Windswept

by Gwen Cole

“I went to find the girl and something—happened.”

  Buck turned his back on me and asked, “What do you mean ‘something happened’?”

  Kiato hesitated, eyes darting around. “I’m not quite sure. She . . . did something. Something I’ve never seen before.”

  Buck held up his hand and said, “I don’t care what it is. The buyers are coming tomorrow morning, and I need one more body. Find her and bring her here.” Buck leaned in closer and said, “Whatever it takes.”

  Buck walked away with his guards and Kiato glanced at me.

  I took the moment and asked, “Why are you doing this?” He eyed the direction Buck had left in, like he was worried about something or knew he shouldn’t be talking to me. Maybe he was scared. I decided to tweak my question. “What does he have on you?”

  He finally settled his gaze on me. “He has my sister.”

  It wasn’t something I expected to hear. Buck was keeping his sister here somewhere so he could have leverage to get Kiato to do what he wanted? The best person to find a drifter was another drifter. I guess Buck figured that out way before any of us. But to kidnap someone and use her as blackmail? What kind of person does that? I guess the same type of person keeping drifters locked up long enough to sell us.

  I swore and Kiato turned to walk away. I couldn’t let that happen.

  “No, wait. Please.”

  He turned his head just enough to look at me, uncommitted.

  “I can’t release you.”

  “That’s not what I want.”

  That got his attention, or at least his curiosity. I stood; the chain was just long enough to let me.

  “The girl you’re after. Sam,” I told him. “If you give her a chance, she can help us.”

  “I don’t think anyone can help us now.”

  “Please, just . . . give her some time. I promise, we can help you and your sister. This doesn’t have to happen. Not like this.”

  His face never changed, so I wasn’t sure if I was getting to him or not. I hoped I was. Sam and Gavin were smart; they could figure something out. They just needed some time.

  Kiato eyed me a moment longer and then drifted away, leaving behind nothing but a breeze.

  Seeing him drift while I couldn’t sent a wave of nausea through my stomach. I slumped against the wall and the sensation passed. A hint of what was to come.

  Jake’s muffled voice carried over. “It was worth a try, anyway.”

  I pressed my face against the cement, feeling hot, and wished I was anywhere else. On any normal day, I would have been.

  SAM

  WESTERN SAHARA

  THE FIRST THING I HAD TO DO WAS FIND GAVIN. I didn’t have time to think about what had happened in the kitchen; I just needed to find the only ally I had left. And maybe if I stayed near a slider, Kiato would be more hesitant to come for me again.

  I tried to find him, and for a moment, I didn’t think it would work. But then I got a picture of him and drifted before I lost it.

  The moment I appeared, Gavin let out a sound of relief. He looked like he wanted to hug me, and I couldn’t believe it actually worked. I had drifted to him.

  “Sam, are you okay? What happened? I was worried that—” He looked around us, at the never-ending desert, and he took a shattering breath. Gavin didn’t need to finish that sentence for me to know.

  He was worried that I had been taken, and he would be stuck here until he died.

  “I’m okay,” I said.

  Gavin sat down on the sand and ran his shaking hands through his hair, looking defeated and a little relieved.

  He said, “Growing up a slider, you learn one thing over and over again: never let a drifter leave you some place you don’t want to be.”

  I sat down beside him and it felt good, just being there, sitting and not running from someone. The warm breeze threaded between us, and the sun was orange on the horizon, deep in the afternoon. The sand was warm but not too hot to sit on now that the day was coming to an end here.

  “I don’t know what happened,” he said. “When I’m in that kind of fight, I plan my moves at least three in advance because it only takes a second for a mistake to happen. One second we were here, and I thought I had a good hold on him, but . . . he was just gone. It was the first thing my dad ever taught me— never let go. I messed up, bad.”

  Reid and Gavin grew up in opposite worlds, learning the dangers from either side. Now that I’d seen a little of both, they were more similar than they thought. Different but still the same.

  “How did you and Reid become friends?” I asked, curious.

  Gavin thought about it, looking a little less stressed now that he wasn’t stuck here. “I think we just realized we weren’t enemies, no matter how long we’d been taught we were supposed to be.”

  “Maybe times are changing,” I said, and he looked over at me. “I mean, look at us. We’re supposed to be enemies, too, but your dad was the one who sent you with us.”

  Gavin finally gave a nod and looked back at the horizon. “I hope you’re right.”

  I thought back to what happened in the kitchen, and maybe Gavin was the perfect person to ask. My heart kicked too fast a couple times and then I just decided to go for it.

  “So when you mess with time, does everything become muted and you get this pressure inside your head?”

  Gavin snapped his head around. “What?” he yelled, stunned. “How—what are you talking about?”

  “Something happened,” I started. “When Kiato came back to the house for me, I think I did . . . whatever you do. I slowed down time.”

  Gavin opened his mouth, but it was like his brain didn’t compute what I was saying. In his eyes, I was a drifter. Nothing else.

  “Your dad . . .” he said, searching me. “I don’t think a drifter and a slider have ever been together before, so this is like, uncharted territory. That we know of, anyway.” Gavin paused and whispered, “Do you have both of their abilities, Sam?”

  I nodded, unable to say it.

  Gavin swore, looking away. But not the angry kind of swearing, the kind of swearing that meant wow.

  “That’s not all . . .”

  He swung around again, this time looking weary. “What do you mean, that’s not all?”

  How was I going to explain this? I didn’t even know what happened.

  “When I was slowing time, I tried to drift. But then something happened.”

  Gavin raised an eyebrow. “What happened?”

  I paused, not sure how to explain it.

  “It was like a tear in the air, a crack. The pressure in my head got even worse, like I was doing something wrong, but as long as I held it, it was there. When I let go, it disappeared.”

  Gavin looked away and took a deep breath.

  “Have you ever heard of anything like that?” I asked him.

  “No, but like I said—uncharted territory.” Gavin hesitated. “Do you think you could do it again? Just so I could see?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. I don’t even know how I did it the first time.”

  “You said you were slowing time and then you tried to drift. So doing both things must have messed with something. Like a reaction.”

  I gave a nervous laugh. “Then I should be lucky I didn’t explode?”

  Gavin half-heartedly nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Okay,” I said, tentatively, “but I’m not sure I can do it again.”

  “Do you want to try?”

  No, I didn’t want to try, because I was afraid it wouldn’t work. But I was also afraid it would work and something worse would happen. I couldn’t help but wonder if I was messing with something I shouldn’t.

  I stood in front of Gavin and he looked like he was waiting for me to do a magic trick. A magic trick that might explode.

  “Just don’t overthink it,” he said, reminding me of Reid when he first told me how to drift. “Just feel it.”

  Reid. Even though we barely knew each other, I missed him.
I missed his face and the way he filled the empty space beside me. The way he smiled when he thought something was funny and the way he smiled when he thought something was amazing. The way he never gave up.

  I wasn’t sure if this could help save him, but if there was a chance, I had to take it.

  I could do this, for him, for my family. Just a few days ago, I knew nothing about this world full of people with abilities, and then I found out the people who were part of it were just as special as the magic inside them. I could do this.

  To make it easier, I closed my eyes and thought about being in the kitchen when Kiato was coming at me. The moment I needed everything to slow down. What it felt like. How it felt.

  Just like drifting, it came as easy as breathing, like it had always been a part of me, waiting to be let out.

  The sounds of the wind became muted and I opened my eyes to see Gavin looking up at me expectantly, like a video in slow motion. Now I just needed to think of a place to drift. Once I had it in mind, I made like I was going to go but the same thing happened again.

  Instead of drifting, the pressure in my head pulsed brighter and the seam appeared, holding tendrils of the air we always left behind when we drifted.

  The moment it happened, time returned to normal and Gavin stood up in a rush, staring at the crack.

  When I looked at it again, a thought, almost unbelievable, passed through me. But the hope of it being true was too strong to ignore.

  If I was right, it could change everything.

  “I want you to try to go through it, Gavin.” My voice sounded almost desperate, and I realized it was because my head was starting to hurt. I needed him to hurry.

  He peeled his eyes off the crack in the air to look at me, eyebrows raised. “You want me to do what now?”

  The pressure was almost too much and my heart was beating fast, like my body knew I was almost at my limit. I wasn’t sure how long I could hold it open.

  “You just have to trust me,” I told him.

  Gavin stepped closer to the portal and reached his hand toward it, like he was afraid of being burned. When he brushed his fingers against it and nothing happened, he glanced at me, and then he reached in farther. His whole arm went through, and when he brought it back out again, it was still intact.

  Gavin told me, “You better be right about this.”

  “Hurry,” I whispered, sweat beading on my brow.

  The pressure was building more now and my knees were about to buckle, like I was holding a weight on my shoulders.

  Gavin stepped through, right foot first, then his right arm and shoulder. He glanced at me once more and then he was gone.

  I released the pressure with a gasp and it disappeared, leaving me alone in the desert. I dropped to my knees in the hot sand, breathing heavily. My head swam even though the pain was gone, and my heart was still pounding too hard.

  A plan was already forming in my mind, and for the first time since my family was taken, I felt hopeful. Like maybe we could pull this off.

  But first, I needed to ask someone for help.

  I drifted to Gavin’s driveway a minute later and he whipped around, already grinning. It worked. He was standing in the place I had envisioned when the seam appeared.

  “Sam, that was . . . amazing. How did you know I could go through it?”

  “I didn’t,” I admitted, “but I had a feeling. After you stepped through it, was it still there?”

  “Yeah, but just for a second.”

  There were two black SUVs sitting in the driveway, and I glanced at the house, wondering if Knox was here. I said, “We need to talk to your dad.”

  Gavin’s smile turned down. “Why?”

  “Because I don’t think we can do this without him.”

  He looked weary at the thought of it but finally nodded and led me into the house. We passed his sister in the hallway and she barely looked up from her phone before telling Gavin that Knox was on the back patio. Gavin led me through the kitchen and outside where there was a pool closed for the season.

  Knox was sitting at a table on the other side, drinking a cup of coffee with a laptop open in front of him.

  He glanced up as we walked over, assessing us like he was trying to figure out why we were here.

  “Did you find them?” Knox asked.

  I stepped in front of Gavin and said, “We need your help.”

  His lips pressed together, and he sat back into his chair. “I already gave you help by giving you the list. I’m not sure what else I can do—or want to do.”

  My plan wasn’t going to work without him, and I needed to convince him of that without looking desperate. I needed to remind him why I was there in the first place.

  Without asking, I sat down across from him, slapping the list on the table.

  “The list is useless now,” I said, pushing it toward him. “They aren’t going in order and, if my assumptions are right, they’ll probably be coming for me next.”

  Gavin made an unhappy sound behind me, and Knox narrowed his eyes. “So what have you figured out? Do you know where they’re being taken? Do you know who is taking them?”

  “It’s a drifter,” I said, “but I don’t think he’s behind it. I think whoever is, is using him.”

  “Then why are you here and what do you think I can do about it?”

  I glanced behind at Gavin, knowing there was a better chance at Knox believing my story since Gavin had just experienced it firsthand. So I explained it again and when I was done, Knox just laughed.

  “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” he said.

  Gavin told him, “It’s true. I just walked through it to get here.”

  Knox paused, looking between us. He must have known Gavin wasn’t lying to him—what reason would he have?

  “And?” he asked me. “I’m assuming you came here with a plan?”

  I swallowed, suddenly doubting everything about it.

  Reid wouldn’t doubt it—so I tried not to either as I told Knox what I had in mind. Hearing the words come out of my mouth, I knew they sounded crazy, like in what universe would this normally be possible? But for me, none of this was possible a week ago, so I guessed anything could happen now.

  When I was finished, Knox pushed back his chair and stood, not saying a word. He went over to the edge of the pool, and there was a long moment of silence as he stood there, facing away from us.

  “How long have you known my dad?” I’m not sure what made me ask.

  He didn’t turn. “Since we were about your age.”

  I stood and went over to him. After a moment, he took a side glance at me and met my eyes.

  “You stopped keeping in touch after he met my mom, right?” It was only a guess, but when his eyes narrowed, I knew I was right. I continued, “I know you have your differences, but if he were here, in your situation, he wouldn’t hesitate to help you. We’re all in this together.”

  My heart pounded as he stared back at me, wondering if I had said the right words to convince him.

  “She’s right, Dad,” Gavin said behind me. “We need to help them.”

  Knox turned to his son and asked, “And why are you so sympathetic toward drifters all of a sudden?”

  Gavin glanced at me and I knew what he was about to give up. What he was risking.

  “The drifter that came here with Sam,” he said, taking a deep breath, “Reid? We’ve been friends for years, and I never told you because I was worried—” Gavin stopped there, like he didn’t know what words to say. “I was worried you’d hate me for it. And for what? Being friends with a drifter?”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about—”

  “But I do,” Gavin said quickly. “You might think I don’t pay attention to what goes on around here, but I do. I know some drifters aren’t good—I get that. Not all sliders are good either. The same goes with everyone else in the world. But that doesn’t mean they’re all like that.”

  “Gavin—”<
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  “This is our chance to help them, and I’m not going to turn my back on them.”

  Knox let out a breath, looking between us.

  “This will be dangerous for you,” he told me. “You’ll be exposing yourself.”

  “I don’t care.”

  Knox rubbed his hand down his face and looked away. The wind picked up a little, sending some of the last leaves down from the trees.

  “You remind me a lot of your dad,” Knox finally said. “He can be so stubborn. He never gives up.”

  I didn’t say anything, holding my breath.

  Knox turned to us and said, “Let’s do this.”

  SAM

  NEW YORK, UNITED STATES

  I MADE SURE TO HAVE AT LEAST TWO SLIDERS with me while everyone was getting ready, and Knox was hashing out the details about what was going to happen. I’d thought some of the other sliders would have been hesitant about helping the drifters—just like Knox had been—but they were actually eager to help.

  Knox kept trying to get a hold of one of his men—Buck— but he wasn’t answering, along with a few others that were close to him. He seemed concerned about it, but acted like it wasn’t a big deal.

  Sabrina showed up, weary to be around so many sliders, but unfortunately, she didn’t come with any news. Kiato’s family hadn’t seen him, or his sister, in a couple weeks. Besides that, we knew nothing.

  Gavin’s mom fed everyone lunch and she thrived in kitchen. It was easy to tell she loved having so many people there to entertain. It was my worst nightmare. I wanted to find a corner to hide in. Adventure had never been my thing. Give me a puzzle and an anime show and let me be.

  But I refrained, knowing the safest place for me was in a room full of sliders.

  Kiato never showed up and now, when I really needed him to, he was nowhere to be found.

  Hours later, I sat at my kitchen table, rubbing Levi behind his ears.

  We would have had family dinner tonight, and it was Dad’s turn to cook. He always made the best meals, and it was suddenly really hard sitting at the table without them there. I could see the family pictures on the refrigerator and I could smell the scented candle Mom loved to burn next to the sink.