I don’t understand.
How can Gus be—
A sharp sting across my cheek knocks me back to reality.
“Finally,” Aston says, and I realize he slapped me—and that I’ve lost control of the winds.
“I need you to set us down,” he tells me. “Can you handle that?”
I try.
It’s a bumpy landing, but the snow softens it—mostly.
I sink into the cold, letting the numbness take over. It helps me face the question I don’t want to ask.
Was there something we could’ve done?
I try to search for warnings we might’ve missed, but nothing stands out—except Raiden’s last threat about the price we’d pay if we escaped.
“Where’s Audra?” I ask, flailing to sit up.
“She’s fine,” Aston promises. “You all are. The anemometer’s been silent, ever since . . .”
He doesn’t finish the sentence. But his eyes dart to where Audra sits half buried in the snow, clinging to Gus’s body.
Gus’s body.
My stomach heaves, and I have to crawl away and puke into some bushes.
I keep gagging long after I run out of bile. And even when that stops, I can’t seem to get up.
“Come on,” Solana says, her voice thick with tears as she grabs my good arm and tries to pull me to my feet. “The storm’s getting worse.”
I hadn’t noticed the wind, but she’s right. It’s tearing branches off the trees. And the thunder sounds like a war zone.
“You need to get inside,” Arella tells us.
“Inside?”
I thought we were in the middle of a forest. But I turn to where she’s pointing and see we’re actually in the middle of . . . I’m not sure.
There’s a huge red-and-white building with pointed roofs and narrow windows. It almost looks like a castle, but I’m guessing it’s probably a hotel.
“You have to get away from the wind,” Arella says. “I’m sending Raiden a false trail, but he won’t believe it if he picks up the real one.”
She must be using the same trick she used after she killed my parents to make him believe we were all dead. Sylphs lose a piece of ourselves when someone we love dies, and Arella knows how to change the loss and make it carry a message. The concept makes zero sense, but if it buys us some time, I’m not going to stop her.
We need to clean our wounds and rest for a second. But we’ve only gone a few steps before I hear Audra let out a sharp cry.
I’m picturing snapped necks and suicide drafts as I tear through the snow to her side.
It’s almost as heartbreaking to find the real problem is Aston trying to pull her away from Gus.
“I’ll take care of him,” he promises.
She tightens her hold, kicking and sobbing and flailing.
Until she notices me.
The pain in her eyes nearly knocks me over, and I try to think of something to say.
All I can do is stretch out my arms and offer her a place to hide.
Slowly—very slowly—she lets go of Gus and stumbles over to me, burying her face in my shoulder.
I hold her as tight as I can, just like I did after the storm that shattered our families.
A different kind of bond formed between us that day.
But right now . . . I can’t feel it.
I can’t feel anything except a rage so thick it fills me with the darkest, coldest kind of hate.
A crunch of branches makes us jump, and we both turn to watch Aston carrying Gus into the trees.
I don’t know what he’s going to do with him, but I’m glad I won’t have to see it.
“He’s gone,” Audra whispers. “How can he be gone?”
“I don’t know.”
But I know everything’s changed.
My instincts have fallen silent.
I’m finally ready to do what has to be done.
I’m going to end this the only way it will ever really be over.
I’m going to find a way to kill Raiden.