Chapter Thirteen - Could she help me?

Mason Hart

I awoke and felt great. I stretched into the air and then yawned loudly, before opening my eyes and inspecting my surroundings. I was in my bed, in my room back at the faction house. I got up and sorted myself out in the bathroom, pee, shower, shave, teeth and hair brushed the full works. I felt incredible and was ready to get back to work. I got dressed, then left my room. As I walked down the hall, I heard Carmen chatting away to someone. When she reached the top of the stairs, she stopped dead in her tracks and stared at me in shock. She pulled the cell away from her ear while saying,
“Um, I’ll have to call you back…”
She ended the call and gradually pushed her phone into her front jeans pocket. I didn’t bother to slow down, I was starving, so I pulled her in for a hug and spun her around, maneuvering her out of my way.
“Good morning Carmen, beautiful day isn’t it?”
“Uh, yeah,” she replied quietly. “Mason?” She called out after me.
“Yeah?” I replied without turning around and continued my way down the stairs.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Never better.”
I virtually skipped down the last few steps and headed along the hall to the dining room. As I entered the dining room, I heard Carmen running back down the stairs. I went into the kitchen and opened up the refrigerator and grabbed all the ingredients to make pancakes with bacon and maple syrup. After making my pancakes and bacon, I made a cup of coffee with extra sugar and headed back into the dining room.
“Er, hey guys,” I addressed the now full dining table of people. “Sorry, I didn’t make enough for everyone,” I said with a chuckle as I sat at the head of the table.
I tucked into my breakfast, and as I chewed on my bacon, I could feel all eyes on me. It was starting to piss me off, so I threw my cutlery down and eyeballed the lot of them.
“What!? Do I have food on my face or something?”
Amelia looked at Evan and then over to her aunt and cousins. With a sigh she said,
“So, I guess I’m gonna be the one to ask?” the others shrugged at her. “Uh, fine. Mason, how you feeling?”
“I feel great. Why?”
“You don’t remember anything from the last few weeks?” She asked with curiosity.
“Of course, I do. It’s been business as usual. Helping you run the faction since your dad died, and hunting down vampire and rogue scum,” I replied casually while picking up my fork and stabbing it into a piece of bacon. “Why would I forget the last few weeks? Has something happened?” I asked then shoved the entire strip of bacon into my mouth.
“No, nothing. Amelia has just been drinking a little too much lately and has been forgetting things. She wondered if others had the same, that’s all,” Evan jumped into the conversation.
“Well, that’s what happens when kids drink.”
“Hey, screw you, I'm not a kid. I’m your Fionn remember?” She snapped back and hurled a knife at my head.
I dodged it, letting it hit the wall behind me and fall to the floor with a clunk. Evan burst out laughing as Carmen and Imogen gasped. I looked up at Amelia while biting off a small chunk of pancake off of my fork. I shot her a wink and she scowled at me in response. I smiled at her and she couldn’t help but smile back. I’d never noticed her beautiful eyes before. She was definitely an attractive girl.
Well, woman now, since her eighteenth and officially taking over as Fionn. I don’t know why I hadn’t seen her in that way before. Maybe because she was Damien’s daughter, or that she was like a little sister to me. Whatever was holding me back before, it certainly wouldn’t be holding me back anymore. I knew she wasn’t my Fianna, but no one in our faction was her Fennid, so there was nothing to say that I couldn’t be her chosen partner.
She blushed slightly when I’d been staring at her a little too long. Evan clocked me checking her out and shook his head, and had a sad expression. I thought he'd be the first to tell me to go for it, the guy was a hound dog. Carmen was giving me daggers, but I expected no less from her, she'd been after me for years. I glanced back at Amelia as she tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, and when she bit her lip, I could have launched myself across that table.
I gulped as her eyes met mine and my dick sprung to attention, making me adjust myself in my seat. She smirked at me when I squirmed around trying to relieve the pressure it was causing as my dick tried bursting out of my jeans. Imogen glared at me and stood up, scraping her chair along the floor with the backs of her legs. She looked so upset, and I couldn’t work out why. She had never shown me that she liked me in that way, so I was shocked when she began to sob and ran out of the room.
“What’s up with her?” I asked her mom.
“Nothing, she’s fine. Come on Carmen, we’ll go and check on her.”
Carmen shot me another dirty look, but did what her mom asked, without hesitation. Although the way she stormed out of the room was comical to me. I had no idea why seeing her angry cheered me up. I stared back at Amelia, her gorgeous face drawing me in more and more. Evan began to talk but I wasn’t paying much attention, and didn’t hear a word he said.
“Mason!” He snapped.
“Huh?” I replied not taking my eyes off of Amelia.
“I’m leaving for a few days, you know, heading for my secret place? You gonna be okay here?”
“Yeah sure.”
“Okay, call me if you need anything. And remember don’t mention, you know,” he leaned in and whispered into Amelia's ear.
I was a little curious about what he didn’t want her to mention, but I guessed it was faction business, and I’m sure they could handle it between themselves. He waved his hand in front of my face saying goodbye, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. Maybe it was the Fionn connection, I wasn’t sure, but I wanted to find out where it would lead. Evan said his goodbyes to Amelia, then left, leaving me to pursue my urges.



Freya Rose

“Where the hell has she gone now? The girl’s giving me whiplash, with all her teleporting.”
Savanah chuckled and pointed up to the roof of the cabin. Lucy was sat there, eyes closed and not moving.
“Is she meditating?”
“I think so, yeah,” Savanah replied with a giggle.
“Well, I’m heading in. Tell her to come join us when she’s cooled down. I don’t think the girl has ever seen a naked man before. Now she’s seen three,” I laughed as I walked off into the cabin.
Lorena hurried past me with some clothes for Draco.
“Hey, Lorena?” I called out to her. She turned around to look at me. “Can you two head off into the woods for a few hours? We have some adult stuff to sort with this girl on the roof.”
“Oh my God, there’s a girl on the roof? So, she going to jump? Is she okay?”
“She’s been scared half to death by these guys and their man bits,” I replied while pointing with my thumb back at the guys in the living room.
“Huh?” She asked with a confused expression.
I shook my head and replied,
“Never mind. She's fine. But we have stuff to discuss and it would be better if the house wasn’t full. If that’s okay?”
“Yeah, sure. There was a beautiful spot I found the other day that I’d been wanting to show Draco.”
“Brilliant, thank you.”
She smiled and nodded her head, then sprinted off towards the giant gray dragon in the yard. I watched as Savanah ascended, spreading out her opaque wings, then flew up onto the roof. I’m sure she would have an in-depth conversation with Lucy. She always had a way of dragging what she wanted out of people, but she was always so softly spoken and calm, that you just trusted her with your inner thoughts and feelings.
I was sure there was something special about Savanah, I’d felt it from the first time I saw her, and I could taste the energy inside her when I turned her from hunter into a hunter/werewolf hybrid. She was a very unique being, but I couldn’t put my finger on what made her so special. Either way, I was glad to have her as my best friend, and my closest confidant.
I strolled into the lounge and motioned for Odin to get out of my armchair. He did as instructed, then tried to squeeze his large frame in between Jax and Nick. Tana laid stretched out on the other couch. After a few seconds of being pushed around, Nick got up with a huff and headed to the kitchen. I heard him rattling around in the refrigerator, before opening up some bottles. He brought me a beer, then handed one to Odin and Jax. He then tapped Tana on the leg with another bottle, telling her to move her legs. She did while taking the beer from him. I took a few gulps of my beer then addressed the group,
“So, who fancies a barbeque tonight?’
They all perked up at the idea of a party.
“What, with drinks and music?” Tana asked excitedly.
“Sure, why not. But you guys have to go shopping for me.”
I expected them to argue a little. They could be lazy at times, but they were so happy with the idea of letting loose they all jumped up, dumped their beers on the table and ran out of the cabin. I chuckled at them; I really loved those goofy guys. I sat back and rested my head on the back of the armchair while stretching my legs out to put my feet on the table. Just as I got comfy there was a knock at the door. I didn’t bother sniffing the air to see who it was. I just assumed it was one of the guys forgetting something. I got up and strolled over to the door. I flung it open without even looking who it was.
“Just grab what you forgot and leave me in peace.”
“I’ll take one of those beers if there’s one going spare, Sweet-cheeks.”
“Evan?” I screamed out in shock, before turning and throwing myself into his arms.

Lucy

Breathe, Lucy, breathe. In through your nose, out through your mouth. Going through the familiar motions, I could hear my half-brother Kreon’s voice giving instructions inside my head, calming me down. Technically, I didn’t even need to breathe, or eat. True Angels could survive without food, or air, but I had been raised like a human child in many ways, going to a regular High School, learning to blend in. Breathing calmed me down. Being a Guardian Angel, I was sworn to protect my world and its inhabitants. Acting like one of them made things easier, the time when the humans had worshipped some of us as Gods long gone. People didn’t believe in our existence anymore. As consequence, we had adapted to human ways.
A sob shook my body, shattering my fragile composure. This wasn’t the world I had sworn to protect. Following Kali’s despair to the source, I had accidentally flashed realms. There was nothing in the old records about the existence of different realms, let alone about how to reach them. After returning from the Overlook Hotel, curiosity about their existence had spurred me into researching The Chariot’s vast library, discovering … nothing. What if I was stranded here? How could I get back home without understanding how I’d ended up here? Dad would freak out, discovering me gone. He’d ground me again for sure if I ever made it back, adult or not.
I stiffened when a pair of gentle arms wrapped themselves around me, a familiar presence touching my mind. Myra, I sobbed.
Sorry, sweets, I’m not Myra. My name is Savanah, the voice in my head replied softly. How could she sound, and feel, so much like my best friend? She felt like home, I realized. Except for the disgusting wet dog taste of a werewolf, her energies vibrated in tune with mine.
Eyes snapping open, I pushed her an arm's length away, scrutinizing her face. No, not Myra. Older. The chin a bit more pronounced, the slant of the eyebrows matching those of Riel, Myra’s great-grandfather. She didn’t belong here, in this realm, she was definitely related to Archangel Gabriel, mind-reading ability included. Was she here out of her own, free will, or had she been abducted? How had she ended up here? Could she help me to return home?
I watched in horror as Savanah’s features contorted in pain. A high-pitched wail escaped her lips, her hands gripping my shoulders with a force that would have broken a human’s bones. A jumble of memories reached my mind, fractured, out of context snippets, containing pictures of a younger-looking Riel, a beautiful, blonde-haired woman, an unfamiliar landscape, a simple hut with a fireplace. The face of a young girl, mirrored in the calm surface of a pond. Savanah as a child, I realized.
More impressions came crashing down on me. She was older now, walking a place I remembered from my half-brother Kreon’s memories. The Oracle of Delphi. In her memories, the place wasn’t in shambles, but well maintained. A woman clad in elaborate robes and jewelry was sitting next to a cushion with a shimmering crystal sphere.
“Iaoel!” I gasped aloud. The gentle, withdrawn Angel of Visions had been imprisoned into the Pythia’s crystal sphere for several centuries, then found by Kreon after the Oracle of Delphi had been abandoned. My own memory was pushed away by another fragment of Savanah’s.
Her hands, covering the crystal. A blinding light, a burning tingle on her back, her feet leaving the ground, utter confusion. I knew what had happened. Touching the sphere, she had received a drop of Iaoel’s energy, turning her from un-winged to winged half-Angel.
The elation of flying the first time. Riel teaching her to flash. The disconcerting feeling of being watched. Then, one evening, strong hands encircling her from behind, blocking her airways to stifle a scream. Unfamiliar energy blocking her mental call, wrapping her mind in a white haze, followed by darkness. Fever cramps, a burning emptiness inside her mind where the presence of her family had once been. Her spirit breaking from the pain inside her heart …
Oh, my goodness! She had blocked out all memories of her past, then pieced herself together again by finding new friends, a new family. Now, my presence had returned those blocked memories, leaving her broken and trembling in my grasp.
“Shhh, it’s okay love,” I whispered, opening my mind, holding her close. Extending my wings, I wrapped us in warm light.