All seem like logical reactions.
Instead, my mom says, “You control the wind.” Like it’s no big deal. Like I just showed her I can pat my head and rub my stomach at the same time.
“Kind of,” I say, my mind spinning as fast as the cyclone I’ve made.
Her not freaking out makes me freak out. I mean, doesn’t it seem at all strange to her that her son is a different species?
“So, what exactly is a Windwalker?” she asks, still mesmerized by the swirling winds.
Seriously—how is she taking this so well?
“Vane,” Audra warns.
“I’m a sylph,” I blurt out, because I’ve come too far to stop now. “I guess I’m an air elemental or whatever. I can speak to the wind, tell it what I want it to do.”
I whisper another command and the wind funnel tightens, stretching high over our heads, spraying us with bits of sand.
My mom gasps, her eyes wide with . . . wonder? Fright? I can’t tell.
“So that’s how you survived the tornado,” she whispers.
Who is this woman, and what has she done with my ever worrying mother?
“Uh . . . yeah. Sort of. But you believe me? Just like that?”
“Well, it’s not exactly easy,” she says, turning to face me, “but it’s hard to ignore the evidence.”
She points to the cyclone, which is picking up speed, growing wider every second. I whisper the command to unravel it and the winds streak away, showering us with pebbles and whipping our hair.
My mom wobbles. “Okay, I think I need to sit down.”
I grab her shoulders to support her. “Finally—a normal reaction.”
“We don’t have time for this,” Audra practically growls.
“I know. But this is important.” I turn back to my mom. “I’m sorry, I know this is a lot to take in. I would’ve told you sooner—but I figured you’d get kinda weirded out by the whole ‘not human’ thing. Sure freaked me out when Audra told me.”
“Audra,” my mom says, frowning as she looks at Audra. “So . . . she’s a sylph too?”
“Enough.” Audra’s voice is more weary than angry. “Do you have any idea how many rules you’ve just broken, Vane? She’s not allowed to know these things.”
“Why not? He’s my son.”
“Not biologically.”
My mom’s eyes flash. “He’s my son. How dare you make him keep secrets from me.”
Audra’s jaw locks.
Uh-oh.
I step between them. “Look, we’ll figure all this out later, okay?” I turn back to my mom, who still looks ready to throttle Audra. I take her shoulder, forcing her to look at me. “I need you to go get Dad from work, and the two of you need to get as far away from this valley as you can.”
“Why?”
“I can’t explain it all, Mom—but the person who killed my parents knows I’m here. He’s sent warriors to come get me, and they’ll be here tomorrow. So you have to get out of here, because I don’t know how big the storm will be and I won’t be able to live with myself if you or Dad gets hurt in the crosswinds.”
Her eyes get a glazed look as she processes that. Shock must be setting in.
“What about you?” she asks.
“Audra’s been training me to fight so we can protect the valley.”
“Training? The same training that dragged you home half dead?”
I squirm. “Yes. It’s been intense. But it’s going to be a hard fight. That’s why you have to get out of here.”
“Not without you.”
I almost want to smile. She’s sticking by me—even knowing what I really am.
But that’s not important right now.
“They know how to find me—which means it’s not safe to be around me.”
“Why?”
“It would take too long to explain,” Audra answers for me, and I feel my mom tense. “We’re running out of time as it is. Just trust me when I say if there were any other option, I would take it.”
“And why should I believe you?” my mom snaps. “Do you even know this girl, Vane? How do you know you can trust her? How do you know she’s not involved with these—these warriors or whatever?”
I want to tell my mom how paranoid she sounds. But my mind flashes to Audra on the pier, telling me she has a secret about my parents’ death—if that’s even what her secret was about.
Could she be a traitor?
I glance at the bracelet Audra gave me—the bracelet she hid and protected for years after salvaging it from the storm for me. “I trust Audra with my life, Mom.”
“But—”
“However you feel about me,” Audra cuts in, “I’ve sworn to protect your son at all costs. I’ll protect him with my life.”
Her stupid promise makes my heart sink with a thud.
The words have a different effect on my mom. She takes a step back from me, staring at her hands as she wrings them together. “I’m going to hold you to that promise, young lady.”
Audra nods.
I want to punch something.