“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 muffled 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.
I tie it around his elbow as tightly as I can. “How’s that?”
He takes another deep breath before trying to bend his arm, and this time he doesn’t wince. “Better. Though I think it would help even more if you tore off another piece of your dress.”
Gus shakes his head as I blush. “Dude, you’re hopeless.”
“And we need to get back down there.” I point to the desert basin, where the Living Storms are starting to scatter, heading into all the most populated areas.
“Dammit!” Vane shouts. “Why aren’t the Gales stopping them?”
He struggles to his feet, but barely lasts a second before he collapses to his knees.
“I’m fine,” he promises. “Just dizzy.”
But when he tries to get up again, he tumbles forward immediately.
“You’re way too weak to fight, man,” Gus says as he catches Vane before he lands on his bad arm. “I think we’re going to have to leave you here to rest and come get you when this is over.”
“I’m not going to hide in a cave while you guys fight,” Vane argues, trying to balance on his own. I move behind him as he wobbles, letting him lean against me.
“Just give me five minutes,” he begs. “All I need is some air.”
“Five minutes,” Gus repeats. “We need to come up with a plan, anyway.”
We all turn toward the valley, and my chest tightens when I see the Storms spreading even wider. It’s impossible to tell if the Gales are still fighting them, but the massive trails of destruction don’t look promising.
Vane reaches for my hands, locking our fingers together.
“I don’t see any Stormers, do you?” Gus asks, shielding his eyes and squinting at the mountains.
I shake my head as I concentrate on the winds. “I don’t feel any trace of them either.”Though I’m relieved to feel some of the Gales’.
There’s still a chance, even if it’s a weak one.
“Would Raiden really not bring them?” Gus asks.
“Maybe he didn’t want to risk losing any of them,” I suggest.
“Or maybe this is only round one,” Vane says quietly. “I’m not picking up any trace of Raiden, either, but there’s no way he’s not here. He’s up to something, I can feel it. I just can’t tell what it is.”
Gus sighs and runs his hands through his hair, pulling it loose from his guardian braid. “So what are we going to do?”
“There’s really only one thing we can do,” Vane says, staring up at the bird slowly circling above us.
The vulture should’ve lost track of us when we launched through the pipeline. But my mother has a way of always getting what she wants.
I guess that’s why I’m not surprised when Vane squeezes my hand tighter and tells me, “We have to go get your mom, Audra. She’s the only chance we’ve got left.”
CHAPTER 39
VANE
Y
ou really think we can trust my mother?” Audra asks, pulling away from me so quickly I lose my balance and have to sink to my knees.
“She told us she could help us, right?”
“That doesn’t mean it’s true.”