From Deities (10 page)

“We’ve been here long enough to know you needed our help. Where you go, we go.”

Mason arched his brow as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard, and rolled his eyes. “Oh, joy.”

“I know you’re not happy, but her father asked us to,” Noah retorted, and his usual calm tone became serious. “You have no idea what and whom you’re dealing with. You’ve been hiding, pretending to live like humans, but you haven’t seen anything yet. There is a whole different world out there. Things you’ve never seen or heard about. There is a war coming and we need to work together.”

Mason scowled and nodded, acknowledging his words, as if he had heard them for the hundredth time. “I know. Don’t remind me.”

“What the hell were they?” Nick asked, and then turned to me. “And what, how and…when?”

I understood his confusion. I was just as baffled as he was. “I don’t know.” It was all I could say as I flexed my fingers, examining them, feeling the heat diminish.

“Hey, guys,” Amanda intervened, looking up. “Did you forget? There are still some left. Do you think you can get rid of the pointy looking things? I don’t want one of those things to accidently fall on us. ”

“Oh, sorry.” Tim shrugged his shoulders apologetically. With a wave of the Poseidon’s descendant’s hand, the icicle-shaped objects formed into liquid round balls. They rolled to the corner of the room, then poured down like a soft waterfall.

“Look,” Noah started again, snapping everyone’s attention to him. “Those things you just witnessed are vultures, but they don’t need to change in form to have their powers. They are a new species. Someone is changing their DNA structures, and I’m afraid of what other things will evolve. We have no idea who is doing this or what their motives are, but until we find out, we need to stick together. So you get it now?”

Mason didn’t budge or blink. He just stood there while his eyes were focused on Noah’s, looking like he was either trying to soak in his words, or he’d just blanked out.

Nick draped his arms around Mason’s shoulder with a look of concern, but like always, Nick tried to lighten the mood. “My brother,” Nick lightly shook Mason, “he’s a little bit slow today, but I think he understands now. You and your friends are welcome to follow us any time. Right, bro?” When Mason didn’t answer, Nick smacked his back softly, just enough to snap him out of it. “Wake up.”

Mason jerked forward, then turned to give Nick an evil eye and a growl. “I got it. I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

“Sky.” Mason turned to me.

“What about Sky? You think of her all the time.” Nick chuckled. “You don’t have to think of her. She’s standing right in front of you. This isn’t a dream.”

Mason’s eyes met mine, but the way he looked at me was different this time. Not in the loving usual way, but as if he’d had an epiphany. “She’s evolving.”

The room grew deadly silent. It felt like Mason had dropped a bomb on us.

I hardly slept that
night, thinking about Sky. When I rushed back from searching to find the smell that had caused me to go on alert, Sky was on the other side of the dance floor, looking scared, but also stunned. Next thing I knew, lightning bolts flashed out of her hands. For a second, I froze in place, amazed by her ability that I never thought would happen. Just as it had happened with me, her eyes lit up, but it was dim, indicating the intensity of her voltage was minimal.

Knowing every second mattered, I dashed to her and so did the rest of my family. It bothered me seeing Noah and Tim. I was sure we didn’t just happen to go to the same nightclub by chance. What troubled me most were the vultures. Being in human form was normal, but fighting in human form wasn’t. Some even had swords, and I had never seen vultures fight with swords. And to top that off, they just took off. Surely we did not intimidate them. Their mission was to capture or kill.

“Mason, you okay?” Everett asked, bringing me what looked like a cup of coffee and sitting across from me. Was I that readable?

“Thanks. I didn’t get much sleep last night.” I took a sip. The warmth soothed me, giving me a little bit of comfort. Unfortunately, it only lasted as it went down my throat.

“Thinking of Sky?”

“Yes.” I paused to take another sip. “I’m trying to figure out what’s happening to her.”

“I understand your frustration. The only answer I have for you is that you already know she’s different…special. Her body is changing, so maybe her powers were meant to grow and change with her. Does that even make sense?” Everett chuckled lightly, almost nervously.

“Yes.” I nodded to agree. If it made sense or not, I didn’t care. Nothing about it made sense…we didn’t make sense.

Everett cleared his throat lightly, as if he was either uncomfortable about what he wanted to tell me, or perhaps he worried how I would react to what he was about to say. “I want you to know that…I’m sorry I tried to kill Skylar. It’s just, I was so worried about our safety that I wasn’t thinking.”

I wanted bygones to be bygones. Whatever his reasons were, I understood them. And I also didn’t want to dwell on the past. He had tried to tell me he was sorry in his own way, by helping Sky through this. “It’s okay, Everett. You can stop saying you’re sorry. I get it. I understand why you did it. You could have walked away, but you didn’t. You’ve put your life on the line for Sky and this family time and time again. I appreciate that.”

A huge smile appeared on Everett’s face. “Okay, thanks.”

Approaching footsteps ended our conversation.

“Having a meeting without me?” Nick, who was heading down the stairs, asked.

“Just something we don’t want you to hear,” Everett joked.

Nick plopped right next to me, almost knocking the coffee out of the mug from the force of his strength. “Sorry.” He sat up straight.

“Do you want some?” Everett asked Nick.

“I’m good, thanks. So, were you talking about Sky, or is this a private meeting?” Nick asked, getting ready to get off the couch.

“You can stay.” I pushed him down. “I’m worried as usual.”

“That’s what I figured. I think it’s pretty cool what she did, but I could understand why you’re worried about why and how she’s changing. I think it’s great she can defend herself…just in case we’re not around.”

“True. Then there’s her father issue.”

“You don’t trust him?”

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t blame you, but maybe it will be different this time around,” Everett said, placing his feet on the coffee table and leaning back.

“I agree with Everett. As far as what I’ve seen, he’s been pretty helpful. He hasn’t tried to hurt her, has he?”

“No. Not that I’m aware of.”

“Either way, you know Nick and I are here for you. We’re also getting answers, which is a good thing. We need to find out more about our kind: embrace who we are, stick together, and do what we can to survive.”

“Wow, Everett,” Nick said. “You can be pretty deep when you want to be. Who knew this teddy bear could have such a huge heart?”

Everett shook his head while his lips twisted upward, trying hard not to smile or laugh.

It was great to have the three of us getting along; a big improvement compared to even a month ago. Nick and I always got along, but for some reason, I’d felt indifferent to Everett and Remus for as long as I could remember.

Death followed us
, haunted us, even when we were asleep. I clearly remembered that night when Nick’s mom was found a couple of blocks from our home. They classified it as an unsolved crime, but we knew better. Somehow, one of the vultures had gotten to her. We tried to be careful. We always looked behind our backs, and were always aware of our surroundings. It was what she’d taught us, but what went wrong?

That was the day Nick and I stepped up to another level of friendship. We connected through pain, but for some reason, I couldn’t do that with Remus or Everett even though they had lost their mothers, too. Perhaps it was the fact that I knew Nick’s mom. Maybe I just didn’t like Everett’s bossy personality, and Remus was just the definition of “evil.” Everything that came out of his mouth was moody and foul. I only stuck around because I had nowhere to go and Nick wanted me to stay.

“Mason, it’s your turn to go to the market,” Everett said, pulling me from my thoughts. “Make sure to stay on budget.”

“What budget?” Remus sneered. “Make sure to get some steak. Nick’s mom left us lots of money. Don’t be a pussy. Spend it.”

Everett walked away, shaking his head and looking defeated. He always did when Remus spoke up like that. Either he didn’t care or he was scared that he would beat the crap out of him. Just before he was out of my sight, I hollered, “Don’t worry, Everett. I’ll stick to the budget you gave me.”

Remus didn’t like what I’d said. He poked my chest and glared at me in a threatening way. “You listen to me, you little shithead. I’m older than you. In fact, you’re the youngest of all of us, so you don’t get a voice, do you hear me?”

I was getting tired of Remus, the bully. He always needed to have the last word, and whatever he wanted, he got. Not today. I’d had enough of his shit. Anger shot through me. Feeling tingles from the tips of my fingers, I closed them and tried to calm down. He was bigger than I was, but I could seriously hurt him with my volts.

Nick had trained me to fire up my light on demand, as well as how to keep it under my control. I was getting better at it. Nick also told me that my powers were stronger, and there were things I could do that he couldn’t. I just had to experiment on my own. Maybe I should start with Remus. “I do hear you, and I also smell your breath. It stinks like one of the vultures.”

Obviously, Remus didn’t like my comment at all. His eyes grew wide in anger and bored into me with a look that said ‘Kill’. If steam could rise out of his head, it would have. When his shoulders tensed up, I could see the veins down his arms, caused by his fists closing tightly. He was planning to punch me.

I didn’t care if he did. I would give it right back. We had been living together for several months, and because I was new, I had kept my mouth shut. However, today would be different. I was just about to punch his sorry face when his body jerked to the side.

“I’ll come with you,” Nick said, appearing in front of me. He had purposely pushed Remus aside. Feeling a light grip on my arm, Nick led the way.

“Enough!” I heard Everett shout.

Startled by Everett’s loud voice, I looked over my shoulder, wondering why he felt the need to say that when I thought our fight had ended. Remus was holding a sword in his hand. Giving me the most cunning grin, Remus dropped the sword by his side. He was a psycho all right. He seriously needed an intervention. Apparently, his anger issue was going to get him in lots of trouble, not just for himself, but for us, too.

“Ignore him. Let’s go.” Nick started tugging me when I didn’t budge. Just before we left, Nick flashed a spark from his finger, purposely hitting Remus on the shoulder. It was a light dosage of shock.

“Shit. That hurt. You’re going to get it!” Remus yelled.

“Easy.” I heard Everett’s voice. I knew Everett would hold Remus back. Even though I didn’t really know him, he was the oldest. He would maintain peace in this household.

Nick and I shared a good laugh as we got in the car. Thank God, I had Nick around. He understood me. We had the same power. I knew I could trust him. He’d surely proved today that he had my back, and maybe…Everett did, too.

“Would you please
stop pacing?” Amanda asked me. Her tone clearly indicated she was annoyed.

I couldn’t help my nervousness. We were meeting up with my dad again. The Grand brothers were waiting outside for his arrival while Amanda and I were waiting inside one of the private rooms in Mason’s restaurant. Not wanting to aggravate Amanda, I stopped. “Sorry, it’s just a bad habit.”

“I don’t think that’s your only habit.”

I crossed my arms. I’d had enough. I wasn’t going to take any crap from Amanda. “Excuse me?”

“Look at your hands.”

I did, and what I saw was unbelievable. Sparks were flickering faintly. I was astounded, glancing from one finger to the next. “I don’t understand why it’s doing this.”

Amanda kept her distance, but stood in front of me. After pulling out a chair for me, she tapped the seat. “Sit. Take deep breaths. You need to calm down. Since this is all new for you, you’re unable to control it. Just relax, make a fist, and think happy thoughts.”

When I did what Amanda suggested, I could feel myself calming down. The lights from my fingers became less apparent…until the door swung open. I jumped out of the seat. I could feel the energy within me intensifying. Embarrassed because the electricity was out of control, I stuck both of my hands in my pockets. Crap! My front pockets were glowing, so I quickly placed them behind my back instead. I was surprised to see not just my dad, but others I hadn’t met walk through the door.

“Sky.” My dad nodded to greet me.

I didn’t say a word. Instead, I flashed my eyes at him to confirm I heard him, but that was all. No greeting. No smile. I was too busy staring at the people besides Noah and Tim. My attention shifted when Mason came toward me for a kiss.

“Please, sit,” Mason instructed everyone, pulling out a chair for me. Mason’s hand on my back helped me to calm down. The light on my fingers disappeared. There were plenty of chairs, and this massive, round table accommodated twenty people.