Storm Born (29 page)

I nodded grudgingly.
 

“Then you will also need to forgive me for this next statement, but I believe that Mortis designed you– all of these false Stormkind– to be his weapons against us.”
 

My stomach dropped. Hadrian’s hand tightened over mine.
 

“But… But why would he choose humans?” Piper whispered. Zephys remained behind her, his hand still secure around her shoulder. “Doesn’t he have his own soldiers and Stormkind?”
 

“He does. But they are hardly an army. If he wishes to avenge the Primordials, he will require a much more potent weapon.” Vitae’s eyes lingered on me for a beat too long. “Which leads me to our next challenges. First, we must determine if Piper has only one gift, or if she is like you, and capable of holding more.”
 

Piper sputtered. “What? How are you going to determine that?”
 

“By turning his weapons against him.”
 

Zephys stiffened. Hadrian squeezed my hand a little too hard.
 

“What do you mean?” my Guardian asked. Nobody could miss the subtle danger in his voice.
 

“While I was obtaining supplies, I overheard rumors of dust storms on the island of Cayo Costa. Apparently, they can be seen from the mainland, and wisely, no one is attempting to see what is causing them. They have no desire to encounter another Stormkind.”
 

“Sounds like Ferno could be maintaining his practice,” Zephys said bitterly. I wiggled in the bed so my shiver wouldn’t be so noticeable. In my head, all I could hear was Ferno’s disregard for me as Mortis filled me with power that made me feel like I was disintegrating cell by cell.
 

“That is my assumption, yes,” she agreed. “If more of Mortis’s false Stormkind exist, it is best we engage them. If we cannot convince them to abandon the Mistrals, the least we can do is subdue them.”
 

I blinked at her. “What do you mean by subdue?” I asked cautiously.
 

Vitae’s eyes were colder than any ice I could ever control. “I mean subdue. By any means necessary.”
 

Anger boiled through my blood. “It’s not our fault that we’re like this,” I barked. “Mortis did this to us. We didn’t ask for it.”
 

“Yet it does not change the fact that you are equally as dangerous and more unpredictable than any Stormkind we have faced before,” she countered. “You are beyond our control, and so we must–”
 

“We’re not slaves,” I shouted. “We’re human beings!”
 

Vitae’s eyes flared. “Do not rail against me, Ava. Not when you sought to devour two of my friends, your own best friend, and drained your body to the point of exhaustion.”
 

Her words were a kick to the chest after a punch in the gut and a shot to the face. I searched for air to refute her, but my lungs were breathless. She was right, but so was I. The things I had done– and nearly done– were terrible beyond words.
 

But it
wasn’t my fault.
 

“When will we leave, Vitae?” Hadrian rumbled.
 

I snapped my head at him, shock rushing through me. Hadrian didn’t meet my eyes. He simply gazed at his leader.
 

“At dawn,” she informed. “The false Stormkind will need to recuperate.”
 

“Whoa, I’m not going anywhere,” Piper said. “Not unless you’re taking me and Ava home.”
 

Vitae looked at her. “That is not an option. Mortis remains at large. While he is loose, none of your loved ones are safe. Alone, we are not enough to stop him. If he obtains either of you, the world you know and love will be destroyed forever.”
 

Piper’s eyes welled with tears. “I can’t– I can’t use these gifts. If I get another one, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
 

“We will protect you,” Zephys soothed, squeezing her shoulder. “We are your Guardians, and it is our duty to–”
 

She threw his hand off her shoulder and whirled on him. “I don’t care about that,” she yelled. She spun again and pointed her finger at Vitae’s chest. “You have no right to keep us here.”
 

Vitae was unmoved. “Perhaps not. But if you leave, I guarantee that your life is forfeit. Mortis cares little for experiments that do not serve him well.”
 

Piper’s breath hitched. She was a tumult of rage and fear.
 

“We will be prepared by dawn,” Hadrian confirmed. I looked at him again. This time I needed to get his attention.
 

“What if this is a trap? The exact thing that Mortis wants?”
 

Hadrian’s beautiful eyes were blank. I couldn’t read him when he didn’t want me to. “If it is, it will not be strong enough.”
 

His gall astounded me. So much so, that I yanked my hand from his. He didn’t look away, but he didn’t react either.
 

This was when I realized I needed to stop thinking he would.
 

Over and over, I had to remind myself that Hadrian didn’t care about me half as much as he cared about getting revenge on Mortis, something he had wanted for centuries. The concept might be the only thing he
could
care about.
 

And I had been a fool to think any different.
 

Hadrian’s stony expression cracked a little. He took a breath, as if he was going to say something, but I turned away. I had no desire to hear it. I was tired of making myself hurt over him.
 

“So we’re going to run around an abandoned island and hope we don’t get swallowed in either a dust storm or a sociopath’s trap?” I asked bitterly.
 

Vitae didn’t flinch at the barb. “Essentially.”
 

“Ava,” Piper pleaded. “You can’t agree with this.”
 

My eyes rose to hers, heavily. “Of course not. But they will keep their word about protecting us, just like they’ll keep their word about holding us here until Mortis is stopped. This is one of those ‘it’s for the greater good’ scenarios, Pipe.”
 

Her shoulders slumped. I felt like slapping myself, or at least someone.
 

Hadrian was still sitting close, so the thought seriously crossed my mind.
 

But like whatever romantic fantasies and hopes I had about him, it wasn’t meant to be. Vitae told us all to rest for the next six hours. Traveling the way Guardians traveled was going to be an experience, she said ominously.
 

Whoopie. I looked forward to it like I looked forward to a needle in the eye.
 

Zephys helped a stunned Piper leave the room. I imagined he was going to have his hands full when everything that just happened sank into her.
 

Which left me alone with my Guardian. The man I couldn’t stand to look at right now, because I wouldn’t be able to look away when I did.
 

“Ava, this is important not just for us, but for your whole world,” he tried. “I know you are upset, but you have to–”
 

“Get some sleep.” I interrupted. “That’s what Vitae said, right? Get six hours? She would know, Queen of Forward Thinking, and all.”
 

I turned my back to him and rested on my side. I grunted and shuffled, trying to get comfortable. The mattress was too hard, but it was better than the mattress in the cell.
 

I could feel Hadrian’s eyes on me. I pulled the blanket up to my neck so he would get the message. I could still feel him.
 

“Do you want me to stay with you?” he asked, as if uncertain of himself.
 

“No point. All I’m going to do is sleep. No thrilling magic shows or near-death experiences. I’ll save those for tomorrow.”
 

Inside my chest, the tether constricted, like cold fingers clenching on reflex. I closed my eyes and bit my lip. I didn’t want to feel him in there. He was already in my head. Wasn’t that enough?
 

It was a long time before he spoke again.
 

“It has never been my intention to hurt you, Ava.”
 

The softness, the sincerity, the pain in his voice… It almost broke me. It sounded like he was pleading, begging for me to listen to him and forgive him.
 

Except there was no point. He was already breaking my heart, and he probably didn’t even know he was doing it.
 

Maybe it was time to return the favor.
 

“Then go.”
 

It was a whisper, two words that barely made it past my lips thanks to my heart’s ache and demand to let him stay, but I got them out.
 

It was the right thing to do. It had to be. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have felt like shit.
 

Hadrian remained seated for a long time while I pretended to sleep. Maybe fifteen minutes passed before I heard him rise from his chair and walk around the bed. I concentrated on yoga-breaths so he would truly think I was asleep. That whatever I felt for him was nothing more than respect and a grudging allegiance.
 

Then he lowered his hand. I felt it hover above my face, like he was going to brush away some of my hair or stroke my cheek. The thought of him doing that made my heart pinch. If he touched me, I might be able to at least partially forgive him. I would know that he cared.
 

But then the presence of his hand disappeared. His footsteps started again. The door opened. It closed. The room fell silent.
 

And the hole in my chest grew wider.
 

Chapter 13
 

Mornings without coffee are not mornings. They’re a sign that the end is on its way, and we should all be running for the nearest shelter.
 

Getting up at the crack of dawn after a measly four hours of rest was pure torture. I made a mental note never to brood before bed again.
 

At least the bandage was gone from my head, so it no longer looked like I’d had a brain operation that took away my reason and stuck me with a bunch of superhuman warriors that spent all their time hunting beings that could create and control storms that sucked out human life-force like energy drinks.
 

Nope. That was just my reality.  
 

Piper trudged out of the cell block to meet me. Her eyes were half opened and her hair was messy from tossing and turning, and she
still
looked like a super model. I don’t know how she did it, and she would never tell me her secret.
 

Standing in front of us like drill sergeants were the Guardians. Each one was dressed in their midnight blue leather and pale blue iron armor and wore their tempest-blades crossed over their backs. Vitae looked wide awake and ready to take over the country. Zephys looked grumpy, possibly not being a morning person himself. Hadrian looked…
 

I don’t know how Hadrian looked. As soon as my eyes drifted toward him, I pushed them to the ground.
 

“We travel by storm-sight,” Vitae explained, not caring about the gloom hanging over our heads. “With a hold on our tethers, we can concentrate on any storm going on around us. Knowing what kind of storm to look for makes things easier. While dust-Stormkind are not our specialty, we are trained to confront and engage them. From there, the storm-sight projects an image of the location into our minds, and we travel through our tempest-blades.”
 

That brought my head up. “Wait, we’re traveling
through
a sword? How?”
 

Vitae smirked. “By now, you should realize that tempest-blades are nothing like regular swords. They were created by the Primordials to be our weapons, our justice, our transport, our tethers. Blades that will never break must serve more than one purpose.”
 

I looked at the swords crossed behind her back. Of all the crazy things I anticipated I would do today, traveling through an unbreakable sword was the last one.
 

“Is it going to hurt?” Piper asked, trying to hide the nervousness from her voice.
 

Zephys smiled, bright and charming, all traces of his morning grumpiness seeming to have disappeared.
 

“Not at all,” he promised. “Though you will feel some uncomfortable tingling sensations.”
 

She grimaced. “Great. Don’t make it sound awkward and creepy or anything.”
 

Zephys smiled a genuine smile, then held out his hand for Piper. She hesitated, glancing at me. I smiled and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. It did wonders for her confidence. She walked with her head high to Zephys, taking his hand and letting him wrap his arm around her shoulder to pull her close.
 

That made sense. The Guardians would have to hold onto us tightly if we were going to travel through the tempest-blades…
 

Oh, great.
 

Holding my breath, I trudged toward Hadrian. I stood close to him, but didn’t let him touch me. I wouldn’t do that until I needed to.
 

He looked at me, but said nothing. A quiet yet heavy sigh escaped his lips.
 

Vitae withdrew the tempest-blades from her back. Zephys followed suit, his arms curving around Piper to keep her close.
 

“Hold onto me,” he instructed.
 

She did so, closing her arms around his back and resting her head against his chest. Once she did, she looked way more relaxed.
 

Hadrian’s swords were still on his back. He was waiting for me.
 

Taking another breath, I edged closer to him and wrapped my arms around him. The leather and metal armor was rough and cold against my cheek, but he felt solid and real. I tried to resist the impulse, but I couldn’t. I nestled my head on his chest and sighed. Every breath smelled like warm seawater. He was too damn comfortable.