Let the Storm Break (Sky Fall #2)(24)

“Well, at least you made one friend today,” Gus says from somewhere behind me, making Gavin screech again. “I can’t say the same about the Gales.”

I roll my eyes and stroke Gavin to calm him. “I guess I should’ve known you’d be the one to follow me. That’s kind of your specialty, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, and I saved your life because of it. You’re welcome for that, by the way.”

“Right. Thanks for chewing on me.” I hold up my bandaged pinkie. “Let’s hope I don’t have rabies.”

“Wow, are you always this pissy? Because I’m starting to get why Audra needed a break.”

His words sting way more than he realizes, and I have to blink hard to force back any tears.

“Look,” Gus says quietly, “I get that you’re exhausted and the Gales are putting a lot of pressure on you. But if you would just give them a chance to—”

“If you’re going to try and talk me into training with Solana, you can stop right there. It’s not going to happen.”

“I know. You made that pretty clear when you screamed at Os— and you’re lucky he didn’t launch you across the desert for disrespecting him like that. But I gotta say, I don’t get what the big deal is.”

I roll my eyes. “Maybe betrothals are normal for you—”

“They’re not, actually. You and Solana are the first. Were the first. And that’s the thing, Vane. You canceled it. It’s over.”

“Is it? Sure seemed like they were trying to change my mind today.”

“So what if they were? What, are you afraid it’s going to work?”

“Of course not!”

“Then why do you care?”

“You don’t understand.”

“You’re right—I don’t.” He sighs, kicking the ground a few times before he mumbles, “Solana’s a good girl. She doesn’t deserve to be treated like that.”

“You like her so much? Take her.”

“I can get my own girls, thanks. But how nice of you to pass her around like that.”

“I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant . . .” Gavin flies off my arm, like even he’s disgusted with me. “No, you’re right, I’m being a jerk.”

Gus doesn’t argue.

I sink to the filthy ground, leaning against the scratchy stucco wall. “I just want to have control over one thing in my life.”

“But you do. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I learned Southerly from this crazy, old Gale with no front teeth named Teman. Obviously he was way hotter than Solana—and yet somehow I managed not to fall in love with him.”

I can’t help smiling. And I know he’s right, but . . .

The idea of training with another girl besides Audra feels wrong. Especially training with my ex-fiancée.

God—I can’t believe I have an ex-fiancée.

And everyone will be watching us, hoping that I’ll change my mind. What if Solana thinks that?

“It wouldn’t be fair to lead Solana on.”

“Uh, after the way you treated her today, I’m pretty sure Solana wouldn’t take you if you begged.”

I feel my cheeks flame.

He’s probably right.

She has to be just as relieved as I am that this betrothal is over.

“It’s a shame, too,” Gus adds quietly. “You guys could’ve been friends.”

“Somehow I doubt that.”

“No, I mean it. You have a lot in common. You both had to grow up without knowing your family. You both know how it feels to have Raiden kill the people you love.”

Crap—I forgot about that.

Now I really feel like a jerk.

I sigh. “So . . . her dad used to be the king before Raiden . . . ?”

“Sort of.” Gus kicks away a date roach and sits down beside me. “He was a prince. But he and his wife were the only ones who escaped the palace when Raiden attacked, so everyone in the resistance saw him as their king, even though he was in hiding, moving every few weeks.”

I don’t remember much about my life, but I do know I hated living on the run. Always leaving a place just when it started to feel like home. Always looking over my shoulder, wondering when they would find me.

“How old was Solana during all of that?”

“Actually, she hadn’t been born. In fact, no one knew we had a new princess until after the royal massacre.”

I have a feeling I can guess the rest of the story, but I let Gus tell it anyway.

“We still don’t know how the Stormers found them. Even the Gales didn’t know where they were until their echoes arrived. They followed the winds back to the battle site and it was . . . well, I’ve heard it’s still the bloodiest mess anyone has ever seen. The only clue to what happened was a message left by the queen, branded to a Southerly with her final breath. It said to ‘find the tree.’ So they scoured the nearby forest, and deep in the heart, woven carefully into the branches of the sturdiest elm, was a small basket. Inside was Solana. Sleeping in a whirl of breezes, with no idea her whole world had just been torn apart.”

The story is fairly similar to mine—though at least I was old enough to get to know my parents before they died.