Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

ZEPHYR

Finally! Perry still looks like he’s trying to pass painful gas, but Aether’s on my side, and he has the final say. Most of the time, anyway. When it comes to stuff like this.

“This is bizarre,” Flame mutters. “We’ve never told this story so often in such a short span of time.”

Cody snorts. “It’s been two years since you told us. I think you’ll cope. But I want to tell it.”

He does? I’m not the only one surprised by that—even the air stirs a little.

“You do?” Bran asks. “Really? Why?”

“I probably won’t ever get another chance to tell it,” the young human says with a shrug. “I mean, maybe it’ll need to get told again, but I’m leaving soon, so I’ll probably miss that.” He stops suddenly and frowns. “Damn it, that’s gonna be George’s turn. You know he’ll be all growly and impossible, and I’m going to miss it.”

“We’ll send you a video,” Perry tells him dryly. “In the meantime, if you’re going to do this…” He gestures toward a bemused-looking Storm.

I lean close. “Don’t worry, it’s going to be okay. I’m here.”

For some reason, that doesn’t seem to reassure him, so I have the air wrap him up in a warm hug.

His eyes widen in… shock?

Oops. I dial back the intensity of the air. Maybe he’s not ready for that yet.

“Yeah, this is why I want to tell it,” Cody says. “You guys all make it into this huge, weird deal.”

Bran grimaces but says nothing. Aether, on the other hand, gives Cody an approving nod. “They do, always. They make it complicated, but really, it’s so simple.” He turns to Storm. “This is what’s meant to happen. It never has before, but that just makes it special.”

That doesn’t reassure Storm either. In fact, the air reports that he’s begun to perspire with strong hints of anxiety. I frown. Maybe Cody’s not telling it right.

As if he can hear my thoughts, Cody rolls his eyes. “Because that’s not a weird thing to say.” He holds up his hands. “Storm. It’s all good. You know a lot about these guys because you’ve checked out the website and all their socials, right?”

Storm nods slowly, his blond hair shifting slightly in the air that’s clinging to him. “Sure. I mean, not a lot about their personal lives, but all the rest of it… yeah.”

“Great. So you know they’re dedicated conservationists, as in, their whole lives are dedicated to it, and that they each specialize in a particular area. An element, we could say.”

“Yeah, of course. That’s where the whole marketing direction comes from. That was a great idea, by the way. A lot of Gen X-ers and elder Millennials really relate to it because of that one cartoon from their childhood.” He smiles. “I looked it up—it’s super cheesy, but I can see why they loved it.”

“People keep commenting about it, but I have no idea what they’re talking about, so I’ll just have to trust you on that. Anyway, the thing is… they’re the elements. We can go outside and Flame can throw some fireballs around or Zeph can make you fly or whatever, if you need proof, but the bottom line is, they’re the elements incarnated to try and slow down the environmental disasters that will eventually kill off humans.”

Storm sits perfectly still. Only the movement of his eyes shows that he’s aware. They go from Cody’s face to Flame’s, then to Aether’s hair, then to… the sink? For some reason, he stares at the sink for almost a minute.

Then he nods. “Okay. Who’s Aether, then? He doesn’t seem to have a specialty.” His eyes widen again. “He doesn’t have a specialty. He’s the green superhero guy who gets summoned!”

Huh?

“What?” Cody says. “Dude, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Aether is, like… life. And Perry is the angel of death.”

Storm falls off his stool. Luckily, I’m right here, and the air and I catch him.

“I’ve asked you not to call me that,” Perry grumbles.

“Why am I hovering?” Storm’s voice is a lot higher-pitched than usual. “I’m not supposed to hover!”

“Sorry, my love.” I have the air carefully lift him back onto the stool and straighten his clothing.

His head slowly turns toward me. He says nothing. Then he swallows hard. “It’s a good thing I’m not afraid of heights.”

The grin that crosses my face is spontaneous. “I can take you flying. Smoothest ride you’ll ever have,” I boast. “The air likes you—you’ll never fall over again.”

He nods. “I try to avoid that anyway, but that’s good to know. Um. Okay. Should I be taking notes? I feel like I should be taking notes.”

“We try to keep a low profile on this part of our story,” Perry says. “For obvious reasons.”

Storm nods again. “An involuntary psychiatric hold would be inconvenient,” he agrees. “Did Cody really say you’re the angel of death?”

Perry glares at Cody. “He did, but it’s not like you’re thinking. The guys—the four main elements people know about—incarnate if their element is going haywire and needs to be balanced out. When all four are incarnated at the same time, I get born. If, down the track, things are still haywire, Aether comes along. He’s the essence of life, but he can’t corporeate?—”

“Is that a word?” Bran asks. “It sounds made up.”

“He can’t corporealize,” Perry says, with yet another glare, “unless I’m alive, because I’m his balance. Not the angel of death, but the possibility of it.”

Storm thinks about that for a moment. “That’s kind of logical. So you two are like halves of a whole. You can’t have life without death and vice versa.”

Aether beams. “Exactly! See, he gets it.”

“I do have one question,” Storm adds.

“Go for it,” Flame encourages. He looks relieved by how well Storm’s taking everything. I am too.

“What exactly did you guys put in my lunch?”

Noooooooo. My insides do bad flips, and the wind picks up outside, enough to make the big jacaranda tree in the backyard sway violently. Perry glances out the window, then cuts his gaze to me sharply.

“Zeph, calm down. It’s going to be okay. We don’t need a hurricane.”

I take a deep breath as Storm looks out the window, too, then puts his hand over mine. “I’m sorry! I was just kidding around because it sounds so… surreal. But I do believe you.”

The wind dies.

“You… do?” Cody looks around at us all as though in search of an explanation. “Really?”

Storm nods. “Yeah, really. I watched Aqua playing dolphins in the sink, and I’ve never seen water act that way before. It was splashing when there was nothing to make it. Plus, ever since Zephyr came in, I’ve been feeling a draft… and I swear it’s flirting with me.”

I grin. “It is,” I tell him happily. “The air likes you. A lot. When you’re around, it’s so focused on you that it doesn’t whisper so loudly to me.”

“The air whispers to you?”

“Wait, is that why you haven’t tuned out yet?” Flame demands. He and Perry exchange glances. “Storm can never leave.”

“Now it’s getting creepy.” Storm holds up his hands. “Without threatening to lock me in the basement, can someone please explain?”

“I am air.” There. That should do it.

Judging from the expectant look on his face, he wants more.

“Air is everywhere,” I add.

He’s still waiting, but now I’m confused. Why doesn’t he get it?

“What Zephyr’s trying to tell you,” Bran says, “is that since air is everywhere, and he’s the consciousness of air, he’s constantly taking in information from all over the world. Weather conditions, movements, conversations, odors… everything the air touches eventually reaches him. It’s very common for him to zone out of conversations because of the immensity of sensory input he’s getting.”

I nod. “That. What he said. But it’s been quieter since I came in here with you.”

I’m not sure what the flabbergasted expression on Storm’s face means. Why don’t humans come with a chart for easy interpretation?

“Everything the air touches,” Storm repeats. “Wait, so… those people you were talking about before, they really aren’t neighbors? They’re just… random people? Who you’re eavesdropping on?”

I shrug. “Eavesdropping is a mean word. I’m not going to use what I hear to hurt them. I like fun information—it makes the bad stuff easier.”

“The world needs balance,” Aether points out. “And we’re of the world.”

“Thanks, Yoda,” Perry mutters. “Not helping.”

“I like Star Wars ,” I put in. “There’s always lots of happy excitement when people watch the movies or go to the theme park exhibits.”

“ Star Wars . Okay. Um… gossip and Star Wars . It’s good that I’m learning things about you. So this… sensory input, it’s not a visual thing, is it? Like, you’re not watching people. When they… do stuff.”

“I don’t see it with my eyes,” I agree. “That would be impossible.”

He visibly relaxes and huffs out a laugh. “Oh, that’s good.”

“It’s more like a Braille experience. Only instead of touching bumps with my fingertips, I’m touching events and people with air.”

The sound that erupts from his throat reminds me of a screeching cat.

“Oh my god,” Cody exclaims. “How are you so dense, Zeph? Storm, it’s fine. He never watches when people are having sex or masturbating.”

My jaw drops.

“Cody!” Bran chides.

“What? Zephyr was making it sound like he’s got the world’s biggest on-demand porn channel in his head.”

“Was I?” I study Storm’s face and see the flush on his cheeks. “I don’t! Sometimes the air tells me when stuff like that is happening, but I don’t pay attention to the details. That’s private.”

He blows out a breath and smiles sheepishly at me. “Thank you for telling me that. And I’m sorry for thinking you would. I, uh… I guess I just got jealous.”

I blink. “Jealous? You want to watch people have sex?” I’m so confused. It seemed like he didn’t approve.

Shaking his head, he slides a hand onto my knee. “No. I don’t want you to watch them have sex. Though,” he adds, “maybe one day we can watch porn together, when we’re in the mood. If you want. But it has to be the kind I can see as well, where the people involved consented to being watched.” He covers his face with his other hand. “I can’t believe I’m having this conversation with people I just met. With my bosses .”

I twine my fingers through his, and the air gently pulls his hand away from his beautiful face. He stares at it as it moves.

“I’m not doing that. Are you doing that? If you’re not, I think you guys have a ghost.”

Bran and Cody laugh, but the sound Perry makes is less joyous. He had a bad experience with a ghost in one of our past lives.

“It’s me,” I assure him. “I won’t do it again if it bothers you.”

He smiles shyly. “No, I… It’s kind of hot.”

My cock reacts to that. It’s been a long time since I had sex—with the air constantly feeding me information, bodily needs are easy to ignore.

I don’t think I’ll be ignoring Storm, though.

“Before you both get caught up in the ecstasy of lovemaking,” Perry interjects, “we have to talk about the whole boss thing.”

Storm’s anxiety ratchets up. “You’re firing me? Please don’t! I can help—I want to help. And I really need to pay rent.”

“We’d never fire you,” I reassure him.

“Actually, that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Perry replies. “Storm, you know about everything now. That makes you one of the team. You’ll still have a job to do, but instead of a wage, you’ll get beneficiary access to our trust account. Your expenses will all be covered.”

“You probably won’t be paying rent long, though,” Bran adds. “If your situation is anything like mine was, you won’t like being away from Zephyr and you’ll move in soon.”

Storm blinks at us all, looking completely confounded.

“Welcome to the family,” Aether announces.