“Tell me the rumors.” When Locke did not continue, she turned to Duke. He had always been willing to answer her questions. “Duke?”
The old man cleared his throat, and Locke’s grip at her waist tightened. Duke said, “The minister in Toleme, he was afraid when he saw the skyfire in you. He had heard rumors of a man who held a storm in his chest like you do now. That man could command storms and used them to wipe out a city.”
Roar gasped. “Calibah? Is that why the storms there were so relentless?”
Duke drew back, shock and even a little horror in his expression. His voice shook and his eyes darted wildly as he said, “I—no, not Calibah. But…” The man trailed off with a quiet curse, and his scarred hands shook as he covered his mouth.
“It was Locke,” Jinx finished. “Apparently, the city was demolished by storms from the sea.”
“What?” Roar’s head spun and that instability she felt in her soul—like it might slip outside her—flared up again. Suddenly, the souls that surrounded them were too close, and she choked on the air in her lungs. Her skin went slick with cold as all those souls reached out for her, as if they wanted inside her.
“ENOUGH!” The skyfire in her chest shone bright and solid, not flickering, but beaming. The badgering souls disappeared and it took all her strength to stay standing.
“Roar?” Locke yelled. “Roar, what’s happening?”
“See!” Sly shouted. “This is what I meant. She is an aberration.”
Locke snarled, “I have always considered you a friend, Sly. But say that again, and I’ll not hesitate to make you my enemy.”
“Quiet. All of you.” Duke stepped into the middle of the group, his expression fierce and disappointed. “This is not how we behave. The battle is out there, not here between us. Sly, some would say the storms themselves are an aberration. And you’ve spent your life showing them respect. You will provide the same courtesy to Roar. Locke, I understand how you feel, my boy. But love’s first inclination cannot be to war. Calm yourself. And we will figure this out together.”
The light in Roar’s chest flickered, went soft, and disappeared. Then Duke turned to her. “Roar—we need to know what you can and cannot do so that we can decide how to move forward.” Locke tensed, and Duke added, “Together. Perhaps we can take her back to the witch for advice.”
“We can’t,” Jinx cut it. “Avira told me she was leaving, and she would not tell me to where.” The earth witch turned to Roar and said, “She told me to tell you—listen to the souls, but do not let them in. And whatever you do, hold tight to your own.”
“What is that supposed to mean? Why didn’t she tell me that?” Locke asked.
Jinx lifted an eyebrow. “Because you were out the door as soon as she said Roar would wake.”
“I know what it means,” Roar whispered. But she wasn’t sure she knew how to accomplish that last piece of advice.
Her eyes strayed to Duke, who watched her with curiosity tinged by sadness. “Well?” he asked. “Can you do it? Call a storm?”
She brushed away Locke’s protective hands. “I can.”
“How?” he asked. “What do you have to do?”
She glanced at Sly, uneasy with revealing the information in front of the hunter, but they would have to know eventually.
“I only know how I did it before. I’m not sure if there’s another way. But in Toleme, I did it unintentionally. When my blood touched something connected with a storm.”
“The altar,” Jinx said. “It was made of fulgurite. Formed by skyfire.”
Roar nodded. “It works with Stormhearts too.”
“How do you know?” Duke asked.
Rather than explaining, Roar asked, “Where are my things? The clothes I wore before?”
Jinx retrieved her pack for her, and Roar dug through the contents until she found the pants she’d worn before, and inside the pocket, her fingers closed around the twister ring. Souls brushed against her again, and she imagined her skin as armor, blocking them out and trapping her own soul inside. Her heart glowed solid again, and she heard the others shift nervously around her.
She pulled out the ring, and let it dangle by the chain.
“Twister,” Ransom breathed. “That was you?”
“Not the first,” she said. “At least not that I know of. But the second, the one in Toleme, yes, I believe that was me. I was not aware of what I was doing, I promise. I’m sorry. So very sorry.”
Locke moved behind her, curling a hand around the back of her neck and whispering in her ear, “It’s not your fault. You don’t have to apologize.”
“If it was an accident before,” Ransom said, “how do you know you can do it again?”
She turned her head to look at Locke, wishing she had made time to tell him before, when they were alone, but there was nothing to be done about that now.
“Since I woke, I have been even more … sensitive.” When they continued staring at her, she sighed and explained, “There are souls around us. Everywhere. They’re part of the earth, of nature. But I’m aware of them and am able to interact if I choose.” And sometimes without her consent. “I believe I could consciously choose a soul to tie to a storm.”
They were all silent, and she was hesitant to meet their eyes. She would rather look at the ring, spinning at the end of the chain she still held. But she could not stop herself from looking at Locke, worried even now that he would change his mind about her. “I hate it when you look at me like that,” he whispered. “Like you’re afraid of me.”
“Only afraid you’ll stop being so blind to my faults.”
“Not blind, princess. Realistic. It’s you who doesn’t see yourself clearly.”
She wanted to kiss him, wanted to crawl up his body and wrap herself around him, and let him block out the world.
But she couldn’t. “You said Locke was destroyed. Do you know when?”
Did the Locke family even know? What if even now they waited in Pavan, searching for her, while their home and all their loved ones who remained behind were gone?
Duke looked to Jinx and Locke, and the former said, “Avira did not say when. She only confirmed that it happened. Considering it’s the Rage season, communication between cities is understandably slow, and with Locke communication was frequently nonexistent, so the absence of it would not tell us much. Could have been recent or months ago. Who knows?”
“Surely, it was a recent development,” Roar said, “or we would not have run into a company of Locke soldiers only days ago. Nor would the entire royal family be visiting Pavan.”
“What do you mean the entire family?” Locke asked.
“In Pavan. For the wedding. The king, queen, and both princes were set to attend.” Quickly she lied, “I saw them when the processional came through the city.”
“That can’t be right,” Locke said. “Why would the entire family attend the wedding and leave Locke unprotected? Surely only Prince Casimir would be needed.”
“You mean Cassius,” Roar corrected.