Let the Storm Break (Sky Fall #2)(89)

Yes, some of the winds may be willing to let Raiden dominate and ruin them. But others will fight. And if we can enlist their help, get them to join our side, nothing can stop us.

Perhaps that’s the secret we’ve all been missing. It’s not about finding the right commands. It’s about finding the right winds.

Which might actually mean my mother can help us—much as I hate to admit it. She understands the wind in ways none of us ever have. If anyone can find the winds we need, it’s her.

A dim light appears ahead and I brace myself for the sight of my mother dangling from a chain, like the victims in Raiden’s prison. But when we finally reach the tunnel’s end, it’s an empty, round cavern with mesh curtains of metal partitioning off two small cells.

Apparently Os’s cruelty has a much finer line.

“Audra?” my mother asks, her voice so weak it’s almost unrecognizable.

“Yes,” I force myself to say, the single word carrying seventeen years of my pain and regrets.

A pale form approaches the mesh of metal, and when I step closer I can see her face—though I barely recognize her.

I should rejoice at her greasy hair and sweaty skin covering her thin features. But it feels like too much of a waste.

All of it, this whole thing.

My beautiful, powerful mother.

Our small, happy family.

Our quiet, dedicated lives.

It’s all been sucked up and torn away. Like my entire existence has been trapped in a Maelstrom of my mother’s making.

Tears sting my eyes as she studies me, but I blink them back. I’ve shed my last tear for this woman.

“You came,” she whispers, pressing her hand against the metal.

I take a step back, even though she can’t reach me.

“Still my same stubborn girl.” She gives me a sad smile and turns to Gus, doing a double take. “You’re not Vane.”

“Are you sure?” Gus feels his face like he can’t believe it.

My mother doesn’t smile. “Where’s Vane?”

“As far away from here as I could keep him,” I tell her.

“But . . . you’re his guardian. You’re supposed to be with Vane.”

“You sure know how to make a guy feel wanted,” Gus grumbles, shoving against the mesh curtain, trying to free her from her cage.

It won’t budge.

“Didn’t think about that,” he says, shaking the metal to no avail.

“Try your wind spike,” I tell him.

“On what?”

I look closer at the curtain, surprised to find there’s no lock. I honestly can’t tell how it’s held in place.

“I’m so sorry, Audra,” my mother whispers, and I glance up to find her looking at me.

She’s such a drippy mess, it’s hard to tell if she’s crying or sweating. But it makes my throat feel thick anyway.

Now I understand why Vane was ready to trust her. I’m feeling the same urge.

But can I?

Should I?

“I had no choice,” she tells me, pleading with her eyes for me to forgive her.

My life would be so much easier if I could give her what she wants.

But I can’t ignore the rage that’s always with me, simmering beneath the surface.

“What are you even sorry for?” I snap. “Killing dad? Blaming me? Murdering two innocent people? Ruining the lives of everyone you’ve ever met?”

“Yes to all of those things,” she says quietly, turning and walking away. Bones poke out of her frail, hunched shoulders as she hangs her head and mumbles, “But mostly . . .”

I can’t understand the last words.

It sounded like she said, “But mostly for this.”

But that doesn’t make any sense.

Or, it doesn’t until I hear a loud thump, like metal hitting bone, and Gus collapses. Before I can even scream, the needled edge of a windslicer presses against my throat and a strong arm wraps around me, pinning me against my captor’s body.

“You were the one I wanted anyway,” a sharp voice whispers in my ear, and it takes a second for my panicked brain to recognize it.

Raiden.





CHAPTER 41


VANE





A

frightened cry wakes me from my restless sleep, but when I tear my eyes open I’m still alone.

Still in the middle of the desert.

Still stuck with an elbow that feels like a pack of wild dogs is chewing on it.

But it wasn’t a nightmare that woke me.

It was the wind.

I close my eyes as the terrified Westerly surrounds me. Its song is a mess—all jumbled with panic. But one word jumps out.

Traitor.

I start to jump to my feet, but then I remember how not-cool that worked out for me last time and instead use the rock I’d been sleeping against to slowly pull myself up instead.

The dizziness still hits me, but deep breaths shove it back, and when my head clears I can feel the Westerly coiling around me, trying to drag me where I need to go.

“Hey—easy,” I tell it as it almost pulls me over. “What’s going on—did something happen to Audra?”

It’s a stupid question to ask the wind—and of course it doesn’t answer. It just repeats the same panicked song about traitors and tries to pull me into the sky.