Let the Sky Fall (Sky Fall #1)(80)

The words feel warm.

That’s all I’ve ever wanted to be.

“You two were always like the clouds and the sky—a perfect pair. Sometimes I didn’t know where I belonged in the mix.”

I can’t read her tone. The words are sad, but she sounds more . . . hurt.

I clear my throat. “The sky would be empty without the birds.”

She reaches toward me, like she’s trying to feel me out the same way she does with the winds. But she doesn’t step closer.

I close my eyes, concentrating on the winds surging across my skin, whipping through my loose hair. They sing of the tiny steps that bring about change. Ripples in a pond.

I’m not sure I’m ready to break the surface.

“We should send Gavin home,” I say. “He might get in the way.”

My mother drops her arm and nods. “I’ll take care of it.”

She calls Gavin, and as he flaps at her shoulder I’m surprised to realize that I trust her.

I turn to walk away—then turn back and clear my throat. “Thank you for coming to help.”

A few endless seconds pass. Then my mother whispers back, “You’re welcome.”

It’s a small, reluctant step. But maybe with time it will lead us somewhere better.





CHAPTER 49


VANE


We were So. Freaking. Close.

One more second and I would’ve finally known what it feels like to kiss the girl I love.

The red lights of the windmills wink at me through the darkness. Almost like they’re mocking me. I want to scream or throw things or . . . I don’t know, just something.

I kick the nearest windmill.

Pain shoots through my foot, and I force myself to sit down before I get really stupid and go confront Audra again.

I lean against the windmill and rub my throbbing foot. My eyes focus on my copper bracelet, remembering the careful way Audra clasped it around my wrist—after saving it for me for ten years.

She couldn’t have been pretending. Our connection goes too deep for that. And I can’t believe she would’ve come so close to kissing me if it was all an act.

But if it’s real, why can’t she screw her stupid rules and let me in? How can she choose the Gales over me?

Round and round my mind goes, trying to make some sense of the Audra roller coaster I’ve been riding. I’m not sure how much longer I can deal with the emotional whiplash.

The hours pass and I fight to stay awake through the dark silence. But after so many sleepless nights and endless days, I can’t stop myself from sinking into a dream.

I stumble through the storm. Icy flurries make me shiver. Twisting drafts push and pull, trying to knock me down or rip me away. Somehow I know where to step, how to move, how to keep my feet on the uneven ground.

“Mom?” I shout for the millionth time, my throat raw and dry. “Dad?”

The wind carries my pointless calls away. I lean into the gusts and press forward, ignoring the panic that rises in my throat and makes me want to throw up.

I’ll find them. Everything will be okay.

Two dim shapes blur through the storm and I race after them as fast as my legs will go. “Mom? Dad?”

I fight my way closer, but I still can’t really see them. A wall of wind separates us—a storm within the storm.

I don’t know if it’s safe to push through, but I have to get to my parents. I charge the winds and fall through an icy waterfall of air into the inner vortex, tumbling across the ground.

I rub the dirt and debris out of my eyes. My heart sinks.

It isn’t my parents.

I recognize Audra’s mom. But the man is a stranger. I’m about to cry for help when I notice the dark cloud sewn to the sleeve of his gray uniform. A storm cloud.

I cover my mouth to block my scream at the same second he shouts something I don’t understand and dark strands of wind tangle around Audra’s mom, jerking her off the ground.

“You can’t kill me,” she yells as she contorts her body and slips one arm free. “Don’t you know who I am?”

He laughs. “You’re not as powerful as you think.”

She starts to shout something, but he wraps a thick draft across her mouth, gagging her with the wind.

“Let’s see how powerful you are now.” He tightens the drafts and lifts her higher off the ground.

I stumble forward, planning to shove him so he’ll get distracted and she can escape. Before I get there, she raises her free arm, bends her fingers into a clawlike grip, and flicks her wrist.

A rush of wind lifts the Stormer and slams him into the ground, breaking his hold on the winds and releasing Audra’s mom. She lands with a thud, unable to stop her fall in time.

They both lie still.

Then the Stormer scrambles to his feet, wiping blood off his chin. “That’s a neat trick. But I’ve got a better one.” He wraps the drafts around his body, forming a thick shell that covers everything but his face. “Now I’m as indestructible as my storm.”

She laughs, a dark, bitter sound that turns everything inside me cold as she pulls herself upright. “You’re vulnerable in other ways.”

She sweeps her arm and flicks her wrist again.

For a second nothing happens. Then somewhere else in the storm I hear a faint wail of pain.