"But it's coming straight for us."

"Can you take over windwalking for a minute?" she asks, already changing positions.

"Uh, not if you're calling over a giant bird."

"Really? You're still afraid of them?"

"You and Gavin scarred me for life."

"Well, it's time to conquer your fears."

The bird swoops closer, circling above us before it dives.

I can hear Gus laugh as I yelp, but I'd like to see him hold steady while some huge bird lands on his shoulder midflight. And bonus: It's a vulture, so not only is it huge and heavy with razor sharptalons; it smells like dead stuff.

Audra wraps her legs tighter around me and reaches up to check the feathers on its stinky black wings.

And then checks them again.

And again.

"It's a message from your mother, isn't it?" I ask, feeling a bit of deja vu from the last time something like this happened-though that had at least been a small white dove.

Audra nods, her body shaking so hard I feel like I'm going to lose my grip on her.

"What did she say?" I ask, wondering how Arella managed to reach the vulture from her cage.

Audra sighs, staring at the sky. "She wants us to come get her. She says she can help us win."

CHAPTER 38.AUDRA.

I.

t's a trick.

It has to be.

Everything with my mother always is.

I shoo the vulture off Vane's shoulder and it hisses at me as it flies away. But it stays circling above us, despite the ravaged winds trying to knock it out of the sky.

My mother probably commanded the poor creature not to leave until it brought me back to her. But I have innocent people to protect.

"What are you doing?" I ask as Vane changes our course.

"Heading to the Maelstrom."

"Don't tell me you believe her," I say, changing our course again.

"Look, I know your mother is hard to trust-and I know this feels a bit shady. But we're kinda outnumbered here and your mom is crazy talented. If she says she can help us, I think we should let her."

"How can you-"

I'm so distracted that I don't see the Storm's whip until it's too late.

The stinging cord of air hits us dead-on, cracking so loud my ears ring as the winds carrying us unravel.

I cling to Vane, searching for a draft to stop our fall. But the Living Storm s.n.a.t.c.hes us first, yanking us apart with cold, monstrous hands as it holds us in front of its face like it wants to examine its new toys.

"Hang on," Gus shouts, tossing his wind spike at the Storm's head.

I brace for an explosion of fog and chaos-but the spike bounces off without leaving a scratch.

The Storm's fist tightens around me, squeezing so hard I'm sure it cracks one of my ribs. But I'm better off than Vane. I can hear him coughing and gasping for air as one of the ma.s.sive fingers wraps around his neck.

Gus's spike slams into the Storm again, aimed for the chest this time.

Again, it rebounds.

"Stay with me," I scream as Vane's desperate choking makes red rim my vision. But his eyes roll back and his body stops struggling.

"Help!" I beg my Westerly shield, forcing myself to calm down and concentrate when the loyal draft's song fills my mind.

It's hard to hear over the cracking whips and the raging winds, but I manage to catch a single word that stands out from the rest. "Inflate!"

Both of our shields swell to three times their size, shoving open the Storm's fists and sending us crashing to the ground.

I scream for a draft to catch us, but none of them respond-and I can see Gus racing toward me, but I know we're falling too fast. All I can do is brace for impact and hope our shields keep us safe.

The ground comes up quick and hard and I wrench my neck as I tumble across the sand. But I'm bruised not broken as I jump to my feet.

Vane wasn't as lucky.

The elbow on his left arm is bent at an angle that makes me wince just looking at it, and I stumble to his side, screaming for him to wake up.

"Come on," Gus shouts, landing beside me and pointing to three Living Storms tearing toward us.

He tells me to wrap my arms around his waist as he throws Vane over his shoulder and blasts us back into the sky only seconds before the first whip cracks.

"What's happening?" he shouts. "Why aren't the spikes working?"

"It must be because Raiden broke the Living Storms."

"That's stronger than the power of four?"

"I don't know. I think it might be."

Aston did warn me about the power of pain.

I reach for Vane, hating that he's still unconscious. But when my hand brushes his cheek, his eyes snap open and he coughs so hard Gus nearly drops him.

The coughs turn into a groan as Vane tries to move. "Careful," Gus tells him. "You jacked up your arm pretty good."

I take a closer look at Vane's elbow, and bile rises in my throat. It's swollen and twisted and obviously out of joint.

"We're going to have to adjust it," I tell Gus as he dips to avoid the crack of another whip. "He'll be in too much pain to fight, otherwise."

"Duck!" Vane shouts as a monstrous fist lunges for us and Gus barely slips us out of its clutches.

I shift my weight so I can let go of Gus with one hand, feeling the air for any usable winds. "We need to make a pipeline. It'll launch us far enough away to treat him without wasting any time."

"And we just abandon the Gales in the meantime?" Gus asks.

"What else can we do?"

"I'm fine," Vane jumps in, but as soon as he tries to move his arm he can't fight back his groan.

"We need to at least warn them about the broken Storms," Gus decides as we dive so close to the ground I'm amazed we don't crash. "Can you send them a message?"

"If I can find a draft."

I stretch my concentration as far as I can and manage to reach a healthy Southerly. It takes three tries to get it to answer my call, and when it finally sweeps in, its song is so scattered I can tell it will only be able to hold a few words.

"Don't trust the spikes," I tell it, hoping the Gales have a backup plan. Then I send the wind away and search for drafts to build the pipeline.

"Any time now," Gus shouts, launching us straight up as a Living Storm jumps in front of us. "It's hard to keep up my speed with two extra bodies to carry."

"I just need one more Northerly."

"What about the one to the east of us?" Vane asks through labored breaths.

I can't feel the draft he means, but he whispers the call anyway, and a weary wind sweeps in and joins with the others I've gathered.

For a second I'm speechless.

Vane's senses are stronger than mine?

"Feng had me practice like five hundred times a day,"he explains. "He made you seem easygoing."

No.

He did what I was supposed to do.

Gus turns to look over his shoulder at the Living Storms right on our tail, and I wonder if he's thinking the same thing I am.

We owe it to Feng-to all the guardians whose lives were lost or destroyed-to stop this.

But first we have to fix Vane.

I shout the command, forming the pipeline right in front of us, and we fly straight into the funnel. The pressure makes my head throb and my eyes water and I'm worried the winds are going to collapse around us. But then we shoot into a gray, cloudy sky, and Gus tangles us in Northerlies and sets us down in the foothills.

I can see the whole valley in the distance. The line of Living Storms towers over the small desert towns, filling the air with a graybrown haze as they tear their way toward the Gales' base. I hope Os got my message.

"Yep, it's totally dislocated," Gus says, reminding me why we're here. "We need to pop it back into place."

"Sounds like a party," Vane mumbles, forcing a small smile.

"Can you handle the traction?" Gus asks me, and I order myself to nod.

Part of our guardian training includes basic medical procedures. But the idea of doing this to Vane . . .

"Ugh, it's going to be that bad?" Vane asks, grabbing my shaking hand.

"Yeah, this is going to suck," Gus tells him. "But not as much as what's going on down there."

We both follow his gaze and see the Storms curling into a circle, surrounding what has to be the Gales' base. I hold my breath, hoping to see some sign that the Gales can handle them. But all I see are the Storms closing in.

"We'd better hurry," Vane says, and I kneel in the sand, facing him with my knees pressed against his bad arm. His eyes never leave mine as I place both hands on his biceps and pin it to the ground- but he sucks in a sharp breath as Gus bends his elbow up to a right angle.

"Was that it?" he asks, his voice heartbreakingly hopeful.

"Sorry," Gus mumbles. "I'm still trying to get it in the right position." He bends Vane's arm back toward the sand and Vane lets out a strangled cry. "Okay, I think we're set. You guys ready?"

Vane nods as he turns to me. "Kiss me."

"Dude, this is so not the time," Gus groans as my cheeks turn hotter than the desert sun.

"It'll distract me from the pain," Vane insists.

I glance at Gus and he sighs. "He's probably right."

"Of course I am."

The glint in Vane's beautiful eyes makes it impossible not to smile. But I still can't believe I'm doing this as I tighten my grip on his arm and lean close enough to feel his breath on my skin.

"I love you," he whispers.

"I love you too." My insecurities vanish as I press my lips against his.

I try to keep the kiss slow, but the heat between us keeps building until my head feels dizzy from the rush. Somewhere in my blurry thoughts I remember to keep my hands steady when Gus shouts, "Now!"

Vane's lips pull away to let out one m.u.f.fled scream.

"How does it feel?" I ask as Vane sits up and attempts to bend his elbow. He makes it about halfway before his face contorts with pain.

Gus sighs. "You probably damaged a few ligaments. We need to wrap it to keep pressure on it."

There's barely enough fabric on my dress as it is, but since Gus is still shirtless and Vane can barely move, there aren't a lot of options. I reach for the back hem and tear a thick strand free, trying not to think about how much draftier it feels now.