Let The Wind Rise (Sky Fall, #3)(55)

Her eyes look glazed, her limbs unsteady.

Whatever she did to launch us out of the oubliette was not without a price.

“Aston told us the same thing,” she tells Vane as he drops my hand to steady Solana.

“He also said it’s super risky,” Vane reminds her.

“No riskier than where we just were,” I say.

Vane turns to look at me, and I can’t read his expression.

“Okay,” he decides. “Take us to the Shredder.”





CHAPTER 31


VANE


Never mind—I vote for a new plan,” I say as I stare at the spinning blades.

I know it’s a dumb thing to say, but . . .

I don’t see how we’re supposed to survive this.

Seventeen fans, spinning so fast they look like a solid wall of metal.

“What about the trick you just used?” I ask Solana.

I’m guessing she blasted us out of the oubliette with the power of pain—and staring down this many fans, I’m okay with that. Especially since she didn’t seem to be as affected by the power. She’s weak and wobbly, but her eyes don’t have that creepy glint.

Solana shakes her head. “I used up everything to get us out of there. And I can’t sense the command I felt when you and I faced that other fan. I’m either too empty, or these blades are too strong.”

“We’re losing time,” Gus says, pointing to the grate behind us.

Through the gaps in the metal slats I can see a group of Stormers searching the courtyard. Soon enough, one of them is going to notice that the hinges to the grate are stripped from Gus prying it open.

“They can’t turn this thing on, can they?” I ask.

“It’s already on,” Audra says. “All Raiden does is narrow the beam of wind and aim it at his targets.”

She shudders at the memory, and Gus turns a greenish color.

I feel a different kind of green when she takes his hand.

It only lasts a second. Then she’s bending to pull up her pant leg and promising, “Aston’s guide will get us through.”

Gus crouches beside her, and as his hand brushes the red scratches on her calf, I gotta admit, I kinda want to deck him—even after I realize the scratches are the guide.

I know it’s the stupidest thing I could possibly be thinking about right now, but Gus and Audra seem . . . different.

The way they clung to each other as Solana blasted us out of the oubliette.

The way he keeps leaning on her.

And let’s not forget that GUS CAN ABSORB WESTERLIES!

I can’t tell if he’s had the full breakthrough, or just picked up a new talent. Either way, there’s a story there—and I’m starting to think I’m not going to like it.

I get that they’ve been through a ton of crap together, and that it had to bring them closer. But how close—and how will I survive it if they’ve gotten too close?

I shake the doubt away, realizing I have bigger things to survive first.

“So what do these marks mean?” I ask, squatting beside them—but giving Audra as much space as I can.

Audra points to the deepest scratches. “I’m assuming these marks are the path we’ll need to take. They seem to indicate the specific point we should aim for.”

I guess that sorta makes sense, and it fits with how Aston created the guide, but when I check the first mark—around the two o’clock position—“Uh, I still don’t see how we don’t die.”

“Aston warned us it would be like that, remember?” Solana jumps in. “He told us to trust the guide, not our eyes.”

“Right, but . . .” I grab Socky the Duck out of my pocket and fling him through the marked place on the blades.

We all get blasted with facefuls of shredded lint.

“I’ll go first,” Gus says, wiping the Socky carnage out of his eyes.

“You’re too weak,” Audra argues.

I have to agree with her on that one. Gus looks worse than when I first saw him. His skin is as gray as his Stormer jacket, and all of his bandages—side note: Are those made from Audra’s dress?—seem to be leaking red.

“That’s why I’m going first,” Gus says. “I’m the expendable one—”

Audra reaches for his hands. “No, you’re not.”

The look that passes between them definitely doesn’t help my downward-spiraling rage-jealousy.

Even Solana seems to notice, because she places a hand on my shoulder—and not in a possessive way. More like a “there, there” head pat.

Great.

“I’ll go first,” Audra says.

“Uh-uh,” I jump in.

“Yeah, you’re the one with the guide,” Solana reminds her. “If something happens to you, we won’t know the path to follow.”

Okay, that’s definitely not the reason I was going with—though I hate to admit that it’s actually a valid point.

“If anyone’s expendable here, it’s me,” I tell them. “Raiden said as much back in the oubliette. Plus, I’m the one with the least injuries, so I should be the first up.”

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping they’d talk me out of it—or at least try. But of course this has to be the one time they decide to agree with me.