Let The Wind Rise (Sky Fall, #3)(69)

I clear my throat. “He . . . um . . .”

God—I can’t seem to say it.

These are Gus’s friends. They trained with him and fought with him and knew him way longer than I did.

Os guesses the meaning of my silence and raises his eyes to the sky.

When the rest of the Gales copy him, I figure they’re giving Gus a moment of silence. Then I realize they’re actually listening for his echo.

I do the same, surprised when it works. I’ve never heard one before—and it’s not how I’ve pictured it. I always thought it would be the last remnants of the person’s voice, saying their final goodbye. But it’s more like . . . their entire essence tangled up in a song.

“How did he die?” Os whispers, wiping his eyes.

I can barely choke out “Suicide draft.”

The term gets a mixed reaction, with only some of the Gales seeming familiar with the concept. Os explains it to the rest, and one of the Gales I don’t know steps forward.

“Does that mean you almost got him out?” he asks.

I notice he’s about my age, so he was probably friends with Gus.

“We did get him out,” I say. “And we’d almost broken free of the Stormers chasing us. And then . . .”

Poor guy looks like I just kicked him in the chest.

“What about you?” Os asks Audra. “You seem unharmed.”

I’d better be imagining his annoyed tone, because I will seriously blast him off the face of this planet.

“Only minor injuries,” Audra says, reaching back to rub her right shoulder. “Raiden mostly tried to use Gus to break me.”

“Did it work?” Os asks.

“Of course not,” she snaps. “Though Gus deserves most of the credit. He endured more than any of us will ever know.”

I notice she doesn’t mention that they had the Westerly breakthrough.

That’s probably better—especially when Os points to me and says, “And I’m assuming you two have already rebonded?”

Yeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaeah . . . what am I supposed to say to that?

We came close, but I was worried she wasn’t ready—and also that she had maybe developed some feelings for Gus—so I stopped it, and now she’s probably disgusted with me?

Even saying “not yet” feels too presumptuous.

So I kinda want to hug Aston when he calls from outside the circle of guardians. “Since when are the Gales so interested in teenage romance?”

The guardians spin around and create a gap in their ranks to let Aston saunter through.

“Is it really you?” Os whispers.

“In the flesh,” Aston agrees. “Well . . . mostly.” He lowers his hood and knocks everyone back a step. “If you think this is bad, you do not want me to take off this cloak.”

He waves his arms back and forth, making air whistle through the holes in his hands.

All the Gales squirm and wince.

“Now you see why I stayed away,” Aston tells them. “That, and . . .” His focus drops to his ruined fingers. “I let Raiden find my breaking point.”

“You did,” Os says after several seconds of silence. “Though I’m not sure any of us can claim the same wouldn’t happen to us. And yet here you are. Reappearing after so many years—so many battles where your knowledge and experience could’ve aided us—and you’ve chosen to stand with him.”

“You mean our king?” Aston asks when Os points at me. “Isn’t that the side we’re all on? Or did I miss something during my time in the dungeon? Don’t tell me that just because he turned out to have a mind of his own—and occasionally decides to use it—”

“Hey!” I say.

“—that you’ve decided to undo a decade of planning,” Aston continues, ignoring me.

“That plan was a relic,” Os says. “From a time when we put far too much faith in the power of four.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so quick to write off the power of four,” Aston tells him. “It may work differently than how we were expecting—and at first I thought he was being lazy—”

“Again—hey!” I interrupt.

“—but I’ve realized that’s how the power functions,” Aston finishes. “It’s about trusting the wind, relinquishing your control and handing it over to the sky. That’s the Westerlies’ influence, I suspect. They like to make up their own mind, not be told what to do. So should we really be surprised their people are just as stubborn? You’re only mad because he won’t go along with your little betrothal plan. But surely you’ve realized by now they never would’ve worked out anyway.”

“Dude!” I say at the same time Solana says, “Hey!”—though I’m not sure why I’m arguing.

“Oh, you know it’s true,” Aston tells us. “You’ve been traveling together less than a week, and you’ve been at each other’s throats most of the time.”

Yeah, but half of our fights were because of the betrothal hanging over us.

Then again, why am I defending this?

“The matter of his marriage is only one of many points that we do not see eye-to-eye on,” Os reminds us.

“Yes. I can see that.” Aston steps closer, leaning in to stare into Os’s eyes. “That is quite a craving you’re bearing. It’s like looking at my own reflection—though with a bit less blue on the lips.”