It’s not a calm. Those are always paired with silence—and the basin rings with a grating, nerve-shattering screeching. Like everything rough and horrible is being scraped together and ripped apart. I try to find the source of the chaos, but all I see are large boulders scattered randomly along the parched ground. Crooked lines are etched into the earth all around them, marking their wandering journey through the basin.
They have to be the sailing stones.
But where are the Stormers?
Large cracks cut deep into the mountain along the badlands, and I assume Raiden’s soldiers must be lurking somewhere in those shadows. But I can’t tell where, and until I’m sure, I have to stay hidden. I will not make any mistakes this time.
I find a narrow crevice in the nearest foothill and crawl inside, tucking myself out of sight. If the Stormers are here they’ll reveal themselves eventually. I just have to be patient.
It’s not easy. The searing afternoon sun makes the jagged stones I’m pressed against feel like burning coals. Even the shade provides no relief.
I distract myself by rebraiding my hair, surprised at how good it feels to wear the guardian style again. For years the braid had become almost painful. Pulling too tight and putting too much pressure on me. But now it feels natural.
It feels right.
I only wish I’d had a chance to retrieve my guardian pendant from where Aston tossed it along the beach. Hopefully, the Gales will give me another.
Assuming they let me continue my service . . .
Honestly, it’s possible they’ll assign a guardian to protect me—which is too bizarre of a thought for me to process.
My life has never been worth keeping safe. I lived simply to serve others.
But I’m a Westerly now—sort of. And I’m bonded to the king.
Everything is going to change.
My mind runs through a list of Gales I’ve met, trying to decide who I’d prefer—but a clap of thunder rips me back to reality.
I glance up, stunned to find heavy gray clouds blanketing the sky. A few minutes ago it was a clear stretch of blue.
Lightning flashes and I lean forward to get a better look at the valley, sucking in a breath when I see two Stormers suddenly stationed outside the widest crack in the badlands. Their gray uniforms have an even darker patch on their arms, marking them with Raiden’s storm cloud.
Thunder claps again, and a blinding flash of lightning streaks down from the sky—right next to a man who seems to have appeared out of nowhere.
Dressed in a head-to-toe white cloak with his long blond hair swirling around his face, he looks like the gods in the groundlings’ myths and legends.
I know who he is even before the Stormers drop to one knee.
Bowing to their leader.
CHAPTER 19
VANE
I wake up in my bed, not sure how I got there. My head is a blur and my memories are even blurrier. But I’m very aware that there’s an arm wrapped around me.
I pull myself up and all I see is blond wavy hair.
“What the crap?” I shout, jumping to my feet.
I’m relieved when I see that I’m still wearing yesterday’s clothes, but: How the hell did Solana end up in my bed?
And what happened while she was here???
“It’s okay,” she says, sitting up and brushing her hair out of her eyes, like it’s totally normal that we just spent the night together. At least she’s wearing clothes too—though I don’t know if her itty-bitty dress really counts. I’m sure my mom would—
“Oh, God—you have to get out of here. My mom’s going to freak.”
I’ll be grounded for the rest of eternity and she’ll make me sit through every after-school special on teenage pregnancy and STDs and . . .
“Actually, your mom knows I’m here.”
“What?”
“She insisted I stay on top of the covers, and we had to keep the door open—”
“Okay, what?”
I spin around, and sure enough, my door is open. And those definitely sound like my mom’s kind of rules, but . . . she wouldn’t even leave Audra and me alone for two seconds.
“She fought us at first,” Solana admits. “But when I explained that I could help you sleep, she agreed.”
Still. I can’t even . . .
“Wait, I slept?”
“What else did you think you’ve been doing all night?”
My turn to blush. “I don’t know. I was kind of a mess.”
“Yeah, I noticed.” She stands up, looking around like she’s trying to decide whether or not to leave.
Part of me wants her to go. But I remember my promise to Gus.
Plus, she did help me sleep—for a really long time. According to my clock it’s 12:24, which is later than my mom has ever let me sleep in. I’m still tired, but the worst of the exhaustion has faded.
I run my hands through my hair and sit on the edge of the bed. “Sorry. This is all just really weird.”
“I know,” Solana mumbles, smoothing the thin yellow fabric of her dress, making it hug her curves even more. “It is for me, too.”
She says the last part so softly it’s almost like she doesn’t want me to hear her. But I do. And I feel even more like crap.
“Look, about yesterday . . .”
I don’t even know where to start. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that she’s here. With creases from my pillow pressed into her cheek. Standing next to a pile of folded boxers I never bothered putting away.
So I go with the only thing I can think of. “I’m sorry for what I said.”
She bites her lips and looks away. “It’s fine.”
Wow, she’s an even worse liar than me.
But I don’t know what else to say to make it better.
“So, um, how did you help me sleep?” I ask, deciding it’s easier to change the subject. “I thought the Gales had already tried everything they could think of.”
“They didn’t know about enticing. It’s a trick I came up with a few years ago, and I’ve only tried it on one other person.” She walks to my window, which is closed tight for the first time since Audra left. “My former guardian used to have horrible flashbacks at night, and I knew Southerlies could draw memories, so I tried sending one into her mind to see if I could change her dreams. It took me a little while to find the right command, and it only works if I’m there to keep control. But she said it helped.”
“It does.”
Now that my head is clearing I can remember reliving a memory of Audra and me in the snow. I’ve never had any flashes of that moment before, but now that it’s back, I’m going to hold on to it as tight as I can.
She stayed with me that cold, scary day, holding my hand.
She cared.
And if she wouldn’t leave me when we were just stupid kids who didn’t even like each other, how could she leave me now?
But she did leave, my brain reminds me, and I want to rip it out and stomp it into a pulp. She’s been gone twenty-five days.
Yeah, but she promised she’d be back, and I have to believe that. I’m not giving up hope just because she sent two vague words across the sky.
Not yet, at least.
“Are you okay?” Solana asks as I get up and walk to my dresser, searching for gum or something to get rid of my toxic morning breath. I settle for a crushed Mento that’s probably been in my pocket for at least a month, but hey, it’s minty—not that I’m trying to impress Solana. Which is good because I also catch a glimpse of my hair in the mirror, and dang, I never realized it could be tall-and-bumpy and greasy-and-plastered-to-my-head all at the same time.