Avery had nailed one thing on the head. Feelings still remained on Adalyn’s side of the relationship. While Avery knew first hand that emotions typically lingered long after the end date, she equally knew that they’d fade drastically with time. Mason wouldn’t look at Adalyn the same way she looked at him. Mason hadn’t even cared when Adalyn was off with Patrick. It was almost brutal to think about because Avery almost stood in Adalyn’s shoes now.
“It’s bigger than Mason. It is. We’ve always supported Jericho’s bloodline. And our world underneath that rule is threatening to change. I’m doing my civic duty.”
Avery looked on skeptically. Adalyn abruptly changed the subject.
“So what about you? Why are you doing this? If you stand with the harpies, you may die with the harpies. But if you disappear, run off to your human world, you can live securely and happily. Even if we do save Mason this time around, there will be times in the future where danger will rise. Or do you just like living in the harpie capitol that much?”
Living in the harpie capitol? Avery should have bit her tongue but the words spilled from her instantly.
“I don’t. I hate it. Everyone’s working against me because I’m human. They’re passing around rumors every time I turn around, twisting everything I say…”
Adalyn laughed quickly, and Avery bit her lip to keep from retorting to the mockery with something equally nasty. But then what could Avery say? Adalyn’s laughter indicated that she obviously thought her statement was dumb or right. The woman wiped an absent tear away that had sprung from the chuckling.
“Lemme guess, did they start shoving their daughters at him too? The perfect match? I suppose any match is better than a human match.”
Avery squeezed her own wrists until they turned white. She didn’t know how to respond, but the urge to yell back itched at her. Everything that she’d experienced at the island was about to manifest on as anger aimed at Adalyn. Especially when the woman laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world that people didn’t like Avery. That people didn’t think she was ever good enough for Mason—the same thing Adalyn had said in the past.
“Just stop. He’s over you, okay? You had your chance with him. You let it go, now don’t hate me for being in the picture.” She regretted it after the words escaped her. Not only defensive but deeply personal, Adalyn would have no choice but to acknowledge it.
“You’re right,” the harpie said surprisingly. “You would have had no chance with Mason if I had wished to stay with him and if I hadn’t betrayed him. And you should stop talking promptly, human, because you don’t understand our world. You don’t understand a damn thing about what it takes to be a monarch’s wife.”
Avery opened her mouth but was shushed before the first word even got out. Adalyn snapped a hand into the air, but she didn’t need to speak. Avery felt it. A pulsating aura of Willow magic that made Avery light headed. Eva was supercharged and moving fast. Too fast.
“Damnit, go!” Adalyn roared. She nearly threw Avery out of the cave before she had a chance to catch her. The two burst into a rocky start of flight, but Adalyn kept them ten feet above the waves. The flight was dangerously quick and somewhat uncontrolled but they were advancing on the island rapidly. Like Adalyn had promised, the fog was dense and few of the island’s light’s pierced it. The rain, culprit of the fog, still drizzled relentlessly.
Adalyn swung them left. The world swirled. Eva’s trailing aura headed north while they were coming in from the west. Eva had beamed by so quickly she probably didn’t have enough rebels willing to chase her. Or even a single one that could keep up. With their distraction gone, their time was running out.
Wings snapping shut, Adalyn roughly landed. Avery’s feet met the wet sand and stumbled. She could only see silhouettes of houses farther up the beach. But she could hear sounds of people shouting and footsteps pounding in the dirt.
“Get down!” Adalyn ordered, giving Avery another shove towards the ground. Mimicking the blonde, Avery ducked down and they moved quickly. Adalyn had some internal compass worthy of legend as she snaked them around the back of a building and a bustle of trees. Only when they reached a thatched wall did they stop. They both dropped to a crouch.
For the first time, Avery could really see what had stopped Adalyn. Barely visible was a sidewalk running in front of the houses. Harpies took long, calculated strides up and down it. There was no uniform, but the spears and the intense scrutiny to surroundings were enough to identify them as rebels. Adalyn and Avery were already outnumbered.
If Avery was correct, they were still on the outskirts of the island. Making a run towards the capitol was impossible. They both pressed their backs against the wall of a hut in some attempt to flatten themselves. Above Avery’s head was a window.
“There are people living here?” Avery quizzed. While she only heard silence, she could smell food and life. She wanted to shrink back into herself. They were literally pressed up against someone’s home.
“No one was allowed to leave the city when the rebels took over.” Adalyn gave her a dumb look when she had to explain.
“So what are we waiting for?” Avery hissed back. She didn’t want to find out if the civilians would rat them out in a heartbeat.
“My contact is supposed to be meeting us here.”
A few moments ticked by. Avery flinched when she saw the hint of harpies landing on the beach in the distance. People paced by to the left, but they clearly weren’t out on a jot. It became clear the only people outdoors were the enemies. This was a nightmare. They’d be spotted immediately because they were the only ones dumb enough to be outside.
“Where is he?” Avery urged. The pacing guards from the sidewalk strode closer.
Adalyn held a hand out, but her face had paled. Something told Avery these contacts weren’t coming. “We have to move,” she urged. Snatching Adalyn’s wrist, she gave her a yank in the direction opposite the rebels. Adalyn followed swiftly, but Avery didn’t know the area well. They needed some place to disappear. Trees? This place didn’t have any real forests. A building? They were all full of civilians and scouted by the rebels.
Her heart nearly beat itself out of her chest. They crossed into the open. A lone rebel guard whirled and rushed them. Adalyn lashed out, quicker than the young boy and silenced him with a knife to the throat. The body landed with a thump.
Avery grabbed Adalyn’s wrist again and kept them moving. The strain on her body threatened to overwhelm her. Her mind began to branch out in a million different directions and she couldn’t keep track of where they had come or where they had gone. She pulled them around another corner only to find a group of rebels. Avery threw herself and Adalyn up against a set of doors maybe half a second before the rebels would have spotted them.
“We’re trapped,” Avery gasped. Her throat was constricting. They couldn’t go back. Based on the sudden screeching in the distance, someone had found the rebel Adalyn had taken out. Meanwhile the path in front of them was rebel packed. And they had run so far from where this contact was supposed to show up. Their plan of just blending in with normal people was shot as the entire island stayed under rebel law.
She tried to reorient herself and think of something else but her head felt so fuzzy. They could take off into the sky, but there was no way they wouldn’t be seen. And they didn’t have a chance of fighting anyone off like that either.
More than anything else, Avery didn’t expect the door to give behind their backs. It took all of her effort not to cry out in shock. They spilled over the floor. Adalyn’s hand went for her knife but they already had someone staring down at them.
“Leon!” Avery could have burst into tears just seeing his face.
“You can’t stay here,” he whispered reaching out for them.
“Back off!” Adalyn had launched herself backwards, standing defensively. The blonde was tiny in comparison to the trained Guard member, but he didn’t fight her. Holding hands up and open, he made a slow
but clear ‘follow me’ gesture.
“Don’t trust the Guard!” Adalyn hissed, but Avery was already following him.
Leon corralled quickly through the backyard. In a few moments, he threw them through the doors of another home. A family of harpies stared back, their dumbfounded looks able to match Avery and Adalyn’s.
“Hope.” Leon pointed and with the tiniest nudge to Avery’s shoulder, he disappeared out the door.
The chubby harpie in the middle of the family was the first who seemed to remember how to move.
“You are our hope,” she parroted. Without any explanation, she dashed over to the sofa and pushed the heavy wooden furniture aside. Yanking up a thick carpet beneath that, she pulled a nearly invisible indentation in the floor. It was a hatch and a door sprung open. She violently gestured them inside.
Avery hesitated before jumping into the darkness. The cellar didn’t seem deep but small, and apparently already packed with packaged foods and dust. Adalyn’s shove was the only thing that made her move, and they both slipped inside. The chubby woman slammed the door shut and concealed them in darkness. Scrapes above their head indicated the woman pushed the furniture back into place. Then came the silence.
Avery caught her breath after a few minutes and only when her hands stopped shaking did she address the situation.
“Not your contacts I take it?” Avery asked.
She couldn’t see Adalyn, but could feel her a few feet away.
“No but they want to hide us. Did you hear what they called us? Their hope. They were waiting for someone to come.”
Avery didn’t voice her immediate thoughts after that. How were they hope when they were hiding out, virtually trapped as much as everyone else? They’d killed a rebel soldier. Harpies surely knew they were on the island now and would be looking for them specifically.
They continued their wait without another word to each other. The cellar was at least warm even if it smelled of dew and wheat. The ground made an acceptable bed at the current time and Avery lay down, finding it easier to stretch out in the small space. She didn’t even realize she’d dozed off until she awoke to a pain in her chest. Hand clasping the needle sensation, she sat up. That’s when she heard the whispering from the room above them.
“Adalyn?” Avery finally called out. The harpie was still awake and answered immediately.
“It’s on the news,” she said without missing a beat. “They’ve caught Eva.”
The sensation of pain disappeared behind a wave of odd sorrow. Eva had never been a real friend, and most times a real foe. But it was a dark feeling to know that Eva likely wouldn’t escape death twice.
Twenty Two
By the time their hosts opened the cellar door, Adalyn was about ready to launch at them. Avery didn’t bother holding the harpie back—she herself had grown antsy and uncomfortable as the hours ticked by. The best she could guess, it was in the early dawn hours of the following day, but there weren’t any windows downstairs to reveal that status of sunlight.
“What are we waiting for?” Adalyn hissed but left enough room for the woman to lower herself down.
Dim light fluttered in from upstairs, but no lamps were on in the building. The woman lit a candle once she re-hatched the cellar door above them and illuminated the place. She held a basket full of food in one arm and the only source of light in the other.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized, for the first time revealing her age in the weakness of her voice. “We can’t be too careful.”
Avery stood to take the basket from the old harpie and intervened before Adalyn could assault her with more questions.
“You’re Leon’s family?” Avery asked.
“No. But we are good friends of those who are. We are glad you came.” The woman said. She waved Avery to dig through the basket and Avery plucked off the napkin on top. An assortment of bread and nuts awaited—no king’s meal but Avery’s stomach churned at the sight none the less. She set it down and grabbed a few pieces finding it surprisingly rich in taste. It had pumpkin and spice baked into it. Adalyn ignored the offering.
“Super lady, but I was supposed to be meeting contacts. I need to know what happened to them. I need to know if they were caught or if they…” Adalyn let her voice drop off.
Avery realized for the first time that Adalyn was concerned they were already ratted out. There weren’t that many people on the island. All they needed was for the rebels to tear up the houses—or the houses close to the spot they were supposed to meet the contact. It’d be quicker and easier than ever before.
“I am not sure. Leon dropped this off this morning though.” The woman held out a blue communication amulet.
Adalyn must have known who it would contact because she snatched it up in a moment and rushed off to the corner, huddling behind the dusty bins of wheat. Avery kept her eyes on the host.
“Thank you for keeping us.” Avery started with. “Have you heard anything of Mason?”
The woman immediately shook her head. The shadows of the candle were playing upon her face and any deeper expression was unclear.
“I suspect if he is here, he or those who keep him will reach out. Word will spread among the loyalists. But it increases our chances of being caught. We’ll need to move you.”
Avery thought about it for a few minutes. They’d be moving nonstop. This wasn’t exactly the way the rescue mission had been planned. The woman seemed to read her mind. After wobbling over to a wooden crate and plopping down onto it like a chair, she explained.
“It’s been a long time since our Prince had been attacked. There has been little action until now but your presence will stir things up. Citizens need a reason to fight, direction. They needed a chance that they could win. Hope. They needed you.”
“Direction? I wouldn’t think the harpies would follow me anywhere after what happened a week ago.” She’d been publically shamed on television. Hell, half that story made it sound like she was a monster herself.
“Your story is that of legend. You seem immortal—surviving things no human should. You hold a magic that no one understands and everyone fears. You will have people follow you as they’ve followed our Prince. Don’t you see that?”
She opened her mouth to protest but found no words. Maybe they were right. Adalyn had joined her on this possible suicide mission. She’d been able to convince Eva as well. Rafael sprung in right behind them and now their hosts acted in defiance to the rebels that overwhelmed their island. Avery couldn’t assign a feeling to this. But when her mind threatened to go, she shut her eyes and forced herself to focus.
“What happened to the council during all of this?”
The old harpie shrugged like she didn’t even care if their heads had been on pikes.
“They’re all in the capital building still. The rebels haven’t killed them yet. Still looking for our Prince. Once they kill Prince Mason, we shall hear the rebel demands. Perhaps then they’ll kill the council or offer to release them. But as long as Mason’s alive, no one will truly be under the rebel command.”
Adalyn chose that moment to march back up to the group. The ruminants of the amulet shards were squeezed in her hands summoning rivulets of blood. She seemed completely unfazed by it.
“Call your Guard. I don’t care how. We need to leave now.”
“Were we ratted out?” Avery shot back to her feet. Adalyn made a face.
“It doesn’t matter. The rebels are flipping every house systematically. And they’re on their way here.”
“So you’re just going to run outside?” The old woman protested.
“Lady, your entire family saw us run in here. You think they’re really going to stand up to the rebels questioning? Or torture? I’d send them away, and we’re getting the hell out.” Adalyn snatched up Avery’s elbow and went for the hatch. The woman face couldn’t have gone more ashen. That, apparently, was all the permission Adalyn needed to shove by her and open the cellar door.
Avery stuffe
d the last bit of food she could in her pockets—no telling when they’d actually be eating next, and followed in suit. Adalyn proceeded with more caution once she crawled outside. The soft whispers of children’s voices sounded, but the host shushed them with a harsh word. Avery had more difficulty pulling herself up—it felt more with each hour that her chest itself weighed a ton. Or maybe that was the lack of oxygen filling her lungs. The exertion itself made her dizzy and finding herself on her hands and knees, Avery begged her body to work.
“Do you smell that?” The male host who had been in the corner asked of his wife. The entire place did reek of something familiar and nauseously potent. It came from the slits in the windows, as did the voices of the rebels.
Adalyn’s hand snatched Avery this time and dragged her to the back door, farthest from the apparent voices.
“Wait, what exactly was Plan B?” Avery hissed when Adalyn opened the door a crack.
Windswept (The Airborne Saga) Page 18