When Skylar looked up, Mason's eyes were wide, looking astounded. Then she gazed at the palm of her hand. She recalled the pain disappearing quickly, but she would never have imagined it to be like this. Recalling the last time she was wounded, her lips healed faster than she had ever seen any cut on her body heal before. "What did you do?" Her tone was soft but accusing.
"What do you mean, ‘what did I do?' I didn't do anything."
"This is impossible. I had a long gash. It's like I never had the cut."
"Remus healed like this." Mason traced where the wound should have been with the tip of his finger. Shuddering from his sensual touch, Skylar gasped lightly. Then he unwrapped the bandage from the other hand and traced every inch of it. The smooth glide of his touch tickled her, tingling every inch of her body. Then his hand slid up her arm, examining it. Blood rushed to her face, making her hot. She wanted more of this, more of him. Afraid of what he would do next and afraid of what she wanted to do at this very moment, she yanked her arm away.
"I-I don't understand," she stammered.
"I'm just as amazed as you. I don't want my family to know. I'm going to place new swathes on your hands."
After Mason wrapped them, Skylar settled back into the sleeping bag. This time she realized how hard the ground was. Why on earth do people like camping? So far there was nothing pleasant about it. Well, except maybe sharing the same tent with Mr. Rude. Though she was exhausted beyond words, it was nearly impossible to think of sleep, especially while inhabiting the same space with Mason and being intensely aware of his body touching hers.
Skylar stretched her arms up to yawn and lazily opened her eyes. She jerked back when Mason appeared in her line of vision, staring at her. "Were you-like-watching me sleep?" she spluttered.
"Don't flatter yourself. I was just about to wake you up."
Why had she used such a poor choice of words? She should've known Mason would say something insensitive like that. She was almost sure he was lying; but then again, she didn't care.
Embarrassed, she crawled out of the tent first. The sun was rising, lighting the world with golden hues, and revealing a splendid view. She had never seen a sunrise before-she'd never woken up early enough to see one. Just the sight of it warmed her. Though there wasn't much of the land to look at, besides the trees and the mountains, somehow the glowing sun gave beauty to it.
Skylar looked away from the campsite and saw Kayla was ready to go and waved her hand. Kayla shook her head to reply, but Skylar was more interested in looking at Kayla's mangled hair. Since she couldn't tell from that distance, she wondered how Kayla looked after not washing her makeup off. Without changing clothes or refreshing her makeup, she also wondered how she herself looked. As these thoughts surged through her mind, she turned to see Mason packing.
Skylar was staring, but she couldn't help it. The sunlight kissed the tips of his hair and radiated over his body as he stood, creating the illusion he was heaven-sent. His muscles flexed when he stretched and yawned, showing a glimpse of his sexy abs.
Afterward, he folded the tent to a precise size to fit into his backpack. The way he tossed it around his shoulders, sliding his arms through it, made her lose herself in him.
"I know Mason is attractive, but don't make it so obvious," Amanda whispered as she continued to follow Everett's steps.
Skylar blushed. Was she that obvious? After thinking, she knew she was. Darn! Why does he have that effect on me?
After a short distance, they came upon a long bridge. Swaying slightly from side to side, it looked steady enough. Made from wood, each narrow plank was tied to the next with a rope-like material. There was even a safety grip on each side that looked like a fisherman's net. It didn't look too bad from where Skylar stood, but when she approached, her courage faltered.
"Leave your bags here," Amanda ordered. "You won't need them where we're headed, but don't forget to take your flashlight."
After the backpacks were dropped, they stood closer to the bridge.
"I'm not crossing that bridge," Kayla said, shaking her head.
"It'll be fine, Kayla. I've crossed it before." Nick's tone was not convincing.
"Uhhh, is there another way, Everett?" Amanda looked terrified.
"Does it look like there's another way across to the other side? You'll be fine. We've crossed it before. I didn't want to come here in the first place."
"Who told you to come?" Amanda fired back.
Everett eyed Skylar. "We need answers," He nudged Amanda out of the way. "Might as well get this over with." He took a step onto the bridge.
"Hold on to me and close your eyes." Nick draped his arms around Kayla.
"Don't let go," Kayla said, dragging her feet.
Mason extended his hand, gesturing for Skylar to go first. "I'd rather go last. I'm going to take my time." Terrified but trying not to show it, she wanted to stall as long as she could.
Crossing the bridge didn't seem all that bad when Skylar stood on stable ground, but as soon as she took her first step the bridge rocked. It had already been swaying, but it was a whole different story when she felt it. With her hands on the rope to steady herself, she looked straight ahead.
Curiosity got the best of her and she made the mistake of looking down. She couldn't see the bottom since she only looked down for a second, but that was enough to scare the living daylights out of her. Mountains started closing in and so did the clouds. Winded, she took a moment to compose herself.
After telling herself to calm down she proceeded. Though her heart pounded out of her chest and her stomach felt like it would drop, she had to be brave. The gang was almost to the other side, but she was only halfway there. Occasionally, Mason would turn toward her without saying a word. Either he was signaling her to hurry or he cared enough to look back to check on her. She hoped it was the latter.
Suddenly, the bridge rocked harder. The wind wasn't blowing a second ago, but all of a sudden it seemed to come out of nowhere.
"It's started!" Nick yelled, "Run!"
"Run, Skylar!" Mason yelled over his shoulder.
What had started and why did she have to run? She knew now. The wind blew stronger, howling with rage. Shaking violently, the bridge seemed to have a life of its own. She ran as fast as she could, but she fell flat on her face. Her feet slipped into a gap, and she started sliding off the bridge. She would have fallen off if Mason hadn't grabbed her wrist, pulling her up in the nick of time.
Skylar heard Kayla calling out for her, but she couldn't hear the words. Adrenaline zapped through her as the will to survive kicked in. Unable to breathe from the force of the gust, she took short gasps of air, trudging through the wind. They were almost there.
Immediately, the bridge started collapsing, starting where they had taken their first step. Plank by plank, with a ripple effect it plunged. It happened so fast, the section of the bridge underneath her feet plummeted. "Hold on tight to the rope!" Mason bellowed, forced to let go of his hold on her.
Skylar screamed. Grasping the rope for dear life, she was soaring straight ahead. Her body thumped hard against the face of the mountain, sending piercing pain through every nerve, bone, and muscle. Bouncing from the impact, her body slammed against the ridged rocks again. As she looked up, she could see that Mason gripped the same rope she was clinging to.
"Hold on, Skylar," Mason yelled. "Whatever you do, don't let go. Do you hear me?"
"Okay, Mason," Skylar mumbled, but her voice wouldn't carry since she was too afraid to move even her lips. Tears streamed down her face. She had never been so scared in her life. Sure, running away from the vultures and almost drowning was pretty scary, but falling to her death was even worse.
"Hold on, Mason!" Nick hollered. "Everett and I are pulling you guys up. This would've been a piece of cake if our powers weren't limited here."
"Hurry up. Get Skylar up. She won't be able to hold on much longer." Mason looked down at her.
Skylar was more than elated that the wind had died down and the rope sliding upward gave her hope, knowing they were being pulled up. Not having much upper body strength, her arms burned and trembled. Her palms were moist, making them slippery, and sweat trickled along her forehead.
Luckily, Mason had made Skylar keep the swathes on her hands. They helped her keep her grip somewhat, but weren't going to stop her from slipping. With shooting pains all over her body, she held on as tightly as she could. Though she knew she shouldn't, she had a strong urge to look down again.
"No no no! Don't look down." Mason had reached the top, but they had to stop pulling. The rope was unthreading itself from the weight. "Skylar, look at me. Give me your hand."