Storm Born (35 page)

Being mad at him. 
 

“That’s my question, you jerk! What was the goal here? Take out whatever anger you have at Mortis and his goons by running at them headfirst without a plan?”
 

“I had a plan,” he grumbled.
 

“Oh, good,” I put my hands on my hips. “Explain it. Please. I would love to hear it.”
 

Hadrian glared. He didn’t say a word.
 

“That’s what I thought,” I stated, proving my point.
 

His eyes narrowed to slits. He still didn’t have an argument. As we stared at each other in the ruined, empty highway, I could see there were words on the tip of his tongue. His lips were pressed together too firmly for him to simply be angry. Something was hidden behind his rage, something he didn’t want me to see.
 

I wasn’t afraid of it, though. Not like he was. I didn’t think there was anything he could hide from me that would cause me pain. Hadrian was difficult and aggressive, but he wasn’t unreachable. When I had been lying in the infirmary after passing out from Ferno’s attack, something inside him snapped. I heard it in his voice, watched it unravel when he nearly punched Vitae.
 

Hadrian was breaking.
 

I took a careful step toward him and slid my hand into his. He stiffened, but didn’t pull away. That counted as progress, right?
 

“Tell me what you were trying to achieve,” I whispered. “Tell me what you’re looking for.”
 

The rage shielding his eyes began to waver. He quickly dropped his gaze to the ground. His fingers curled gently around my hand. “It was my intent to retrieve answers from Turve.”
 

At the sound of his name, I glanced past Hadrian to see what our recently defeated Mistral was up to. He was frowning as Vitae stood next to him with a sword pressed to his neck. She was asking him questions I couldn’t hear, and he was replying with one or two word answers. He looked bored, and I couldn’t shake the wrong feeling to the casual way he sat on the ground, like he was still waiting for something.
 

Dismissing it, I retuned my attention to Hadrian. “And how did that work out before you started punching him?”
 

Instead of answering, he tightened his jaw. 
 

Exasperation made me lose my patience. “God, Hadrian, did you even ask him 
anything
?”
 

“He would have answered me once I subdued him and his charge–”
 

“Did it ever occur to you they might not tell you where Mortis was, or what his next step was–”
 

His hands were cupping my face and drawing me closer before I could blink. His scent was cool and familiar, yet his hands were all but burning.
 

“You think I tracked Turve because I care about Mortis?”
 

I was about to say yes, because that was what mattered to him. He wanted retribution for his father, and punching answers out of Turve would have been a good way to do it.
 

But then I looked into his eyes– 
really
 looked– and saw the desperation, the hurt, the fear. 
 

Emotions I wouldn’t see if he were thinking about Mortis. 
 

But if he were thinking about 
me
...
 

“That would have been true once,” he whispered, his shields completely stripped now. “But now every time I think of him, I worry about you instead. I know what he is capable of, what he has already done to you, and it terrifies me that I will not be able to protect you from it again.” He dipped his forehead, pressing it against mine. I didn’t know if he were shaking, or if it was me.
 

“I tracked Turve because I cannot bear the idea of losing you, Ava. I do not know how you are undoing me, but I do not want you to stop.”
 

I could see everything he’d tried to hide from me. The contrition, confusion, loneliness, desire… It was open to me now.
 

Only to me.
 

I fought to regain my thoughts as Hadrian struggled to regain his control. I wanted to keep berating him for scaring me, but after what he’d said, the way he was holding me—
 

A crush of wind knocked into us and stole the ground from under me. Hadrian’s arms came around me as the wind whipped us violently. His back became a shield as we were thrown against the side of a car. I wasn’t hurt, but I felt the breath punch from Hadrian’s lungs as he was crushed. He grunted, still holding me as we toppled forward. He twisted at the last possible second, landing on his back again and keeping me from smashing face-first into the pavement.
 

I wriggled out of Hadrian’s arms and turned to check on him. My Guardian was already on his feet, grabbing his last tempest-blade from his back and shifting his feet into a fighter’s stance. I got to my feet and stood behind him.
 

The false-Stormkind was on her feet, the color back in her dark eyes. Her lips were peeled back into a savage snarl. She pushed her hands out to Hadrian, but he was stronger than her. He flipped the sword in his right hand so the blade was extended horizontally. Gripping it carefully between his thumb and index finger, Hadrian pushed out his hand. A gust of cold wind cut a path straight to the false-Stormkind. It struck her in the chest and shoved her toward a car. I jumped at the screeching sound I heard when she hit it.
 

But Hadrian hadn’t pushed her hard enough for the car to make that kind of noise. Which was coming from the left.
 

I turned my head, breath catching in my throat. 
 

The abandoned cars were skidding along the highway like toys being pushed by an invisible bulldozer. They spun off the side of the road and flipped over, parted forcibly as the wind picked up around us. My hair whipped across my face, coming from both sides. I huddled closer to Hadrian as he pushed the false-Stormkind back again.
 

“Hadrian,” I whispered, tugging his arm to get his attention.
 

“I know. I hear it. Stay close to me.”
 

His voice was calm, easy, and confident, all the things I wasn’t. I glanced around, searching for Piper. I quickly found her with Zephys. He stood in front of her with one arm stretched across her middle, pushing her away from the cars being knocked aside by an unseen force. 
 

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.