From Gods (Descendant Prophecies Book 1)(43)

With a nod from Skylar, Mason put on the rubber gloves, squatted down,  and cut Skylar's blood-soaked sweater and shirt with the scissors, just  enough to be able to see the wound clearly. Then he soaked the cotton  ball with rubbing alcohol and dabbed it on the open wound. Skylar yelped  in pain.

"Sorry," Mason said, looking distraught.

Skylar wanted to faint and the room became dim and blurry. Her whole  body burned as if she had been tossed into a fire. The intensity of the  pain grew and the rubbing alcohol didn't help, but she knew why it was  needed. She turned her head, trying to think of anything but what Mason  needed to do. When he reached in with the tweezers, her breathing became  heavy and jagged, and the pain that had started to ease up erupted  again, pinching every nerve and muscle. At last, he pulled the bullet  out.

"It's done." Mason took the towel and cleaned the surrounding area. Then  he tore off a section of his shirt and wrapped it around the wound.  With the gloves still on, he cleaned the mess on the floor and tossed  everything into the trash can.

"Thank you," Skylar whispered, looking half asleep. Her eyes felt heavy,  fluttering desperately as she tried to keep them open. She gazed at  Mason with admiration, thinking what an incredible being he was. She  silently thanked him for being there, for caring enough, though he  denied it. The pain had already started to subside which was a good  sign. It meant she was healing.

"Sky?" Mason kneeled in front of her. "Has the pain lessened any?"

"Yes, mmm, tired." Uncontrollably her eyes shut, and she could hardly get any words out.

"Now you owe me two shirts."

"Okay."

"I'm going to take you home with me. I'll feel better if you're with me while you heal."

"Mmmm, don't stare." She let out a small faint giggle.

"You took my words. And I'm not staring," he snorted.

"You're. Still. Staring."

Her body had just been through so much stress that she lost the fight to  stay awake. Just before she fell asleep, though she wasn't absolutely  sure, she thought she heard what sounded like a whisper that tugged at  her heart, "I'll always stare at you, Sky."





By the time they reached Mason's house, Skylar was feeling much better.  Though the pain still lingered and the wound had not quite healed all  the way, it was bearable. The nap she had taken in the car gave her a  second wind so she was wide-awake when Mason drove up the driveway.

"I'm feeling much better. I guess I should have asked you to take me back to my dorm," Skylar said.

Mason turned off the ignition. "It's close to midnight. I think it's  safer for you to stay here for tonight. Your roommate is fine. She won't  remember a thing when she wakes up in the morning. You've been through  so much lately. I don't know how you've managed to stay calm."         

     



 

"I'm really not calm. I'm actually terrified. I have something those  evil beings want." Then it dawned on her. She hadn't thought about the  night the vultures ransacked Kayla's house in a while, but now the  answer was clear. "Mason, the vultures were looking for me the night  they broke into Kayla's house. They weren't looking for something  tangible. They were looking for me. After they figured out I lived  there, the robberies in the area stopped."

"I know. I didn't know it at the time, but I realized it later when Alena explained about who you were."

"Oh." It was all she could say, and she started to shiver. With the heater turned off, it got cold in the car.

"Let's get inside the house. Plus, we're fogging up the windows. If they see us out here, they'll think we're making out."

Skylar felt her cheeks heat up with his words.

"Nick texted me several times to make sure we were on our way. He must be worried. I didn't respond."

"Why didn't you text him back?"

"I was driving. Remember what I said to you about texting and driving?"

Skylar rolled her eyes. How could she ever forget the hot cop that  pulled her over and told her texting while driving was illegal? "Yes."

"Well, Ms. Rome. Shall we go in?"

With a nod, they got out of the car and walked into the house. Seeing a  dim light coming from the kitchen, Mason led Skylar in that direction.  Amanda, Nick, and Everett were sitting at the rectangular oak dining  table with mugs in front of them. Seeing steam rising from their mugs,  Skylar knew they were drinking something warm. She wanted to do the  same.

"Where the hell were you?" Nick asked, looking annoyed.

"Obviously, I was in the car and on my way here." Mason responded stoically.

"Man, you are a demigod. You can still text me back and not crash your  stupid car. Next time you don't answer my text, especially since Alena  is something to worry about, I'm going to obliterate you myself. Got  that?"

Mason stuck his hands inside the front pockets of his jeans and stood  there listening, allowing Nick to have his say. "Are you done now?"

"No," Nick snapped and then turned to Skylar. "I'm glad you're doing  better. You look great for someone who just got shot. I'm not used to  thinking you're somewhat like us, kind of, I guess." He shook his head  as if he was thinking he should just keep his mouth shut.

Mason pulled out a chair for Skylar, gesturing for her to sit. He  sauntered out of the kitchen and came back after a few minutes with a  light blanket. After tossing the blanket around her shoulders, he went  to the stove and came back with two mugs of hot tea, placing one in  front of Skylar.

"Thank you." Skylar cupped the mug with both of her hands, taking in the  heat and then took a sip. It was green tea, just what she needed at  that moment. Warmth traveled from her head to her toes, soothing and  calming her. Gazing upon her friends, she noticed they were fidgeting,  shifting their bodies from side to side. Sometimes their lips parted to  speak, but instead they kept their mouths shut.

"What are we going to do about Alena?" Everett finally spoke, breaking the silence.

"You said you followed her. Why didn't you tell us?" Amanda leaned over  the table as if she could draw the answer out of him. "Mason, you've got  to stop taking matters into your own hands. You're too worried about  our lives. Have you thought about how we would feel if we lost you?"

Dead silence.

Mason was just about to take a sip. His mug was to his lips but he  didn't drink. Instead, he placed it back on the table. "This isn't about  my mother."

"Oh, the hell it isn't and you know it." Amanda's tone was angrier. "You  can't blame her death on yourself. You didn't know who you were. We've  all lost loved ones, so stop sacrificing your life to wash away that  guilt."

"Amanda is right, Mason. We've all lost our parents. I also wished that I  could have done something, but I know now that I was overwhelmed with  all the weird and unbelievable craziness. We've lived together for many  years, but like roommates. It's time that we start acting like brothers  and work as a team," Everett urged. "Maybe if things were better between  us, Remus would have been different. I don't think he was all bad. I  know he had a temper and was crazy at times, but maybe that was his way  of coping."

Guilt wrapped around Skylar's heart. Hearing about Remus made sorrow  consume her again, especially after hearing Everett's speech about how  it might have been Remus's coping mechanism. She was astounded that  those words had even come out of Everett's mouth. Though she disliked  him, she was seeing a different side of him. Perhaps she had made up her  mind about him too soon. Knowing a little of how they had lived during  the past years, she became sympathetic. Truly, she had no idea what  they'd had to endure.         

     



 

It must have been beyond difficult for them to lose their loved ones and  then find out their father was a descendant of Zeus, who'd had numerous  affairs just to keep his family line going. Not only had they dealt  with the loss of their parents at an early age, they had been forced to  accept who they were and the powers that had been bestowed upon them.

While it must have been frightening, perhaps equally terrifying was  having had to constantly look over their shoulders for Hades's  creatures. It was certainly not a vision of an ideal life, but they  seemed to have adjusted and accepted who they were. Skylar gave them  each a lot of credit for their inner strength and courage that had  allowed them to move forward. But even with all she realized, she also  admitted to herself that it did not justify Remus's actions toward her.

"So now that we've all said our piece, what do we do about Alena?" Nick  brought the subject up again as he traced the rim of the mug with his  fingertip. Wiggling his fingers, he pointed his index finger into the  mug and a light flashed.

Startled by the sudden burst of light, everyone's eyes zoomed to Nick with alarm.