“I know that thing wasn’t my father,” Gus growls, slashing another plant. “And I always knew I would probably lose him. It’s what happens to guardians—it’s in the oath we all swear. It’s just”— he sighs and stares up at the stars—“There’s really nothing left. I can’t even find his echo.”
“I never found my father’s either,” Audra says, coming up beside me. “And I know it probably sounds crazy but . . . sometimes I wonder if that’s because he’s not really gone. It feels like there’s still part of him left—a small hint of his presence carried on a breeze, that finds me when I need him most.”
Her voice cracks and I reach for her hand.
She never told me that—and I have no idea if it’s possible. But I hope it’s true.
Gus must too, because he takes a deep breath and slides the dark blade of his windslicer back in its sheath.
Raiden’s windslicer.
I want to grab it and hurtle it into the desert as far as I can—but a scarier thought stops me cold.
We took Raiden’s weapon.
And we escaped.
And I taunted him in front of everyone.
If Raiden went after Gus’s mom to punish Feng for his victory— how much more will he want to retaliate against me for all of that?
“I have to get home,” I say, kicking myself for not thinking of this sooner. How many minutes have we already wasted?
Solana’s with my parents—and I haven’t told them to come back, so they shouldn’t be home yet. But I bet Raiden has a way to track them down.
Audra must know what I’m thinking because she puts a hand on my shoulder. “The Gales will protect them.”
I nod, hoping she’s right—but when we left, the Gales had all been called away. And even if they’re back, protecting my family has never been a very high priority. . . .
“We should use another pipeline to get back,” I say, cringing as I suggest it. Launching through one feels like getting launched from a slingshot, blasted through a giant vacuum, and then flung back toward the ground at rocket speed.
Audra shakes her head. “Pipelines should only be used for emergencies.”
“This is an emergency!”
“No, she’s right. They’re pretty unstable—especially over a long distance,” Gus tells me. “And if they collapse while you’re in there, there’s nothing you can do.”
Funny how Audra never mentioned that when she taught me how to make them.
“But we made it to Vegas,” I remind them. “Maybe the fourth wind makes pipelines safer.”
“Or we got lucky,” Gus argues. “I thought my head was going to explode, didn’t you?”
Actually, I thought my skin was going to tear off—but I don’t want to admit that. I have to get home.
Audra squeezes my hand. “Flying with the power of four will get us there in half the time. And I don’t think Raiden’s going to make a move yet, anyway. He called the Living Storm the first of his new army—I can’t see him attacking until he’s made more. But even if we are racing toward another battle, we need time to come up with a strategy, and we can do that along the journey.”
She calls drafts from all four winds and weaves them into a wind bubble around the three of us. “I think we should fly together. Everyone hold tight.”
Gus moves behind me and grabs my shoulders. I can tell he’s trying to avoid where Raiden kicked me, but the bruise covers my whole freaking shoulder blade. The one on my side is even worse, and it aches every time I take a deep breath. I wouldn’t be surprised if Raiden cracked a few ribs.
But it’s nothing on what he did to Audra. I try to find a spot on her waist that’s safe to grab, but it’s all too raw and bloody. She takes my hands and slides them lower.
“Don’t get any ideas,” she mumbles when we both realize that I’m practically cupping her butt.
If Gus weren’t here and my family wasn’t in danger—and she weren’t bleeding—I would have lots of ideas. But under the circumstances, all I want to do is get back to my valley as fast as we can.
Audra shouts “Rise,” and we blast into the sky faster than I’ve ever flown before. The stars turn to a blur and I hear Audra whispering adjustments, keeping the winds in check as we fly. But her voice sounds tired, and the shadows under her eyes are almost as dark as my bruise.
“Hey,” I tell her, pulling her closer. “Let me take over. You need to rest.”
She smiles. “It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to let us plummet to our deaths.”
“Uh—I can windwalk. How else do you think I got here? Took me a few tries to get it right, but once I figured out how to hear the wind’s undertones, it was easy.”
“Undertones?”
“Yeah. Like right now, the Easterlies are longing to spin to the left. So I would coax them back on path.”
She sucks in a breath.
“What—does something hurt?”
“No, it’s just . . . that’s my father’s gift . . .”
“Is it? Well, I guess you must’ve shared it with me when we bonded.”
Audra shakes her head. “I’ve never heard of gifts passing during a bond. My parents’ didn’t. My mom had hers—my dad had his.”