From Deities by Mary Ting Page A

choice. It was the safest place.”
    I felt horrible. Many times before, Kayla had to be knocked out, but at least she was safe and that was all that mattered.
    “What do we do?” Amanda asked. “We’re just standing here in ninja stance, having a staring contest.”
    “Maybe they’re not vultures?” Everett added.
    “They sure smell like them,” Nick sneered.
    “Maybe they’re scared shitless. I would be too if I had those things pointing at me,” Nick commented.
    “What do you want?” Mason asked the strangers in an authoritative tone, and asked another when there was no answer. “Who sent you?”
    Without a word, they dashed out of there in the blink of an eye, leaving behind a breeze and odor that made me cringe. Just before they escaped, the icicle spears from the ceiling flew toward them. Howling, angry sounds indicated some were hit, but the remaining spears dropped to the floor, creating multiple small puddles.
    “Sky, are you okay?” Mason whipped me to him, embracing me, but not tightly. Pulling away, he held up my hands. “How? You can move at the same speed as us?”
    “You’re not scared of me, are you?” I joked, recalling Mason’s words when I first saw him work his powers. When he just stared in awe, I lost the humor and continued, “I don’t know.” I shook my head, releasing the heavy breath I was holding. When I saw Tim from the corner of my eye, I turned to him. Noah, and a few others I didn’t recognize, were standing before me.
    “Everyone okay?” Noah nodded in greeting.
    “When did you get here?” Mason asked, looking annoyed.
    “We’ve been here long enough to know you needed our help. Where you go, we go.”
    Mason arched his brow as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard, and rolled his eyes. “Oh, joy.”
    “I know you’re not happy, but her father asked us to,” Noah retorted, and his usual calm tone became serious. “You have no idea what and whom you’re dealing with. You’ve been hiding, pretending to live like humans, but you haven’t seen anything yet. There is a whole different world out there. Things you’ve never seen or heard about. There is a war coming and we need to work together.”
    Mason scowled and nodded, acknowledging his words, as if he had heard them for the hundredth time. “I know. Don’t remind me.”
    “What the hell were they?” Nick asked, and then turned to me. “And what, how and…when?”
    I understood his confusion. I was just as baffled as he was. “I don’t know.” It was all I could say as I flexed my fingers, examining them, feeling the heat diminish.
    “Hey, guys,” Amanda intervened, looking up. “Did you forget? There are still some left. Do you think you can get rid of the pointy looking things? I don’t want one of those things to accidently fall on us. ”
    “Oh, sorry.” Tim shrugged his shoulders apologetically. With a wave of the Poseidon’s descendant’s hand, the icicle-shaped objects formed into liquid round balls. They rolled to the corner of the room, then poured down like a soft waterfall.
    “Look,” Noah started again, snapping everyone’s attention to him. “Those things you just witnessed are vultures, but they don’t need to change in form to have their powers. They are a new species. Someone is changing their DNA structures, and I’m afraid of what other things will evolve. We have no idea who is doing this or what their motives are, but until we find out, we need to stick together. So you get it now?”
    Mason didn’t budge or blink. He just stood there while his eyes were focused on Noah’s, looking like he was either trying to soak in his words, or he’d just blanked out.
    Nick draped his arms around Mason’s shoulder with a look of concern, but like always, Nick tried to lighten the mood. “My brother,” Nick lightly shook Mason, “he’s a little bit slow today, but I think he understands now. You and your friends are welcome to follow us any time. Right,