about you — you're not like Renee?' They began walking again, hand in hand.
`Renee is the fighter. Her father was human so she missed out on lot of other things. I do the, um, you'd probably call it magic. It's more about manipulating the energies our kind is gifted with.'
`Fascinating,' Ruth lied, wanting to kiss Nikki.
Renee had stopped a short distance from the villa, waiting for them. `He still looks pissed off,' she said when they reached her.
`Try smiling.' Ruth nudged her but felt nothing from the contact, a fact she noted. She could feel Mason's eyes on her as he stood stiffly on the patio, wine glasses in hand. She called out to him. `They're afraid of you, Mason. It's not easy for them.'
`We're gunna die,' Renee muttered. Nikki's hand tensed. Mason maintained his stony silence.
Ruth stepped up onto the patio, drawing Nikki with her. Mason's nose flared at the sight of her holding Nikki's hand. Was he in control?
`Christ,' he muttered, closing his eyes. `She's the one who smells of lollies, then? Just couldn't help yourself, could you?'
`Lollies?' Nikki blinked as Ruth pulled a chair out at the table.
`Kind of,' Ruth said, sitting down, finally letting Nikki go. She could see him relax as soon as she did. `Apparently, he has this fantastic sense of smell and, well, so do I — now. I never realised how powerful an effect it had. Wine, please.'
She waved her glass at Mason, trying to make him move. Nikki sat beside her.
`So, what do I smell like?' Renee asked, stepping up onto the patio.
`Trouble.' Mason shrugged and placed the wine glasses on the table. `Sweaty trouble.' Renee's mouth dropped open and he walked into the kitchen.
`Sweaty!' Renee's face went red as she sat down, trying to sit still.
`I think it was a compliment, sis,' Nikki whispered.
`Maybe,' Ruth sighed as Mason slammed the fridge door shut in the kitchen. Nikki sat back, resting a hand on her thigh. Ruth wriggled closer.
`We shouldn't be here,' Renee said, looking for Mason. `We have other stuff to do.'
`It can wait,' Nikki said as Mason walked out with two wine bottles in his hands.
Ruth held her wine glass up and Mason filled it, not looking at her. She sat back, wine glass in hand. `So, who was that odd-looking girl in the trees?'
`No idea,' Nikki said, watching Mason fill the wine glass in front of her. `We had her spotted just before you showed up.'
`Then it all went to shit.' Renee sank down in her chair as Nikki gave her a look. Mason filled two more wine glasses. Ruth had started the conversation, knowing he would be drawn into it. He wouldn't be able to help himself, regardless of how he felt about having the sisters here.
`You ever seen an Unnatural like her before?' he asked, sipping wine. She could see him thinking about what that meant. `She had some sort of glamour that helped her blend in with the trees, plus she was covered with scales.'
`Never seen anything like her.' Nikki sipped her wine. `But, why she was here is possibly more important. That collar wasn't for decoration. It looked like a control collar. Someone was pulling her strings.'
`Bloodells?' He dragged out a chair and plonked down on it. Ruth allowed herself a small smile. `Could they do something like this? And since we're on the subject, what are you?'
`Not Bloodells,' Renee muttered from behind her glass.
`Not what, who?' Ruth leant across the table to touch him. `They're people, Mason, not things, remember.'
His face twitched and Ruth touched his arm again. `When you say that, it sounds like those people who couldn't take it because I was different.' Nikki squeezed her thigh.
Mason put his glass down. Ruth saw the way his hand trembled and knew it had worked. She had made the connection he needed.
`I, ah, never saw it like that.' He cleared his throat, struggling.
`You see us as things,' Renee said, watching Mason closely.
He didn't look up, but fiddled with his wine glass.
`When it happened last year,' Mason began, then took an unsteady sip of wine.
Ruth sat up straight. He had never spoken about this, not even to her.
`When it happened last year, well, afterwards anything not human was just something that needed to die. I can't remember faces, just the kill. It felt good. Fantastic. Better than sex.'
Ruth put her glass down, reaching out to him. She hadn't understood how much he'd been hurting.
`All that mattered was the next kill. My revenge. Even those who were not Bloodells, the hybrids, were prey. They didn't satisfy the hunger like a Bloodells' death. I needed more. Sometimes I took it.'
`Shit.' Renee had gone white.
Mason frowned. Colour touched his neck.
`When Ruth left me, I was out of control. I had to stop, to control it. Or lose Ruth and Wilson forever. I couldn't let that happen.'
He looked up at Nikki, glanced at Renee. `But when I faced you, the hunger was reborn, but different. I think I was afraid too. You're stronger than most Bloodells, not cold to touch; you're a challenge. And here, on the island, Ruth and Wilson were involved, so I...' His eyes locked onto Renee.
Ruth drove her nails into his arm, afraid he had lost control, but his skin was hot, soft in her hand. He winced but remained focused on Renee. He was still Mason, albeit distracted by something.
`You still see us as a threat?' Nikki asked ever so carefully, her hand tight on Ruth's leg.
`Mason?' Ruth pulled at his arm. `What are you doing?'
`Trying to understand. Why they're here, on the island at the same time we're here. If they're not like the Bloodells and not here for us then why are they here? Why does Gaia need us to trust each other?'
`A war.' Ruth stood and turned his face towards her. `Gaia said a war was coming. One where we would all die if we could not stand together as one.'
Ruth took a deep breath, knowing she had to tell him everything. `She said I would watch our children die while you — she called you Hunter — would be lost to the darkness. No one would survive.' She kissed him on the forehead, tears in her eyes. Saying Gaia's words out loud made her fear real.
`A war?' Mason's face softened at the sight of her tears.
She sat down again, wiping her eyes, relieved to have Gaia's message out in the open. Nikki's hands were on the stem of her wine glass.
Renee slurped her wine, watching Mason over her glass. `So, who we fighting then?'
Ruth raised an eyebrow at Renee's tone. Even more when Renee put her glass down and her nipples revealed how excited she was under her T-shirt. Did
