Storm Born

by Amy Braun

  I refused to endure the first two parts. I didn’t let myself think about the third.

  Sweeping and twisting my hands in the air, I felt a surge of power rising in my chest. I gathered a tornado of thick mire and pushed it at Mortis. Frost covered his palms as a huge rush of freezing, snowy air curled out of the oily clouds. The snow from the blizzard surrounded the tornado, dropping the temperature and causing it to slow. The flakes of snow became shards of ice, and soon my muddy twister was a crystal block of dirt.

  Light snapped through the sky, my only warning that Mortis was calling down lightning. I jumped to the side as my thin, muddy twister exploded into chunky clumps of dirt. The bolt of lightning ripped through the space where it had been, a spear striking the ground I’d been standing on. I grabbed the rain pouring from the clouds and combined it with the water soaking the earth. It became a monstrous wave cresting and splitting behind me. It poured across the space between us, crashing into Mortis. The water smothered him, completely taking him from my view.

  Now that I had trapped him, I started to feel the throb in my head. I was soaked to the skin, but a thicker liquid was sliding over my upper lip. It tasted sharp, hot, and metallic.

  I knew what it meant for me, but I couldn’t stop. Not yet. Not until I knew we were safe from Mortis.

  My stomach turned at the thought of drowning a man, no matter how much misery he’d put me and my loved ones through. I started to draw back. Could I live with myself after I did this? Would I see blood on my hands, even though his wouldn’t be spilled?

  The wave lifted, and not because I commanded it to. It was pushed up by another force, one stronger than mine.

  In a single massive push, the wave leaped through the air and descended back onto me. I grabbed the water at my feet and dragged it over me, freezing the liquid until I was shielded. The cocoon was barely formed in time when the wave smashed into me. I screamed at the thunderous crash and continual roar of the water battering my safety. The murky ice groaned and cracked, half of it snapping under the pressure.

  Water spewed into the broken ice structure, and I scrambled to fix it. My hands were shaking and blood coated my tongue. My brain swelled against my skull and pressed into my eyes.

  An explosion of light dashed through the water, striking the ruins of my ice shield. Shards of ice shattered around me, the water punching at me.

  Water that was electrified.

  The charged water stabbed into my skin, lighting every nerve as it scorched me. Fire streamed through my blood like it was made of gasoline. It swelled in my lungs and seeped into my heart valves, punching my heart until I couldn’t breathe. My brain felt squeezed, as if trying to retreat into itself.

  I’d never wished for death until that moment. I wanted the blackness to consume me again, just to take me away from the agony. I couldn’t bear it.

  I don’t know how much time passed until it was over. The searing hooks of pain that had dug into me had been torn out, leaving a pounding stab in their wake. The ice-shield and electric wave had split around me, soaking deep into the earth. I collapsed with them.

  I could hear Hadrian in the distance, but his voice was too far away for me to make out what he was saying. Or maybe he wasn’t too far, and I just couldn’t bear to hear the pain in his voice.

  Mortis loomed above me, melting out of the shadows and blocking the moon behind him. The only light I could see came from his lifeless, bleached eyes.

  “So much potential,” he told me with a slow shake of his head. “So much wasted.”

  Mortis bent at the waist, stopping when his face was inches away from mine.

  “Let me show you what you what you were meant to become.”

  Mortis stood up and held out his hands. Then the world exploded.

  Dirt launched into the air. Rainwater poured in buckets and pooled onto the ground. Lightning skidded across the sky. Ice hardened along the edges of the crater and crept up the sides. Felled trees lifted and spun around twisters dropping from the sky. Hurricane winds swelled and pushed more trees further inland.

  I could feel every speck of energy fuelling the storms, the unfathomable power of it all. The destruction so immense and widespread that it demanded respect and attention.

  The power to end hundreds, if not thousands of lives.

  Power I was supposed to have.

  I shut my eyes. At least I didn’t have to scramble for a plan. The answer was in front of me. I just had to face it, and hope it would be over quickly.

  I closed every distraction out. I didn’t think about Zephys and if he contained the other Stormkind. I locked away Piper as she guarded Vitae. I hid Hadrian behind my heart though the winds carried his voice. I kept my family in the back of my mind, where I wouldn’t miss them so badly.

  I took a deep breath, felt the very earth shiver with energy and let it consume me from head to toe. It all became part of me– the ice under my skin, the mud squishing between my fingers, wind sweeping my hair over my face, the rain dancing on my skin…

  I remembered the one day I left the restaurant and walked in the rain, how calm it had made me. How I was able to take a step back from the broken world and smile at the simplicity of it all.

  Then I opened my eyes, and took it all for myself.

  The hurricane winds rolling toward innocent lives suddenly lurched and tumbled backward, returning to me. Tornadoes spun too fast, obliterating and losing shape until they disappeared. Flying clumps of mud splattered onto the ground. Ice cracked and melted, slipping down the walls of the crater. The rain no longer slammed into the earth, light and tapping.

  I imagined it all. The winds pulling back, the tornadoes being wiped away, the mud pushed down, the ice losing its chill, the rain exhausting and relaxing. The smell of copper filled my nose and my head throbbed violently, but I didn’t let go. Not even when my sight grew fuzzy.

  Above me, Mortis whirled in a circle, confusion mixing with rage as his ambition retreated. He pushed back, loosing all his energy to force the storms back inland. I was calmer than him, more embracing. My body was too weak to move, so I couldn’t seek his life force for energy. My stomach cramped at the thought of it, but I didn’t dare release myself from my trance. I had to make sure the storms faded, that the danger passed.

  Blood streamed from Mortis’s nose. Veins bulged in his neck and temple. A sharp, shuddering breath escaped his lips. His body relaxed involuntarily. He panted and gasped, dropping his bloodshot eyes to me. Rage crept back into his face, a snarl splitting open his lips.

  “You… What do you think you are doing?”

  I heard him, yet I didn’t allow his words to register. I kept my breathing slow and even, imagined smoothing out the winds, felt the cool water from the melted ice drift under my body, let the rain whisper against my cheeks. It was almost over. The pain in my head was becoming a vicious distraction, but I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about that for much longer, either. It was almost over.

  “What are you doing!”

  I didn’t move when he lunged down, reaching for my neck. Hardly flinched when a silver tempest-blade pierced the air between us, lodging deep in Mortis’s belly. Drops of blood splattered against my stomach, but they would be washed away in the rain and rising water beneath me. Mortis looked at the blade stupidly, like he couldn’t figure out how it got there.

  “She is doing what you were too cowardly to do.”

  My lips twitched, in what I hope was a smile. It would be nice to hear Hadrian’s voice one more time. Even though the circumstances were disturbing, since he was literally killing someone over top of me.

  Hadrian pulled back the sword. Mortis staggered out of my line of sight. The storms stopped. Even the rain was gone now. I was cold, drenched, and dirty. Not the best way to go. But when Hadrian dropped down beside me and lifted me into his arms, I figured the circumstances had improved.

  I released a shaking breath, the last bursts of energy drifting from me. I was numb everywhere. I could s
ee Hadrian touching me, his hands skimming the surface of my face, but I couldn’t feel him. My senses were failing me. His face, tormented and broken, was burning into my memory. I didn’t mind that he would be my last thought. I just wish he didn’t look so heartbroken.

  “Ava!” he shouted, shaking me gently. “Ava, stay awake.”

  “Can’t,” I mumbled. “Did it to myself.”

  He shivered, drawing me closer to his face. “Ava, please, stay awake.”

  I was too close to his lips. I could feel the warm of his breath, the temptation of his life. I turned my head and edged away.

  “Don’t,” I whispered. “Don’t let me hurt you.”

  Hadrian watched my expression uncertainly. Then it hit him.

  “My life force,” he breathed. “You can feel it?”

  I nodded. My eyelids began to droop, the world became hazy and dark around the edges.

  “Can’t hurt you,” I muttered. “Can’t… Can’t…”

  I could hardly see, though I felt his arms heft me higher. I was too weak to speak, to tell him it was too late for me to be saved. To tell him it wasn’t his fault.

  To tell him I loved him.

  “You won’t hurt me.” Hadrian’s voice was agonizingly close. I smelled seawater and musk, the most comforting smell I’d ever known. “I know you won’t.”

  Soft, firm lips pressed against mine. Hadrian was kissing me, knowing what I was, what I was capable of doing. What I had tried to do to him before. I wanted to resist, to tell him to stop before I killed him…

  But then I felt the heat. The luscious warmth spilling from him to me. It slid down my throat like melted chocolate, sweet and welcome and satisfying. I drank it in, letting it pool in my belly and spread to up to my chest. It brushed along the tether, sending a delightful shiver through my body. Sensations returned to my limbs, the tips of my fingers tingling as they returned to life. The pain in my head dulled.

  I reached up and traced my fingers through his thick, rain-soaked hair. I cupped the back of his neck and pressed my lips harder to his, taking another breath and gathering more strength. Each drop was overwhelming, and yet it wasn’t enough.

  The tether vibrated against my heart like a plucked guitar string. I ignored it once, twice…

  Not the third time.

  My hand slipped from the back of his neck, my body sliding back into the water. A shudder went through the arms holding me. I closed my eyes and felt the world tilt once before my sight went dim.

  Chapter 19

  There were three things I was sick of: being wet, being dirty, and blacking out. I vowed to never do any of those again for a long time.

  So far, the only goal I accomplished was waking up moments after I passed out. I blinked my eyes open and stared at the night sky over my head, watching the clouds drift apart to reveal the full moon once more. It bathed me in a spread of pale blue, as though it were a beacon of peace.

  Voices shouted my name… and Hadrian’s name.

  The minute before my latest unconscious episode shot through my mind. The certainty in his voice when he said I wouldn’t hurt him, the moment before he kissed me and pushed his lips against mine.

  The taste of his life force sinking into me.

  Hadrian.

  I sat up too quickly, vertigo snapping through my head like an elastic band. I swayed and slapped my hand against the mud, feeling it squish between my fingers. I breathed through the swirling in my skull, then dragged my eyes across the muck to find Hadrian.

  He was lying right beside me, his eyes closed as if he were asleep. Except he was too pale to be asleep, and he wasn’t moving.

  My heart sliced open. I crawled toward him, picking him up and holding him the way he’d held me.

  Tears burned my eyes as I shook him. “Hadrian! Hadrian, wake up!”

  “Ava!”

  I glanced away, looking for Piper as she called my name. She was across the crater and walking closer. Zephys was with her, and they were both supporting Vitae as she shuffled toward us. I glanced at her stomach, seeing a patch of ice acting as a bandage to the stab wound in her stomach. I cringed at the sight of it, and the paleness of Vitae’s face.

  “I assure you I will survive,” panted Vitae. “The wound will heal beneath the ice. As Hadrian said, our wounds heal quickly.”

  A sob lodged in my throat. I clutched Hadrian tighter. “What about life force? You can’t heal that.”

  Vitae and Zephys hesitated, glancing down to where Hadrian lay. Vitae slumped, but Zephys managed a small smile. “I’m sure he will endure,” he said. “Perhaps you need to initiate some more incentive.”

  I gawked at him. “You want me to kiss–” I caught myself, “er, breathe into him again? I was the one who stole his life force in the first place.”

  “You did not steal it,” a familiar voice rumbled. “I offered it.”

  I glanced down at Hadrian. His eyes were sleepy and a little delirious, but they were open. Alive.

  It should have relieved me, but I was still scared I would hurt him somehow. Hadrian didn’t seem concerned, smiling that gorgeous half-smile at me. “And I would prefer a kiss.”

  So would I, my mind betrayed. Hadrian’s smile widened. His hand reached up and cupped my face. I stiffened and clutched his wrist. The steady beat of his pulse reassured me, but I was scared I would do something to make it disappear.

  “I… Are you okay?”

  He nodded. “A little weaker than usual, but in no pain.”

  I swallowed the lump building in my throat. “How did you know I wouldn’t hurt you?”

  Hadrian pushed himself out of my lap gracefully. His hand never left my face, and I swore his eyes were bluer in the pale moonlight above me.

  “You exercised the most amazing control I have ever seen, Ava. You brought the storms back and did not attack us when the power overwhelmed you. You were calm, at peace. I knew you would not bring harm to anyone. I knew I could help you.” His thumb skimmed along my cheekbone, sending a warm shiver through me.

  “You are not the kind of person to want to cause others harm. You are too strong for that.” He pulled me closer. “Too perfect.”

  It felt like Hadrian and me were the only people in the crater, and I wanted it to stay that way. But I couldn’t forget what had happened here, and that the others were watching us anxiously.

  I dipped my chin and let his forehead bump against mine. Hadrian stayed there for a moment, then leaned away and let go of my neck. He slipped his hand into mine and helped me to my feet. I glanced past Vitae, Zephys, and Piper to take in the battleground.

  Murky rainwater filled the massive crater, ankle-deep mud lining its grimy surface. Hundreds of discarded tempest-blades glimmered under the water. Declan’s clothes drifted through the mire. Ferno, Turve, and Mortis’s bodies floated on top of the muck. My stomach tightened at the sight of the corpses. It was clear they were dead, so I quickly averted my gaze. My eyes found Hadrian.

  My Guardian’s eyes were fixed on Mortis’s body. I don’t know what I expected to see on his face; maybe relief or peace or something darker. Instead, all I saw was grim acceptance, as if he was feeling indifferent or empty toward the man who had his father from him.

  Taking my eyes away from Hadrian before I stared too long, I looked at Zephys. “What happened to the Stormkind?”

  The Guardian’s hazel-blue eyes rose to meet mine. His shoulders slumped. “Most of them escaped in a weakened state. They will recover their strength to hunt again, and we must stop them before they regain power.” He glanced at the tempest-blades shining under the water. “It seems we will need to make plenty of return trips to gather their cages.”

  “You do enjoy boasting about your strength, Zephys,” teased Hadrian.

  His friend shot him a pointed look. “I was considering electing you to carry them all, seeing as you have a disturbing fondness for swords and all other weapons.”

  Hadrian just smiled. I was thinking about the first half
of their conversation.

  “You’re leaving?”

  I hated how small my voice sounded, and how the Guardians looked at me with pity. Vitae unwound herself from Zephys and Piper and took careful steps toward me. I wanted to tell her not to, to conserve her strength, but she wasn’t weak. She carried herself with pride and confidence.

  “Once the Stormkind are contained, there will be no need for us to remain here. The human race must endure on its own, as it has for thousands of years. We are to carry on as we always have, ensuring the safety and well-being of the Stormkind until they free themselves again.”

  “So nothing’s changed,” Piper said bitterly. “The Stormkind are going to keep coming.”

  Vitae looked at her. “Yes, but you are wrong about change, Piper. Many circumstances have been altered. The number of Stormkind has decreased, the Mistrals are no longer a threat, and we must be able to care for their new generation.” Vitae’s gaze returned to me. “The girl from the highway, the one who directed us here– Corrina– has agreed to return home with us. She chose to be trained, to learn the secrets of being a Stormkind. Perhaps she simply wants to find herself. Regardless, we will monitor her.”

  “What about us?” I asked warily, feeling the weight of Hadrian’s eyes on me.

  Vitae closed her emotions. I couldn’t read what she was thinking or feeling, but it didn’t seem like a good sign.

  “The choice is yours, Ava, as well as yours, Piper. Our home is in a veil of the world, invisible to human eyes but connected to earth all the same. We will welcome you to our care should you decide to return with us. Or, you can remain here with your human families.”

  Vitae paused a beat to look at both of us, though her eyes lingered on me when she continued.