Grounded
Page 22
It rang for less than a second when a female voice picked up on the other line.
“Avery?” Leela’s voice flittered through static.
“Hey. Did you make it home alright?” Avery asked. The fatigue sounded in her voice and she slumped back against the wall. Her eyes trailed around making sure the hallway was clear. The only thing nearby was a bulletin board on the wall with papers and pictures affixed. Avery gazed over the wanted posters idly.
“Forget me! Where are you? Are you okay?” Leela answered on the other line.
“Yea. I made it to the harpie island.”
“And Mikhail?”
Avery spoke carefully.
“Gone.”
Leela let out a hissing breath on the other line.
“It’s okay. What about Adalyn and Eva?” Leela quizzed methodically.
“Eva took off like we expected. She stole the Willow magic from Mikhail. Mason told me that Adalyn bailed out after the incident at Samuel’s compound.” After what happened to her father, Avery didn’t blame the girl. “She’ll show up though. She always does.”
“What about that last one-- Patrick?”
Avery opened her mouth but then paused. It hit her like a brick wall.
“Leela, don’t freak but I gotta go.” She let the phone fall to her side. Standing up, she lumbered forward. Her eyes had been on it for ten minutes but she hadn’t really seen it until then. The bulletin board in front of her showed a familiar face. Though dirty and rugged with facial hair Avery recognized one of the harpies staring out of the photo.
Her eyes dropped to the name.
“Patrick Smith.” She read aloud. Her heart skipped a beat. It was really him. Her eyes went to the text around the photo.
“Wanted Dead or Alive. Escaped from prison in September...”
Backing away, Avery pressed a hand to her temple. Everything Patrick had said came together at once.
“What’s the deal with the gates? Are you guys locked in here at night?” He’d said once, concerned.
“I just came out of a bad place. Worse than you could probably imagine.”
She remembered where Adalyn had met Patrick too, during the battle that brought the prison down. Patrick must have escaped and owed Adalyn for saving him. It all made more sense than Avery would have liked.
She didn’t get to think on it long. The sound of her name had her glance up. Mason stood at the end of the hall beckoning her forward.
“Hey,” She glanced around the room. Harpies lingered nearby but all remained in deep conversation with each other. They wouldn’t even realize Avery was there. “We might have a problem.” She said when she reached him.
“Yea, we have a lot of problems. But none of those have to happen right now.”
“Patrick--”
He cut her off with a finger on her lips.
“I know now too. But don’t worry about it today.” He reached out for her hands and guided her back outside.
“Did everything go alright with the Counsel?”
Mason made a face.
“Yes. I guess. I am the rightful heir. That won’t stop the bickering. But I’m awesome. No one can stop me. Not even Mikhail.” He offered a cocky smile.
“I was there too!” Avery said, feigning annoyance. His smile was affecting her too much today. Matched with his green eyes, she was having a hard time being mad. This was a totally new view of Mason and she wasn’t taking it on pace.
“I did ninety-nine percent of the work. But I think I’ll let you mooch some glory.” He leaned forward and kissed her, cutting off any retort she might have had.
His lips were warm and his right hand slid over the small of her back pressing her closer. The height difference had her leaning back but the position managed to be a perfect fit. They broke for air.
Avery’s cheeks were on fire. She let out a breath to calm herself but one alone didn’t work. She breathed again and again. Avery wasn’t the diehard romantic but that also left her unsure how to respond without blushing and crying. She tried to maintain her reaction.
“I’ll have to take some time to get used to all this.” She admitted but Mason’s face didn’t change.
“You’ll have time. There’s going to a bunch of stuff going down first. Trust me. You have no idea what’s coming next.”
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