Chapter 44
Wyatt
“This is awful,” Skye hissed. She paced back and forth angrily in front of Zephyr and I, both exhausted as we shared a rickety cot. “You should have seen the closet they had Marion staying in.”
“Did it have air conditioning?” Zephyr asked. I breathed a laugh, and he looked at me, shocked.
“What?” I said, harsher than intended.
Skye rolled her eyes and Zephyr snorted, then dropped his head back so it thunked against the brick wall behind him.
“No air conditioning,” Skye said hoarsely. “There’s so many problems here. Does Rafe’s mother know about this?”
“She has a lot going on right now, her father just died.” I said, not sure why I felt the need to defend the Princess. She wasn’t my biggest fan, but Rafe loved his mom.
“He died like, last year, and according to gossip mags, she’s happy about it.
And I’m sorry, but no one cares if she’s still in mourning.
People are dying from preventable shit out here.
” Zephyr said, throwing his arm toward the door.
“That little girl was a really easy fix. Marion was almost at Exhaust.”
Skye covered her mouth to hide her quivering bottom lip. I looked away, my chest squeezing with the desire to comfort her even though I knew she probably wouldn’t accept it in front of her brother. Things had changed between us, but I wasn’t sure how much he knew.
The door opened then, Rafe and Aiden stepping inside before closing us all in together. This was a tiny room already, but now, with four grown men and Skye? The air was getting a little thick.
“How bad is it?” Rafe asked, his dark eyes trained on me.
“It’s bad. They should start calling you Your Royal Fuckup-ness.” Zephyr said. Only Aiden laughed.
Skye wrinkled her nose. “That was awful.”
“I’m exhausted, okay? Give me a break.” Zephyr slouched even further on the cot. “I’ll have something better, I just need a few minutes.”
Rafe watched them, his eyebrows nearly to his hairline before looking back at me.
“It’s bad,” I repeated. “Marion was dead on her feet, as you know.”
“We were in the supply tent. The doctors are out of antibiotics,” Aiden said quietly. “They’re almost out of simple fluid bags, too.”
Rafe ran a hand down his face, then pulled out his phone and began tapping away. “How many are still injured?”
“Physically? Zero.” Zephyr replied.
Rafe’s froze, his lips parted in shock. “There’s over four hundred people here.”
“Yeah, and we got all of them.” I said. “Now I just need a cheeseburger and a nap.”
“And a beer,” Zephyr added on.
“Hold on,” Rafe put a hand flat over his phone, making a timeout symbol. “You two healed more than four hundred people and all you want is food and a beer?”
“And a nap,” I muttered.
“Rafe,” Skye’s sweet voice drew all our attention. “What the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know,” he replied in a murmur. “My father was in charge of these things before, so I can’t exactly ask him what’s going on.”
I looked to Zephyr, wondering when he was going to share what we’d heard. He hadn’t spoken privately to Skye since she’d shown up, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t spoken mind-to-mind.
Watching the two of them together made me think of Willow.
She’d insisted to me for years that she thought she had some telepathy, I’d just never allowed her to practice it with me.
She was understanding, or as understanding as possible considering this was Willow we were talking about, but I knew it disappointed her.
Hearing how much Zephyr had sacrificed at such a young age for his sister had the guilt inside me growing even further.
I didn’t treat Willow very well. I’d always known that, but watching another sibling duo treat each other like royalty really hammered it home.
I glanced down at my phone, staring at my last text from Willow.
Willow
I hope that bone break hurts like hell, you dumb loser
HAHA I just found out Zephyr won’t heal you
I’m on my way with Dani and Mia. Can I bring you something?
I chewed my lip, then sent her a message before thinking better of it.
Me
I love you, Willow
She answered me almost immediately, and I regretted my decision to text her. Every tender thought I’d just had for my sister evaporated in an instant.
Willow
Oh my god are you going to kill yourself???
She tried to call me, and I quickly declined it.
Me
Nevermind. I shouldn’t have said anything
Willow
You’re such an asshole
Seriously are you going to kill yourself?? Should I call Skye
Me
I had a moment of weakness. Forget it
Willow
You are so mean
I love you too, don’t die Wyatt
I ran a hand down my face.
“This is bad,” Skye said, chewing her lip.
“Yeah, tell me something I don’t know.” Zephyr snarked back.
“I killed a man who tried to hurt Aiden.” Skye replied.
“What the fuck?!”
Zephyr and I sat up at the same moment, and he narrowed his eyes at me before looking back to his sister.
“That’s something you don’t know,” Skye said dryly.
I spluttered, not sure what to think or say, and Zephyr trained his piercing gaze on Rafe.
“Skye killed a man?” He spoke it like a demand, as if somehow Rafe was to blame.
Rafe didn’t cower. “Oh, right. That.”
Sometimes, Rafe was funny. Most of the time, though, he was annoying. And right now…this was very annoying of him.
“Thanks for mentioning that,” I snapped.
Rafe rolled his eyes. “So, what? Plenty of people want Aiden dead, I didn’t think it was pertinent information.”
“Gee, thanks,” Aiden muttered
“I’m sorry, what?!” Zephyr snapped. “Skye, I swear to God.”
“He was some freak!” She threw her arms out defensively. “He lunged with a knife, and–”
“And you squished him? Are you crazy? That ancient Healer is here, and–”
“I didn’t squish him!” Skye cried, her voice so loud in the small room that she made herself cringe. “Fuck,” she said quietly. “I turned his knife on him. Marion won’t see a signature.”
My eyebrows hit my hairline. That was…awfully smart of her.
“Oh,” Zephyr said in a small voice. He cleared his throat. “Well, now it’s my turn. Wyatt, go ahead and explain how this is the Crusader’s camp.”
“What?” Skye said sharply, as if this was a bigger deal than her killing someone. “Are you kidding me?”
Zephyr held his hands out in surrender, and then his eyes went far away as he replayed what’d happened to Skye.
“I spoke with a few other people,” Rafe said with a heavy sigh when they were done. “They think this storm was some act of God.”
“Because it was,” Aiden said, shocking all of us. “He’s their God, that’s what Landon told you, right? Something must have happened here, and they think he’s punishing them.”
Rafe and I turned to stone.
“What,” Rafe said slowly. “The fuck is he talking about?”
Skye gulped, and Aiden looked apologetic.
“Landon says the cult calls Crusader their God, he thinks Skye is a Goddess because of her Telekinesis, Landon asked her to kill him because he couldn’t kill himself, Skye said no and then did it anyway during the battle.
Did I miss anything?” Zephyr looked to Skye, and she rubbed her eyes miserably while shaking her head.
“Sorry, baby.” Aiden murmured.
Skye only hugged her shoulders.
Rafe scrubbed a hand down his face, but thankfully didn’t say anything that would lead to digging his own grave.
As for me, I wasn’t exactly shocked. I’d heard Landon call her goddess, I’d just convinced myself I’d misunderstood him. The only other option was that he was involved with her sexually in the same way as Aiden, and I that idea made me more than a little murderous.
“What if the storm was an act of God?” I said slowly after several seconds of tense silence.
Rafe looked at me like I was insane, but I held up my hand.
“The woman with the little girl said something…about a tempest. That’s another word for storm.” I said.
“So?” Zephyr scoffed.
“The storm,” Skye said, her gaze far away. “Landon was trying to tell me something about a storm. I thought maybe he meant the fire, but…”
“You think he meant the storm in the Gulf?” Zephyr sat up straighter. “But why? What would that mean?”
Rafe chewed his lip. “The man who attacked Aiden also mentioned a tempest.”
“That’s not a coincidence,” Aiden said.
“No, it’s not.” Rafe agreed, huffing in frustration.
“What if…it was Wilson? They were clearly together when I saw them. What if…what if the Crusader…wields her like a weapon? Isn’t that what he does with all his collected affinates anyway?” I said slowly, my mind racing.
“That’s why he’s after me, isn’t it?” Skye said slowly. “He’s going to make me…do something for him?”
“Landon told you that you and the Crusader had the same affinities, though.” Zephyr said. “What would he need you for?”
“To hone something,” Aiden said. “Like how you can’t always…use your third affinity.”
My brain screeched to a halt, and Rafe spoke first, his voice a little harsh.
“What does that mean?”
“None of your business,” Zephyr said darkly, his friendly switch having been flipped.
I’d never seen someone so night and day before. It would’ve been irrefutably annoying if it weren’t in defense of his sister.
Skye’s cheeks were red, and she crossed her arms defensively. “Come on, Zephyr. They’re going to find out eventually.”
She looked to Aiden, who tilted his head to Rafe. Rafe opened up their minds, then blinked several times before looking to me.
She can’t teleport just anywhere. She has to know where she is and where she’s going, otherwise she can get stuck.
Well that sounds…terrifying.
Yes. Evidently there was an incident with a mop closet once.
I almost snorted even though I didn’t know exactly what that meant.
“Okay,” Rafe said. “So let’s just say hypothetically, the Crusader isn’t at his full potential.” He began to pace. “He doesn’t have a family Chain as far as we know…” He glanced at me, and Zephyr caught it.
“What’s that look for?”
We continued staring at each other for a moment, then Rafe breathed out harshly.