Storm Born

by Amy Braun

  I turned around and caught sight of Vitae. She was still holding Turve in place, but her eyes were locked on the cars. Turve was watching with a satisfied smile on his face.

  That was when I knew Turve had been the bait in a trap all along.

  It just hadn’t snapped shut until now.

  I took a breath to warn Hadrian, but everything happened so fast.

  The false-Stormkind snapped out her hands and pushed a fierce blast of wind at Hadrian. Brutal wind smashed into us. Cars were pitched into the sky. Vitae shifted her balance and Turve stood up. Dirt clogged the sky, spreading and thickening around us like a dark fog. Hadrian was pushed back, and I was yanked away.

  My shoulder hit a car. I winced at the smack of pain, my eyes searching for Hadrian as the hurricane winds thrashed around me. I could see shadows of movement. Nothing was clear. I couldn’t be far from Hadrian, but with the wind pinning me where I was, I couldn’t move quickly.

  I turned so my back was pressed to the car and held out my hands. I knew I ought to use the tether, but I’d taken too much from it already. Hadrian would need it to fight now that Mortis, Ferno and Declan were here.

  And I knew it was them. My gut told me this was the moment Turve had been waiting for. He wouldn’t have looked so damn smug if he hadn’t known they were coming.

  Drawing power from the air around me was easy. There was just so much of it. I inhaled sharply when the flood of power shoved through my veins, like it was trying to push my blood aside. I let it glide through me, spreading my hands and forcing the air to split open ahead of me.

  The dirt parted like a ripped seam, opening the world around me. Hadrian had been forced back, still holding the false-Stormkind at bay. Beyond him, I could see Piper and Zephys crouched and running through the dirty wind, scurrying to the open space I was creating.

  I glanced back, seeing Vitae had gotten into a fresh fight with Turve. He no longer had his swords, but he was sheltered in a column of wind. The dirt wasn’t hindering his vision, and the particles striking the tornado bounced back into Vitae’s eyes. She gritted her teeth and fought with her swords, unable to use any gifts because the second she lowered her guard that way, Turve would pummel her.

  She didn’t even see the shadowy figure creeping up to her back. The sight of Ferno’s crimson hair made my blood turn cold.

  I gathered more power from the air and the dust that clogged it, taking a little more energy from the tether to harden the clumps of dirt.

  Vitae slashed down at his neck, but he caught her wrist. The stab she aimed at his ribs was caught as well. Turve yanked her forward and drove his knee into her stomach. He did it again, tearing one of the tempest-blades from her grip. Turve’s hand flew back, slamming into the side of her temple. Vitae staggered from the blow, blood streaming down her temple from where the pommel struck her. She lost her footing and collapsed onto the road. Ferno pulled his tempest-blades from their scabbards and aimed them at Vitae’s back.

  I pushed the hardened dirt at the Mistrals with the speed of a hurricane.

  The grit collided with Ferno or Turve like hail. They yelled and cursed as I battered them. Vitae remained motionless.

  Panicked, I whirled to find Zephys and Piper. Thankfully, they had made it to me.

  “Vitae!” I shouted over the howling winds and pointed to her.

  Zephys glanced at where she lay, anger lashing through his hazel-blue eyes when he saw Turve and Ferno. He nodded, took Piper’s hand, and dragged her with him. She glanced at me, but I waved her on. Ferno and Turve were tricky Guardians. Zephys would need backup if he were going to help Vitae.

  Besides, I had my own Guardian to protect.

  I spun around, pushing apart the clumpy dirt to find Hadrian. He’d been forced further away from me, still holding the false-Stormkind back. A wall of ice had gone up between them, but she refused to relent. She grabbed a torrent of wind and hurled it at him. I watched the tornado wind twist horizontally and funnel at the wall that was only big enough to protect Hadrian’s body. The salt in the dirt would eat through it in seconds.

  Another shadow crept on top of the car beside Hadrian. He reached back and drew a blade over his shoulder. My eyes widened, dirt stinging my eyes.

  “Hadrian!” I screamed.

  He snapped his head at me, gripping both his swords. He saw the horror in my eyes and dove into a somersault that carried him toward me.

  Mortis slammed down into the ground bare inches behind him, the tempest-blades hammering into the road with a terrifying shriek. Hadrian found his footing and swung around. Mortis dragged his arm up and lunged to drive both swords into Hadrian’s stomach. My Guardian stepped back and knocked both blades to the right. Mortis lunged forward and pounded a kick into Hadrian’s face.

  I pushed away from the car, scrambling for a way to help him when a sudden impact sent me into the ground. I landed on my side rather than my head, though the person on top of me was doing their best to crack open my head.

  Fingers twisted in my hair and pulled it by the roots. I winced at the sharp pain in my scalp and threw my elbow back. It crashed into a hard jawbone, drawing a yelp of pain from the false-Stormkind.

  I rolled onto hands and knees, wishing the girl would just stay down. I didn’t want to touch her, not knowing if dragging her power into me would finally kill me, but not wanting her to beat me to death either.

  I backed up and turned my palms upward, waiting for her to run at me. Meaty hands slapped onto my back and shoved me forward. I didn’t have time to see who was responsible. The false-Stormkind wrapped her hands around my throat and started to squeeze.

  I balled my fist and punched her in the belly. Her grip loosened and I yanked free. The damn meat-hands found me again, this time grabbing my elbows and controlling my arms.

  “You never used to be so difficult,” Declan growled in my ear.

  I thrashed and tried to rip free of his grip, but he pinched the nerves at my elbow and shoved my arms at the girl. She had no idea what she was running toward.

  “No!” I cried.

  It was too late. As soon as she was in arm’s length, Declan slapped my hands onto her face. She skidded to a halt and screamed almost as loud as I did.

  I didn’t know what it felt like to have all my internal organs rearranged, but I imagine it felt something like what happened to me then in those crushing seconds of agony.

  My insides became passengers on a roller coaster. They flipped up and down, looped and circled wildly, straining so hard in my body I thought they would snap from their valves and arteries. The whole churning sensation sent spikes of nausea into my head and searing lights into my eyes. I wanted to throw up, but I couldn’t remember where my stomach was.

  No wonder the girl in front of me had gone crazy. All the other pains I’d felt when I stole a gift were agonizing, but none of them felt as out of control as this.

  I don’t know when I let go, or if Declan finally forced me to release the girl. When my vision returned to color– the horizon still wobbled violently– the girl had backed away from me, her eyes wide with horror and confusion. Declan’s crushing grip was gone from me.

  I couldn’t stop screaming.

  I pitched forward, clutching my middle when it squeezed. I had to get rid of this power, do something with it, anything to stop the blender whipping up my insides.

  Voices carried through the wind. Familiar ones. I didn’t know who they belonged to, and I didn’t care. Pain snapped through me again and I landed on my knees. I lifted my head and looked at the cars surrounding me. It was too much. Too much clutter, too much restriction. I needed space. I closed my eyes and dragged on the energy spiking through the air.

  Wind thrashed over my head, spinning my hair in chaotic directions. The voices faded, drowned by the screaming winds. The scent of dry earth carried over the gusts. Rubber tires skidded along the road. Metal groaned and glass crunched. I opened my eyes.

  A thin twister danced in front of me. Dirt
swirled around it like a protective shield, the abandoned cars creeping toward it like possessed beings.

  The pain in my body was a dull throb now. I pushed outward, testing the limits of this new ability. The tornado slithered forward on my command, drawing the cars forward with sharp squeaks. The pain lessened again. That seemed to be the key. I could get the pain away if I used the new gift I had been given.

  The tornado whipped faster and faster, thickening and gaining speed. The cars tilted backward, showing their bellies. The winds from the tornado dragged them around its base in a screeching circle. I was able to breathe again.

  A terrified yelp dragged my eyes from the twister. I saw the girl I’d stolen the gift from. She was scrabbling to hang onto the back of a truck, terror turning her words into incomprehensible noise. Her eyes caught mine, desperate and pleading. I thought about the hunger replacing the pain in my stomach. The warmth I could take from her to replace the chill inside me.

  There was a tug on my heart. A final plea.

  The tether.

  Delirious, I turned my eyes away from the girl and sought out Hadrian. He was on the ground, blood pouring from the slices on his chest. It streamed down the sides of his face from where he’d been pummeled. He dragged his abused body toward his tempest-blades, using the tether to slick the road with ice so movement was easier. I was horrified at the pain he was in, but he wouldn’t stop fighting.

  Mortis didn’t seem to care that Hadrian was returning to his weapons. He was watching me, appearing impressed.

  Smiling, even.

  Anger crushed the pain. Let’s see how impressed you are with this.

  I looked at the girl, still terrified and clinging to the truck.

  “Run!” I shouted.

  She didn’t need to be told twice. Hoping she would get far enough away, I snapped out my arm and made a fist, like I was gripping an invisible rope.

  I grabbed the tornado instead.

  With a shout, I threw it in Mortis’s direction. His grin faltered as the twister carved a violent path toward him. Cars smashed into each other as the spiraling grey and brown storm barreled toward the leader of the Mistrals. Clouds rolled over each other viciously, repelled by the tornado collecting them.

  While he was distracted, I looked at Hadrian. He watched me with wide eyes, black hair snapping in front of his face, a terrified expression that made my heart pinch. I didn’t know if the fear in his eyes was for the danger our enemies were bringing toward me, or simply for what I was doing.

  What I was becoming.

  My eyes burned when they met his. Get the others to safety. Don’t forget the girl.

  A rough arm wrapped around my throat and squeezed. My scream was an awful choked sound, but I didn’t give in to the strike of fear. I stomped on my attacker’s foot. He stumbled and I slammed my elbow into his ribs as hard as I could. He grunted and released my neck. I spun and plowed my elbow into the side of his head.

  Shock reverberated up my elbow, but Declan was disoriented. I had a minute. Less than that, maybe.

  By now, the tornado was in front of Mortis. I thought it would batter or sweep him down. That would have solved a lot of my problems.

  I didn’t expect he would shove out both his hands, and send out a hurricane wind unlike anything I’d ever felt before. It ripped through the tornado like a knife through butter, sending grey and brown dust flying in opposite directions. Cars lifted from the ground beside him, hurtling through the air like kicked toys. I was lifted with them.

  My arms flailed uselessly, grabbing for something to grip and stop the motion, but finding only dirt and air.

  Then it all stopped in an explosion of pain. My back hit unforgiving metal like a baseball meeting a bat. Glass cracked and gave way. I toppled forward onto my stomach, feeling broken pieces of glass and rock dig into my belly. My head pounded and swelled, growing until I thought it would burst. A copper-smelling wetness coated my nose and dripped into my mouth.

  All my remaining strength went into lifting my head. Two blurred shapes stood over me. I could make out the furious scowl of Declan, and the disappointed glare of Mortis.

  “This is troubling,” Mortis declared. “We cannot eliminate the Precips now that she is about to die. We must leave. Take her.”

  Declan’s scowl was the last thing I saw.

  Chapter 16

  Whatever room I was in, it needed a heater. Goosebumps riddled my body, and every breath I took was frigid and dry.

  At least I was breathing. That was something, right?

  The aching pulses strumming through my body begged to differ. My body felt like it had gone through a meat grinder. It was my head that felt the worst. A headache pounded against my skull, and there was a goose egg growing on my right temple.

  Though it went against every rational thought in my mind, I opened my eyes.

  And found myself staring at rocks.

  I blinked slowly, letting the focus come back into my eyes. There was little light in the room, but enough for me to see the craggy roof over my head. I pushed myself up– very, very slowly– and followed the curve of the roof downward until I spotted the floor. It was a mismatched puzzle of rumpled bed sheets and blankets layered over dirt. The light was coming from a kerosene lantern glowing in the left corner of the cave.

  Where in the world was I that I was in a cave? Was I even in Florida anymore?

  The thought that I might be out of the city– out of the country– filled me with sickening dread.

  I flipped over and crawled for the lamp. I didn’t trust myself to stand just yet, though I knew I would have to get on my feet and run if I were going to get out of here and back to my friends.

  Thinking about them made me halt. The last I saw, Vitae was unconscious, Zephys and Piper were running to help her, and Hadrian…

  My chest tightened. It hurt to breathe. I closed my eyes and fought the tears burning them.

  He’s alive. He has to be alive. He’s strong. He’s okay.

  Oh God, Hadrian, tell me you’re okay.

  There was no reply.

  I pushed the horrible thoughts away before they could take me over. First step was getting out of here. There was a tunnel straight ahead. I could try going through it and hope I wouldn’t be caught by one of the Mistrals.

  Yeah. And maybe a white unicorn would appear and let me ride it to safety.

  I gripped the lantern and pushed to my feet. My legs burned like I’d done five hundred squats before running ten miles. Not very pleasant at all.

  Vertigo made my head swim, but I kept my footing. I glanced around the cave, which was only about eight feet across and just as deep. There was no exit that way, and there was nothing on the floor that I could use as a weapon. Not unless I wanted to wave one of the blankets like a beacon of surrender.

  I trudged toward the mouth of the tunnel. I frowned as the lantern’s light dispersed through the hollowed walkway, pushing the shadows deep into the gouged walls. I put the lantern behind my back, darkening the tunnel again. I knew it was risky to have any kind of light with me when I was making what I hoped was a sufficient escape attempt, but I wanted to be able to see where I was going, since I didn’t know where I was, or how long I would be able to stay away from the Mistrals before they realized I was missing.

  I got my answers far sooner than I wanted to.

  The smell of smoke and cooking meat was my first warning. I paused, my stomach rumbling. When was the last time I had eaten?

  It didn’t matter. I had to get out of here first. Then I could find some kind of ration station. I couldn’t be far from civilization, and enough time had passed that more effective food supplies would be put up. Production was probably starting as I walked.

  Dear God, why did they have to be cooking bacon?

  Struggling to ignore the hunger cramping my belly, I shuffled around a curve in the tunnel. I slowed down when an orange glow flickered along the wall. The light from my lantern wasn’t strong enough to emit
that kind of glow, so I set it down behind me and edged around the curve of the wall.

  Sitting in a wide cavern around a fire were the Mistrals. Camping gear was tossed around them, everything from jugs of filtered water to sleeping bags to coolers of food. Ferno was contently moving a frying pan over a grill set on top of the crackling fire, the culprit for the delicious scent of cooked meat. Mortis sat beside him with a tempest-blade stretched across his lap, slowly rubbing a cloth along the bare steel.

  Their actions seemed so normal, I could almost forget they were killers that didn’t have any problems torturing others for their personal gain. Seeing them like this might have made me think they were normal men enjoying silence and simplicity.

  If I hadn’t been one of the victims of their torture, maybe I might have.

  I glanced across the cavern searching for Turve and Declan. I couldn’t see them, and had no idea how to get past the two Guardians without making myself known–

  “You do not need to stand in silence, Ava. You are welcome to join us.”

  Damn Guardians and their enhanced senses.

  I glanced back, wondering if I could use the lantern to crash against Mortis’s head, and if I could conjure up some wind to whip the fire into Ferno’s face–

  A shadow fell over me. I turned around and stared up at Mortis. He was taller than I remembered, and the tempest-blade in his hand greedily sucked up the light of the fire.

  “Allow me to make the choice simple for you,” he said. His face was barely visible among the shadows. “There is one exit in this network of tunnels. You are not strong enough to run past us, and even if you had your strength and were capable of using your gifts, both Turve and Declan are outside, and they will surely re-capture you with far less kindness than I would.”

  He tilted forward. All I could see with clarity were the whites of his eyes and the glow of the fire behind him. Everything else was shadow, and it made my skin crawl.