Free sorcery and science 04.5 - masquerade by Ella Summers

just the thing.”
    “Um…could you not make it so…” Terra’s voice drifted off.
    Father caught her before she hit the ground, and he carried her toward the house. “Don’t worry. I know about your condition. I’ll mix it suited to a Prophet.”
    Eltition children before their Passing didn’t typically need serums customized to an ability, but like Jason, Terra wasn’t typical. A generic serum on her would do nothing—or maybe even make her worse.
    “Reduce the stimulating element by half,” Jason told his father. “Terra is sensitive to them.”
    “My, my. You sure are protective,” Father commented with a satisfied smirk.
    “Jason is a good friend,” Terra said. “He’s always looking out for me.”
    “Let’s hope your father comes to see it that way,” Father replied as he set her down on the sofa.
    “King River doesn’t have a problem with me. His problem is with you,” Jason told him, sitting beside Terra.
    “That’s true,” Father agreed and walked off to the kitchen.
    He returned a few minutes later with an Energy Serum that smelled of citrus, vanilla, and a hint of chocolate. He handed it to Terra, who gulped it down eagerly. By the time she set down her empty glass on the table, color had returned to her face. She rested her head on Jason’s shoulder and closed her eyes.
    “She looks better,” Father said. “Now she should take the portal home to Laelia.”
    Eyes still shut, Terra took Jason’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
    “She needs to rest. Just for a bit.”
    Father looked at him, and his emerald green eyes shifted lighter for just a second before darkening again. “That won’t make it any easier, Jason.”
    Jason clenched up his jaw in stubborn defiance, and he held tightly to Terra.
    “I know how you feel.”
    Jason very much doubted that.
    “But we just have to wait it out. You two shouldn’t be sneaking around like this. What would Rhys do if he found out?”
    “Found out what, Edward? That you’ve tried to kidnap my daughter?” King River’s voice bellowed from the open doorway of the winter garden.
    At the sound of her father’s enraged voice, Terra jerked into full consciousness. Jason held onto her to keep her from falling off the sofa. King River’s incensed teal-green eyes followed the gesture, clearly misinterpreting it.
    “Now, Rhys, let’s not jump to conclusions,” Father said, his hands raised. “I have no intention of kidnapping Terra.”
    “From where I’m standing, it certainly looks like you do.” He reached toward Terra and pulled her behind him. “She’s my daughter, Edward. She’s innocent. Leave her out of this. Your fight is with me.”
    Father sighed. “I have no fight with you.”
    “Davin told me Terra disappeared from the library. Did you have your son kidnap her?” he asked, glowering at Jason.
    Jason glowered right on back. “She came to me at the falls.”
    “Lies!” hissed King River.
    Jason had never seen him so angry.
    “He is telling the truth,” Terra said, stepping toward Jason. “Jason and I have been meeting at Ribbon Falls every day after school . We’re friends. This has nothing to do with you two or your stupid fight.”
    King River stared down at her in silence for a moment, then took hold of her arm and pulled her toward the door. “We’re going. Now. You’re never to speak to Jason or any of his family again. Do you understand me?”
    “I don’t want to go,” Terra protested, breaking free.
    “Terra,” King River began.
    As he took a secure hold of her, tightly around the forearm, she screamed out and collapsed to the ground. Jason ran to her, darting past the two fully grown men as though they weren’t even there. He rolled Terra over, releasing her face from the fluffy fabric of the throw rug on the floor, and shook her gently. Her eyes snapped open, and she locked her hand in his.
    A flood of images flowed into him. It was a horrid collage of blood and death, and his parents were at the