Love.
So much love he didn’t know what to do with it. The feeling welled in his chest and erupted in a gust of wind that swirled through the room and then died as he felt the last emotion rip him apart.
Heartbreak. He stood in the dark, alone again, wishing for someone to love him and to see what was beyond the madness and the anger and the rage.
She hadn’t just hurt him. She’d torn his heart out of his chest and left him empty. Left him cold.
All the emotions settled back into the original feeling that had forced him to retreat into his mind and allow the elemental to take control once again. Red rage clouded his vision.
“I wanted you to be my queen,” he said, his voice a thunderous roar. “And you betrayed me!”
27
Ayla told herself to be brave. Even when the air elemental inside of Storm flexed, then rained magic over the visage of the man she loved.
Ghostly pale and gaunt, he looked more like a walking skeleton with veins of black stretching throughout his entire body. Even the way he moved was different. Slinking and low, with curved shoulders and a wicked glint in his eye. This was not the man she knew, although she could see him struggling to come to the surface.
Her Storm was in there somewhere. He wanted to see her. To reach out and take her hand when she offered it.
Until the air elemental took over once more. Or perhaps, this time, it was both of them.
She had known he might be angry. But she’d thought he could control it.
Electricity sparked from his fingertips and speared into the floor. The glass groaned and cracked down the center. It didn’t break, but Ayla didn’t know how many more powerful strikes it could take, without the entire palace coming down around their ears.
He tilted his head back and stared up at the ceiling. His eyes were swallowed up by darkness and his voice changed into something deep and booming. “I have already sent all my mad faeries to the human realm, Princess. You are too late. You may be able to stop me. But you will never stop them.”
She’d deal with that when the problem at hand was taken care of.
Storm floated up in the air. He held his arms at his sides and his legs pin straight. Power swirled around him, gathering for another blow that would likely toss her across the room.
She wasn’t a fighter. Ayla had spent her entire life being soft and quiet. Why did he think she wanted to fight him?
Or maybe it was the elemental taking care of her for good. Either way, she didn’t see a chance to get out of this in one piece.
Cold air touched her shoulder. She glanced over to see Miku had appeared at her side and placed a hand on her for support. “You are not a warrior queen. You do not have to battle to win.”
“What am I supposed to do?” she asked. “I can’t just float up there and convince him by talking. Clearly he doesn’t want to listen to me.”
She heard the sizzle of lightning before it struck. Ayla ducked and rolled, just barely avoiding the electricity. Instead of her, it struck the wall. The glass gave a heavy groan of pain. Another crack appeared.
He was trying to kill her. Not just injure or get her to run. He was trying to make sure she was never a problem again.
What kind of man did that when a woman left him?
Now she was the one who was angry. He wanted to be this dramatic? Well, she could prove to him just what dramatic really looked like.
Getting onto her hands and knees, she shouted, “Are you this mad about me leaving? Why can’t we just have a conversation about this like adults?”
His eyes found her and the mad grin on his face was a warning. Storm lifted his glowing hands and clapped them together. Another blast of lightning chased her across the floor. She ducked behind the throne and placed her back against its cold surface.
Ayla needed a plan. More than just shouting at him, because that wouldn’t work. He wanted her to strike back. Or at least battle him.
“Shit, shit, shit,” she whispered.
Miku appeared in front of her again. “You have more power than you know, Princess. Your mother told you that. I knew it. You even know it. All you have to do is let the power take control.”
“I’m kind of a control freak, in case you didn’t get that already.” She peered around the throne.
Storm caught sight of her and sent another bolt of lightning flying from his fingertips. It struck the top of the throne and ice rained down upon her in shards. They sliced through her arms, leaving ribbons of red on her skin.
Wincing, she slid down to the floor where she huddled in a ball. She couldn’t do this. This was a scene out of a nightmare, not her life.
“Ayla,” Miku insisted. “You just have to relax a little, sweetheart. Haven’t you already used your power?”
When she could focus hard on using it. Not when someone was trying to actively kill her.
“Princess!” Storm called out, although she knew the tone of his voice now. That wasn’t Storm. It was the elemental. “Come out! I didn’t take you for a mouse.”
She wasn’t. She wouldn’t be.
Ayla took a deep breath and stilled her mind. What had Storm said just a few weeks ago? Take it slow. A little at a time and just will the magic into existence.
It didn’t matter that other faeries had years to figure out how to use their magic. The magic was there, and it was willing to help. All she had to do was find it.
Ayla breathed out and let all her worries float into the wind, who snatched them and tossed all her fears out of the palace. She breathed in a gust of air that flowed through her body and settled deep into her lungs. It gave her power.
Again and again, she took what magic she could from the air breezing through the palace. And every single one of the streams gave her whatever they could. When she was ready and the magic inside her finally had enough power to awaken, she felt stronger than she ever had.
The winds inside her circled like a tornado just waiting to be released. “Let us help,” they whispered in her mind. “We can help.”
What had Miku said? Let the air and her magic do the work. Trust that she could let go and the magic wouldn’t let her come into any harm.
It was so hard for Ayla to believe. All she’d ever wanted was someone or something to be her champion. So she could focus on the best things in life and never have to face the bad.
“Be your own champion now,” the winds whispered. “But we can help hold you aloft.”
And that was that.
Another sizzle of lightning struck near her right thigh. This time, she was ready. Ayla reached out her hand and snatched the energy he’d spent to attack her. The lightning traveled up her arm and circled it like jewelry. It didn’t harm her at all. Instead, it stayed ready to protect her should she need to attack him.
Ayla let the winds go, and they shot her into the air behind the throne. She let them lift her, but kept her arms open. Her hair swirled around her, the braid untangling and long locks traced her sides.
“I don’t want to fight you,” she said, her voice a scream in the sudden storm raging between them.
“Then you will lose,” the elemental growled.
Storm lifted his hands and bolts surged toward her. Hundreds of them, over and over until the light in the palace was so bright she couldn’t see where he was.
Not a single one touched her skin. Every lightning strike coiled around her body and created a shield against the others. She absorbed his anger, his guilt, his heartbreak. All the emotions that ran through his blood and clouded his mind.
Eventually, he exhausted himself. The attack paused and the light dimmed enough for her to see him. He hovered in the air still, but his sides heaved with great breaths and sweat slicked his skin.
“This isn’t you,” she said. A single nudge from the wind brought her ever closer. “You don’t want to hurt me.”
“Send them back, princess,” he snarled. “Fight me.”
“I don’t want to.”
; A dark cloud gathered over his head. No more lightning rained down in anger. Instead, frost gathered on the floor. It stretched toward her with lace patterns so beautiful and yet so deadly.
The swirling winds who were her protectors heated the air. A single drop of sweat dripped down her brow. Perhaps this power was the winds, but she could feel herself growing weak. Tired. As if the magic fed off her very life force just to keep going.
No frost touched her. It melted and shied away the moment it touched her shield.
“What magic is this?” the elemental snarled. “You are not powerful enough to control me.”
At the words, all the winds she’d gathered inside her cried out for release. They wanted to show the elemental just how powerful they were. Perhaps the creature had given them life, but they were strong on their own.
She shook her head and held them deep in her chest. “I don’t want to control you. I want to help you.”
“Help me?” Storm tossed his head back and barked out a mirthless laugh. “We don’t need help.”
“Yes you do. You’re so angry. I know how tiring it can be to hate everyone and everything because they don’t understand you.” Ayla reached out and pet a calm, sweet wind coiled around her torso. She fed it the memory of laughter, not a pleasant sound when she was a child and she knew the other children were making fun of her.
She sent the memory to the elemental in hopes it would realize she was a kindred spirit.
Storm snagged the wind with a hand and pressed it against his lips, sucking it into his lungs without hesitation. His black eyes narrowed as he lived her memory. “Should this make me like humans more? They were cruel to you. You should have killed them all and joined me.”
“No,” she said. “We are not gods. We don’t have the right to decide who lives and who dies. There is good in the humans. If I could suffer through the worst of their kind, then you can as well.”
“I will kill them all.”
“You will stop.” The winds forced her ever closer.
Ayla knew what they wanted. It was the same thing she wanted, although she didn’t know how to do it without killing herself. Or worse, giving him the opportunity to do so.
She had to trust them, though. Wasn’t that what Miku said? Let the winds help and she would be all right.
So that’s what she did.
Ayla stopped fighting them and let them shove her into his arms. She moved so fast it was almost a tackle. Storm wrapped his arms around her and together, they tumbled to the floor.
He rolled on top of her, lifted a fist blue with lightning. All he had to do was bring that fist down upon her head and it would be the end of Ayla. She saw her life flash before her eyes and knew she’d lived a wonderful one. Even though it might be shorter than she desired.
He hesitated.
Ayla reached a hand between them and gently touched his cheek. “Do what you must,” she whispered. “I will not harm a single hair on your head because I love you.”
His eyes widened in shock. “Why would you ever fall in love with the Mad King?”
“Because you are a storm to be reckoned with and I am a fair wind on the horizon. We are equally powerful and equally different.” Ayla slid her hand down to his jaw, holding him in place. “And it is for all those differences that I love you. Your heart, your strength, your power, every fragment of your soul is beloved by me and always will be.”
The black veins in his arms retreated and the electricity in his fist disappeared. “Where did you learn to love like that?”
“The humans showed me how to love. But I never put it into practice until I met you.”
His eyes cleared, and he lowered his hand to the floor. This was no longer the elemental. This was her Storm.
He sighed, a great gust that emptied his lungs of magic and power, releasing all the energy back into the world. “I am not worthy of your love.”
“You are worth so much more, if you would only give yourself the chance.”
“I cannot control it for much longer,” he whispered, tears welling in his eyes. “It will take control again, and it will destroy the humans someday.”
The winds inside her shifted, moving and making room for something else. Something more. Something...
Ayla realized what they wanted her to do. The thought clicked and suddenly, she knew how to stop this. All of it.
She breathed out. “Let me take some then. Together, we will control the elemental. Through you, it will remain part of the king. And through me, it will see all the good of humanity while still being royalty.”
“I can’t do that to you.” He shook his head and clenched his jaw. “I can’t. Don’t ask that of me, Ayla.”
“I’m strong enough to hold it. Just let me help, Storm.”
The muscle of his jaw bounced as he thought. Finally, he relented. Storm leaned down and opened his mouth just above hers. With a great exhale, power and wind flowed into her lungs. All the breezes and gusts inside her swirled around the elemental, holding half of it in place and severing its connection with Storm.
She felt as though she’d touched a live wire. Her entire body shook, muscles flexing and stomach contracting at the new magic overwhelming her senses.
Then it settled. The elemental relaxed inside her soul, taking up residence without complaint.
In her mind, she heard its chuckle. “Hello, Princess.”
“Hello,” she whispered, staring up into Storm’s gaze. “I think it’s time for you to see all the good.”
“And all the bad.”
“There’s more good than bad. I promise you that.” She forced the creature into the back of her mind and let it paw through her memories.
The elemental quieted and went to work. Ayla let it.
Storm leaned down and pressed his forehead against her neck. “And it’s done.”
Ayla wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him tight against her heart. “For now.”
28
Ayla stood on the bridge and overlooked the world beneath her. Clouds passed by in fluffy peaks like cotton candy spun out of a dream. The wind brushed through her hair, unraveling the braid she had just redone. It always preferred her hair to be long and loose.
Tilting her head back to the sun, she grinned up at the sky. Life was different now. Both good and bad, but different so she could enjoy a little more of life itself.
Storm was still figuring out how to be a king while sharing the elemental whose power had provided him with so much of a shield. The madness still overtook him every now and then, but he could touch her without infecting anyone else. Ayla knew when to step in and when to leave him alone.
A few faeries had already returned to the palace. The first being the banshee who had attacked Ayla.
She’d never forget the sheepish expression on the woman’s face as she landed in the palace. She didn’t have black hair, anymore. Her hair was blonde like the sun. When asked, the banshee said one moment she was angry and building tempests, the next, she was herself again. Ink had flowed off her like water.
“My queen,” the banshee had said, bowing low. “I can never expect forgiveness for what I’ve done. All I can offer is my loyalty.”
Ayla’s stomach still twisted at the memory. Having anyone bow to her felt wrong and dirty. Like she was forcing people to worship her when all she wanted was to be viewed as one of them.
For the first time in her life, she was comfortable admitting she was a faerie. To herself. To her brother. To everyone around her.
Ayla wasn’t the changeling child anymore. She was a Faerie Queen of the Air Court.
A blast of wind unlike the others brushed against her spine. The air became fingers that traced the bumps down to her ribs and curled around her waist. “What did you tell her?” Storm asked, his voice a low hum in her ear.
“I told her if she wanted to stay, she was welcome. We need more people to help us clean out those packed rooms.”
“We need more faeries to br
ing life to this cold place. We can’t live with just ghosts.” They’d agreed a while ago the glass palace needed to reopen. And soon.
Miku and the other ghosts had gathered strength from both the King and Queen now. They returned in full force, some even able to pick up objects now.
Storm tugged her back against his chest, tucking her into the hollow of his body, and wrapping his arms around her. He squeezed her tight against his heart and stared down at the world with her.
They often stood like this. Both of them entangled in each other, but without words. They didn’t need to say much anymore. They already knew what the other was thinking.
Ayla realized trusting someone else wasn’t all that bad. Even with something as dangerous as her heart.
He’d never hurt her. The mere idea was a knife to his chest. In return, she’d never leave his side, even though the thought sometimes terrified her. But he was the other half of her soul, the man she hadn’t realized she’d been looking for.
Not because he completed her.
Because he made her better.
Storm rubbed his chin on the top of her head. “Are we going to meet your brother today?”
She’d still felt a little awkward introducing Storm to the family. He didn’t pass as a human, no matter how she spun the story of where he was from. It was past time, however, for Henry and Storm to meet.
“Maybe today,” she replied, leaning back into him a little more comfortably. “For now, I just want to be with you and no one else.”
“You may take all the time you need.”
And that was what made her love him all the more. Storm gave her the time she needed, without question, and let her process everything on her own. Even now, with their shared power and the stress of what life would soon be like, he took care to ensure her mind was settled.
A snort echoed in her head. The elemental unfurled and said, “That’s what you think. He’s just hoping you’ll want to head to the bedroom before you leave.”
“Is that what he wants?” she replied out loud, looking up at Storm. “The elemental has some opinions about your intentions, king of mine.”
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