Let the Storm Break (Sky Fall #2)(62)

It wasn’t even a warning.

It was a promise.





CHAPTER 30


AUDRA

V

ane wouldn’t wake up for me.

I tried screaming his name. Tried shocking him with the heat of our connection, like I’ve done in the past. Nothing helped. Not even a kiss.

Then Solana heard my panicked screams and rushed in, shoved me aside, and crawled on top of him. She sent a Southerly into his mind, whispered a command I’d never heard and . . .

Vane woke up.

His dad cheered and his mom cried and all I could do was stand in the corner like an outsider, wondering why he wouldn’t wake up for me.

“Are the Gales back?” Vane gasps, rubbing the sides of his head as he pulls himself up off the floor and leans back against his bed.

“I heard Gus arrive in the grove about an hour ago,” Solana answers, and Vane whips his head toward her.

“Oh,” he mumbles, “I thought you’d left earlier.”

“No. I started to, but . . . I had nowhere else to go.”

Even I can’t help feeling sorry for her. Though my sympathy turns to unease when Vane asks, “You brought me out of the nightmare, didn’t you?”

She blushes as she nods. “Your mind put up more of a fight this time, but I found a way to entice you back.”

“Thank goodness,” Vane’s mom whispers, her voice thick.

“Yeah, we owe you,” his dad adds.

Solana practically glows from the praise—or maybe it’s just the tears I feel burning my eyes. But all Vane says is “We need to tell Gus to call everyone.”

The pain in his tone snaps me out of my wallowing and I move to his side, feeling everyone watch me as I try to figure out what to do.Touching him almost seems wrong now, but when I reach out my hand, he grabs it and clings to me like I’m the only thing tethering him to the earth.

I drop to my knees on the scratchy gray rug and wrap my arms around him, surprised to feel that he’s trembling. I catch Solana watching us before she runs to the front door to call for Gus—but I’m too shaken to feel triumphant.

Why did he wake up for her?

I know we’re bonded—but that only means he shouldn’t care about someone else. Not that he can’t.

And they clearly have some sort of connection.

And when I first came back in the room last night, I heard them whispering about him talking to the Gales—seeing if anything could be done. . . .

“What’s wrong?” Vane asks, pulling me into his lap.

I shift my weight, struggling to keep the too-short shirt I’m wearing adjusted. “I’m just worried about you. You . . . wouldn’t wake up.”

I manage to stop myself from adding “for me.”

He reaches up, tucking my hair behind my ear. “I do that sometimes, remember?”

I force myself to return his smile, but the words only make my chest heavier.

I used to be the one he needed.

He leans his forehead against mine and I can feel the hum of our bond rushing through me like a jet stream. I soak in the warmth, promising myself that I will not be one of those silly girls, worrying about a boy. Especially a boy holding me on the floor of his messy room, looking only at me.

“What’s going on?” Gus asks, making Vane and me jump as he runs into the room, slightly out of breath from his sprint across the lawn. “Another nightmare?”

“This time it felt more like Raiden was talking straight to me. . . .” Vane’s voice trails off and he pulls me closer. “He’s coming.”

Gus grips the hilt of his windslicer. “When?”

“I don’t know. But I doubt he’ll wait long.”

His mom covers her mouth and leans against her husband.

“But . . . that doesn’t make sense,” Solana says after a second. “Why would he warn us? Why give us time to prepare?” “The same reason a cat plays with his prey,” Gus grumbles, looking like he wants to punch something.

“Fear is one of the most powerful weapons,” I add quietly. “Though I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a trick, too.”

“Probably,” Gus agrees. “What exactly did he show you, Vane?”

“Just your basic I’m going to destroy everything you care about with my army of Living Storms nightmare.”

I try to fight back my shiver, but it rocks my shoulders anyway.

Raiden talked about building an army, but in order to do that he’d need . . .

“Os said the Stormers captured twenty-nine Gales yesterday,” Gus tells us, like he knows what I’m thinking.

“Holy crap,” Vane whispers.

“How did they get that many?” I’ve never heard of such a crushing defeat.

“I guess they thought they were only chasing two Stormers, but when they entered a canyon, a third Stormer ambushed them and gave some command that chased off all the winds they were flying with. Some of the Gales crashed to the dunes, but most were able to call a draft to stop their fall, and apparently the drafts seeped into their minds and lulled them all to sleep. Then the Stormers shouted something and the drafts turned red and blasted everyone away before the others could do anything to stop it.”

“Raiden wanted to make sure he caught the strongest,” I mumble. Though I’m surprised Os wasn’t among them.