Airborne (23 page)
Authors: Constance Sharper
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.
“What did she do exactly?” Avery asked carefully.
He answered with surprisingly little hesitation.
“When the original plan didn’t turn out right...Adalyn killed her fiancé for us to be together.”
“No way.” Avery gasped out louder than intended. Lowering her voice, she scooted forward this time touching his arm.
“You have to tell them Mason. They’re going to put you on trial for the crime.” She added in a hushed voice.
He laughed bitterly.
“You’ve clearly never been in love.”
Cold, Avery drew herself back onto the opposite wall again. The twinges of jealousy she’d felt morphed into disdain. Why had Avery even thought that she had a chance with Mason? He was too far down the Adalyn River without a paddle. She struggled to control her emotions. It felt like Nathanial all over again. She fell for the cool irresistible guy and had it thrown back in her face.
Forcing herself not to over react, she turned her attention back to the obstacle at hand.
“I remembered something else from Jericho. I’m not sure how to explain it but he was trying to get the magic to stick into the glass amulet but it wouldn’t take. He decided it only clung to organic organisms and that’s why he used his blood.”
Mason’s expression rapidly altered into interest and his body suddenly became livelier. Seemingly encouraged by the update, he reached out and snatched up Jericho’s journal. Mason clearly looked for something specific among the last pages. Avery held her breath, forcing patience that didn’t come naturally. Mason thumbed to one final page, ran his finger over the heavy ink, and scanned a few lines. Her heart lifted in her chest as she waited but when Mason finally shut the book, his expression wasn’t comforting.
“What’s wrong?” She prompted.
“I read it before…but I didn’t put it together. I’m sure of what it means now.”
He stood, clearly shaken, and began to pace. Avery sprung to her feet too.
“What do you mean? What’d you find?” Alarm rising, she begged him to continue.
“No. It won’t matter anyways because of what I’m about to do. We’re in trouble, Avery.”
He didn’t make sense and Avery began to panic. She sprinted up to him and grabbed his arms forcing him to face her. Stronger, Mason broke free of her grasp and he looped his long arms around her waist and held her to his chest. Avery didn’t fight but persistently pushed for answers.
“What are you going on about? Please tell me.” She begged.
Seeing him this upset wasn’t encouraging. Lips in her hair, he answered.
“Don’t you get it? My father bonded the energy with his blood. It’s not like other amulets in that way. The magic clings to life force. When the amulet broke, the magic clung to the nearest available life force. You. And it won’t be leaving, going into anything else until its current residence’s life force is fading. The amulet had to break for the magic to move. You have to die for the magic to move again.”
Avery heard what he said before she understood it, her mind taking an extra minute to wrap around the concept.
“I have to die for it to work.” She whispered when she caught on.
Mason kept holding her because he felt guilty, Avery realized. She should have been frightened but the emotions didn’t register immediately. Pressed against Mason, she didn’t know what to think. The adventure couldn’t end just like that. There had to be a way to fix it without her dying.
“So I can hand you over to the authorities for them to deem you dangerous and potentially kill you. I’d have to watch the one innocent person I know in this whole thing take the fall. Get my banishment removed in time to go on trial for murdering Adalyn’s fiancé. Or...” Mason said.
“Or what?” She was afraid to ask but still managed to.
His sad smile stretched into something crazy.
“I guess we’ll have to escape and evade the authorities for the rest of our lives.” His tone spiked with hysteria and he let her go. Free from her, he paced up to the bars and thrashed at them. Avery shrunk against the wall, watching the harpie.
“Of course, that means we have to break free from the most well guarded prison on Earth but that should be easy, right?” Not containing his voice, Mason’s words echoed off the closely confined walls.
Heart pounding loudly, Avery barely heard the footsteps but when she did, she rushed to his side.
“Mason, shut up!”
“Why, because it can’t be done Avery?”
He didn’t seem bothered that everyone on the floor could hear him, but Avery cared. Knocking the harpie back into the wall, she pressed a firm hand to his warm lips.
“Shut up, Mason.”
The footsteps grew closer. The fellow cells on this hall being empty, the steps were inevitably directed toward them. Mason didn’t struggle beneath her but suddenly acted content to wait too. The figure finally became visible and Avery froze when she saw the person.
“Leela.” She acknowledged in a stunned voice.
The unmistakable brunette girl stared at her in return. Though still dressed in the black coat and knee high boots as the day Avery had last seen her, Leela didn’t seem badly kept. Her neat auburn hair had been tucked beneath a ski cap and her skin was bright and flawless. Leela’s eyes scanned them before landing on Avery.
“Are you okay?” Avery spit out in a jumble, absolutely uncertain where to begin.
Leela didn’t answer at first, small hand jigging the latch outside their cell until the iron bar door opened.
“Come with me.” Leela said shortly.
Avery slipped out of the cell. She wanted to give the only real friend she had a crippling hug and spill out every frustrated emotion she’d been holding in. She never got the chance. Looking up at the hallway, she’d stopped herself.
“Where’s your minder?” She asked.
The hallway sat void of anyone else besides them. There should have been someone. No one walked these halls alone. The situation didn’t fit right and Avery didn’t ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach. Leela never turned and gave her any answer.
“Come with me.” She said again.
This time, a dark feeling in her gut made Avery hesitate. Mason’s claws suddenly jumped out and grabbed Avery’s shoulder. Pulling her back, Mason hissed.
“Get back in the cell.”
“What’s going on? How’d she get away from the Band?” Avery asked as she staggered backwards.
Mason answered in a deadly serious tone.
“She didn’t.”
“What do you mean?” Avery demanded.
“Avery, look at her eyes.” Mason hissed in her ear.
This time Avery paid attention. Leela’s pupils had been dilated to the twice the normal size until the brown iris disappeared. The girl stood too stiff as well. She hadn’t naturally swayed or shifted once.
“What’ve they done to her?” Avery gasped.
“It’s strong magic. She’s being compelled.”
A flash of Mikhail and his orange amulet shot to Avery’s mind. Mikhail had an amulet for allure in which he could use to compel people into actions. He’d looked into Avery’s eyes once and had her spill her secrets. With more than a few minutes of that kind of magic, anything was possible.
“What do we do?” She asked Mason desperately.
“Come with me.” Leela answered them both. “Come with me or I’ll jump off of the roof.”
“Mason!” Avery begged as he held her. Leela had already turned and began to walk down the hall.
“They’re up to something.” He sounded sure of it.
Avery knew it too, knew they were using Leela against her, and knew that she was buying into their plan. Dangerous or not, she couldn’t let Leela die on her behalf.
“I have to follow, even if I have to go alone.” Avery decided.
Mason roared out of frustration.
“Just don’t leave me!” He ordered, grabbed her hand, and walked them into the hall.
Leela kept acting bizarre. Her movement jerky, she headed straight down the hallway. They followed with a wide gap. The hall was dim and the nearby cells were eloped in shadow. Mason kept glancing in the cells and behind them. The mere thought that someone would spring out of the darkness frightened Avery more than she’d like to admit. She squeezed Mason’s hand tighter.
“Leela, please stop. Those aren’t your thoughts or your ideas. You don’t have to obey them.” Avery pled.
She hadn’t even considered that when Mikhail had compelled her actions on Hatcher Pass. Maybe if Leela comprehended that someone else was inside her head, she could fight it. Leela kept walking. Avery tugged Mason’s hand, ready to storm in front of her friend and physically stop her in her tracks. Avery had some weight and height advantage but Mason prevented her from doing it.
“Wait.” He urged her.
They took a corner and for the first time, Avery could see the unmistakable bright orange of sunlight ahead. Considering the prison had no windows, Avery wanted to ask where it’d come from. Before she had to, they were close enough to see. The wall had been blown open in an array of dust and rubble. Sun beamed through the opening. This high up, fourteen stories and a pounding coast line were beneath them.
“They blew a wall in the prison?” Avery gasped.
“It’s a trap Avery. The walls of the prison have magic that protect us from uninvited harpies coming in, but if we go out there then we’re vulnerable!”
Leela turned in one stiff movement and before they could react, she burst into a run. Jumping straight through the hole in the wall, Leela dropped.
“Mason!” Avery screamed.
Mason lunged out after her, wings snapping open. Avery rushed to the opening and peered down. Mason had caught Leela but something else drew her eye. Avery jerked backwards, but in a flash the harpie was on her. Talons ripped her free out of the side of the building. Avery fought back instantly. Grabbing at him, she caught a free limb and forced the magic in her chest outward. The attacking harpie shrieked, releasing her, and Avery fell.
Avery’s whole world spiraled until only a clear wash of blue remained. She hit the salt water with a painful crack. Muscles ceasing up, the waves thrashed her up against the rocks. Only the magic in her body kept her breathing. Unable to see straight, she glanced up. The entire sky lit up with chaos. Harpies collided. Harpoons howled. Sharp blue suits spun through the air.
