Storm Born Read online

  Piper trudged out of the cell block to meet me. Her eyes were half opened and her hair was messy from tossing and turning, and she still looked like a super model. I don’t know how she did it, and she would never tell me her secret.

  Standing in front of us like drill sergeants were the Guardians. Each one was dressed in their midnight blue leather and pale blue iron armor and wore their tempest-blades crossed over their backs. Vitae looked wide awake and ready to take over the country. Zephys looked grumpy, possibly not being a morning person himself. Hadrian looked…

  I don’t know how Hadrian looked. As soon as my eyes drifted toward him, I pushed them to the ground.

  “We travel by storm-sight,” Vitae explained, not caring about the gloom hanging over our heads. “With a hold on our tethers, we can concentrate on any storm going on around us. Knowing what kind of storm to look for makes things easier. While dust-Stormkind are not our specialty, we are trained to confront and engage them. From there, the storm-sight projects an image of the location into our minds, and we travel through our tempest-blades.”

  That brought my head up. “Wait, we’re traveling through a sword? How?”

  Vitae smirked. “By now, you should realize that tempest-blades are nothing like regular swords. They were created by the Primordials to be our weapons, our justice, our transport, our tethers. Blades that will never break must serve more than one purpose.”

  I looked at the swords crossed behind her back. Of all the crazy things I anticipated I would do today, traveling through an unbreakable sword was the last one.

  “Is it going to hurt?” Piper asked, trying to hide the nervousness from her voice.

  Zephys smiled, bright and charming, all traces of his morning grumpiness seeming to have disappeared.

  “Not at all,” he promised. “Though you will feel some uncomfortable tingling sensations.”

  She grimaced. “Great. Don’t make it sound awkward and creepy or anything.”

  Zephys smiled a genuine smile, then held out his hand for Piper. She hesitated, glancing at me. I smiled and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. It did wonders for her confidence. She walked with her head high to Zephys, taking his hand and letting him wrap his arm around her shoulder to pull her close.

  That made sense. The Guardians would have to hold onto us tightly if we were going to travel through the tempest-blades…

  Oh, great.

  Holding my breath, I trudged toward Hadrian. I stood close to him, but didn’t let him touch me. I wouldn’t do that until I needed to.

  He looked at me, but said nothing. A quiet yet heavy sigh escaped his lips.

  Vitae withdrew the tempest-blades from her back. Zephys followed suit, his arms curving around Piper to keep her close.

  “Hold onto me,” he instructed.

  She did so, closing her arms around his back and resting her head against his chest. Once she did, she looked way more relaxed.

  Hadrian’s swords were still on his back. He was waiting for me.

  Taking another breath, I edged closer to him and wrapped my arms around him. The leather and metal armor was rough and cold against my cheek, but he felt solid and real. I tried to resist the impulse, but I couldn’t. I nestled my head on his chest and sighed. Every breath smelled like warm seawater. He was too damn comfortable.

  I felt his muscles shift and flex as he reached back and drew his tempest-blades over his shoulders. He brought his arms around and secured me to his chest. I should have felt constricted, but I didn’t. I felt safe. No matter what I thought about Hadrian and his lack of concern for me, I had no doubt he would protect me.

  “I shall depart first and ensure the security of the island,” Vitae said. “I shall then unleash a small rainstorm to alert you to my location.”

  “Ferno might sense that you created the storm,” Zephys said.

  “Perhaps,” she agreed. “But rainstorms have become quite common, and if we are about to enter a trap, I am willing to fall into it first.” Vitae looked at me. “I am prepared to endure the consequences of any choice I make.”

  Well, that’s something, I thought.

  Still, I nodded to her. Vitae turned her head and straightened her back, lifting both swords and placing them on top of each other, the tip of one blade pressing against the pommel of the other. Standing on top of each other, the swords were close to ten feet tall. I had no idea how she was able to balance both– or how she wasn’t cutting open both her hands right now, holding both weapons by their blades– but then I guessed living for thousands of years made you good at certain things.

  She sighed deeply and exhaled. As she breathed, a pale blue light began to glow from the sigil printed on the pommels, the sword-in-the-rain mark of the Precips. The light trickled down the hilt, past the cross guard, and into the silver blade. Then it burst into a haze of azure, illuminating the cell block. My eyes widened as the light grew brighter, shimmering down the second blade until I couldn’t see Vitae anymore. The light began to pulse, increasing in speed until it was like a strobe light, and then exploded into a single blazing flash. I shut my eyes and turned my face into Hadrian’s armor, seeing the red flesh of my eyelids instead of the regular black.

  After a minute, the brightness faded, and all I could see was blackness.

  Between this and the lightning, I think I’m going to go blind.

  “You won’t,” Hadrian murmured. I felt the words rumble through his chest and into my face. I shouldn’t have liked the feeling but… Oh, God, did I like the feeling.

  Stupid hormones.

  Hadrian’s muscles relaxed. I tried not to wonder if he peeked into my thoughts, and relaxed because of me.

  “How do we know if she makes it?” Piper asked.

  I turned my head, still keeping my cheek pressed to Hadrian’s chest.

  “Patience,” Zephys said, his eyes focused on something distant. “Patience… Patience… Pa– there she is.”

  Hadrian must have sensed the same thing Zephys did, because they stacked their tempest-blades at the same time. Piper buried her face into Zephys, and he didn’t seem to mind at all. Pale blue light shimmered and blinked rapidly. I crushed my face against Hadrian and tightened my grip.

  “There is nothing to fear, Ava,” I heard him say.

  I tightened my arms even more, not wanting to tell him this wasn’t the part of our journey that was scaring me. No, thoughts of what we would find at the destination were doing all that work.

  Pale blue light flooded my vision. I couldn’t see anything else, but the other sensations were crystal clear. I felt Hadrian’s arms press against my back, the flats of the blades sliding against me. I tensed and took a deep breath, inhaling his scent. I drew comfort from that. Hadrian wouldn’t do anything to hurt me. I knew he wouldn’t.

  “Don’t let go,” he told me.

  I almost scoffed. As if I ever would.

  Then I felt him tip forward, like he was about to step off the edge of a cliff.

  It sure felt like that, because the next thing I felt was falling.

  I let out a stupid, girly shriek into Hadrian’s chest when the tingling started. Well, tingling was Zephys’s word. He could have just told the truth, that it felt like a thousand elastic bands snapping against me by the world’s most insatiable bully.

  I didn’t know what we were traveling through or how. All I knew was that my hair was whipping so wildly it was probably blinding and muffling Hadrian, and if I held onto him any tighter, I was going to crack his ribs.

  Then the world pitched again, throwing me upright. I gasped and staggered, still gripping Hadrian like my life depended on it, even though my hair had settled against my back, I could feel a softer ground, and color was filling my vision again.

  Hadrian’s arms unwound from me and jerked to the side. I heard metal sinking into sand. One of his hands rested on the small of my back, the other sliding between his chest and my chin. He leaned back and tilted my head up. I blinked the white spots from my vi
sion.

  My breath caught when I saw him. The strong lines and angles of his face, the silky black hair that swayed over his shoulders, the sensual line of his lips, and the depth of his navy blue-azure eyes. For a moment, I forgot where I was and what I came to do.

  Hadrian’s hand slipped through my hair, pushing it behind my ears. He looked at me with tender eyes and a gentler smile, tracing his eyes over my face.

  “That was not so terrible, was it?” he asked.

  I stifled a laugh. “I wouldn’t recommend it as a travel service, but I’m alive. That counts as a success, right?”

  Hadrian grinned, sending a warm jolt through my heart. His eyes dropped from mine, resting on my lips. Another welcome jolt struck me. Was he really looking at my lips, or was I dreaming it? Had I even forgiven him? Did it matter when every moment I spent with him made me feel alive and electric?

  I got my answer as Hadrian leaned close, slowly parting his lips and holding his breath–

  “It seems we have a larger problem than anticipated.”

  Hadrian dropped his hands from my body and swept around me, ripping his blades from the sand. I stood in place, still reeling from my latest hormonal daze. I blinked and shook my head, turning to see what Vitae thought justified what could have been one hell of a kiss.

  Turned out she was justified.

  I hadn’t spent much time on Cayo Costa, but I knew it was a secluded island known for isolated beaches and small cabins for honeymooners looking for a private getaway. It was supposed to have pine trees, camping grounds, hiking trails, and information centers.

  It was not supposed to be an island completely covered in sand.

  Everywhere I looked, the white-gold sand from the beach had been dredged up and hurled onto the island. Uneven lumps of it were piled near the middle, covering up the forests and campgrounds that were supposed to be visible. The trees had likely snapped under the pressure of the sand, since I couldn’t see them at all. The entire island looked like a giant blanket draped over a broken Lego fortress.

  “Do you think this island was empty?”

  Though Piper whispered to me, I jumped at the sound of her voice suddenly at my side. I glanced anxiously at the clumps of sand, slightly damp from the brief rainstorm Vitae must have caused to get here. I wondered at the piles near the bottom, the ones that looked to be around six feet long. I bit my lip and grabbed her hand, squeezing tightly. Selfish as it might be, I thought it was better not to know what lay under that sand. There was nothing we could do for them now.

  The Precips walked along the beach ahead of us. Lazy ocean water slithered up and down the sand. The sun had just crested over the horizon, spilling orange and gold light onto the island and breaking out of the dark blue sky. I walked with Piper across the haunting island, feeling like I was about to walk off the final edge of the world. Piper’s stride was cool and calm, but she didn’t let go of my hand.

  The island was nine miles long and while we weren’t directly ambushed, we couldn’t see across the island because of the craggy dune on our right. I wasn’t sure how we were going to find Ferno or any other Mistrals if they were on the island… until I saw the thin wall rising about a hundred feet away obscuring the sun.

  A wall made of fine sand.

  The Precips drew to a halt, each one of them reaching for the swords on their backs. Piper and I edged closer to each other.

  “Sandstorm,” Zephys muttered. “Definitely Ferno.”

  “Wait,” Hadrian said.

  The five of us watched the wall of sand split in two. The left half hovered in the air lazily. The second half twisted inward, spinning faster and faster until it was a solid yellow tornado.

  “Ferno must have been tethered,” deduced Hadrian.

  “It cannot be a Stormkind,” Zephys said. “The storm is not violent enough.”

  A collective thought seemed to pass through the Precips, because they all turned to look at me. I hesitated, then said, “Mortis said there might be… others.”

  “Primes,” Hadrian cursed, gripping his tempest-blades tightly as he spun around again. He looked ready to march headfirst into the storm and hack Ferno to pieces. I had no doubt he would do it if he were pushed. Moments ago he had been tender and careful with me, but I could never forget how different he was when Mortis was brought up.

  “We will flank them,” Vitae said. “I will lead the attack up the dunes,” she said. “Zephys, take Piper and follow behind me. Hadrian, continue straight ahead. Draw their attention. You may engage, but remember that without Ferno, we will not be able to locate Mortis.”

  “Ferno is loyal to the Mistrals,” Hadrian grumbled, never moving his eyes from the sandstorms ahead. “He will never betray Mortis.”

  “We shall see,” Vitae said with a hint of danger. She beckoned Zephys and began jogging for the closest hill. He hurried over to take Piper’s hand and led her after Vitae. My best friend threw a nervous glance over her shoulder, and I smiled weakly. If I kept telling myself she would be okay and nothing would happen to her or the other two Precips, maybe it would be true.

  “Okay, so–”

  When I turned my head to talk to Hadrian, I saw that he was already running ahead. Of course he was. He pounced on any chance for revenge like a starving wolf pouncing on a fresh steak.

  Cursing under my breath and gathering my courage, I sprinted across the sand to catch up with my much more athletic Guardian. It was supposed to be his job to keep me out of trouble, not the other way around.

  Though the more I ran, the more I started to recall that Ferno had been present at my torture. He might know exactly what was done to me, and how to reverse it.

  The idea of getting rid of these damn gifts made me run a little bit faster.

  As we drew closer, I watched the wall of sand rise in height. The tornado grew with it. I could almost taste it in the air. The sun was a faded circle behind the wall of grit.

  Just before we reached the tip of the island, Hadrian veered to the right. He knelt down beside the rising dune. I followed and huddled close to him. Carefully, we looked around the corner of the dune.

  Standing on a flat clearing of sand, feet away from the tornado, was Ferno. He wore his black and silver armor, the firm breeze pushing his blood-red hair around his face. His arms were folded over his chest, his body language screaming boredom.

  Standing next to him, containing a wall of sand at least twenty feet high and just as broad, wasn’t a Stormkind, but a man. His stood with his feet shoulder-width apart, his hands spread wide, as if he were going to embrace the wall. It didn’t take me long to see the way his arms trembled. He was using a lot of energy, and it was taking its toll.

  Exhaustion overcame him, and he gasped and dropped his arms. The wall of sand collapsed, half of it falling in front of him and the other half splashing into the ocean.

  “I can’t,” he panted. His voice was almost as deep as Hadrian’s, making me think he was about the same age or older. “I can’t, it’s too much–”

  While the man gasped for breath, Ferno released the tornado. It collapsed inward and slumped onto the beach with a heavy whump. Ferno didn’t even notice. He simply marched toward the tired, gasping man, and punched him in the jaw. The man yelped and toppled onto the sand. Ferno loomed over him with balled fists and a cruel scowl.

  “You dare complain about what you have been given?” Ferno kicked the man in the stomach. “You were nothing, Austin Chambers!” Another hard kick. “Less than nothing!” Kick. “You will embrace what was bestowed on you, or it will be ripped from your very bones!”

  This kick was harder than the rest. The man, Austin, hacked and gagged against the sand. I cringed and looked away. Hadrian’s eyes were fixed ahead. There was a darkness to his face, a cold calculation that almost made me shiver. He turned to me.

  “You must use the wind to bring the ocean deeper inland.”

  “I… Why? How?”

  “If the sand is dry, it will blind us easil
y and smother us. Wet sand will still pose a problem, but it will not smother us asphyxiate us as quickly.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “You’re really not selling this plan to me, Hadrian.”

  He continued as if I hadn’t voiced any concerns. “Rely on the gifts you stole from Declan, but use the tether if you can.” A sense of urgency fell over his eyes. “I cannot use my powers on the ocean, Ava. The water must be on land if I am to freeze it.”

  The importance of that was not lost on me. I wasn’t the fighter here. Hadrian was. I nodded. “Okay.”

  He set down one of his swords and quickly cupped the back of my neck. “Do not approach Ferno. Restrain the false Stormkind. I will protect you when I can.”

  Oh God, he expected me to fight? Didn’t he know how bad I was at that? Everything I had done so far was survival and desperation and terrible ideas that made me pass out. My stomach heaved at the thought of deliberately marching into a fight.

  Hadrian pulled me closer, pressing his forehead against mine. “I will not let anything happen to you, Ava. I swear it.”

  I believed him. God help me, but I believed him. I closed my eyes and nodded again. Hadrian pulled away and recollected his sword. I glanced over his head and watched Vitae, Zephys, and Piper creep across the top of the dune. It didn’t seem like they had been noticed so far, but I couldn’t be sure. I could see Zephys talking to Piper with his hand on her shoulder. I also noticed the clouds forming overhead.

  Clouds that could bring us the rain we actually wanted this time.

  I set my eyes on the ocean and breathed deeply. The tether moved fluidly against my heart, a feeling I welcomed. I stared at the waves, imaging a subtle wind caressing them, pushing them deeper up the beach. A cool breeze drifted over my head, past Ferno shouting abuse at Austin, and hovered over the water. I reached out and turned my hand, picturing the wind dipping low and reversing to return to me. I tugged my hand back, dragging the breeze against the waves.

  They rolled up the beach, moving ten feet further than the shoreline. I stopped before they could reach Ferno, who was stalking away and letting Austin pick himself up. Neither of them seemed to notice the change in the water, the chill in the air, or the clouds forming over their heads.