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But maybe it won’t come to that

Audra said there’s hope I’ll try to believe her Even if it felt like a lie

She’s holding so back--I can see it in the careful way she chooses her words before she speaks In the way she sometimes won’t meet my eyes I have no idea what it is, but there has to be a way to wear her down, find out what she’s hiding

While I’ under that crazy-thick jacket, too

Mythe way it clung in all the right places It should be a crime to cover a body like hers with that thick, bulky unifor Windwalker, my first act as ruler will be to institute a neardrobe for the guardians and ht be worth the life-changing responsibility

Honestly, being with Audra -in-sylph-land-forever idea sound not so bad I et to taste those full lips of hers Undo that tight braid and runevery inch of her body against les her ar me even closer

I shove the handle of the faucet all the way to cold

But even with the icy strea down oes away--no matter how ht now Wanting me as much as I want her

CHAPTER 16

AUDRA

Air I need air

If I can’t satiate ive th where I can

The water sits too heavily in my weary, sleep-deprived body for me to fly to the rown center of the grove, where the trees are taller, with thicker leaves to provide better caaze as I choose the tallest tree and clihtly to the cru Gavin swoop to s only makes it more arduous But I eventuallythe prickly leaves

I closeacross the foothills, but still withinthe to strip off my jacket and let my hair down, but I refuse to remove any part of hs on the dark, rough fabric or how uardian Part of who I ah the coarse fibers ofrelief of a gentle breeze Not groundling foods or ice-cold water Not even the thrill of skinskin The wind is part of who I a me home

The wind is all I need

Over the years, those words have beco I’ve enduredmy heart

Vane shows , at least And if he has the fourth breakthrough before the Stor bound to the earth

I wouldn’t have to sacrifice ht be life for h the blinding light, searching for any sign of the co down For once I’ to believeus five extra days, like she can pluck the time from the sky

What if she isn’t?

She’s cared so little forme like a splinter in her skin A stone in her shoe What if she’s taking her chance to flickthe doubts to the scattering breezes, let them wash far away

It’s Vane’s safety she’s concerned with--and she would never hesitate to protect him

Resentment rises in my chest and I choke it down

Vane’s safety is et that

I settle deeper into the palis one I seek out whenever I can find it, telling of the shifting waves of change that affect us all, and the fortitude to keep going despite thes won’t always be so turbulent

A promise of cal, and that it seeks me out Like a tiny part of him still watches overto the rock until the storh the air

My father was my rock My shelter Warmoods The only place I felt truly safe

Please keep me safe now, Dad

I don’t dare say the wish out loud--but I think it all the same And the silly fantasy feels more real than any promise my mother made for my protection

But he’s not here

She is

I have to trust her

I have to trust e Ready for the sweet dreas, filled with memories of my father

Instead, I drea but sweet

CHAPTER 17

VANE

I es and salty breakfast meat, and a burrito the size of a football waits for me at the kitchen table Before I can stop myself, I rush to the couch and wrap my arms around hing

"Breakfast" It isn’t just because of that--but she doesn’t need to know I ht days left to live