Star Eater
Chapter Twenty-Two

Mason stared into the principal’s office using his flashlight but he didn’t see anyone. He could have sworn he’d heard the squeak of sneakers earlier and a grunt just now. There was no one in there and all Mason’s strained senses could pick up was some noise from the basement. Probably rats.

Unsettled, Mason went back to the cabinet and finished photographing the file. He put the folder back and closed the drawer. Then he turned his flashlight off, transformed, and hopped onto the Plains.

On Earth, the school was a solid seven miles from his home. But via the Plains, it was a little over a mile. Mason had marked the karate dojo for himself, when they opened it two years ago. Every now and then, he snuck away to meditate or practice forms. Tonight his home away from home had paid off. He’d photographed Kai’s entire file with no one, especially his uncle, the wiser.

Earlier, he’d been called into Joseph’s office to discuss Kai. Joseph had demanded answers, answers that Mason didn’t have. Mason managed to skate by with the information he’d learned from Kai’s wallet. He told his uncle about Kai’s love for frozen yogurt and how he hung out on Ventura Boulevard. This seemed to mollify Joseph with the appearance that Mason was at least trying.

Then Joseph had questioned Mason about Kai’s friends and Mason had told him about Link. From what Mason gathered, Kai didn’t seem to have any other friends, except for maybe Ava and she wasn’t talking. Mason certainly wasn’t going to throw her to the lions, not even with his uncle’s will pressing him into the floorboards.

“It is imperative that you earn his trust,” Joseph said.

“May I ask why?” Mason said.

“Earn his trust, bring him around to us, and I might tell you,” Joseph had said, releasing him.

Mason blinked. He wasn’t allowed to have guests or friends at the compound.

“You mean… bring him here physically?”

Joseph nodded. “If you can convince him to come here of his own free will, I’ll take care of the rest. And you will have proven to me that you’re not completely worthless.”

Joseph sneered then, but Mason had a feeling it was aimed more at his frustration than particularly at Mason.

If Mason was to learn to be Kai’s friend, he was going to need information. At practice earlier, he had tried grilling Link without seeming like he was looking for answers. The other boy had given Mason a knowing look and grinned, but only said Mason should really ask Kai himself. Mason didn’t know what the hell Link thought and he didn’t care.

Mason would have preferred a more direct line of questioning, but Kai refused to come to karate. Even at lunch, Mason couldn’t find the damn kid in the cafeteria. It was all very annoying.

Then again, if Mason had found Kai and, more than likely, Link with him, he had no clue what he would have said. The truth was Mason wasn’t really good at playing friends. He was aware that he made his peers uncomfortable. Between his family’s organization and his mannerisms, Mason understood he wasn’t easy to be around. And that was before his father had been arrested for murder.

The majority of the divide came from focus and interest. Mason was focused on finding the case and interested in keeping himself and his real family, Ava and his mother, alive. Most guys his age were focused on females and college and interested in sex and sports, with television and pop culture thrown in the mix for added flavor.

Mason staunchly avoided girls as a general rule, not because of his sexuality, but because he was afraid of what might happen should he get too close. He’d had one girlfriend sophomore year, Alicia Jackson. God, had she been hot—all dark skin and lush lips, muscled thighs and attitude. He had fallen for her while watching her read a poem from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and asked her out that afternoon. She’d accepted and they’d dated for three months.

Both of them had been people of high passion. Mason thought that all his lust and angst was totally normal and unrelated to being a daemon. But as the weeks passed and Alicia complained more and more of the bruises he left and, finally, of the deep cuts where his claws had accidentally slipped out onto her knee, it became clear this wasn’t a teenage-boy-hormone thing. She’d been okay to continue seeing him as long as she could tie him down. He’d allowed it once, the first time they’d had sex, and then he’d broken it off.

Alicia despised him now. She thought he’d been after getting her in bed the whole time. That wasn’t true. The reality was, Mason had come too close to losing control. The cheap leather bonds she’d bought weren’t going to hold him and sex had brought out a side of his hunger he did not trust. There was a part of him that wanted to tear her apart.

Mason stopped doing anything fun after that. He refocused on karate, bushido, and on building a plan that freed him and his family from the daemon curse. He didn’t watch television because he was busy practicing martial arts or studying. Practicing for the day the inevitable battle with his father and/or uncle came, because it would come. Studying because he had hoped to go to college.

The difference between Mason and his peers was as vast as the differences between Earth and the Plains. Mason lived in another world, another era, and it didn’t matter how much he wanted out, he couldn’t just blink into a normal life the way he could blink back into another reality. If he didn’t find the case, he would never be able to blink out of his life. And neither would Ava.

A rise of bile filled his throat and Mason swallowed it. There was no time for thinking about that now. He needed to do as his uncle asked until he could find the case. He only prayed that as Joseph’s investigation continued, they’d find a traitor and trot out his quarry to use as punishment. At that point, Mason would have to move fast, but he was already as prepared as he could be.

He had a stash of cash in his room and also a backup stash in an old Jeep he’d bought the minute he’d gotten his license. It was parked in a rented, empty lot not far from the compound. A place he could get to easily with Ava and his mother, who didn’t walk well anymore. Not after father pushed her down the stairs, he thought angrily.

He’d obtained fake passports for all three of them, which were also hidden in the Jeep. He’d even opened a secret bank account in Ava’s name and been steadily depositing money in there for the last few years. She wasn’t aware of it, but he had left her a letter should anything happen to him. He’d put up as many contingency plans as he could so that when he had that case in hand, they could disappear. The case was the last piece, guaranteeing his future and, more importantly, Ava’s safety.

Logic dictates he will bring out the case when the traitor is found and Joseph will find him. Mason had no doubts about that. I just need to wait until he brings it to me. For now: Kai.

Back in his room, Mason studied the file. Wow, this kid has a lot of problems. The medications listed for him were serious. Mason Googled each one, trying to form a clearer picture of Kai. But the scrawny freshman presented more mysteries than answers.

Kai had been diagnosed with narcolepsy at age six. Yet the kid was solid muscle with the body of a runner. How had he managed to maintain his physique with narcolepsy? Mason didn’t know much about the disorder, so he looked it up. The long list of symptoms said life was complicated, but gave no indication about why Kai was special. He had no history of violence or aggression. What does a kid whose apparent super power is to fall asleep have anything to do with getting Father out of jail?

After some thought, Mason dismissed the idea of ransacking Joseph’s office for more information. It was too risky, especially with everyone on high alert. Outside, Mason heard the sound of wheels crunching gravel. He went to the window and saw Cole open a car door for Joseph. The latter slid out and the two exchanged words. Joseph seemed irritated. Even in the dim light, Mason saw Cole pale as he was scolded. Yes, Joseph was definitely irritated. The two looked like actors in a play overdramatizing an argument. Except this was tame for daemons. Mason would have loved to know what the problem was, but even his sharp senses couldn’t pick up sounds that far away, and the two retreated up to the house.

Mason retook his seat, his mind turning back to the problem of Kai Davault. For a split second, Mason considered that maybe Kai wasn’t the target. However, the parents weren’t particularly noteworthy. Mrs. Davault was often abroad, a bioengineer for a large pharmaceutical company. Mr. Davault was a professional fundraiser who spent most of his time organizing charity events.

And then there is the handprint, Mason thought rubbing his ribs where Kai had burned him. He’d found a handprint with clawed tips. The skin was still sensitive, even though it had healed preternaturally fast. No, Kai was not what he seemed. Mason just didn’t know what he was.

The last piece that made zero sense was the sodamide, the white powder Mason had found in Kai’s bag. He’d had the sample sent out to a private lab and tested, not trusting his own skills with such a dangerous material. The results came back as sodium amide or sodamide, an inorganic compound very highly reactive to water, which explained how it melted the plastic bottle.

Kai Davault definitely presented more mysteries than answers. But the file did give some information for Mason to pass on to his uncle. Now Joseph wanted Kai here, in his place of power, where he could overwhelm him. Mason felt a pang of guilt at the idea of dragging that tiny kid into a daemon’s clan house. But if it came to Kai or his family, Mason would do what he needed to do, which reminded him.

Ava was working on her homework in her room when he came to the door. Mason leaned on the doorjamb and watched her concentrating hard on the letters.

“It’s creepy when you stand there like that,” she said.

Mason came in and closed the door behind him. He sat on her bed.

“We need to talk about Kai,” he said.

Ava didn’t say anything but continued her letters. Mason sighed.

“Joseph is going to want something from me, Ava, and that kid won’t talk to me. But he talks to you, doesn’t he? His face lit up when I mentioned your name.”

“It did?” she asked, glancing back at him. There was a light blush across her cheeks and hope in her voice.

“You had to go for the scrawniest kid ever, didn’t you?” Mason asked sourly.

“He’s not scrawny,” she defended, blushing harder. “He’s… he’s a runner.” She went back to her letters. Mason waited, hoping she would cave. She spelled ‘chemistry’ wrong, noticed, sighed and sat back.

“Fine,” he said, standing. “I’ll just sneak into Joseph’s study and find out for myself.”

“No,” she said whirling around, her voice barely audible. “You can’t do that, Mason. You can’t go back in there.”

Frowning, he turned to her.

“How do you know I searched it in the first place?”

Ava’s eyes widened more. She looked so like their mom, and just as breakable. Then her eyes hardened, and he saw the other side of the family come out just a bit.

“You’re not as sneaky as you think,” she said and stood up.

She opened the door and glanced both ways, closing it again. Then she pulled out a noise machine and flicked it on. When had she gotten a noise machine?

“They are searching for a traitor now,” she said. “What would happen if you got caught?”

His thoughts exactly. “How do you know this?” he asked.

“Servants talk,” she said. “They forget I’m there, sometimes, when I’m with mother. One was punished,” she hesitated, “for touching something on Joseph’s desk the other night when they dropped off some boxes.”

“What were in the boxes?” Mason asked.

“Children’s books,” she said softly. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ (F)indNƟvᴇl.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Mason frowned. What the hell did children’s books have to do with anything?

“Kai is special,” she said. “He’s not like you.”

“But he’s not human,” Mason said. Ava shook her head.

“I think Joseph wants to use him to tamper with the FBI.” She was speaking so low, even Mason’s sharp ears could barely hear her. He approved of her caution. “It’s more dangerous than ever,” she said. “You cannot go back to Joseph’s study, you can’t be caught anywhere you shouldn’t be. They will kill you without hesitation.” Ava met his eyes, pleading. “And you can’t let them use Kai.”

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