way down my neck. He pushes my shirt down over my shoulder and continues to trail bliss across my skin. One of my hands curls into his hair, pulling him closer, while the other slides up his back to his shoulder.
Heat blossoms beneath my fingers, but I am too consumed to really pay attention to it. I’m more focused on the fact that Mason’s hands are now on my hips, his fingertips just under the hem of my shirt. The thought barely forms in my mind before my own fingers are fumbling with the multiple layers of shirts and sweatshirts Mason is wearing. I give up trying to distinguish one from another and simply slip my hands beneath them all.
Mason’s fingers dig into my hips as his eyes widen. The hunger in his eyes barely lets the hesitation show. In answer to the question in his eyes, my hands slide up his torso as I lift onto my toes and kiss him like I have never kissed him before. In one swift motion, Mason somehow manages to tear all three of his shirts off his body. I don’t know where they go because I can no longer think straight. My whole body is trembling as my fingers spread across his chest.
He is so beautiful. I can barely even breathe as I look at him. His body commands attention, but his passion and soul steal every last thought from my mind. Locked in this moment, balanced between losing our lives or gaining everything we have ever dreamed of, all I want is Mason. All I have ever wanted is Mason.
Every thought and emotion running through me is echoed in Mason’s eyes. He leans in slowly, his warm breath on my neck sending fire racing through my body. I can’t wait any longer. I don’t want to. Twisting my fingers through his hair, I pull Mason down to meet my aching lips and I am answered with pure, beautiful passion.
One of my hands slips from his hair and falls to his shoulder. I cry out in pain as a blast of heat scorches me. I yank my hand away from the heat and a strangled scream slips from my lips.
“Ollie, what’s wrong?” Mason gasps as he pulls back. His eyes go to my red hand first, but when he reaches out for me, he jumps in surprise at the sight of his arm flickering in and out of existence. “What on earth?”
Through his flickering shoulder, I can see his birthmark blazing a white hot silver. I turn my hand up and see the same shape burned into my palm. Frightened, I look back up at Mason and see that whatever just happened is already fading. The birthmark dulls back to splotchy brown as he once again solidifies. Mason shakes out his hand, staring at it as if he’s not sure it’s real anymore.
He glances up at me looking more excited that freaked out. “What did you just do?”
“What do you mean, what did I do?” I shake my head frantically. “It wasn’t me.”
“Yes it was,” he argues.
“What are you talking about?”
He shrugs his shoulders. “It wasn’t me. I wasn’t even accessing my power. All I could think about was you and how much I wanted you.”
Red spreads through my cheeks, but I don’t let it distract me just yet. “It had to have been you. The same thing happened with your birthmark at the river.”
“What happened to my birthmark?” Mason asks, trying and failing to look over his shoulder to see it.
“It turned silver before you exploded the tree, and this time it burned me!”
Mason takes my hand in his and gently touches my red skin. It felt like touching liquid metal, but as I look at my palm, I realize it isn’t blistered or burned. Yet, there is a perfect imprint of Mason’s birthmark. I swallow hard, because I have no idea what is going on and that scares me.
“What… what about the thing with your arm. That happened at the river, too, when you were using more power than you’d ever used before. There has to be a connection,” I argue.
“Yeah,” Mason says, grinning, “it’s you.”
I shake my head, but Mason doesn’t let me finish.
“Before I blasted that tree, I felt something strange, foreign, but I was too focused to pay much attention. And then on the bank with you when my hand disappeared, I felt it again. You’re a pretty good distraction, though, and then then we thought the Sentinels were going to attack us,” Mason says. “I had no idea what it was, but I felt it again tonight. You’re the one doing this, not me.”
He’s grinning like this is great news, but I have no idea what I’m doing or how I’m doing it, or even if it’s a good thing or a bad thing! “How do you know it’s me?” I ask with a shaky voice.
“Kiss me,” Mason demands.
Confused, I give him a quick peck on the lips.
Mason narrows his eyes at me. “Kiss me for real, and think about whatever you were thinking about a few minutes ago.”
He doesn’t give me any time to respond before pulling me into a kiss that makes me forget what we were just talking about. My thoughts grow fuzzy as his hands pull me in, his lips soothing every hurt I have ever experienced. I give myself up to him completely and sink into his love willingly.
I am jolted back to reality as Mason shoves me back and says, “See?”
His birthmark is white hot and the left side of his chest and neck are flickering again… in the exact places I was just touching him. I reach out and press my hand to his cheek. I snap my other hand over my mouth as it fades out of existence for a brief moment.
“This is it!” Mason says excitedly.
“But …” I say unsteadily, “but I don’t know what’s happening.”
Mason grins and pulls me back against his chest, “Me neither, but if this is how you get me home, I’m all for it.”
Chapter 35
Confidence
(Mason)
I wake up cold. Something feels off. I reach out for Olivia only to find the bed empty. Bolting upright, my hands quest out for her even though I can see she isn’t here. She isn’t anywhere. I kick the blankets off hurriedly and stumble out of bed. The house is too quiet, too still. I stand at the top of the stairs incapable of deciding what to do.
Until the sound of breaking glass propels me forward without thought.
“Mason, watch out!” Olivia cries.
I skid to a stop, eyes darting everywhere to find the source of the danger. My heart is pounding as I take in the sight of Olivia and Molly crouched on the ground picking up pieces of glass. “What is going on?” I demand.
Olivia looks up then. She seems startled that I am so upset and stands slowly. Holding several curved pieces of glass in her hands, she walks over to the trashcan and drops them in. “Mason,” she says, “it’s okay. Molly just dropped a glass on the floor.”
“That’s it?” I ask.
Olivia frowns. “What did you think was happening?”
I take in a deep breath, but the tension remains in my shoulders. “I thought someone had attacked the house.” My hands press against my head. “I woke up without you, and then I heard glass breaking. I thought the Sentinels had gotten to you.”
Sighing as regret frames her features, Olivia crosses the floor to wrap her arms around me. “I’m sorry, Mason. I didn’t mean to scare you like that.” She lifts her cheek from my bare chest and looks at me. “Molly got up early and she couldn’t get Evie to wake up, so she came and asked me to help her get a glass of milk. I didn’t want to wake you so early, so I just snuck out quietly.”
“It’s okay,” I say. “Sorry I freaked out.”
Olivia’s serious expression turns playful so suddenly it catches me off guard. Her finger traces imaginary lines on my chest as her lips turn up in a grin. “Although, I might
scare you more often if it means you’ll walk around shirtless. I wouldn’t mind that at all.”
Now I am grinning as well. “You don’t have to scare me for that. Asking would be more than sufficient.”
Olivia giggles and kisses me softly. “Consider that my formal request.”
“Noted,” I say as I kiss her back.
The pop of the seal breaking on the refrigerator door barely registers somewhere in my mind. The thud of a gallon of milk whacking into the door as Molly tries to heft it out on her own does catch our attention, however. I look over at Molly reluctantly and shake my head. The weight of the full gallon of milk nearly topples her as she tries to get it down from the door shelf.
“Let me help you,” I say as I slowly pull out of Olivia’s arms.
“Finally,” Molly grumbles.
I chuckle as I take the jug out of her hands. She hops up onto a stool at the bar and watches me pour the milk. Her expression is thoughtful. As I push the glass over to her, she asks, “How come boys don’t have to wear shirts all the time, but girls do?”
My hand freezes in the middle of recapping the milk. I glance over at Olivia, not really sure how to answer Molly’s question without getting into topics I’m really not ready to discuss. In contrast to my stunned look, Olivia just laughs. She tousles Molly’s hair and says, “Because boys are sillier than girls.”
Surprisingly, Molly is perfectly happy with that answer. I start to sit down next to her, but before I can, Molly looks up at me and asks, “Can I have some muffins, too?”
“Uh, I don’t know. Do we have any muffins?” I ask.
Olivia shrugs, but Molly just rolls her eyes. “You have to make me some,” she says. She shakes her head and looks over at Olivia. “You’re right, boys are sillier than girls.”
Her comment makes Olivia laugh, which pleases Molly, but her pleasure only lasts a few seconds before she turns back to me impatiently. “Are you going to make me some muffins?”
I push the chair back in and shake my head at her. “I guess. You’re turning out to be trouble. Who have you been hanging out with?”
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