I gave her a tight hug and then went to meet my mom in the basement.
*
Mason and I sat on the couch in the basement as my mother, Gavin, Aunt Diya, and Uncle Trent stood over us. My mom approached me with the jar of stinky paste and we all held our breath and flinched.
“God awful. What’s in that?!” I exclaimed as she spun off the top and indicated I reach inside. I was afraid that smell would never come off me. Was Gavin snickering? Bastard.
Jaxon and Avery came down the stairs just in time and plugged their nose. My mom rolled her eyes.
“Probably some deer piss, it helps give clarity in spells to things that are hidden.” Her reply made my hand freeze in mid-air. Deer piss! Oh, hell no.
“I need your help finding your father.” My mother’s tone was loving and demanding at the same time.
“And my mate,” Mason growled. Oh yeah, that too.
Fine. I dipped my hand in the thick paste and frowned at the sticky gelatinous fluid. Rubbing it up and down my arms like Gretchen said to, I was about to ask my mom what to do when all of a sudden the room became a little hazy. I swallowed hard and blinked my eyes rapidly unsure of what I was seeing. Each person in the room had a stunning, colorful aura around their body, it glowed, each uniquely about three feet off their body.
“I think there’s drugs in this,” I exclaimed as my mom’s eyes widened.
How else was I seeing rainbows around everyone?
“Okay. Touch Mason and just let the vision flow. Like I taught you,” my mother encouraged.
As I looked at her, I scanned her aura. Her colors were beautiful, vibrant reds, greens, and a deep indigo blue, but over her heart was a brown blob. I instinctively knew this was over the loss of Luna and missing my father.
“Anya?” My mom’s voice brought me back.
I shook my head. “Sorry, I think Gretchen put too much clarity in this stuff.”
“It’s not drugs, it’s the spell. Hurry before it wears off.” My mom’s words were insistent so I forced myself to focus.
Shaking my head, I finally turned to Mason and reached for his hand. I took both of his hands in mine and I sat there stupidly staring at his aura waiting for a vision to take me. Nothing happened as we sat there in silence for a few moments. I was about to complain when Gavin stepped forward and placed a hand on my back, tingles radiated down my spine and then I was pulled into a vision. It felt like I was riding a roller coaster and then bam! The roller coaster lurched to a stop and I watched a scene unfold before me. It was frightening and I couldn’t blame Gavin for backing out of it but I stayed with it.
My father was strapped to a medical gurney with silver chains, as puffs of smoke flared up from his sizzling skin. I could smell the burning flesh as if I was right in the room. His attention was focused on a girl in a silver cage. She was Mason’s mate, I just knew it. These visions didn’t come with too many words they came with knowing. Her name was Alice and she was Mason’s mate, I was 150% sure. She had long dirty blonde hair that was tinged red with blood, and a feral look in her eyes. Her foot snaked out as she kicked the door of the cage but recoiled when her foot burned.
“I’m going to get us out of here. Don’t panic.” My father’s words floated over to her and she fought back tears but nodded. I knew from my mom that he couldn’t hear me and that I couldn’t help him but I had to know for myself.
“Dad?” I asked but nothing happened. He didn’t look at me, just kept looking at the girl. Shit.
Suddenly a door opened and in walked a tall young man wearing a lab coat. He reeked of fear and I could instantly see he was not the guy in charge, just some lab grunt doing dirty work.
My father pulled on his silver bindings as the man neared. “Let us go! Don’t do this to the peace we have all worked so hard for!”
The guy looked like he was in his early thirties. He chewed his lip nervously and grabbed a large syringe from the table, approaching the cage with the girl in it. She whined restlessly and kicked at the cage door again.
“DON’T touch her!” My father roared and the table nearly tipped over with his thrashing.
The young man suddenly turned on my father, eyes blazing with emotion. “You don’t understand!”
My father’s face fell as if he was caught off guard by the sudden emotion in the young man’s eyes. “Then tell me. What are you doing here? Why are you doing this?”
The young man shook his head. “I’m not allowed to talk to you.”
I instinctively walked toward the young man because I could see the edges of the vision fading away and I didn’t know where they were yet. My mother said she always had a location, a knowing in her visions of where the mate was. As I crouched down low, for the first time since the vision began, I met the girl’s eyes. The second we locked gazes, I knew where they were and the vision faded away.
I came to in the basement with Gavin stroking my hair and Mason looking completely freaked out. Everyone actually looked freaked out, everyone except my mother.
“Did you see him? Is he okay? Where are they?” she bombarded me.
