Airborne (The Airborne Saga)

by Constance Sharper

Avery’s smile faded.

  “By the way, I ran into your sister.”

  That drew Mason’s attention straight back from the book to her face. Happy expression drastically altering, he urged her to continue.

  “They must have caught her in Hatcher Pass. You know, when they snatched me the first time.” She had forgotten to fill him on the details but skipped them for a second time. “Anyways, she said that her Band mates are coming for her. And that the police can’t stop them.”

  Mason’s eyes flickered to the rest of the island sitting behind them. Lips thinning, he frowned. There weren’t too many guards in view, but Avery had no doubt security must have lingered just out of sight.

  “Rafael doesn’t have that kind of strength. The walls of the prison are bespelled with magic to prevent collaborative breakouts. No harpie can ever pass the wards to go inside the prison without being invited in first.”

  He didn’t explain how the wards kept people in, but Avery knew they had separate security for that. She just didn’t want to know the details.

  “What about Mikhail? Would he have that kind of strength?”

  “You met Mikhail?” Mason’s voice shot up.

  Mason forced Avery to move again, hopping down toward the rock near the shoreline. Just as he reached his decided destination, he said something else.

  “It doesn’t matter. For now we have the chance to make this all go away. Stop worrying about it, Avery. One step at a time. Even if we have less time than I thought.”

  Avery never bothered to ask him why his mood had so drastically changed at the mention of Mikhail’s name. Truth is, she didn’t want to know.

  Twenty

  The salt of the ocean water had taken its toll on the brick prison walls. The outside of the building had begun to rot and disfigure with erosion. Inside, dampness led to mold and a suffocating stench. Without windows, no fresh air ever came in leaving the prison essentially a dark, dank tomb. Avery still found it ridiculous that they’d actually chosen to be inside the prison rather than outside on the picnic benches by the shore. As bad as the conditions inside were, Mason worried enough about Mikhail to choose the safer route.

  Using the candle light to lead her way, Avery walked cautiously so not to touch anything slimy. She’d only been here a few days and already felt like the dirt covered her in layers no matter how carefully she skirted the place. A guard with his own candle accompanied her down to the cafeteria without portraying real authority. Buff and big, he apparently wrote off Avery as no real threat.

  In fact, the guards hadn’t taken many steps to treat Mason or Avery like prisoners. They were locked in the cell where they resided but the guards came to let them out for whatever they needed. In this case, Avery asked to get some food but also just needed to get away from Mason. They’d been cracking heads more than ever.

  “Avery, think!” He’d rattled her when he demanded that. “What did my father mean when he said this? You have his memories, right?”

  Avery had spent hours squinting at the pages of Jericho’s journal while hoping that it would drudge up some explanation in her head. It didn’t. She thought back to the memories she did have about the garden and the shore line. Nothing triggered it. Head beginning to hurt, Avery had backed off and Mason grew more frustrated.

  “You said you had his memories!” He snapped at her.

  “I’m trying Mason. It’s not like I can control them.” She’d protested, annoyed. In fact, the more she tried, the tidbits of memories that returned to her were absolutely useless. She remembered his wedding to some pretty red head and the birth of Eva. She remembered pacing the hallways of the hospital and hovering in the garden, but she remembered nothing about the book. Avery definitely surmised that trying had nothing to do with it.

  Avery knew they were just irate with each other over the intense stress. Time was running out and they were answerless. She’d finally left him behind for a food break and to clear her head.

  “What day is it again?” She asked the guard, unable to recall how much time had passed since they’d been sent to the island.

  The days were blurry at best between sleep, testing magic, and remembering short snippets of Jericho’s memories.

  “Day two. You have less than 23 hours left. Made any progress with the amulet?” He asked, sounding more curious than concerned.

  Shrugging, she said, “I’m not the right person to ask. I’m just here for shits and giggles.”

  She barely understood the concept of magic and much less the technical jumbles. Mason did and so it came down to him to do most of the research. It aggravated her that she couldn’t help and it aggravated Mason that he had to do it all on his own.

  Avery and the guard turned the last corner into a room with an open buffet. As she wasn’t exactly a prisoner, the guards allowed her to eat the management’s food. Not that she would ever call it much of a favor. The buffet contained an array of fresh fruit and green vegetables that took a beating from the atmosphere around here. Dew collected around the wilting veggies and the fruit was mushy. The meat, hot red in coloring, looked like food poisoning waiting to happen. The bread was hard enough it could be used to flog someone. Maybe the whole lot was in accordance to harpie appetites but she’d have a hard time stuffing it down her throat.

  “At least if Mason gets the amulet’s magic out of me, everything will be cool right? Like his banishment removed?” She asked while poking the bananas to test their softness.

  “Well, yea. He could petition the counsel to lift the banishment anytime now.”

  “That’s great.” Avery confessed.

  “It’s not that easy. You see, Mason was banished because there were a lot of unsavory accusations about him associating with known fugitives. But more evidence has come to light and they’re gonna want to try him on murder charges the second he reenters our society.”

  “Murder?” Avery glanced up at him, distracted from picking at the food. The guard continued.

  “Come on. You must have heard the situation. Mason allegedly calls out Jericho and steals the amulet to give it to the Band. Then coincidently the fiancé of Mason’s lover gets wacked. They think it was all a catered deal. The amulet for the murder of Adalyn’s fiancé.”

  “Is that why he needs the amulet? So he can prove that he didn’t give it to the Band?” She asked.

  He nodded, apparently eager to talk with her. By the sounds of it, the whole thing had been on the guard’s mind for awhile now. Settling for her slim pickings, Avery took her paper plate and sat down at a warped, wooden table.

  “Yep. Which sucks for you in the long run. We can’t let you go unless you’re magic free. If we do let you go with that Willow magic inside you, then you could potentially end up back with the Band and Mason would be unable to prove his innocence.”

  Avery understood the need to know for certain that the magic wasn’t being used by the Band but she didn’t enjoy being referred to as a pawn.

  “Well didn’t they find evidence at the crime scene that could prove it wasn’t him anyways? DNA? Finger prints? Wing impressions? I don’t know...something.”

  Mason told Avery point blank that he didn’t kill Adalyn’s fiancé so forensic evidence shouldn’t be a problem. The guard slid into the seat across from her and leaned forward.

  “But that’s the fun part, isn’t it? We know it wasn’t Mason himself because the foot prints in the dust were too small. During the struggle, the man actually got lipstick smears and chips of nail polish all over himself. Now I dare you to tell me that don’t sound like a woman to you.”

  Rapidly uninterested in her food, Avery absorbed the scenario.

  “They think it was Eva.”

  He nodded accordingly.

  “There aren’t many females who would have a hand in offing the man. That’s why they think, with the timing, it was all a trade off. It’s a really compelling case.” He surmised.

  Thoughts running away with her, Avery absently yanked the skin off t
he banana and brought the soft fruit to her mouth. Eva didn’t strike her as the diva type but it certainly fit with the facts-- even Avery had to admit it.

  “Humans call it tunnel vision when the police get fixated on one person. What if there was somebody else in the guy’s life that just wanted him dead?” She pointed out.

  The harpie laughed.

  “You’re an audacious human. Tell me then, you don’t think Mason had the guy killed?”

  Avery did give it a few extra moments of contemplation.

  “I’m sure he didn’t have anyone kill anyone.” She said. “It is just bad timing. Really bad timing.”

  The guard studied her with amusement in his eyes. Apparently he’d thought so low of Avery that any sign of intelligence on her part was amazing.

  “Is that an unbiased answer?” He asked.

  “Of course.” Avery snapped back. She considered herself more unbiased than most since she was an outsider looking in. The guard didn’t see it that way.

  “I don’t think it is. You’re taking up for Mason because you’re clearly into him.”

  Avery spit up her food in her rush to interrupt him.

  “Whoa.” She protested while hoping her face didn’t flush too much. “Didn’t we just establish the fact that he’s in love with Adalyn? Reasons why he’d want her fiancé murdered and all that?”

  The guard didn’t let up on that topic so quickly.

  “Adalyn or no Adalyn. You like him.” He put particular emphasis on the ‘you’.

  Avery steadied herself.

  “He’s my friend certainly. I mean, I have to like him a bit. He’s the only one here working to save my life.” She stopped herself before starting the “why does everyone else want me dead” rant.

  The guard kept giving her the stare down and Avery was beginning to feel like she was on trial. She may not have been entirely truthful because she didn’t know what the entire truth was. Did she really like Mason that much? Or was it just a false feeling based off of everything they’d been through together? There were too many complications involved to generate an easy answer.

  “Besides, I’m human and he’s harpie.” She added.

  “You don’t think those two ever mix?”

  “I don’t know, do they?” Avery actually wanted to know. She’d known that harpies had interbred with humans but she didn’t know what defined the norm.

  “They can. It’s not my personal taste but they can. My brother Charlie’s married to a human. He’s got like ten kids too.”

  Avery scowled down at her food. Stomach churning, she pushed her plate away. She wasn’t thinking about kids. She wasn’t even thinking about marriage. She was thinking about whether she could even see Mason from a romantic point of view and whether it’d be worth her effort.

  Something about her turn in thoughts made her head hurt. Dropping her food, Avery pressed her head between her open palms. Colors danced behind her eyelids. It was one of Jericho’s memories. Desperate to hold onto it, she faced away from the guard and concentrated.

  The memory didn’t come easily. She struggled to grasp it and soon Avery found herself in a room much different than the prison. The moldy walls and muddy ground was replaced by floral designed wallpaper and polished wooden floors. She was sitting in a plush chair a few feet away from a cackling fireplace. Before her was a desk, and on the desk was the familiar black Willow amulet. Some instinctual part of her knew the amulet was an empty glass shell, magic free. Closest to the amulet was Jericho’s journal, open and waiting. Much of the book hadn’t yet been filled and a fountain pen rested next to the book waiting to fill in the blanks.

  “The magic won’t stick.” She said to the open air. She remembered now trying to capture the magic in the glass amulet. The blue swirling mist of magic had temporarily stayed inside the glass but in seconds it escaped the glass and dissipated into the air. She let out a growl and strummed her knuckles on the desk top.

  “I’m not mixing two energies that won’t mix. This should work. I’m just strengthening an energy that already exists…”

  “It exists in organic organisms.” She was laying out the logic aloud. “Organic organisms. Of course, the amulet is lacking. There must be a way to parallel nature. There must be a way to use an organic organism inside the amulet and make it all stick.”

  She brought her hand up in front of her face and pricked her index finger with her thumb nail. With harpie sharp fingernails, she broke the skin easily and a drop of blood surfaced. The epiphany made her beam. She picked up the amulet and smeared it red with blood.

  “Hey, hey, girl!”

  The voice hadn’t come from the memory. Snapping back to awareness, she found herself sitting in the prison again. Sometime during her vision, the guard had gotten up from his seat and crouched down in front of her to be at eye level.

  “Uh. What’s up?” She asked.

  She hoped her space out hadn’t been conspicuous but something on the guard’s face told her that it had. He looked conflicted between calling a doctor and rattling her senseless.

  “You tell me what’s up.”

  He sounded suspicious, likely used to dealing with tricky people in prison, and thought he’d seen a red flag.

  “I’m just upset…” She stumbled over her words. “About Mason. Yea, I was just thinking about it.”

  She was an atrocious liar but the guard bought it. Anger draining from his face, he looked more relaxed.

  “Girls are insane. It’s clear that the guy likes you. He could have turned you in yesterday and this all would be over with. That’s more proof than flowers or poems could ever bring.”

  “Helping me could mean he’s just my friend. Nothing more.” Avery pointed out quickly before her head could float to space.

  “Does he need to stamp it to your forehead, kid? What he’s done far surpasses what a guy would do for a friend. Besides, it’s my job to read people and I’ve never been wrong about it yet.”

  Avery didn’t protest again. Instead she quietly absorbed the words. Standing up, she backed away from the table.

  “Well, thanks for bringing me down here but I really think I need to get back to Mason now.”

  She could tell Mason about the memory and find a way to help him. She had to.

  Twenty-one

  Carefully gathering the half burnt out candle in her hands, she held the blue flame out to lead her down the hallway. Driven by her new revelation, she stepped in every puddle on the way and ignored the mud that marred her blue jeans. Though antsy, she had to wait for the guard to guide her down the intricate corridors. Half way there, Avery could hear screaming that would lead directly to the cell.

  “This is unbelievable. Give up Mason. The game’s over.” Adalyn’s shouted, her loud voice ripping through the confined space.

  Closer now, Avery could see the blonde harpie standing just outside the cell. The door to the cell could be unlocked from a panel located halfway down the hallway, but Adalyn hadn’t opened it or gone inside. She had her wings wide open, back arched, and talons wrapped around the iron bars. Avery could barely see Mason’s slumped figure inside the cell, but she heard him.

  “Come on, my times not up yet!” He said.

  Adalyn let out a deafening shriek in response and turned her back to him. Marching down the hall, she nearly paved Avery over in her hurry to the exit. The guard accompanying Avery opened the cell door, waved Avery inside, and then took off in hurry to follow Adalyn. Inside, Mason sat stretched along the muck covered floor with the red journal balanced on his knees. Chin down, his hair sufficiently covered his eyes and the shadows went to work covering his face. Tension lingered making the air thick. Avery chose the opposite wall to sit.

  “Harpie tempers, huh?” She finally had to speak to break the painful silence. Mason’s head popped up and he looked at her with blood shot, glassy eyes.

  His face pale, his chin stubble stood out more. Together with his unkempt hair, Mason looked sick.

 
“Just Adalyn.” He whispered.

  “Why’s she so upset?”

  He grunted and pulled his knees into his chest. Jericho’s journal hit the concrete, ignored.

  “Because she did all this for nothing. She did all this to try to be with me for nothing.”

  His voice kept getting lower, forcing Avery to edge closer. His shoulders trembled but she held her hand tight by her own side, unsure if she should touch and console him.