Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

ZEPHYR

“I don’t want you to go home,” I protest an hour later. “Stay for dinner, at least.” Why is he leaving? I just met him this afternoon, and already he’s abandoning me.

“That’s sweet, but I can’t. I already said I’d meet up with some friends. They’re buying me dinner to celebrate the first day of my new job.” Storm’s smiling indulgently at me in a way that says very clearly that he finds me adorable but isn’t going to give in.

The wind picks up outside, and he glances toward the window as it rattles. “Stop that,” he chides. “I’ll be back tomorrow morning, and you’re going to be sleeping for most of the time between now and then.”

I get myself under control and press my lips together to avoid pouting. When Aqua does it, it looks adorable, but I can’t pull it off. I don’t think I’ve ever even tried to pout before. Distracted people don’t pout that much—our thoughts are on other things. “Why don’t you come back tonight? After your dinner?”

“Oh wow,” Cody murmurs, “that’s kind of pathetic. Does love make everyone pathetic? I thought it was just Bran.”

I ignore him and give Storm my best pleading look, but he shakes his head anyway.

“I want to,” he admits. “But it’s not a short drive, I’ll probably have a few drinks with dinner, and it’ll be late. Plus, it’s probably a good thing for us both to have some time to process.” He leans in and presses a soft kiss to my cheek. I’d turn my head and try for something more intimate, but that would be creepy. Especially with Cody watching.

Instead, I keep a tight rein on the wind and force a smile on my face. “I want you to be happy, so okay. Even though I’ll miss you.”

“Really?” Cody whispers. “Has he been body swapped with a thirteen-year-old girl?”

“Cody,” Storm chides. “Go somewhere else.”

“I would, but?—”

“Why are we standing in the damn hallway?” George bellows as he comes through the door from the garage. Great. Just what I needed.

The grumpiest member of our family stops short. “Who are you?” he asks suspiciously, eyes on Storm, and my hackles rise. How dare he talk to him that way?

“Might want to tone it down,” Cody warns. “This is Storm, who’ll be taking over my job. You were supposed to be here to meet him today, remember?”

George’s scowl darkens. “Dammit, I was busy. Sorry, Storm. It’s nice to meet you. I’m George, the team’s geologist and volcanolog?—”

“He knows,” I interrupt, and George freezes.

“He knows… what?” His eyes track between our faces.

“Everything. Aether said to tell him.” Then, because I’m feeling particularly smug and want to rub his face in it, I slide an arm around Storm’s waist. The air reports that Storm’s cheeks have flushed in response, but he’s smiling, so I don’t take my arm away.

George blinks rapidly a few times, then bellows, “Aether!”

“Crap,” Perry’s voice says from the kitchen. He appears a moment later. “Now, George?—”

“What the hell, Perry! Are we just collecting mates for everyone but me?”

“I don’t think it works that way,” Perry muses.

“I’m not a collectible,” Storm adds. “It was good to meet you, but I’ve got somewhere to be, and I think this is a conversation I’m not needed for.” He slips out of my hold, and I immediately feel cold and lonely.

“Early tomorrow?” I ask hopefully, and he grins.

“Sure. I’ll be here at around eight. Have lots of coffee ready.” He blows me a kiss and heads for the front door. I trail after him, then watch from the deck as he gets into the car. I wanted to walk him to the car door, but the air carries a whisper from Cody to me.

“Let him have some breathing space.”

Fine. I can give him space. I’ll wave goodbye from twenty-five feet away and not expect to see him until tomorrow morning at eight o’clock. That’s plenty of space, right? Then he’ll realize he missed me and decide to move in so we can be together always.

The moment he’s out of sight, the breeze, a little miffed that our beautiful Storm isn’t by our side, rushes in with an influx of information. Snatches of conversations, interactions, traffic movements, weather reports, pollution reports… I’m bombarded from all sides, my human brain not built to process so much input at once.

My higher senses kick in, and it’s not until Cody shakes my arm and repeats my name that I realize he’s speaking to me.

“Huh?”

“Wow, you really zoned out,” he says. “Like, the second Storm left, you did too.”

“It’s true, then?” George demands. “When he’s with you, you’re able to stay focused?”

I nod, trying not to let myself chase after the voices drifting past my ear. “Yes.”

“Does all the information stop, or?—”

“Just the nonessential input,” I explain. “That’s how it was today, anyway. I was still getting tornado and hurricane updates and things like that, but the rest was muted.”

He looks less mad now. “That’s fascinating. It’s because your elemental self is so connected to Storm that you don’t want to concentrate on anything else?”

“I think so.” The air brings me a broken thread of news. “Hey, Ted’s mom arrived early!”

Perry and Cody gasp. George rolls his eyes.

“No!” Perry says. “She wasn’t supposed to come until next week! Has Brenda even moved back in yet?”

I shake my head. “Not yet. They’re trying to cover it up, but the mom is suspicious and asking a lot of pointed questions.”

“There’s no way they can pull this off,” Cody scoffs. “They should just be upfront with her.”

Perry counters, “The time for that was when they got divorced. It’s too late now; they just have to cover their tracks and hope for the best.”

“Really? You don’t think?—”

“As fascinating and important as the story of Tim and Brandi is,” George snaps, “could I get you all to concentrate on the relevant point here?”

My attention drifts off after the sound of a crying infant.

“Zephyr!” George’s shout brings me back.

“Sorry.”

“Does nobody else think it’s worth talking about this?” he asks, exasperation in every syllable. His dark brown eyes search our faces. “Is it a sign that we’re going to win this round? Or that we’re going to lose, but this time we get consolation prizes because we’ve tried so fucking hard? Perry?”

Perry shakes his head. “I don’t know. I still haven’t gotten a feeling either way. We’re supposed to keep going—humanity can handle more, do more.”

George throws up his hands. “So why the fuck is this happening then?”

“Does it matter?”

Like puppets, we turn toward Aether. He?—

“…ever seen clouds like that before?”

“No. The weather girl said we were in for some storms, though. Don’t worry, honey. I’m sure it’s fine.”

I check in on the storms in question—not my Storm, sadly. Double sadly, the storms are the wrong kind for that area—once-in-a-lifetime-type storms. Sighing, I draw down the intensity as much as I can. I can’t stop them entirely, but I can diffuse them over a larger area and make them less destructive. Usually.

“Where’s Aqua?” I ask. I’ll need his help with the rain once the storms hit.

Aether stops midsentence. “He and River went for a swim before bed.”

I nod. He’ll be back in time—and even if he’s not, he’ll know if there are intolerable rain levels and take care of it.

“Everything okay?” Perry checks.

“Storms.” I shrug. “I’ve done what I can for now.”

“Where?” George asks, and I try to match the image in my head with the modern name of the place.

“Hobart. In the southern hemisphere,” I add, because these damn humans have a habit of using the same names for many places.

“Storms in Australia in the middle of winter?” Aether frowns. “Polar?”

I shake my head. “It’s abnormally warm there at the moment. For now, anyway.”

“See, this just makes me think we’re losing,” George exclaims, jabbing a finger in my direction. “There’s been more seismic activity in that part of the world too. Add in the new consolation prizes, and?—”

“Could you stop talking about my brother like that?” Cody asks in a pained voice. “It’s so weird.”

I look around. “Where are Bran and Flame, anyway? And why are we standing in the hallway?”

George glares at me. “I hate you.”

“They’re out back, at the firepit,” Cody says at the same time.

“Let’s all just be chill. Maybe we need to take some deep breaths,” Aether suggests, and the air around him eddies with glee. It likes him a lot—probably because he’s part air. It’s hard to explain Aether to anyone else, but he’s us and we’re him. Only not in a weird way. “Are we breathing? Inhale… ex?—”

“Aether, I swear to?—”

“If you’re talking, you’re not breathing, George,” Aether says placidly. “And if you’re not breathing, you’re not chill. We’re all being chill right now. Come on.”

George sucks a breath through gritted teeth, and I send a breeze to shiver along his spine—just because I can.

“Feel the energy of our beloved planet,” Aether continues. “We are calm. We are part of the all. From the Earth we are born, and the Earth we become.”

“Whoa! Um… I don’t think that’s gonna fit, man. Maybe we should, like, just sixty-nine instead.”

I chide the air for being so salacious and block out the rest of that conversation. Even if I didn’t have Storm now, I don’t need to violate people’s most personal moments. Though part of me wants to assure the guy that with proper preparation, it will, in fact, fit.

Usually.

“Okay,” Aether says at last. “George, I’m hearing your concerns, but they’re groundless. Finding soul mates is a wonderful thing. I’m getting only positive, warm, happy energy from these events. This is meant to happen, and it’s meant to be joyous. I can’t say if we’ll win or lose this fight—that’s Perry’s area—but I know these new members of our family aren’t consolation prizes. They’re partners, here to help us fight and bring us happiness.”

My lips curve up in a smile as I think of Storm. My partner; my soul mate.

George, on the other hand, looks devastated.

“You’ll get someone,” Cody assures him kindly, reaching out to pat his arm. “Zeph meeting Storm should make you even more sure of that. We just have to wait for your special someone to arrive.” He hesitates. “Mine too, though I’m okay with waiting a while and meeting a lot of non-special someones in the meantime.”

“I’m telling your brother you said that,” Perry informs him. “Prepare for a lecture on responsible dating and sexual health and safety.”

“Cody’s right, though,” I add, because George is still wearing an expression that implies his favorite rock just got crushed to dirt. Only worse. “George will meet his soul mate too. Then this house will be full and we can all concentrate on saving humanity.”

George swallows hard. “It’s not… I’m not worried that I won’t meet them.”

Perry frowns. “Okay. So, what, then?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing. I’ve had a long day. I’ll make sure I’m around tomorrow to talk to Storm. Sorry I didn’t get back when I was supposed to.” Without another word, he disappears up the stairs toward his bedroom, leaving us staring after him—even me. The air is so surprised that it stops whispering to me.

“Dude needs to breathe more,” Aether says sagely. “It’ll all work out.”