Storm Born (31 page)

I narrowed my eyes. “You’re really not selling this plan to me, Hadrian.”
 

He continued as if I hadn’t voiced any concerns. “Rely on the gifts you stole from Declan, but use the tether if you can.” A sense of urgency fell over his eyes. “I cannot use my powers on the ocean, Ava. The water must be on land if I am to freeze it.”
 

The importance of that was not lost on me. I wasn’t the fighter here. Hadrian was. I nodded. “Okay.”
 

He set down one of his swords and quickly cupped the back of my neck. “Do not approach Ferno. Restrain the false Stormkind. I will protect you when I can.”
 

Oh God, he expected me to fight? Didn’t he know how bad I was at that? Everything I had done so far was survival and desperation and terrible ideas that made me pass out. My stomach heaved at the thought of deliberately marching into a fight.
 

Hadrian pulled me closer, pressing his forehead against mine. “I will not let anything happen to you, Ava. I swear it.”
 

I believed him. God help me, but I believed him. I closed my eyes and nodded again. Hadrian pulled away and recollected his sword. I glanced over his head and watched Vitae, Zephys, and Piper creep across the top of the dune. It didn’t seem like they had been noticed so far, but I couldn’t be sure. I could see Zephys talking to Piper with his hand on her shoulder. I also noticed the clouds forming overhead.
 

Clouds that could bring us the rain we actually wanted this time.
 

I set my eyes on the ocean and breathed deeply. The tether moved fluidly against my heart, a feeling I welcomed. I stared at the waves, imaging a subtle wind caressing them, pushing them deeper up the beach. A cool breeze drifted over my head, past Ferno shouting abuse at Austin, and hovered over the water. I reached out and turned my hand, picturing the wind dipping low and reversing to return to me. I tugged my hand back, dragging the breeze against the waves.
 

They rolled up the beach, moving ten feet further than the shoreline. I stopped before they could reach Ferno, who was stalking away and letting Austin pick himself up. Neither of them seemed to notice the change in the water, the chill in the air, or the clouds forming over their heads.
 

Hadrian shifted beside me, holding out his hand and letting his four extended fingers frost over while gripping the sword with his thumb. The water soaking into the sand began to harden, a shimmer of ice layering over it and steadily moving toward Ferno. The ice formed faster, streaking toward him–
 

That was when Austin stood up, and noticed.
 

“Ferno!”
 

The Mistral Guardian whirled around, his eyes dropping. Hadrian clenched his fist. Spikes of ice burst from the sand and plunged through Ferno’s leg. He screamed and clutched his shin, dropping to one knee.
 

Hadrian jumped from his hiding spot and charged the clearing on the beach. Austin whirled to face him, and I saw just how big he was. Broad-shouldered with a thick middle, he looked like a retired linebacker. His jaw was wide and strong, his nose flat and his eyes small. Streaks of grey combed through his thin, unruly hair. He raised his fists and threw a punch as soon as my Guardian was in range.
 

Hadrian ducked and spun around him, stopping to launch a kick into Austin’s back. The false Stormkind sprawled face first into the sand.
 

Ferno tore his leg free of the ice, scowling and withdrawing one of his swords. His other hand slammed into the sand. He yanked it up, tiny particles dripping from his fingers. Particles that soon spiraled together, twisting into a small tornado.
 

Dark clouds thickened overhead, and soon the rain began to pour. I glanced at the top of the dune to check on Piper. Her beautiful face was a mask of concentration, and I was glad Zephys was there to support her. Vitae stood like an assassin in the dark, her tempest-blade at her side and one hand shoving down the dune.
 

The wind hit Ferno and sent him sprawling. Hadrian was on him in an instant, pressing the blade to the Mistral’s throat.
 

“Move, and your blood will be spilled,” Hadrian threatened.
 

Ferno lay still on the ground, but even from where I was, I could see the smile on his face. I cut a glance to Austin. He was on his knees, his back to me, and his fists clenching again.
 

“There will be no blood, Hadrian,” taunted Ferno in his awful, rasping voice. “Not when I can bury you.”
 

Austin reacted instantly, punching his fists into the wet sand around him. The beach heaved and rocketed thirty feet into the air behind him. Wet, clumpy sand rose over Austin and curved toward Hadrian. It fell on him in one massive crush.
 

I thought I saw white frost fly up in front of my Guardian, but I couldn’t be sure. The sand was too thick for me to see clearly. But I knew that sand ate through ice like acid, and the torrent being dumped on him wasn’t slowing down. It was cycling, churning down onto Hadrian over and over.
 

If Hadrian spent too much time concentrating on a shield to protect himself, he wouldn’t be able to fight Ferno if he attacked with a sword. And I was willing to bet that was exactly Ferno’s plan.
 

I was on my feet and running into the clearing even as the horrible scenario crossed my mind. I skidded to a stop at the back of Austin’s sand wall. I focused my breathing, centered myself, and gained energy from the tether. It tightened, a sign that Hadrian must still be using his ice powers as I used mine. I drew up my arms, slowly gathering strength from the tether, then slashed my arms to the side.
 

The burst of wind struck the side of the sandy wall, shoving it away from Austin. He stood up and whirled around, eyes glowing white even though he was no longer controlling the wall. I glanced past him.
 

Sure enough, Hadrian had used his abilities to build an ice shield taller than he was. It had been gouged by the dark sand, and he could no longer hold it. Ferno was on his feet, swinging his tempest-blade at Hadrian’s neck.
 

The strike never connected, and not only because Hadrian leaned back.
 

Vitae, who’d charged down the hill while the fight began, hooked her arm through the bend in Ferno’s arm and dragged his arm back. He whipped his head around, and she slammed the pommel of her sword into his face.
 

Motion in front of me captured my attention. Austin, white-eyed and wild, was running straight for me. A moment of panic snared my heart, but I pushed it away. I gathered the rain Piper was dousing over the beach and flipped it in my hands. The rain tilted horizontally and slammed into Austin’s face. He roared and staggered back, momentarily blind. I hesitated, not sure what to do next and knowing I couldn’t fight him physically.
 

Zephys was barreling down the hill with Piper close behind. Instead of running to Ferno, they ran for me.
 

Austin didn’t notice them yet. He swung his hands up across his chest. Sand pitched up from my left side and shot toward me. I twisted and used the tether to get some energy, pushing out my hands and freezing the water in the sand. It slowed the oncoming wall, but didn’t halt it. At least I was able to stagger back and escape being pummeled.
 

By sand, anyway.
 

Austin slammed into me like a truck. We hit the sand, his heavy weight pushing all the air from my lungs. I scrambled and slapped at him, but his hand quickly found my throat and squeezed. The white glow from his eyes and the snarl on his lips made him look like a man possessed by a demon. Terror ripped through me at his strength. If he squeezed any harder, he could break my neck.
 

But he never got the chance. Ice thudded around his neck and enclosed it. Austin was viciously torn from my body. I coughed and clutched my throat. Everything seemed to be in place. I rolled off the drenched sand and looked across the beach.
 

Hadrian held out his frosted hand, his illuminated blue eyes meeting mine. The look only lasted a moment before he dropped his hand and went back to fighting Ferno, who was not making it easy for the Precips to capture him.
 

The Mistral tossed sand left and right, hurling it into Vitae and Hadrian’s bodies to disorient them. When their vision was clouded, he used his swords to try and stab them. He would have succeeded, if Zephys hadn’t gathered lightning and slashed it at him. Ferno would avoid the worst strikes, stepping to the side or backing away. He was frighteningly quick.
 

Piper continued to make her way toward me, grabbing my arm and helping me to my feet. We both glanced at Austin. The icy noose around his neck wasn’t killing him, but it had enraged him. He roared and flipped onto his back, gripping the sand next to him. The dune on our right exploded, thick chunks of soaked sand flying outward like it was being vacuumed away from the island.
 

Piper yelped and I held out my hands, pushing a cool breeze into it to keep it from shredding into me. Even as I kept the worst of it back, I could feel hard flakes of grit stinging my face and fingers. It tangled in my hair and swept past me in a blur, threatening my vision. Piper stood behind me and shouted in my ear.
 

“What do I do?!”
 

I glanced at her. “See if you can absorb his power!”
 

She hesitated, and I didn’t blame her. After seeing how I reacted after touching her and taking her gift, it didn’t exactly seem like a thrilling prospect. But we needed to know if it was possible.
 

Piper nodded and ran to Austin’s side. The ice around his neck kept him in place, but the sand was melting it at a rapid pace. She had to hurry.
 

I turned my head, glancing through the thick, sandstorm sweeping over the beach. Ferno was using the storm to his advantage, seeming to be unaffected. He swung one of his tempest-blades at Vitae’s throat. She jumped back from it and snapped a kick into Ferno’s face. He staggered back as Hadrian pounced, shooting a blast of ice at his chest. Ice collided with sand, the grit fighting against the chill that battled to freeze it.
 

Hadrian lunged with his sword. Ferno saw him coming and blocked the strike. I watched the rage seep over him, spreading like a cancer about to claim its victim.
 

Ferno snapped his elbow back, catching Vitae in the head. He ducked under Hadrian’s punch, slamming a fist into his stomach. He swung his hand, commanding the sand beneath him to rise and hurl
the wet granules into his eyes. Hadrian grimaced and staggered back, Ferno lunging for him with the sword outstretched while Vitae and Zephys tried to stop him.
 

“I can’t do it!”
 

Piper’s scream tore me from the awful sight ahead. I cut my eyes to her, telling myself that Hadrian would live. I couldn’t believe anything else.
 

Piper’s hands were pressed to Austin’s chest, her thumbs holding down his neck. She was straddling him, using her self-defense training to adjust her weight so he couldn’t move. He snarled and swung his fists at her, the blows grazing her chin and stomach.
 

Dread realization filled me. Piper couldn’t absorb Austin’s gift.
 

But I could.
 

My stomach tightened and rolled, like a rag being wrung out. I didn’t want to take Austin’s powers. Of all the sensations that tore through me when Mortis tortured me, dust had been one of the worst.
 

But we were out of options. Ferno was on a rampage, and if I didn’t do something soon, he could hurt one of the Guardians.
 

Or worse.
 

I risked a glance at the battle across from me. The Precips were still alive, but Ferno was locked in frenzy. He was a wild animal pushed into a corner. He sliced the air with his swords, keeping the Precips back. When he had the distance he wanted, he punched down at the earth and used his tether to unleash chaos on them.
 

The sand collapsed under Vitae’s feet, becoming quicksand that pulled her deeper into the earth. Zephys ran to help her when the ground bucked under him and threw him into the dune. Some of the sand had sloughed off the hidden debris, revealing broken trees. Zephys slammed into them, landing in a heap on his side. Hadrian rushed forward and sliced his sword across Ferno’s ribs. The Mistral roared and slashed back. Hadrian ducked and stayed close, smashing his knee into Ferno’s stomach. He bellowed again, drawing on his tether to command the sand. It wrapped around Hadrian’s back like thick, muddy tentacles and dragged him back onto the earth. My Guardian kicked and fought, but the sand constricted around his chest and limbs and held him on the ground. Hadrian released his grip on the tempest-blades to better control his ice gift, but the sand crawled up his neck and covered his face.
 

Smothering him.
 

Ferno grinned and spun the sword in his hand.
 

I dropped down beside Austin and looked at Piper. She was about to lose her hold on the false Stormkind.
 

“Keep the rain going,” I said, “and run.”
 

My best friend hesitated, then nodded. She launched off of Austin and sprinted away from me. Austin lurched up with a savage howl. The sound was so barbaric that Ferno stopped his final approach to Hadrian and looked at me. The whiteness still consumed his vision. Austin’s eyes locked on me and he lunged for my neck. Ferno screamed for him to stop and Vitae yelled my name, but neither call made a difference.
 

Austin’s hands clamped around my throat and pushed me into the thick sand. Tendrils of it curved over my cheeks and crawled toward my mouth. Grit stuck between my teeth and clumped on my tongue. I clapped my hands on Austin’s face–