Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

ZEPHYR

The air told me that the new guy had arrived. It whispered about him being nice, a little nervous, and a lot impressed by the sight of me. I tucked that happy thought away for safekeeping, and then the breeze and I concentrated on news, gossip, and the kite.

There’s nothing like flying a kite to clear your mind. The wind is in control, and all you can do is try to stay aloft. It’s even more fun to do it on a still day, when I’m the one manipulating the air currents, but the others told me I’m not allowed to if there are other people around. Keeping our existence secret from humans is hard .

The breeze whispers that Aether is coming out onto the roof, and a moment later he says, “Zeph?”

“Yeah?” I keep my gaze on the kite and half my attention on the tornado ripping through Kansas. It’s technically still a little early for tornadoes, but unless it gets out of hand, I’m not going to intervene. Messing with this tornado could cause problems elsewhere—my element isn’t localized like Flame’s. It took me a lot of work for this tornado to happen now, in Kansas, and not a month ago in New York.

The humans really have no Idea how hard we’re working to keep this planet from killing them. Despite what the others say, I’m not always sure they’re worth it. I hear the nasty, awful things they say, the dark whispers when they think nobody’s listening. The air brings me tales of the horrid, despicable things they do that they don’t think anyone will find out.

But I know what my job is. Until Perry says otherwise, I’ll keep trying to save the humans. I can console myself with the ongoing saga of Ted and Brenda’s fake happy marriage—they’re currently arguing on the phone about whether Brenda can tell her sister the truth, and if not, “How the hell am I going to keep it from her, Ted, huh? Am I supposed to just disappear from her life while your mom’s here? She’ll think I’ve been murdered and call the cops. Do you want to be the prime suspect in my murder, Ted, because you know the cops always think the ex-husband did it. What would we tell your mom when the cops show up to question you, huh?”

I think I like Brenda. Maybe her sister too. I’ve asked the air to find out more about them both.

“Time to come down and meet the new guy… and have lunch.”

I tear my eyes away from the kite in surprise. “He just got here. It’s not lunchtime yet.”

Aether smiles at me. “He’s been here for a few hours, bro. It’s definitely lunchtime. We’re having sandwiches.”

On cue, the air wafts the scent of cheese, cold meats, and pickles under my nose, and my stomach rumbles appreciatively. “Our human bodies are weird,” I reflect, reeling the kite in carefully. “I never noticed I was hungry until you mentioned food. Why do you think that is?”

“Don’t ask me.” My old friend shrugs. “I’ve had my body for a lot less time than you have. We can ask Perry, though. He might know.”

Tucking the kite back into its case, I make a humming sound. “He also might yell at us to just eat and stop asking him questions.”

“Yeah.” Aether grins. “He’s so cute when he’s exasperated.”

He only thinks that because he can sway Perry out of a bad mood by kissing him. The rest of us don’t have that option.

I follow him across the roof and back through the dormer window into the tiny attic. None of us can work out why the architect added it, since it’s smaller than some of the closets in the bedrooms, but it does provide easy access to the roof. Since I’ve been banned from using wind currents to get up here when the neighbors might see, and the guys can’t do that without my help, it turned out to be a good thing all around.

“What’s the new guy like?” I ask, mostly to keep myself from getting distracted before we even get downstairs. Perry might get mad if I wander off before reaching the kitchen.

Aether stops on the stairs and turns around. I know he’s not likely to fall, but I still send some air to catch him if he does. It might not be possible to kill him by normal means, but that doesn’t mean the process wouldn’t hurt.

“You’ll like him,” my old friend assures me earnestly.

I nod. “The air said he was nice,” I agree. “But what’s he like? I wasn’t paying attention to the rest—there’s this tornado I have to keep track of.”

Aether opens his mouth, hesitates, then says, “He’s a good fit for the group. The air is right—he is nice. I think he’ll do a good job for us.” He turns around and continues down the stairs while I frown after him. He didn’t really answer my question at all.

Mentally shrugging, I follow him anyway. Aether’s a little unconventional—it’s why he and Aqua get along so well. Ultimately, their intentions are pure, and they only want the best for all of us. We just can’t always follow their train of thought.

The sound of voices draws me toward the kitchen. Lunch is an excellent idea—I wonder if we have any diet soda left? I like the way the air bubbles tickle my insides. Picking up my pace, I?—

Stop as a warm laugh reaches my ears. Around me, the air stills, taking in the sound. It’s… magic.

“Zeph?” Aether puts a hand on my arm. There’s an odd little smile on his face. “Come on. They’re waiting for us.”

Of course. He’s— they’re waiting. For us. To eat lunch.

I stumble the last few steps into the kitchen, and my gaze skims over the assembled faces until it lands on him .

The air shivers in delight. It likes him. Likes how his presence makes me feel.

As though he can feel me looking at him, he glances up and sees us. “Oh! Uh… hi.” Carefully putting down the sandwich he was transferring to a plate, he wipes off his hands and then comes toward me. “You must be Zephyr. I’m Storm—Storm Lattimer, the new Marketing and Social Media Manager.” He extends his hand, then shivers as the breeze whirls lightly around him, getting his measure. “Sorry, I think there’s a draft here or something.”

The air Instantly warms a few degrees, and a bewildered expression crosses his face. I take his hand and shake it before he can give it too much thought. “I’m Zephyr. It’s very good to meet you, Storm.” Smiling into his pretty brown eyes, I add, “What a wonderful name.”

“Thank you. Uhh… I hated it when I was a kid. My mom was fifteen when she had me and she was hooked on this soap opera, so she thought it would be a good idea to name me after one of the characters. Coulda been worse, I guess. She could have liked Ridge better. Can you imagine the nicknames I would have gotten in school if my name had been Ridge?” His eyes widen. “God, I’m babbling. Could we forget I just said all of that? And that I’m still holding your hand. I’m going to let go now and say something normal like a normal person so you’ll be impressed by my ability to be normal.”

I hold tight to his hand as Cody whispers, “This is awesome.”

“I like your babble,” I say. “You have a lovely voice and kind eyes. Your hair is good too.” I admire the styled caramel-colored waves on his head. “I think I might be in love with you.”

“Okay,” Perry shouts, starting forward, “Zeph?—”

“You make all the whispers go quiet,” I continue, pretending Perry’s not there. Luckily, Aether grabbed his arm and stopped him from interfering. “I feel like I’ve known you forever.”

He stares at me for a long time. The room is dead quiet while everyone waits to see if I’ve scared him off on his first day. I haven’t. I can’t have. He’s made of stronger stuff than that.

And he’s meant for me. I can tell by the way the air envelops him. By the way it’s so happy about his presence that the whispers slow down, allowing me to focus on him . I’m not stupid—distracted, yes, but I know what’s been going on. I know that for the first time ever, fate has given us help. That help has come, so far, in the form of soul mates for us. Aqua was instantly attracted to River, forming a connection like no other in his past. Flame was obsessed with Bran for years—longer than the others know, if what the wind told me is true.

So why shouldn’t I get a turn? I deserve someone to love too. Maybe I wasn’t really expecting it to happen, but it only took the sound of Storm’s laugh to convince me I was getting my chance.

“This is the weirdest first day of work I’ve ever had,” he whispers finally. “It might even be the weirdest day ever.”

I let go of his hand and pat it. “We don’t really do normal here. It’s boring. Would you like a sandwich? I don’t want you to go hungry.”

He blinks three times. “Uh. Thank you?”

Grinning, and enjoying the excited little whoosh of the breeze, I slip my arm around him and guide him back to the island. There are enough stools for the six of us. “Where’s George?” I ask. The part of me that has had to deal with his bad moods for far too many lifetimes wants to rub it in that I get someone to love before him. I also think he’ll be reassured by this—why would the rest of us get someone, but not him? He’s got a special person in his future, and that’s awesome .

“He went to the quarry,” Cody says. “I don’t know why. There’s plenty of rocks closer to here that he can coo over.”

I settle Storm on a stool and hand him the plate with his sandwich. “Would you like some soda?” I spotted it before. “It should still have plenty of bubbles, but if it tastes flat, I can?—”

“Storm can get his own soda,” Flame practically yells. “I mean… get him a soda if he wants one, but if it’s flat, we have plenty of other things to drink.” He glares at me, and I refrain from rolling my eyes. Really? We’re still trying to keep secrets from Storm, even though he’s my mate? I pat his shoulder.

“I’ll get you a soda.” I don’t care what Flame says, if it’s flat, I’m aerating it.

“I don’t want to make things uncomfortable,” Storm says. “We haven’t talked about this… I mean… I guess I hadn’t considered…” He trails off, looking unsettled. The air strokes soothingly over his skin, and he startles. “Whoa, okay, I’m not sure where this draft is coming from, but you guys might need to get your HVAC checked out. Or maybe it’s a partly blocked vent? That can cause some weird airflow.”

“We’ll take care of it,” Perry says grimly. He and Flame are still giving me death glares. Too bad for them, those don’t work on me.

“You could never make things uncomfortable,” I tell Storm, getting myself a sandwich. “They’re all just overreacting. Aether, tell them.”