“Wanna go swimming?” Mason asks excitedly.
I look at him like he’s nuts. “It’s probably freezing. We’re not in Florida any longer, you know.”
“It’s not like we can get hypothermia,” he reminds me. “It may be a little uncomfortable but if we move fast we’ll keep warm. Plus, there aren’t any humans around here. We can move as fast as we want.”
I decide why not and roll my sweat pant up past my knees. Mason cocks an eyebrow. “You’re not swimming in that. Take it off. Go in your under garments. I won’t look and I trust me when I say I’ve seen too many female bodies to care much about seeing a woman’s skin.
I hesitate but pull off my shirt and pants. It’s not like it’s any different than going in a bikini I guess. It just feels different. By the time I’m undressed, Mason is already in the water. I see that he removed his shirt but kept his shorts on. For that I am thankful.
I glance over to Crispen down the beach who is now sitting cross-legged tossing around a piece of wood.
“You coming?” I ask him. I feel bad leaving him out. Again, I’m not really sure why.
He looks up at me and shakes his head. “Nah, I’m not a swimmer. Hate water.”
I find his reply strange but shrug it off and race for the water. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve been swimming. The water is absolutely freezing, but Mason was correct when he said it wouldn’t be too bad if we moved around a lot.
Mason pops up a few hundred yards from me. I barely see his head even with my advanced sight. What’s he doing so far out there? I start to move towards him but I realize that something is wrong. On his face is thorough shock, maybe even worry. I immediately think that someone is behind me by the way he stares and I look back. No one. My heart races as I try to figure out what’s going on.
I look back to where Mason was seconds ago. He’s gone.
“Crispen!” I call in a shaking voice.
Crispen must hear the agitation in my voice because I see him race to the shore edge and his shirt is off in millisecond as he races into the water at hunter speed. “What? What’s wrong?” he asks, starting to panic without knowing why.
Even as a demon I have to focus on the accelerated movement to see him. It’s something I need to get more used to.
“Mason was just out there and…” I realize I don’t know what to say. “He looked scared or surprised then he just disappeared.” What if what I saw on Mason’s face wasn’t what I thought it was? What if he is just under water right now and nothing is wrong. How long can a demon hold their breath for? I look around frantically.
“Get out of the water, Megan,” Crispen demands frantically and races towards where I pointed to. “Now! Tell Terry. Get them both out here.”
Confused and scared, I do as he says. I race through the water back to shore. The edge in Crispen’s voice tells me that I’m not crazy for thinking Mason might be in trouble. But what on earth could have happened? Mason is a demon. A shark attack? Are there even sharks in this part of the ocean? Do they swim in such shallow water? Plus, isn’t Mason stronger than a shark? It’s not like a shark could kill him anyway.
Not much worries Mason, I know that much. I think knowing this fact is what makes me so petrified, what makes me run so fast back to where Terry and Forrest sit on the patio of the beach house sipping beer.
Terry jumps up as soon as he sees my expression, sending his lawn chair tipping over behind him. Forrest stands a moment later. “What is it?” Terry asks in a rush.
“Something in the water I think. Mason,” I stutter. I don’t know how to explain it. I’m about to start from the beginning when understanding enters Terry’s eyes.
Forrest glances to his father and his brows merge. Terry doesn’t hesitate, much like Crispen. He runs towards me. “Where? Where, Megan. Point.”
I point in the general direction I just came from.
“Stay with Megan,” Terry snarls quickly to Forrest.
Forrest nods once and Terry is gone from sight.
I steady my breathing and Forrest hands me an unopened beer. “Drink up. It’ll calm you down.”
I shake my head. “What’s going on?”
Forrest doesn’t seem to know. “I was under the impression than the human realm was pretty safe. What on earth could make my father look so concerned I’m not sure.” Forrest slugs down the remainder of his beer and cracks another. “My dad doesn’t really get scared. He’s seen everything.”
This knowledge doesn’t make me feel any better. In fact, it makes me worry more. “Can’t we help them?” I ask Forrest.
“Did Crispen help or take the advantage of running?”
“He went after Mason,” I assure him.
Forrest looks surprised by that. “If my dad and Crispen and Mason can’t fix whatever is going on, then no one can. Trust me on that one.”
I have to agree there, but at the same time, I can’t imagine what would cause such fright on someone’s face.
It isn’t five minutes later, five minutes of worrying later, that a helicopter is overhead and landing next to where Terry landed the small plane. The noise it creates is hard to deafen. I haven’t quite mastered the tuning out of sounds, especially loud ones like a freaking helicopter.
Aria jumps out and the helicopter takes off. She must have hired someone to drop her off. She grins at me and rushes towards me. Her smile falters when she sees my look of worry. She drops her suitcase and comes to my side. “What’s wrong?” she asks in her high, crystal-like voice.
I explain to what’s happened to her. At first she looks confused. “That isn’t possible. Are you sure?” she asks.
I nod. Forrest seems indifferent as he downs yet another beer. I wonder if they don’t have beer in hell and this is new to him or something.
“Why were you in the water?” Aria suddenly asks frantically. “Why aren’t you disintegrating? Oh my god Mason!” She begins taking off towards the water in the wrong direction.
I call after her and point to where she should be going. “What are you talking about?” I ask her, so confused.
“The salt in the water, Megan. You’re demons. You can’t swim in the ocean! A little salt in food and stuff here and there isn’t a bother, but submerging yourself in it? You must be joking!” she shouts. I never even thought of that. Realization hits me harshly.
“My dad has a resistance to salt,” Forrest says, sighing in relief as he follows us quickly.
Of course Terry has a resistance to salt. Is there anything the man can’t do?
Aria breathes a sigh of relief. “He should be fine. Salt can’t kill a demon. It can rot their skin off though. It’s a slow enough process that a demon’s skin regenerates as fast as it burns it off. It’s mostly just terribly painful. That’s why it’s a good torture weapon.”
“Then why didn’t he get out of the water when it started to burn?!” I shout back.
Aria looks baffled by this too. “Maybe he confused the feeling of it beginning to burn. Maybe he thought it was the cold water causing the sensation.”
Aria stops, causing Forrest to walk straight into her from behind. She stares ahead. I follow her gaze to see Mason lain out on the beach, Crispen kneeling over him looking pained and Terry standing a few feet behind watching the two brothers.
“Mason!” Aria cries and then is gone from my side.
I stand a few feet from the three siblings.
“He’s not healing,” Forrest states. I take a closer look at Mason to see that his skin appears to be burnt. It looks like someone tossed him into a fire. It’s such a disturbing sight that I find myself gagging. “I can’t believe the human realm has salty masses of water. No one thought to warn me?”
No one seems to notice.
“No. His body temperature is freezing, his heart slowed. His body can’t send around what’s needed for him to heal.”
“We’ll have to warm him up. We can start a fire,” Forrest suggests, not looking concerned.
&
nbsp; Terry nods his head as if giving Forrest permission to do so. Forrest begins making a pile of wood on the beach.
Terry sighs.
“Why didn’t it burn me?” I ask him very quietly.
Terry smiles kindly. “Halflings have resistance to salt even once made demon. Every single one of them.”
I was unaware of this, but something in the back of my mind takes me back to something I think Mason and Aria told me once when I first found out about demons.
“Crispen’s gone to get some fresh, unsalted water from the plane,” Aria tells Terry when he begins frantically searching for him like he’s an escaped convict.
Mason’s eyes are open but he’s not blinking or moving. He looks dead. Is he in so much pain that he can’t even speak or move? I then remember how it felt when I very mildly burnt my finger on my curling iron one time. I imagine that sort of pain amplified and all over my body. When he went under from the pain, I’m sure the water went into his lungs too. I can’t imagine the pain he’s going through. The thought makes me woozy.
I approach him. If he’s in this much pain, he’s going to need to consume a soul to help him heal faster, his body will make him. Aria is far too close to him for my comfort. In fact, I’m surprised Mason hasn’t already attempted to take her soul. If it were me, I’d have lost control.
“Aria, you shouldn’t stand so close to him,” I warn. “I can stay with him. You should find him a soul. That would be the most help right now.”
Terry doesn’t disagree and Forrest starts lighting the fire.
Aria nods. She knows I’m right. Mason could never forgive himself if he accidentally took Aria’s soul while not in control.
Terry tells her that she’ll have to take his plane back to the mainland to get a soul. She looks weary about this but doesn’t argue or hesitate before taking off.
“Am I the only one who can’t fly a plane here?” I ask in disbelief.
Forrest snorts out a laugh. “No. No planes in hell. I can’t either.”
“Flight is a fast way to get around. Aria has her own plane that she flies from Australia and back often since she hates big airplanes and it’s never safe for us to get on a plane where demons could be present. Imagine being that high up and accidentally entering a plane full of demon businessmen. It wouldn’t be a fun ride,” Crispen says as he emerges through the trees. “I can’t fly a plane either, nor can Mason.”
Crispen begins opening water bottles from the package he’s brought from the plane and dumping them over Mason.
“I can do that,” I offer Crispen.
He shakes his head. “Mase has nothing on me. I can kick his ass any day if he tries anything.”
I lay off and sit next to Mason in the sand. I notice then that I’m still half naked. I look around for where I threw my clothes and put them on.
Crispen drags Mason near the warm fire than is now huge thanks to Forrest. The way Mason looks really worries me. When a grunting sound escapes his lips, I turn to look at him.
Crispen, from the other end of the fire says, “His body was near freezing temperature. That water is damn cold. If he were human the water alone would have killed him by now. He’s defrosting.”
The thought makes me queasier than I already am. One time, while skating in the winter, my toes got so cold that they went numb. When I got back into the house to have them warm up, they had to thaw out, the pain this caused was unbelievable. I imagine that pain mixed with the burning pain and the need to consume a soul. Mason is in hell right now that much is obvious.
“Why the hell did he think swimming was a good idea?” I ask throwing my hands up in the air.
Crispen answers, “Well, for three centuries swimming hasn’t been a problem for the guy. He probably didn’t think about it. We all make mistakes, Megan. I didn’t see the risk and neither did you.”
He’s right but I’m still surprised to hear him defend Mason when not long ago he was throwing terrible words at him and threatening him. Crispen’s new attitude has my mind whirling in confusion. The Crispen I was once so close to seems to be back. Gone is the terrifying monster he’s been recently.
Over the next hour, I steal glances at Mason. He doesn’t seem to be getting much better. Is it because he needs a soul? I guess it’s not like a body can have infinite energy. Any living things needs to take its energy from something. How can you heal when your energy is depleted? Crispen begins falling asleep as the darkness comes and the sun goes to sleep. Terry tells him to go to bed and he’ll update him when things change.
Crispen seems to accept this. We can’t all just wait around Mason and wait for change. After all, we know he’s going to be just fine and I’m sure Mason would rather us not all stare at him for hours as he heals.
Forrest dismisses himself to keep an eye on Crispen. Terry doesn’t seem to trust him yet and to be honest I’m not sure I do either. If he gets off this island, who knows what he’ll do. Maybe he’ll want revenge on Aiden or maybe he’ll wait until I’m alone and unprotected and come after me. Terry stays until Aria returns with two very sick elderly humans who are clearly on their deathbed. She hesitates when handing them over to Terry.
She actually turns her head as Terry takes them to Mason as if she can’t watch. Sometimes I forget just how disturbing demons are as creatures, but something about me, about what I am keeps me from truly understanding the extent of consuming souls. I feel no regret, no pity, but I know I should. The thought is warring and confusing.
Mason doesn’t move when Terry sets the nearly unconscious humans near him.
“What are you waiting for?” I ask him. “You won’t heal unless you take at least one soul.”
Mason blinks slowly, letting me know he hears me. It’s the only movement I’ve seen from him thus far. “Get Aria away,” he whispers so quietly that I barely hear. The words barely manage to escape him.
“Aria, it’s not safe for you to stay while Mason does this. You should go to bed. Crispen’s already gone,” I tell her. She glances to me, Mason and Terry before nodding.
“I need to speak to Crispen anyhow. We have a lot to talk about,” she agrees and leaves he three of us. I’m sure that Aria, Crispen, and Mason have seen each other torn up more times than can be counted. I’m sure this is normal to them. Besides the Mason being a demon thing. They know he’ll heal and they know he’ll be fine soon. They don’t have anything to worry about. I know this too, but yet I can’t just leave Mason here alone. Maybe it’s because I haven’t experienced everything that all the others have or maybe it’s because I’m just that type of person, but I can’t just leave him here to heal alone.
Even Terry gets up to follow Aria and motions for me to follow. I don’t.
“I’ll stay with him,” I say slowly and toss another log onto the fire.
Terry doesn’t argue. “You’re going to miss an awesome poker game.”
“You and Forrest are going to play poker by yourselves?” I ask in disbelief. That sounds boring.
“Do you honestly think that both hunters are going to be able to sleep with all the demons around? One will be determined to keep watch. I’d be surprised if either of them actually slept.”
He’s right. I giggle and motion for him to go. He disappears through the trees and Mason and I are left in silence. Well, not quite. The two human breathe heavily beside us.
Mason finally leans over slightly with what looks to be the last of his energy and takes the first soul in one long pull. Mason and I consume our souls in separate rooms. It’s a stipulation from Aiden that I’ve never understood.
While I zone out and don’t remember anything that happens while I consume. Mason claims he remembers everything which is intriguing to me.
Right before my eyes I see Mason’s skin begin to pull together and the pinkish tone begin to disappear. When he’s done with the first man, he lays on his back and looks up at the stars. I can tell that he’s still in a lot of pain by the way he moves. He doesn’t reach for th
e second person though.
I glance at the human and think Mason should finish him off before nature does. The man looks brittle. He’s not even conscious anymore. I can hear his heartbeat though, so he’s still alive.
Warmth touches my hand and I realize that Mason is reaching for it. I grip his hand in mine and smile reassuringly at him. As the seconds tick by, I can feel him get stronger. I can hear his heartbeat with power. Eventually he sits up and begins looking over his skin.
“Just like magic,” he croaks, his throat sounding rough. It hasn’t healed completely yet.
I raise an eyebrow. “I think it is magic,” I agree with a laugh. Life begins to reenter his eyes as he begins to try to stand.
“You should have that other soul,” I attempt to convince him.
Mason smiles but shakes his head. “Nah. I’m fine. I’m trying to completely master self-control. I want to do how Aiden does and live off a single soul an entire month.”
The thought of this sounds nearly impossible to me. I have no clue how Aiden does it.
“Have you ever, in your entire life, just let go, Mason?” I ask him randomly. He always seems so put together and mature. Maybe it’s just the changeling in him, but I also think I saw this trait in him while he was a hunter.
Mason tilts his head in thought. “Years ago I was a little bit of a rebel. My parents couldn’t keep track of me. Aiden used to watch me I think and keep me out of real trouble, but I still did some pretty badass stuff,” he admits with a smile as if remembering his past. “When my parents died and Aiden was taken by the demons, I had to grow up and basically raise Aria and Crispen. I gained many responsibilities.”
“But Aria and Crispen have long since grown up.” I brush the knots out of my hair with my fingers.
“They have, but I’ll always be their older brother.” Mason positions his hands nearer to the fire. “I can’t seem to rid myself of this chill. That water was freezing.”
I can’t argue there. “You always seem so…” I trail off while I think of the right word. “So in control and precise.”
Changeling (Black Petals Book 2) Page 13