Storm Born (39 page)

My eyes widened. I whirled my head to look at Mortis. His smirk was smug. He nodded.
 

“Behold the last of the Stormkind, Ava.”
 

Even though I knew that’s what I’d seen, hearing it made it real. Real and terrifying. I turned to look down the hill again, looking at each cage and its imprisoned Stormkind. My mind screamed at me to figure out what we were doing here, but I shied away from the answer. Whatever the reason was, it couldn’t be good.
 

“How can these be the last ones?” I asked, desperate for answers to all but the most obvious question. “What about the Stormkind around the world?”
 

“Fellow Guardians did as they were ordered. They brought the Stormkind to the mountains. They would have returned to their posts, training and waiting for the next Centennial. Though their positions
have become useless, I knew they would be reluctant to release their charges to us. It was their choice to make the situation complicated.”
 

I stared at him. “You killed them?”
 

No, he couldn’t have, that kind of betrayal would lead too deep, the burden of duty unable to pass onto new generations of Guardians…
 

Mortis met my gaze without a flicker of remorse. “They made their choice to stand against us. To stand in the way of progress. I did what needed to be done.”
 

My stomach sank. Just when I thought he had some kind of code, a single line that he wouldn’t cross no matter what, he did something like this. I was too horrified to move when Mortis leaned down and pressed a hand on my shoulder. It felt like a lead weight about to crush me into the earth.
 

“Sacrifices must be made when you reshape the world, Ava,” he told me with absolute certainty. “You sacrificed a future with your family. I was forced to sacrifice the lives of seven brothers and sisters.”
 

“Like you sacrificed Sonus?”
 

Mortis didn’t flinch outright, though his fingers pinched my shoulder harder than before. “Sonus was blind to the future. He was too weak to embrace change. Too stubborn to bring the Guardians the glory we deserve.” A bitter light gleamed in his eyes. “Weakness and stubbornness that passed onto his son, it appears.”
 

My fists balled.
“Hadrian is stronger than you think he is.”
 

Mortis paused as if to consider this. Then he nodded slowly. “Perhaps.” His steely eyes sent shivers down my spine. “But he is not strong enough.”
 

I took a breath to defend my Guardian, but Mortis soldiered on.
 

“I will atone for the deaths I have caused, I am certain. But until the new Stormkind have taken their place in the world, I will not look back. The future is here. It is time we embrace it.”
 

Without another word, Mortis began climbing down the hill. Ferno and Turve followed him diligently. I trudged after them, not wanting Declan to push me again and send me falling head over heels into the dirt.
 

The slope wasn’t actually that bad, but every step I took felt like the beginning of the end. The closer I got to the Stormkind, the higher the hairs on the back of my neck rose. The stiffer I became. The heavier the unease became in my stomach.
 

By the time I was on the flat part of the crater, just fifty feet from the nearest cage, I could hardly move. I could see the Stormkind in crystal clarity under the moonlight now.
 

The cages were exactly the way Vitae had described them to me. The bars were made of tall tempest-blades. The sides of the cage were made of standing swords, the tips driving deep into the earth. The sides of the hilts touched along the edge, and on the top of the cage, the swords were laid flat like they were on display. I could feel the steady pulse of power coming from each cage, like the heavy bass beat of a nightclub sinking through my skin.
 

Behind each cage was a Stormkind. I recognized a couple of them– the hurricane-Stormkind with its rippling exterior, and a sparking thunder-Stormkind, but there were others I hadn’t seen before.
 

A Stormkind covered in ice and capped with shimmering snow. Another with water melting down its body and dripping from its fingers. A Stormkind whose skin spiraled in circles like a top out of control. A fourth with dirt-covered flesh that rolled and crunched together when it moved its joints.
 

Two of each Stormkind paced in their six-by-six cages, their glowing white eyes fixed on us as we approached. Without pupils, it was impossible to tell who they were really looking at, but I felt like I was the center of their attention. I didn’t know exactly how sentient the Stormkind were, but I was willing to bet they had enough instinct to know the Guardians were harder prey to devour. As far as the Stormkind were concerned, I was a simple human. Fresh and mere feet away.
 

The two thunder-Stormkind pulsed with light, bursts of energy throbbing under their lightning skin. The others increased the speed of their pacing, until they were all but running from one side of the cage to the other. Their silence gave me chills.
 

“Don’t be shy,” Declan taunted in my ear, his clammy hand sliding down my spine to the bottom of my belt. I shivered and pulled away. “We’re not the ones who are going to get hurt.”
 

I glanced over my shoulder. Declan was smiling and looking over my head, an awful excitement filling his eyes. I turned again, watching Mortis, Turve, and Ferno spread out. Each one of them drew a crystal dagger.
 

I watched with horror, now realizing that Mortis must have perfected the design of his dagger and given it to his most trusted generals. During the Centennial, they could have run through the chaos, choosing victims to stab and inject with unwanted powers.
 

The Mistrals didn’t choose cages reflective of their abilities. Ferno stood in front of a thunder-Stormkind. Turve was before a dust-Stormkind. Mortis chose one made of ice. They didn’t flinch as they looked at their prey. The Stormkind went wild, throwing their bodies against the tempest-blade bars. The moment they struck, they bounced back as if the bars had electrocuted them. They rushed forward again, absorbed the pain as they flew back, then ran forward again.
 

I cringed. The Stormkind must have been desperately hungry. Their century long starvation was beginning. Having felt that pain, I knew how it would drive them mad. Seeing the Mistrals standing there, taunting them and provoking that hunger… It was simply cruel.
 

“Strike on my command,” Mortis said, never looking away from the Stormkind frozen in place in front of him.
 

“Wait,” I said, taking a step forward. Declan gripped my shoulder and yanked me back. My heart hammered against my ribs, each pulse becoming a knot of dread.
 

“Strike.”
 

When the Stormkind launched into the bars again, the Mistrals moved with blinding, accurate precision. The crystal daggers flashed and punched through electricity, dust, and icy flesh. The density didn’t matter. Nothing could shatter a tempest-blade, no matter how small it was.
 

The Stormkind stood frozen place, unable to back away. I watched in horror as the light from their skeletons retreated to the core of their being, then funneled into the blade. The crystal glowed to life, so bright it seemed to scorch my eyes.
 

I didn’t know if the tears lining my face were caused by the searing light from the daggers, or the crushing pain in my chest.
 

It wasn’t that I adored the Stormkind. I would never forget waking up on that rooftop and seeing the endless horizon of disaster and destruction. I would always remember the sight of my ravaged house and the broken furniture on the lawn. I would have nightmares about the Stormkind that devoured life forces in front of me, the electric light in their eyes when I knew I was next.
 

But they couldn’t be blamed for what they’d done any more than a starving hawk could be blamed for eating a field mouse. They were predators simply doing what nature intended them to do. Not even the Primordials could be faulted for this. If the legend Vitae told me was true, then the Primordials knew what they had created was beyond their control. That’s why they created the Guardians and gave half their powers to them. It was all nature, action and reaction. Despite the horror it endured in the Centennial Storm, I knew the human race would survive. It was what we were best at, and if Vitae was right, the Stormkind would eventually go extinct.
 

The world wasn’t supposed to be unbalanced this way, through intended violence and slaughter. Every time someone tried to change the world to match their own twisted ideals, it ended in disaster and needless death.
 

That’s what would happen here, even though Mortis was convinced otherwise.
 

The final light from the Stormkind faded. One by one, their bodies collapsed in heaps of sparks, dust, and melted ice. Mortis stepped back, examining his dagger pensively.
 

“These blades are not as strong as the previous ones we used. We will likely have room for one additional absorption. After we use them on our chosen targets, they will need to be disposed of.”
 

“Are we going to try again?” Ferno asked. “If the daggers cannot hold another power, they could be rendered useless. There is no guarantee that our targets will survive the same way Hadrian’s charge has.”
 

The crystal daggers could only be used once? That explained why there weren’t more freaks like me running around. I imagined it took time to create each dagger, and there was no guarantee the person the Mistrals targeted would be able to hold more than one power. Maybe that was why Ferno killed Austin– he saw him as a failure as well as a means of escaping the Precips.
 

There was nothing I could say that would make the Mistrals stop killing the Stormkind. I knew that. They completely believed what they were doing was the right thing.
 

If I couldn’t get through to them, I had one more person to try with. While the Mistrals approached a new set of Stormkind, I turned and looked at Declan.
 

“We have to stop this,” I told him.
 

He blinked and looked at me. “Why?”
 

“The Stormkind are just acting on instinct,” I explained, hoping to make this conversation as quick and simple as I could. “They’re starved for a hundred years. You must have felt that pain. I have.”
 

He kept staring. “Yeah. I’ve felt it.” Declan pointed to his face. “How do you think I got like this?”
 

Any words I’d thought to speak died on my lips when I looked at him. Declan’s features were still familiar enough for me to recognize, but I took in the thinness of his body. The transparency of his skin and paleness of his hair. The unstable glow building around his irises.
 

“Have you ever fed like a Stormkind, Ava?”
 

I cowered into myself and shook my head. Declan didn’t blink.
 

“It’s an adrenaline rush like nothing you can imagine. It’s like swallowing a star. It burns through you, filling your body until you think you’re going to explode. When you absorb the last of it, your whole body becomes a pulse of light. You can feel it sinking into your very bones, making you stronger. Making you
better
.” Hunger filled his eyes, and I felt my confidence shrink. “It’s a drug. The longer you go without it, the more fucked up you become.”
 

I hesitated, realizing I wouldn’t get through to Declan, either. It wouldn’t be long before he became a Stormkind. His humanity was skin deep. Behind his flesh was something I was too terrified to think about.
 

It was the same thing hiding beside my bones, the monstrosity that would be unleashed if I ever gave in and devoured a life force.
 

Light sparked behind me. I jumped and spun around. Three more Stormkind had fallen prey to the crystal daggers, their skeletons shrinking and dissolving into the blades. I almost wished the Stormkind had been able to scream. Maybe then, the horror of this extermination would reach Declan, and make him think twice about what he wanted to become.
 

I looked at him again. “Declan, please, this is only going to make things worse. The Stormkind need to be dealt with by Guardians who respect them. They can’t be slaughtered like this.”
 

“Why the hell do you care?” he snapped. “The only reason you’re not in those cages is because Mortis’s plan worked with you.” He shook his head. “You have no idea how fucking lucky you are.”
 

I gawked. I was many things, but lucky had
never
been one of them.
 

“The person you were tethered to gave a shit about you. You didn’t have to struggle and beg to please him or make him see that you were worth something. This little experiment worked with you. It didn’t work for me, and now I’m being cast aside like I’m goddamn worthless.”
 

Declan’s hands suddenly clamped onto my arms. “Maybe I should just absorb you. Then I would have it all. I would be able to give Mortis the power he wants, and show him how loyal I am. I’ve earned that much. You’ve earned nothing.”
 

Declan’s eyes ignited like flares and fixated on my mouth. His head snapped down toward mine. I leaned away and raised my arms. I turned my head and slapped at his chest, trying to get him away. All I did was agitate him. He shoved me away and drew back his hand to slap me.
 

I moved first, kicking him hard between the legs.
 

Declan yelped and stumbled, nearly losing his balance. I scrambled to run, only to find myself face to face with Mortis. I skidded to a stop when I saw the sharp frown on his face, and the glowing dagger in his hands. Ferno and Turve stood behind him, each one gripping their dagger tight.