Just Breathe (33 page)

The Fire hissed. He curled his lip, tamped it down with another wave, and swallowed over a dry throat. Gods, he was so fucked. Vexx was right. When Zoe found out what he did…

“Thanks for…everything.”

“Steady on, mate.” She put on an exaggerated Aussie accent. “It’ll be over soon.”

“Yeah, but over-
good
or over-
bad
?”

She didn’t answer.

They were silent for the rest of the drive. He pulled up to Kai’s house, got out of the car, and slammed the door shut. He was twitchy all over, tweaking worse than a crack junkie.

Cool your shit. You’re losing it again.

Vexx leaned out of the window. “We’re going inside?”

He sighed. “Yep. I’m tired of playing nice. We can’t afford to fuck around anymore. I need answers.”

Vexx followed him up the walk and stood behind him as he rang the bell. Gavin struggled to keep his mind focused, but it pinballed in a downward spiral from one worry to the next. Vexx laid a gentle hand on his back. A gust of wind kicked up, bringing a refreshing breath of Airy clarity with it. His racing thoughts calmed. His head cleared.

Better.

He nodded his thanks as the door opened.

A smile swept over Kai’s face. “About time you got here.” He stepped aside and waved them in.

“Kai, this is Vexx.”

The two shook hands, and his warm brown eyes studied her for a moment. “In league with the Aers now, are you, Gavin?”

“Something like that.” He pumped more Water to Scarlet’s cage. She couldn’t hear any of what they were about to discuss. “We need to talk about the Council.”

“Indeed, we do.” He gestured to the chairs in the lounge room. Everyone sat. “Do you know who it is?”

Gavin couldn’t cover his surprise. “Who
who
is?”

Kai leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. His long, dark hair almost touched them. “The one who betrayed the Council to the Fyres? I have my suspicions.”

“So do I. Prove to me it’s not you.” Gavin settled his pointed gaze on the man.

Kai’s Polynesian features kept steady—no twitches, no looking to the left, no sign of deception. Aura was clean, too. “Before he died, Yileen said some things that clued me in to trouble. Never anything direct. Just vague, passing comments.”

Gavin rubbed his bottom lip. “Same here.”

“When I realized the Fyres were always one step ahead, I started paying closer attention, putting pieces together. At first I thought they were spying on us and getting information that way, but no one on the Council is stupid. We’re very careful about who we deal with, and we follow the strict rule of keeping our secrets among the seven of us.

“You were a natural suspect, being new and young. I watched you but found nothing of consequence. So I looked to the others. Wyland’s a hothead. He often speaks without thinking. Lacks restraint and tact. But my investigations turned up nothing on him either.

“Camira is Yileen’s great-niece—”

Shock zapped Gavin with a lightning strike to the brain. He mentally tightened the lid on Scarlet’s box. “What? I had no idea. Yileen never mentioned it.” Why would his friend keep such information from him?

Kai smiled. “Yeah, they didn’t advertise their kinship, but it’s true. She got the shits with everyone after Yileen announced he wanted you to be the new Council leader. I suspect she was disappointed he didn’t choose her. Jealous maybe. I don’t know. Whatever the case, she supported his endorsement at the vote, though she did so with a scowl and a near-bleeding tongue.”

That explained why Camira hated Gavin so much. At least one question was now answered. “Did anyone vote against me?”

Kai shook his head. “It was a unanimous decision.”

Interesting, but not that surprising. The traitor went along with the group to maintain the appearance of cooperation. Or maybe he or she
wanted
him to lead just to watch him fall. Or to prove Yileen wrong.

“What do you reckon is the motivation for selling out to the Fyres?” Gavin asked, Water flowing hard and fast now. “What would a Council member have to gain by helping them rise to power?”

“Well, they made you look bad, and it opened up the head position. Power is always a great motivator.”

“You think it’s Ellie?” Gavin didn’t know much about her, but he’d never gotten a bad vibe off her.

“I don’t know, but she’s as likely a candidate as the next. I trust Seth. Not sure about Erin.”

“If it’s Ellie, she got what she wanted. What’s the Council’s reaction been so far?”

“They seem content with her in charge. She’s no-nonsense, straightforward. A good leader. Though nothing’s changed as far as the Fyres are concerned. We’re no closer to getting them out of the Dreaming than we were before. Perhaps even farther away now that Lana has risen to power within the Wæters’ ranks.”

Gavin nodded. “Lana’s the wrong choice. I only hope the Wæters’ decision doesn’t come back to bite them on the arse the day after tomorrow. If the tithe goes awry, there will be literal hell to pay.”

Kai pressed his lips together. “I’m afraid you’re right.”

“Jack told me about the Dreamweaver. Clearly she’s a point of contention on the Council. Do you know anything about her?”

Kai’s brows pulled together. “They say she’s a myth. I have no reason to believe otherwise. Do you know something I don’t?”

Gavin sighed. “No, mate. I’ve been looking for her, but…”

Kai nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll see if I can turn anything up.”

“What will happen should the Wæters fail to keep the Balance?” Gavin didn’t want to know the answer, but he
needed
to know in order to prepare himself and the Wyldlings he fought to protect.

A long thread of silence wove through the space between them. “We’ll have a war on our hands. And I don’t mean in the Dreaming. It will be a living, bloody reality like nothing we’ve ever seen in this life or the generations before us.”

Grim acceptance settled into Gavin’s bones. The battle for Australia was close at hand, and the lines between good and evil, friend and foe, were utterly blurred, potentially stained with the blood of countless innocents.

Scarlet’s Fire stretched, tested the waning strength of its cage, and caressed his soul with a dead-evil smile.

Airy yellow streaks breezed across Vexx’s irises, but they didn’t hide the dread lurking below.

Chapter Thirty-four

That night, Zoe went to Gavin’s house after work. Jack and his Elemental friends—except for the elusive Wæter, Xanthos, whom she still hadn’t met—scattered around the living room, discussing the day’s developments.

“What did you find out?” Zoe sat next to Gavin on the couch and leaned into him for warmth. His skin was sallow, his cheeks unshaved. He looked awful. She knew how he felt. Tired, brain-fried, and anxious, Zoe ached for him.

But they weren’t the only ones who were out of sorts. The whales had been twitchy today, too. Everyone had. There was a dark vibe in the air.

He laid a hand on her thigh and squeezed. She slid her fingers between his. Damn, how she wished they could be alone.

“We’re getting reports of increasing Fyre activity. Not just here. All around the country,” Gavin said.

The wiggly worm of dread burrowed deeper into her stomach. “Did you see the lightning today?”

The skies had been ominous, the clouds angry, but not a drop of rain in sight. Not even humidity that sometimes came with approaching thunderstorms. And the prickle of worry, choking her skin and jacking her up, had been tangible. Same as the mood here.

Jack stood and paced the room. He tugged on his bottom lip. It was the first time Zoe had seen him beer-less in a while. “Byrn, what did you find out from your Fyre contacts?”

Byrn leaned against the doorway to the kitchen. “I can’t pin anyone down. It’s like they’re avoiding me.”

Vexx coughed loudly from her reclining position on the floor. “There’s a shocker. I guess we know their asshole detectors are working.”

Venom flared in Byrn’s anemic red eyes, and a bolt of heat forked toward her. Gavin tightened his grip on Zoe’s hand. Jack paused his steps for half a second to wave an arm in Byrn’s direction. Blue light shot from his palm and devoured the energy with a sizzle. A wet sucking noise followed. “Cut the bullshit, you two. We don’t have time for playground turf wars.”

Zoe smoothed Gavin’s clammy hand. “You okay?”

His face scrunched up. “It’s nothing.” He rubbed his chest in slow circles.

“You sure?”

He nodded and forced a smile. She wasn’t convinced.

“We know the Fyres are up to something big,” Jack said. “They all but disappeared from the Dreaming today. Whatever they’re plotting, it’ll likely go down here in Realis. But we can’t leave the Dreaming unguarded either. I’ll put in a call to the North American Sentinels and see if they can spare a few bodies to Dreamwalk here tonight.”

Gavin’s head snapped up. “You can’t do that.”

A slow smile eased across Jack’s face, subtly deepening the lines. Zoe saw a hint of herself there. “Says who?”

“Says protocol,” Gavin sputtered. “The Australian Sentinel Council will lose their shit.”

Jack quirked his head, then curled a hand behind his ear. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you.”

Across the room by the door, Jet grinned. A giggle shook Vexx’s shoulders. Byrn folded his arms across his chest. His now-cooled eyes met Gavin’s. Collective smugness bounced between the four of them.

“It’s a huge breach of etiquette, Jack,” Gavin said.

“Your Council has one or more traitors on it. I don’t give a shit what they say. Our job is to protect Wyldlings. That’s what we’ll do. Whatever it takes. Fuck the politics.”

Now Zoe smiled, too.
Go, Dad!

Vexx’s yellow eyes glowed. “They kicked you off the Council. What do you care? You’re no longer obligated to follow their rules.”

Gavin started to reply, then closed his mouth.

“They’re right.” Zoe faced him. “Your prophecy said you won’t win the war using fists, remember? I think you could generalize that notion to playing by the rules, too. You don’t fight an unseen enemy by sticking to ‘protocol.’ You have to be just as sneaky as the traitor. Find a way to turn everything on end. Shake it up, so no one sees what’s coming.”

“Have I mentioned how much I like your girl, Gavin?” Vexx said.

Gavin shot Zoe a tired smile. “Yeah, she’s pretty fucking amazing.”

Jack raised a brow and grinned. Zoe’s cheeks heated.

“Okay,” Gavin said. “Do it. Send some rent-a-Sentinels into the Dreaming. It can’t hurt. I can always ask forgiveness later, if I even want to bother when this is through.”

He turned to Vexx. “I know you’re sick of everyone asking, but have you gotten
anything
out of Whetu?”

Vexx glanced down the hallway to the closed door where Whetu slept and shook her head. “She’s so close to the change, I’m trying to leave her be. I’ve communicated with her a bit, but you can’t rush these things. Her mind is extremely active, processing something massive. I’m talking the equivalent of a terabyte’s worth of data here. She’s keeping whatever it is to herself.”

Jesus Christ. What could a nine-year-old girl be doing with that amount of information? And what the hell
was
it? Zoe wondered.

“If nothing happens with her by morning, you’re gonna have to coax the door location out of her. We can’t wait any longer,” Jack said.

“I agree,” Gavin chimed in a little too eagerly.

Zoe’s heart fluttered. That couldn’t be good for Whetu. The poor kid had been through enough already. Forcing her out of the coma could kill her. Zoe wasn’t cool with that at all—

Byrn, Jack, and Gavin tensed in unison and looked to the front door. Gavin’s Fire tattoos blazed red, yellow, and orange. Vexx lifted her head and followed their line of sight. Jet turned, too.

The bell rang.

“Who the fuck is that?” Byrn’s eyes flashed crimson. The heat rolling off him turned the room into a sauna.

Had to be a Fyre. Gavin’s jaw clenched, and he clutched Zoe’s hand again. She grabbed Gavin’s arm with the Water tattoos and met his terror-filled eyes. The fear in them scared the shit out of her. He pulled her up and walked her to the door.

Jet turned the knob and opened it.

Sinnder stood on the top step, wild wind whipping his shaggy locks. Jet recoiled as if she’d been zapped. Had he done something to her?

Ah, the wind. Air eclipsed Earth. Jet must’ve
hated
flying.

Lightning stabbed the crimson sky in the distance behind Sinnder, casting an eerie glow across his shoulders. A roar of thunder followed a couple seconds later. Byrn raced over, fast as the streaks of light splitting the clouds. Chest puffed out, he snarled like a wounded animal.

“What are you doing here?” Jet said quietly. Another gust of wind blew. Frowning at the sky, she shuddered and took two steps back.

Sinnder peered past her into the living room. “I followed you.”

“I told you to go home.” The tightness in Jet’s voice alarmed Zoe.

What was going on between Sinnder and Jet? Zoe glanced at Gavin, who kept hold of her hand but placed himself between her and the two Fyre Elemental volcanoes threatening eruption. She focused on the Water bubbling inside her and forced it through her skin, into his. Just in case he needed it.

“I have information.” As always, Sinnder’s voice was pure silk, his gaze as mesmerizing as a cobra’s.

Byrn looked Sinnder up one side and down the other, then licked his lips. “This better be good, or I’ll be eating flambéed Fyre for an after dinner snack.”

Sinnder cracked a crocodile smile, and his delicious, spicy scent slithered through the air. “I don’t think so, mate.”

Byrn moved closer as if to start something. Jet laid a hand on his chest. Fire and Earth were opposites that canceled each other out, but Jet had the advantage of physical strength. She seemed to use it on Byrn a lot to keep him in line.

“Let him in.” With a gentle pull, she tugged him out of Sinnder’s personal space and stepped away from the threshold.

Sinnder entered the house and swept the faces in the room. He was bigger than Zoe remembered, more intimidating. Fire energy practically dripped from his pores. He must have recently fed. On something massive. His attitude alone could take down the whole house with a sneeze gone wrong.