From Origins (Descendant Prophecies Book 3) (12 page)

It suddenly dawned
on me that I hadn’t brought my house keys with me. In fact, I had nothing with me. There were times I had to remind myself that I was a descendant of gods and anything was possible. Mason touched where the key should have been inserted and sent a bolt of lightning. The door creaked open.

Mason turned to me as we entered. “It was already unlocked.”

Cautiously we moved through the darkness with Mason’s light. He lit up his hand like a flashlight, just enough for us to get around. We searched every room and I could tell they had been there, but we were too late.

My mom’s room was a mess. There were clothes on the floor, picture frames shattered, and a couple of suitcases open on her bed. The vultures, with clumsy hands, must have packed for her. Hephaestus was cold-hearted, but a part of him loved my mom. Perhaps he allowed her to wash up, change, and let her get a few things she needed.

“Oh, Mom….” I picked up a picture frame from the floor and dusted off the broken glass. It was a picture of my mom and me. “I promise. I’ll find you.” It wasn’t fair. She was just a pawn being used. When I was fighting the vultures, I didn’t have time to feel or to think sentimental thoughts, but at moments like this, when all was quiet and still, was when I broke down.

As tears blurred my face, all I could do was pray that Hephaestus had a soft spot for my mom and wouldn’t change her into one of his monsters.

“Sky.” Mason embraced me, and that brought me to another level of pain. I let myself go in Mason’s arms and the tears I tried to keep at bay would not stop.

“It’s okay,” he whispered as he continued to hold me. “We’re going to find your mom. We won’t ever stop until she’s home with you. She’s alive, and that’s half the battle.”

Getting lost in Mason caressing my back, I didn’t say a word. He could have told me my face was blue and I would have agreed. He had a way of making me crumble when he held me like that. It wasn’t that he was using his powers; it was just because he was my Mason. I was drowning in his scent, his love, and the comfort he was providing me. When I lifted my head off his shoulder, Mason wiped my tears.

“You look beautiful to me, even when you’re crying,” he grinned, caressing my cheeks.

I couldn’t believe his sweet words. Not having enough sleep and not showering for a couple of days, I was pretty sure I looked like a mess and smelled like sweat.

“Thanks, but you’re just saying that to make me feel better.”

“No, I’m not.” Mason’s eyes pierced through mine, hot and thick.

I couldn’t help the quiver jolting through me. It was the way he looked at me that made me nervous and excited. “Yes…I—”

Mason shut me up with his lips. His lips were soft, perfectly lining up with mine. The room spun when he kissed me deeper and his tongue…holy cow…let me know he wanted me. I closed my eyes and escaped into Mason’s world, but it was short lived.

“I need to stop, or I’m going to light up this whole house.” Mason pulled back, resting his hands on my shoulders. Looking dazed, he closed his eyes, then opened them to focus. “When this is over, I’m taking you away…alone.”

I beamed a smile, the kind of smile I only reserved for Mason, and that was my reply.

“Hello?” There was a small knock on the door.

“What do you want, Everett?” Mason asked. “You can come in. It’s dark in here. You can’t see Sky and me naked anyway.”

Everett either chuckled or almost choked on his saliva. “I actually came to see Skylar. I mean…not to see her naked…I mean, not that you don’t have clothes on…I mean….” Everett huffed with frustration. “We’re going to raid your fridge.” With that he left.

Mason and I laughed. It felt good to laugh and not worry about anything, even if it was just for a second.

“We should eat something too. Make sure to save me some lobster and steak.” Mason gestured with a flick of his head.

“We don’t have….” I stopped talking and curled my lips when I realized he was joking. “You’re not coming with me?” I pouted.

“I’m going to take a shower first, if you don’t mind me using your shower.”

“Of course I don’t mind. There should be towels in the bathroom cabinet. You can use my mom’s shower. It’s bigger than mine.”

“You better get going or else I might have to kidnap you to join me.” Mason’s words came out too hot, and I thought about actually getting in the shower with him…but of course, he was just flirting. We both knew it wasn’t the right time or place. But when Mason took of his sweater…damn. Temptation!

It didn’t matter how many times I’d seen him shirtless. It always felt like it was the first time. The six pack and the curve of his toned, hard biceps caused funny tingles through me. Hypnotized by his body, all I could do was stare, unable to look away or focus where I needed to be. My heart started to thump faster and my body wanted to gravitate toward his.

Mason unzipped his pants, then looked up at me, noticing I was still there. “Do you like what you see, Sky?” Mason’s tone came out low and too hot for me to handle. “Want to help me get undressed? If you don’t leave right now, I seriously won’t have the will power to keep from doing what I’ve been wanting to do to you.”

Warmth shot to my face. “I…I was just leaving.” What I really wanted to do was nod and help him with the rest, but I had to control my urge and focus on the reason why we were there. It was hard to look away, especially when he looked at me like he was going to come get me. With every ounce of my will power I closed the door. First thing I was going to do was gulp down some ice cold water.

I walked out
of the hallway and all the lights were turned off, except for the one in the kitchen. They had helped themselves to whatever leftovers and frozen food there was. I didn’t mind it. We were beyond starving. We had been on the go with hardly any food and water, and it felt good to finally satisfy our needs.

I peeled a banana and took a bite. Knowing Mason would be out of the shower soon, I grabbed a plate. On the counter were plates of eggs, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, yogurt, blue berries, apples, and some left over drumsticks.

“Hades. Stop it.” Amanda slapped his hand.

“I’m still hungry.” Hades kept opening and closing the refrigerator door. “How do you tell it to make more food? Tell it to make some chicken and wine.”

Amanda ran her hand down her face. “It’s not magic. It’s a place to store your food so it won’t go bad.” She opened the freezer and took out a container. “I’ll heat up some frozen burritos for you. Now go sit and just don’t get up. You’re making a mess.” She guided him to the seat next to me.

Hades plopped down, looking at me. “Burritos? Never heard of it.”

“I want one too, Amada.” I giggled. There were going to be a lot of things Hades had no clue about. I had to laugh when the opportunity presented itself. There was hardly anything to laugh about these days. I had to take in the moment.

I closed my
eyes and took in the soothing warmth from the hot water that ran down my body. It felt so good just to escape from this madness, even if it was for ten minutes, but it would have been better with Sky next to me. I had almost lost self-control when Sky was watching me undress. Though she would disagree with me, she looked beautiful, even covered with dirt and looking exhausted.

There were times when I had no clue what I was doing or how to help Sky, but somehow we’d made it this far. I was so thankful for that. The best way to cope with this craziness was not to think about it and hope I was making the right decisions as situations unfolded, because no matter what I did, I couldn’t prepare for the worst.

I knew Sky knew this. Although she hadn’t said a word to me, I knew she was afraid her mom might have turned into one of the vultures. And if that thought hadn’t crossed her mind before, it was there now, thanks to Mia, who’d pretended to be Sky’s mom in vulture form. I was so glad we got rid of her. I couldn’t stand her.

After I washed up, I got out of the shower and got dressed. Just before I stepped out of Sky’s mom’s room, I had a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. When I thought I saw red, shiny lights through the window I rushed out the door, but when I checked it out, there was nothing there. Like I had thought before, you couldn’t prepare for the worst…but I wasn’t expecting this.

Hephaestus was standing with his back toward me. He had captured everyone’s attention and was talking away. Leaning my back against the wall and out of his view, I listened. If anything, he didn’t know I was there, and this was an advantage for me, just in case I needed to attack.

“What are we celebrating?” Hephaestus sounded so cheerful that it gave me goose bumps as I wondered what he had up his sleeve. “Surely, not my uncle’s return.”

“Hephaestus!” Hades roared. The forceful sound of his call shook the windows. I thought he was going to blow off the roof, the way it rumbled.

I didn’t blame Hades; I hated Hephaestus’s tone. It made me feel so small and helpless. Standing there, everyone looked shocked. When no one responded, Hephaestus continued.

“Hello, uncle. Glad to see you out of jail. It took a little girl to do it, but whatever works, right? Don’t tell me you weren’t expecting me. After all, this place was like home to me. What belongs to Gina belongs to me. Oh, I forgot to mention that Sky’s mom and I got married. I brought her back here to pack her bags; actually, my vultures did it for her. After all, she’s going to be their mom, just as I am their dad.”

“You’re crazy. Your marriage is fake. You can’t force someone to marry you. I don’t care what you say. This is my house too, and you’re not welcome.” I could see veins protruding from Sky’s neck. Her eyes glowed with silvery lights and her fingertips cracked and sizzled. “Where’s my mom?”

“Since your mom and I are officially married, that means this house belongs to me. I want you out of here. And the next time I come back, I don’t want you in this house, or I will be forced to destroy it.”

Hephaestus started to pace the length of the sofa. “You see, Skylar, I had this all planned out. I was going to make your mom the queen of my kingdom and make you the princess, but you had to ruin my plan. I don’t like it when people get in the way. And. You. Got. In. My. Way.” His words came out so evil, I could feel chills down my spine.

“Bring back my mom and I will let you live. This is your last chance,” Sky demanded, but I could tell her words had no effect on Hephaestus when he gave her an evil eye.