“Okay, so maybe a few things have changed.”
I glance around his bedroom, which has stayed pretty much the same since I met Isaac when I was eight. Some of the football and video game junk has been shoved aside to make room for pictures of his girlfriend, Shelby, and all the papers on his desk look like college applications. But he’s still the same guy who went out of his way to talk to the weird new kid at school.
If he knew what I was way back then, I doubt he would’ve bothered. And maybe that would’ve been better, because now he’s in a crapload of danger.
“So, like, how did you find all this out?” Isaac asks quietly. “Did you just wake up one day and start talking to the wind?”
“No. Audra had to show me.”
“Is that the hot chick who ruined your date with Hannah?”
“Yeah.” I grin, remembering the way she stormed into the Cheesecake Factory and told Hannah she was my girlfriend. One of the most awkward—and awesome—moments ever.
“And you and her are . . . together?”
I nod, deciding not to get into the whole bonding thing. I’m sure Isaac’s had all the weird he can take.
“Niiiiiice,” he tells me, though he frowns. “Is she a sylph too?”
“Yep. There are a lot of us, actually. Well, not a lot compared to, like, humans but—”
“Wait. You’re not human?”
I shake my head and he takes another step away.
“Come on, don’t act surprised. I told you, I’m a sylph.”
“I know, but I thought that was like a title or something. Like Hawkeye or Batman or—”
“I’m not a superhero.”
“I guess not. Which is good. If you start wearing spandex, I’m ditching you.”
“This from the guy in tighty-whities.”
He glances down and blushes before finally slipping on his pants.
“Thank God.”
“Shut up—you’re just jealous of my sexy.”
I’m tempted to shove him across the room with another draft. But I’ve already wasted too much time.
“You have to listen to me, Isaac. You need to get out of town.”
“Why? What does any of this have to do with me? I haven’t even talked to you in weeks.”
“I know—I was trying to keep you out of this. But I can’t anymore. It’s a really long story, but there’s this superscary guy who’s coming here to get me, and he’d be happy to get his hands on my best friend, too.”
“You’re telling me you have an archnemesis?”
“I guess you could put it that way—except I’m being serious, Isaac. I hope you get that. Raiden’s tortured and killed hundreds of people. Maybe thousands. And he’s extra pissed at me right now.” I lift my shirt again and point to my bruise. “He did this right before I got away. No one gets away from him. So he doesn’t just want to catch me, he wants to destroy this whole freaking valley.”
Isaac rubs his temples as he processes that. “Wait—the whole valley? How are you going to warn everyone?”
“I can’t—there’s not enough time. And do you really think they’d believe me?”
“But . . . there’re a lot of people here.”
“I know.”
He starts mumbling in Spanish again as he turns and paces his room.
“So what are you going to do?” he asks after a few seconds.
“Fight.”
“Uh, no offense, man, but my kid brother is tougher than you.”
“Hey—I’ve been training for weeks. And I won’t be fighting alone. My army—”
“You have an army?”
“I told you, it’s a really really really really long story. And someday I promise to tell you anything you want to know. But I don’t have time right now. I’m not even supposed to be here, but I couldn’t let things start without warning you. So please. Grab your family, get Shelby, and head south, before it’s too late, okay?”
“I don’t know, man,” he mumbles. “I don’t know what do with any of this.”
“I get that. But will you be able to live with yourself if something happens to anyone you love?”
That seems to snap him out of it, at least enough to ask, “What the hell am I supposed to tell them? They’re not going to believe this sylph crap.”
“I don’t know—but I know you’re awesome at getting people to do things they don’t want to do. How else did you drag me on so many blind dates?”
He grins at the memory, and I feel myself smile too.
“So just . . . work that same magic. And don’t waste any time. As it is . . .” I glance at the sky and feel my heart freeze.
A few minutes ago it was a clear, vivid blue. But the western horizon is now dark and gray. And now that I’m paying attention, I notice the air has a chill. Way too cold for the desert in August.
“Is that a storm?” Isaac asks, pointing to the clouds gathering above the mountains.
“Yeah.” I’m barely able to make my mouth form the word. My head is too busy trying to figure out if Isaac has enough time to get out of town and if I have enough time to get back to Audra and if the Gales have enough time to put whatever plan they’ve scrambled together into effect.
I sure hope so, because it’s too late to do anything else.
Raiden is already here.
CHAPTER 36
AUDRA
A horrible hiss echoes through the valley, coming from the mountains to the west, where an enormous storm is gathering.
Thick gray clouds swirl together like a hurricane, and when another hiss shatters the silence, the air turns achingly cold. I shiver in my thin dress and reach for any nearby Westerlies. All I feel is one, sweeping through the dunes a few miles away.
“You can’t leave,” Gus tells me as I call it to my side.
“I have to find Vane.”
“No, you have to stay here.” He grabs my arm when I don’t listen. “Raiden’s here for you, too.”
He’s right.
I know he’s right.
But Vane is alone and unprotected and Raiden is so close and he’s not attacking from the east like we thought and—
“You think Vane can’t see that?” Gus asks, pointing to the wall of thunderheads cresting the mountains. “I’m sure he’s just as worried about you, and if he’s not on his way back by now, he will be any second.”
But Raiden could already be in the valley. And if he catches Vane alone—
“Hey, deep breath,” Gus says, shaking my arm until I look at him. “If he’s not here in a few minutes I’ll go after him—but you have to stay here. I’m his guardian now, remember?”
The words feel like thunder—or maybe that’s my pounding heart.
I’m not Vane’s guardian anymore.
I can’t be.
But putting myself ahead of Vane makes me feel every bit the traitor Os accused me of being . . .
The wind I’d called sweeps into the grove, brushing against my cheeks and whispering a song about trust and hope. Tears prick my eyes when I realize it’s my loyal Westerly shield, and as it drapes itself around me—without my even giving the command—I feel my heartbeat steady.
The Westerlies have accepted me as their kin.
I have to start accepting myself.
“You have to keep him safe,” I beg Gus.
“I have to keep both of you safe. So come on, let’s get back to Os and find out how he’s changing his strategy. I can’t believe Raiden’s coming from the west.”
I can’t either, and I can’t decide if he’s doing it for some great poetic irony or if it’s part of some trick we have yet to uncover. Knowing Raiden, it’s probably both. The only thing we can rely on with him is cruelty.