Let The Wind Rise (Sky Fall, #3) (33 page)

My mother drops to her knees, tracing her long fingers over the plucked carnage.

Another innocent life stolen.

Another sacrifice without reason.

Let this be the end.

“It’s a message,” my mother whispers, drying her eyes with the back of her hand. She counts the notches in the feathers, and I try to do the same, but Raiden used the code only
she
can translate.

“He says that if you and Solana are brave enough to face him, you need to leave all your weapons and let his wind carry you to where it began.”

“What does that mean?” Vane asks.

“It means he’s asking for a change of location,” Os tells him.

“Yeah, I got that,” Vane says. “But
where
?”

“He doesn’t specify,” my mother says, checking the feathers again. “But based on what I feel in his wind, I’d guess you’ll be traveling several hundred miles south.”

“Oklahoma,” Os whispers. “That’s where it has to be. He spent most of his childhood there.”

“And judging by his message,” Aston adds, “I’d wager it’s also where his sister died.”

The words settle in, each one a cold, jagged stone.

“So . . . we have to go, right?” Vane asks. “The wind is still giving me the same advice.”

“You do realize it sounds like Raiden doesn’t expect to survive this little meeting, don’t you?” Aston asks. “In which case, it’s unlikely he’s still hoping to collect your power.”

The same worries thunder through my mind, mixed with the sound of Raiden’s laughter.

“But isn’t that a good thing?” Vane asks. “It means even
he
knows he can’t win.”

“Never underestimate the desperation of a trapped animal,” Os reminds him.

“Sinking ship mentality,” Aston agrees. “If he has to go, he’ll take the precious ones with him.”

“Then wouldn’t he ask for Audra to come too?” Vane asks.

“He knows you’ll never bring her near him,” Os says. “The fact that you excluded her from the original plan made that clear.”

“Or he has other plans for her,” Aston warns.

“You can speculate all day,” my mother tells them. “And never be any closer to the answer. Raiden’s a Northern squall. You can’t predict him. You can only battle the storm.”

“But they’re not battling the storm,” Os argues. “They’re letting it lead them blindly to the slaughter.”

“I think I’ve lost track of the metaphor,” Vane mumbles.

His hand shakes as he pulls it away from mine and holds up the whistlepipe. “But we should be safe as long as I still have this. He clearly wants it back. So I’ll shield it with Westerlies so he can’t tell if I’m carrying it, and use that to stall him while we wait for the wind to tell us how to end him.”

I can see dozens of flaws with that plan.

Hundreds.

Thousands.

But I also see no other option.

“We should probably get going,” Solana says, sounding far more enthusiastic than I can ever imagine feeling. “Every second we delay gives him more time to prepare.”

“And what about
your
preparations?” Os asks. “You haven’t discussed a single strategy. You haven’t gathered any weapons. All you’ve done is end your betrothal and waste time on vulgar public displays of affection.”

“Best decision ever,” Vane says, grinning at me. “And come on, Os. We all know we’re not going to take Raiden out with a windslicer or a wind spike—in fact, if we tried that, we’d just get destroyed by his creepy backlash thing. So screw planning—that’s Raiden’s trick. And it’s all an illusion. Time and again we’ve proven that no matter how hard he tries, he can’t control the wind. All we have to do is keep trusting the sky.”

“Keep in mind that the wind doesn’t actually care whether you live or die,” Aston warns him. “It’s very clever. But that doesn’t mean it has compassion.”

I despise the words for being true.

And I despise the helplessness that pours over me as Solana gathers the fallen feathers and calls for Raiden’s wind.

Tears blur my eyes as Vane pulls me closer, turning us away from the crowd so it’s just him and me.

“This isn’t goodbye,” he tells me. “It’s ‘see you soon.’ Really soon. As fast as I can be there. And I need you to be careful in the meantime, okay?”

“
I’m
not the one we need to be worrying about,” I remind him.

“Hopefully not—but we both know I’m going to worry anyway. So promise me you’ll keep your guard up.”

“I always do.”

He grins and whispers, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” I breathe. “So you have to come back to me.”

“Like you could ever keep me away.”

“I worry you’re not taking this as seriously as you should be,” I whisper. “Raiden just killed hundreds of people. He’s up to something—”

“I know,” Vane interrupts. “Believe me, I’m very aware of how freaking scary what I’m about to do is. But I’m going to win, Audra. You know why? Because I have too much to live for.”

He leans and kisses me then, his lips tender and soft and sweet. It fills me with warm flutters—but it’s not the desperate rush I crave.

I know what he’s trying to show me.

He’s saving the rest for later.

Still, I take a little more for myself now, dragging him closer, parting his lips, breathing in his breath as he gasps to keep up with me.

This isn’t goodbye.

But it’s a reminder of how much I need him.

Someone clears their throat, and I finally let Vane break away.

His eyes look as wild as his tousled hair, and it’s such a beautiful thing.

“Where can I find you when this is over?” he asks, brushing a hand across my cheek.

“Your house,” I decide, earning one of his glorious smiles.

“
That
will be the best homecoming ever.”

He steals one last kiss, leaving a sweet taste in my mouth before he steps away and joins Solana.

His eyes never leave mine as Solana tangles Raiden’s wind around them, sealing them inside the bubble without another word.

There’s nothing more to say.

One way or another, this ends tonight.

All I can do is hope and wait.

S
o far I haven’t thrown up.

Or peed my pants.

Which is pretty awesome, considering this ruined wind is flying us way faster and bumpier than any wind should be allowed to move.

“You okay?” I ask Solana as we hit an especially hurl-worthy patch of turbulence.

She nods, and I realize she’s been awfully quiet since we left.

I guess we’ve both been quiet—though I’ve let out a bunch of yelps and squeals during some of the scarier dives. But I wonder if it’s still a little awkward for her, since, y’know, she did just have to watch me rebond with Audra. . . .

Actually, no, she’s probably trying to prepare for the upcoming battle, and I seriously need to get over myself.

I close my eyes and try to copy Solana’s focus, but it’s hard to concentrate around the steady tugging in my chest.

I’d forgotten how strong the pull of a healthy bond feels, like part of me is tethered to Audra, stretching thinner with each mile I put between us.

There’s a steady pain that comes with it, but it’s strangely comforting. It tells me she’s safe. And that she’s slowly drawing me back to her.

“By the way,” I say, hoping this is an okay thing to tell Solana. “Thank you for giving back your link.”

“Yeah, well . . . I figured you two might never get together otherwise. Honestly, for two stubborn, willful people, you both can be super insecure and wishy-washy.”

I have to laugh at that, glad things finally feel more normal between us.

She even adds, “You guys really are good together.”

I should probably stick with “thanks.” But for some reason I add, “You’ll find the same thing someday.”

God—why not just tell her
Someday your prince will come
?

I’m all set to apologize, but Solana laughs it off.

“Let’s worry about my love life after we survive tonight, okay?”

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

The whole, flying into Raiden’s Trap of Inevitable Doom thing.

“Any idea what we’re in for?” I ask.

“I thought your new motto was ‘screw planning.’ ”

“Hey, just because I don’t want to try to out-control a control freak doesn’t mean I don’t think we should brace ourselves.”

“Well, in that case, I think it’s going to start slow. I think Raiden has something he wants to say to us before he does anything violent.”

“He
is
a bragger. . . .”

“Right, but I think it’ll be more than that. He went to a lot of effort to bring us somewhere personal to him. I’m assuming that means he’s going to tell us
why
we’re there. What I can’t figure out is, why us? And why now? If he’s really planning to kill us afterward, what’s the point?”

It’s a good question, actually.

Villains in movies tend to “monologue” a lot—but that’s usually just the screenwriter stalling things so the hero has enough time to make their dramatic escape.

Raiden’s way too smart for that.

Then again, it’d be awesome if he does it. Especially since our whole plan is:
Stay alive long enough for the wind to tell us how to end him
.

“Are you going to be okay?” Solana whispers, breaking my train of thought. “I mean . . . there’s no way this isn’t going to be violent. . . .”

“I’m ready to do whatever I have to do in order to finish this.”

I wish my mouth weren’t so dry as I say the words.

I try to focus on Gus—stay angry—remind myself of all the evil things Raiden has done. But really, it all comes down to one thing:

“I’m trusting the wind. I know we keep saying that, but it’s all I have. Either my heritage will save me—or . . . it’ll break me. Either way, it’ll be up to the sky.”

A long silence follows, until Solana asks, “It feels like we’re flying lower, doesn’t it?”

“I think so. But it’s hard to tell when I can’t see the ground.”

There’s a moon out there somewhere, but it must be blocked out by clouds. And I can hear thunder rolling in the distance.

It was a dark and stormy night . . .

I can’t remember what book that comes from—but I really hope it doesn’t end with
and then they all died.

“Do you think—”

My question morphs into a yowl as our draft drops so fast and hard that I feel the need to shout, “You don’t think he’s going to splatter us like bugs, do you?”

“He can try,” Solana says. “I have enough winds stored up to catch us.”

That
would
make me feel better except . . . “Isn’t holding on to any winds around Raiden kinda like holding a bunch of grenades around Magneto?”

“I have no idea what that means!”

I’m ready to explain the entire X-Men universe to her, but our plummet gains even more speed, and I decide to spend the next few minutes screaming my throat raw instead.

Right before we go
KABLAM
, the wind screeches to a halt, leaving us hovering over some long, scratchy grass.

“Are you okay?” I ask Solana.

“Yeah. But ugh—what is that smell?”

“I think it’s ‘cow.’ Might be ‘horse’ though. All I know is, it’s some sort of animal poop.” Which seems . . . strangely appropriate.

“I’m going to set us down,” Solana warns, then hisses a command that makes us drop into the knee-high grass.

“You’re quite talented with my power,” Raiden says from somewhere in the darkness.

The wind stirs to life around us, singing in mangled, ruined words.

“Seriously?” I ask. “You’re going with the ghostly-voice trick? Is that supposed to scare us?”

“How about this?” Raiden asks.

A dozen bolts of blue lightning blast across the sky, illuminating a figure in a white billowing cloak standing about twenty feet away.

I’ll admit it.

I scream.

But I mean—the dude just controlled
lightning.

One well-aimed bolt and I’m a Vane-sizzle.

The glow of the lightning flickers away, leaving me squinting to catch the glint of his eyes.

Minutes crawl by.

Okay, it’s probably only seconds, but it seriously feels like
forever.

So much for Solana’s theory about Raiden inviting us here to tell us the Woeful Tale of His Life.

I check my Westerly shield’s song, hoping it’s already solved the how-do-we-end-him conundrum. But so far all it’s telling me is:
stall
.

“So,” I say, clearing my throat. “Nice place you chose here. Was it the poop smell that sold you, or the prickly burrs?”

“Is this how you feign bravery?” Raiden asks. “Worthless jokes and pathetic complaints?” I shrug. “It works pretty well. What about you? Fancy wind tricks are great and all, but don’t they ever get boring? Is that why you’ve been so desperate to learn my language? Looking for some inspiration? If so, this is one of my favorites.”

I call a Westerly to my side and tell it to mess up Raiden’s hair.

It doesn’t do a whole lot, but it does make Raiden flinch—and seeing that flinch feels
good.

“What’s wrong?” I ask him. “Afraid the peaceful tones are contagious?”

“Careful,” Solana whispers.

I know she’s right.

I should stop poking the bear—at least until I’ve found the way to kill him. But now that Raiden’s this close, all I can hear is the sickening sound of Gus’s neck snapping.

Plus, not showing up for our last battle was a pretty freaking cowardly move. Makes me wonder if Raiden’s really as scary as we think.

Have we ever actually seen him fight?

What if he’s like one of those magicians who use a bunch of illusions to convince you that they’re cool enough to make a car disappear and really they’re just a guy standing in front of a mirror?

“Saw your army today,” I tell him. “Can’t say I was impressed.”

“Neither was I,” Raiden agrees. “I’d forgotten how few of them truly deserved to wield the power of the sky. I kept a handful of the worthy with me, and the rest? Well, I’m sure you saw how they ended up. Really, I should be thanking you. You gave me the perfect opportunity to clean house while taking out your guardians in the process.”