Page 113 of The Last Storm
I stood, rubbing my jaw.
“Doran, there are Fae down there, being held captive and probably tortured. Delphia is theonlyone who can get them in and out undetected. You know this! She has the power to be exceptional, yet you never allow her to.”
“I am protecting her as I always have!”
“She doesn’t need protection anymore, Doran.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. The silence between us felt louder than any words could have. He shook his head and turned away, striding back to the front gates.
Guilt tugged at me and I dropped my head to my hand, rubbing my brows. She needed the freedom to put her magic to good use, to make decisions on her own, but Doran was still my best friend—my only friend—and it was not my place to stand between them.
With a deep sigh, I snapped my wings out and shot to the sky. Coasting over the sea, salty air clung to my skin, welcoming me home.
I stayed out awhile, releasing the tension and reveling in the feeling before I landed on the ledge and headed to the library.
Alden was in his study, reading a small book when I entered. He peeked over his glasses at me.
“Oh, good, you’re back,” he said, standing and ushering the book to me. “You’ll never believe what I found—Well, firstly, how did the recruitment go? Were you all successful?”
“Yes, more than we could’ve hoped. It seems we were all successful. The encampment being set up outside the gates is extensive.”
He nodded. “How was Nautia?”
“Beautiful as ever and every able-bodied person joined the cause… For Ara’s sake.”
He eyes me curiously. “So they know her identity then?”
I nodded and he dropped his gaze to the desk, smiling.
“Well, back to what I was saying, you’ll never believe what I found in the oldest recesses of the library. A journal with entries from the first Storm Bringer. It has to be. The journal is so old, it barely stays together.”
My eyes bulged and I rushed around the desk to look at the decrepit book.
“What have you learned?”
“Well, the dream. He had it too, every detail. Exactly the same. So it’s not a coincidence,” he replied. “And from his account, Vaelor barely touched the entirety of their abilities.”
I tilted my head, frowning. “What do you mean?”
“Well, this one… He could do so much more. Not only could he call the lightning to himself, which Vaelor clearly did as well, but he could also callallthe energy to himself.”
“All the energy…?”
His fingers tapped my chest. “All the energy,” he echoed.
“So he—”
“He could pull the life force from anyone, anything. Storms. Animals. Nature. People.” His eyebrows pulled together, wringing his hands in front of him. “And that’s not all… With the ability to control all the energy that pulses within the realm, he could controlanything.Theoretically, she could manipulate someone’s body, move them as she wished, if she controlled the energy that flowed through their muscles, their hearts.”
“Is that not something your people can do as well?”
“No. Much like your magic, ours is an extension of ourselves, so we can only use what is already inside us. Not take from others. But from what I’ve read in this journal, his magic is not like that.” He paused, returning to his desk. “He speaks of it like a separate entity, part of himself, but more like the other half. Not another limb.”
My heart raced as the dots connected.
She asked it.
“While we were in Nautia, Ara created a storm on purpose. When we were in the tavern, the people didn’t want to join the cause because of my father, so I revealed who she was. Of course, they didn’t believe me until she demonstrated. And she did. She shook the tavern with her storm.”
