Storm Born (28 page)

A man shouted. I didn’t hear what he said. I saw Zephys running toward me from the corner of my eye. He grabbed my arm, making my control falter. Piper took a shaking step forward.
 

“We must move!” Zephys shouted at me. “Hadrian will lock her inside until she weakens, then release her. She will be weak, but not hurt. You must stand aside, Ava!”
 

He was right. I knew he was right. He and Hadrian knew all about subduing Stormkind, and like it or not, that’s what Piper and I were halfway to becoming.
 

But all I could see was my best friend. Someone I loved, who’d stood up for me when I was bullied, who’d invited me to her big house for hide-and-seek and sleepovers filled with popcorn and terrible romantic comedies. I didn’t want that girl to get hurt. I wanted her back.
 

My hesitation cost us.
 

Lightning shattered the ground three feet away from me. The sharp white light seared my eyes and blinded me. I screamed and Zephys shouted. I knew I lost my hold on the cold breeze. I still couldn’t see when a force slammed into me and knocked me onto the ground. It kept me pinned. Hard knees crushed out the air in my lungs. My vision was fading back to color when I felt her lean forward to my mouth.
 

I covered it with one hand and lashed upward with the other. My palm slapped against her face–
 

And fire exploded through my chest. I screamed at the shocks thumping my nerves like fists. Searing pain ripped through me like fabric pulled by cruel hands. My heart danced under the touch of a livewire. My lungs and brain swelled until I thought they would burst.
 

Pressure shot through my chest. Desperate, terrified voices called my name. Another jolt of pain wracked me, and I rolled onto my side. My stomach cramped until I thought it would snap in half. Blasts of white light tore the world around me and the ground shuddered.
 

I peeled my eyes open and saw three pairs of feet hovering around me. Three warm pulses of energy teasing my senses. All so close. All within my reach. I just had to extend my arms and take them.
 

I rolled my head and looked up. Two men and a woman stared down at me. The men were tense and gripping swords. The woman covered her mouth with her hands and started to weep.
 

Two strong pulses, filled with emotion and energy. Pure and undiluted life.
 

I dragged to my knees and found my footing. They all backed up. The two men reached for their swords. The blue-eyed one drew his with a tortured expression. The woman screamed. I think she shouted for them to stop. She might have yelled
what the fuck are you doing
? I didn’t know. I didn’t care.
 

I wanted the life. The light and warmth hiding under their skin beckoned me. I would take it. By any means necessary.
 

The blue-eyed man barked an order at the dark-skinned man. He hesitated, then grabbed the woman by her arm and dragged her back. I snarled and rushed for them. The blue-eyed man stepped between them and me. I drew to a stop, narrowing my eyes at him. He spoke, and he was close enough that I could hear his words this time.
 

“Ava, please do not make me do this.” Pain flickered in his beautiful, life-filled eyes. “Please do not make me control you.”
 

Cold rage rolled in the pit of my stomach, twisting into my chest. I was nothing he could control. And once I had the heat of his life buried in me, I would become even stronger. Then I would take the other two.
 

The dark-skinned man was restraining the woman. She was shouting at me, but her words were lost in the wind.
 

Wind.
Yes. That was exactly what I needed.
 

From the corner of my eye, I saw horror sweep the blue-eyed man’s face. I felt the air around me and swept out my arm, pushing him aside. I curved my arm and pulled it toward my chest. The dark-skinned man and the woman launched toward me. They landed in a heap at my feet. The heat rolling from their lives was liquid pleasure. So much brighter than before.
 

It was about to become mine.
 

They scrambled to get away from me, the dark-skinned man reaching for his sword. I snarled and shoved out my hand, drawing on the static in the air. It snapped around my hand and struck him in the chest. He fell back and screamed. The woman’s scream was louder. I riveted my eyes to her. Wasting no more time, I dove–
 

Thick arms wrapped around my stomach and yanked me back. We both stumbled and fell onto the ground. I landed hard, crushing the body beneath me. I thrashed and screamed, unable to see where he was. Yet I could feel him, he was so close, his sweet, warm life mere inches from me. But I couldn’t
see
it. If there was a more cruel torture, I didn’t know what it was.
 

I slammed my elbows back into his stomach, kicked his legs, dashed my skull against his head, clawed his arms until they bled. I wanted the life from his very veins, but I couldn’t take it by making him bleed. I had to drink it. All I had to do was turn and take it–
 

Cold steel pressed flat against my skull. A sharp bite of pain sliced my skin. I yelped and felt a vicious, cold yank in my chest.
 

The tether.
 

Hadrian’s
tether.
 

I went still. Rain doused me and my head throbbed. The world was spinning again. Hadrian’s breathing was rapid beneath me. Something warm trickled down my temples. Tears pricked my eyes.
 

Zephys and Piper rushed toward us. My best friend choked on a scream, covering her mouth with her hands to keep it at bay. Zephys set his jaw and extended his hand.
 

I cringed at the sight of it.
 

“No,” I whimpered. “No… can’t hurt you.”
 

His hand remained extended. “That will not happen, Ava. Stand if you can.”
 

Hadrian’s arm loosened from my stomach. “It is all right, Ava. You cannot hurt us. It is over.”
 

I shivered. A sob strangled me. Zephys knelt down and pushed his hand closer to me. Hadrian’s hands were on my shoulders to either comfort me or push me off.
 

My arm was heavy as lead when I set it in Zephys’s hand. His grip was sturdy and he had no problem standing and pulling me to my feet. The horizon tilted, but Hadrian had risen with me. His hands never left my shoulders. I looked back at him.
 

Hadrian had a bloody– but intact– nose. I felt woozy, but I lifted my hand and let my fingers wipe the blood away from the space between his nose and upper lip.
 

“Red’s not your color,” I mumbled. “You’re definitely a winter.”
 

Hadrian’s jaw tightened until I thought it would shatter. One of his arms slipped around my back to hold me upright. His other hand swiped under my nose.
 

It came away bloody. The horizon tilted again.
 

“Oh boy,” I murmured. “Looks like we’re a pair of winters.”
 

The sentence was barely past my lips before my legs gave out and I collapsed into blackness.
 

Chapter 12
 

“I leave for three hours.
Three hours
. And your training exercises nearly kill one of your charges.”
 

Yikes. Vitae did
not
sound pleased. Though she was right.
 

I was lying in a familiar bed. Probably the infirmary bed again. My clothes were dry– so either Vitae or Piper had changed me as I slept– and a blanket was pulled up to my chest. A bandage was taped to my head. It stung, but no worse than a paper cut.
 

Not that I was going to let anyone know I was awake just yet. I wanted to hear what was going on without being fussed over.
 

Though I wasn’t going to let go of the strong hand holding mine any time soon.
 

“I am to blame,” Zephys said with a heavy voice. “I aggravated Piper instead of training her. I thought a strong arm would curb her anxiety. But I was wrong. I am so sorry.”
 

“It’s not only your fault,” Piper added. She sounded far away, like she was hiding in a corner. “I shouldn’t have let him get to me. I just… I lost control. I had no idea what would happen. I didn’t want Ava to get hurt.”
 

Piper’s voice broke on the last word, thick sobs dragging out of her throat. I couldn’t bear the sound of it. I cracked my eyes open and followed the sound of her voice.
 

“No worries, Pipe. It could have been worse.”
 

Like I’d guessed, she was in the corner across from my bed, hiding her head in her hands. The sound of my voice caused her to look up and unthread her hands from her hair. Piper’s eyes widened and another sob choked her. She sprinted out of her corner and rushed to the bed in a flash. She threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tight.
 

“Oh, thank God, Ava, I’m so sorry, I’m so, so sorry.”
 

I laughed a little, silently glad she wasn’t afraid of me after the way I’d looked at her when I was under that weird trance. Thinking about it took away the joy I felt, so I closed the memories away and focused on my friend.
 

“Piper, you’re choking me.”
 

She dropped me like I was on fire. “Shit, I’m sorry.”
 

I waved my free hand through the air. “It’s okay. I’m not mad. Sore, but not pissed off.” My humor thinned. “Are you okay?”
 

Piper nodded. “Yeah. I… I never expected that to happen. I wasn’t able to control it. I saw you and you were giving off this energy…”
 

She wrapped her arms around her body. Zephys took a step closer to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. Amazingly, she didn’t push him away. Progress was being made.
 

I looked down. “Yeah. I know what you mean.”
 

Finally, I slid my eyes to Hadrian. Brooding blue eyes pierced me. A few days ago, I would have shied away from them. But I slowly understood what was behind them. I could see the anxiety he was trying to hide. The guilt over hurting me, and the fear that he would have to do it again.
 

I could feel it in the way he gripped my hand, like it would take the Jaws of Life to pry him away from me.
 

“How is your head?” he asked. The words were strained.
 

I prodded the bandage. It was about half the size of my palm, but still didn’t hurt more than a sting.
 

“Fine,” I admitted. “What did you do?”
 

Hadrian’s jaw clenched. His free hand gripped my wrist and pulled it down from my forehead.
 

“I used one of the tempest-blades. We gain control of Stormkind by…” he looked at my hands, so small and pale in his, “by cutting them. If they are our charge, they will feel the tether and become subdued. In truth, they have the same vulnerable areas as a human. Though cuts to the head are often the most efficient.” Hadrian squeezed my hands. “It was the only thing I could think of.”
 

Pain and regret laced his deep, gorgeous voice. I sat up– which took way more grunting and effort than I want to willingly admit– and tilted my head until I could see the hints of blue that always sent welcome shivers through me.
 

“You didn’t scar me, did you?”
 

His head snapped up, hurt I would even suggest it.
 

“No, of course not. I would never forgive myself if I saw the mark every time I looked at you.”
 

I smiled, and for a minute, I could imagine his concern for me was actually about
me
, not about my capabilities as his student. For now, I was willing to look past our fights and imagine that we could get back to at least a comfortable understanding or a level truce. I could pretend it was just the two of us alone in this room, and maybe I could guilt him into kissing me.
 

But I knew better. Guilty kissing was the worst kind. It only left a trail of regret and pain behind. I curled my fingers around his wrist as he squeezed my hand. I smiled, though my chest was tight with longing.
 

“Then you can forgive yourself. I’m okay.”
 

Hadrian acted like he’d lost control of his arms. I had to set his wrist down on the bed next to my hip– maybe not the best idea, in hindsight, because he was oh so tempting– and he still wouldn’t let go of my hand.
 

I didn’t mind. He drove me crazy, but the simple truth was that I enjoyed the comfort of his hand in mine. The warmth of his skin, the calluses that spoke of strength, the gentle security when he tightened his grip.
 

Turning away from Hadrian before the fantasies could start, I looked at Vitae, Zephys, and Piper. “What kind of damage did we do to the building?” I asked.
 

Vitae stared me down with her arms folded over her chest. “None. At least not to the main prison complex. The prison yard has been entirely obliterated.”
 

I cringed. Obliteration was now one of my least favorite words.
 

“Both Hadrian and Zephys have told me what happened. I believe that your desire for life force will only come to light when you are lost in the rush of your powers.”
 

I shifted awkwardly. “Can you not make me sound like a bloodthirsty vampire, please?”
 

Vitae’s lips quirked, but her smile was sad. “I apologize, Ava. But it is the most obvious answer, is it not?”