Authors: Amy Braun
As much as I liked working and keeping busy– trade was still the prominent form of payment, but banks were starting to recover financial data as well as structures– it was still strange to believe Papaya Cantina was the epicenter of hope in the remains of West Palm. In a way, it made sense. Normalcy was becoming commonplace again, with homes and apartments being rebuilt now that the last of the ruins had been carried away. The ration stations, medi-centers, and SPU stations were still standing and remained busy, but the need for them had lessened now that farmers were producing crops and trade could be made with other countries.
Electricity was spotty at the best of times and the Internet was still an uncatchable ghost (the people who’d been trapped underground until eleven months ago had a meltdown when they couldn’t access their Twitter accounts), but things were getting back on track.
It helped that the storms had stopped seven months ago.
For a little while, strange, scattered storms ranged over the country. Rumors of tornadoes in Nevada, dust storms in California, blizzards in New York, thunderstorms in Texas, and a few abrupt hurricanes in the Florida Keys kept us all on our toes. But the storms didn’t last for long. Nobody questioned why. Nobody knew but me, Piper, and my family. Maybe it hadn’t been a good idea to tell them the truth about what had happened to me, but since Mortis used them as a bargaining chip against me, how could I lie?
Truthfully, it was good to get the truth off my chest. I couldn’t keep it locked inside where it could destroy me. Not if I wanted to face the trauma and nightmares about what had happened to me. It became easier to be around people again. For the first while, it was hard. I didn’t want to have a panic attack and lose control. My gifts were dormant. I hadn’t had the urge to use them since that night in the crater, but I knew they were still there.
That’s why I worked with Piper. She volunteered as a yoga instructor, and I helped teach her classes when I wasn’t working as a waitress. I think the reason we had so many people attend our classes was because yoga was almost better than therapy. We could open our eyes, see the devastation around us, accept it, and breathe. What had happened, happened. There was nothing we could do about it. This was a time to heal, to help, and to move on.
Okay, so I stole Piper’s words from the speech she gives at the beginning of every class, but she was more eloquent than I was.
But her words were important, and some days, I needed them more than I cared to admit.
As I wove through the packed tables to set down plates, refill water glasses, and take new orders, snippets of conversation cut into my thoughts.
“I’m telling you, I saw one! A Stormkind controlled the lightning!”
“Of course it was a Stormkind. How the hell do you think we got snow in
Florida
?”
“Honest, the guy was some kind of medieval soldier. Fancy armor, two swords, everything. He took on the Stormkind like it was nothing!”
I cringed a little at the last statement, pretending it meant nothing to me, and that I wasn’t wondering which Guardian he was referring to.
Since only Piper and I knew the truth about the Stormkind and where they came from (we agreed not to mention this to our parents, since trusting them with the truth about the Guardians was risky enough), conspiracy theories became widespread. You name it, someone had an “answer” for it. Everything from aliens to angry spirits, witches, angels, demons, the Horsemen in the Apocalypse, fairies, and a screwed up government science experiment to control global warming were the most popular explanations for the Stormkind. Some of them made me laugh, others made me roll my eyes, and some of them made me want to scream. I could only imagine what the textbooks would say when history was written about the Stormkind to prepare our great grandchildren.
But I kept my mouth shut, did my yoga practices, worked at my job, helped my neighborhood rebuild, and thought about what I would do when the beach was open to swimmers again.
Despite the promising outlook to the future, there were still problems we needed to overcome, not just supply shortages and grief. The gangs still posed major threats to the vulnerable and the desperate. Lootings, robberies, and small riots were prominent at night, forcing the newly elected Governor of Florida to enact a statewide curfew that forbade anyone from being on the streets after dark. Those who were caught by police and riot patrols were arrested and thrown into one of the cleaned up prisons, no questions asked. It was harsh, but it was necessary. Murdering liars could wear a disarming and cheerful smile right until they stabbed you in the belly and stole everything but the clothes on your back.
And sometimes even those.
Tension was thick whenever a new law was passed, but I knew we would get back on track. Knowing the entire world had been on the precipice of total destruction, having
felt
the intensity of it as it spread, I knew we’d all get past whatever drama unfolded around us. Even if no one else knew it yet.
Moving on was part of human nature, the same as breathing. It took a while to do, but once we wrapped our heads around it, the concept was easier to accept.
Shame there was one thing my mind refused to wrap around.
I tried not to see Hadrian every time someone with long black hair walked in, or when I looked at a customer with sharp blue eyes. I tried not to imagine his arms wrapping around me when I was cold, or wonder if he was watching me when I walked home alone from work.
I really did try to forget him… But I couldn’t. Love wasn’t a switch that could be flipped on and off when we wanted or didn’t want to feel it. Love was a constant, powerful force that existed whether you chose to believe in it or not. It would take me a long time to grow out of my love for Hadrian, especially when I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
“Ava, honey, you okay?”
I blinked out of my thoughts and looked over my shoulder at Maci. I smiled. “Yeah, I’m good. Just got lost in thought.”
Maci returned my smile sagely. “It should be slowing down now. You can go clean up the tables, if you like and then go home.”
I nodded. It was almost closing time before the curfew, and I was looking forward to helping mom cook tonight. She needed a break from the relentless nursing shifts, so she was making cookies for the
SPU volunteers now that she had too many bags of sugar and flour. No way was I going to complain about that.
I walked out into the emptied restaurant, amazed it had cleared out so quickly after we were swarmed earlier on. Just went to show how busy everyone was. They barely had time to sit down and enjoy a fresh meal before scurrying off to their next volunteer project or getting home to hold their families close.
I was ready to do the same thing.
Though by the sound of heavy footsteps stalking across the tile behind me, not everyone was ready to settle in for the night.
Without turning, I said, “We’re closing up soon so you might have to be quick with your order.”
“
I know what I want.”
I jumped near out of my skin when I heard his voice. At first I stood there, telling myself it wasn’t him. Just someone else who sounded like him and could move with that same, freakishly quiet grace.
Though I wouldn’t be sure unless I turned around.
The footsteps approached slowly, and I finally turned. My butt hit the table, but I hardly felt it. I could only see him, standing in front of me the way he had over a year ago.
A brown leather jacket hung over his shoulders, covering the tight navy blue shirt and stopping at the belt of his dark jeans. His hair was neatly combed against his shoulders. Azure-navy eyes watched me with certainty, a small smirk tugging his lips.
I tried to tell myself I was hallucinating or fantasizing– again– but he was too real to be a dream or a hope.
I would recognize Hadrian anywhere.
“
Hadrian... what... um... Hi?”
He made it very hard to concentrate when he was standing that close, and only moving closer.
“
Hello,” he replied.
His eyes traced over my face, taking in every detail. It had been a year since I’d seen him, but it couldn’t have been that long for him. Time moved differently in the realm of the Stormkind and the Guardians. I didn’t know why he was looking at me like I was the one who’d disappeared.
“
You have no idea how good it is to see you again, Ava,” he told me.
That one sentence sent my heart into overdrive. I could feel my pulse jackhammer through my veins while my brain scrambled to think of something to say that wouldn’t come out as a stutter. Something suave that would keep him here for just a little bit longer.
Once I opened my mouth, the words tumbled out.
“
Why– Why are you here? I mean, it’s good to see you. You look great. Not that you don’t always look great, but I mean, you look cleaner and…” I grimaced.
Suave
, I snickered internally.
Yeah. That was a great plan
.
While I mentally stumbled, Hadrian leaned closer. He smiled, but didn’t touch me. I wasn’t sure I wanted him to yet.
“
My duty is over. The remaining Stormkind have been returned to their cages until the next Centennial Storm. Corrina is being monitored, and she is a sufficient Guardian in my place.”
“
In your place,” I repeated.
Hadrian nodded. “You might say that I have temporarily retired.”
I couldn’t stop my jaw from dropping. I had a hard time even thinking that he was telling me the truth. Being a Guardian was Hadrian’s life. Centuries of dedication and training had ensured he was one of the last ones alive. He lived for the action and excitement of his position. It was his everything. I couldn’t believe he’d given that up, just as I couldn’t believe he was standing in front of me.
“
What about the others? Zephys, Vitae–”
“
There was little they could do to stop me,” he smirked. “And when I explained my need for being here, they understood.”
Hadrian stopped mere inches from me. I curled my fingers around the edge of the table, my pulse drumming through my veins.
“
I told them that because of your combination of gifts, it was important to stand by your side and support you.” He leaned down. “While that is true, I still lied.”
“
Why would you do that?” I breathed.
He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he lifted his hand and let his fingers skim across my scalp, gently tugging my ponytail free. He curled my hair behind my ear, smoothing it with his hand.
Hadrian’s smile was soft, warm, and only for me.
“You didn’t let me finish that day,” he said. “When I learned that you loved me.”
“Because... Because I didn’t think you wanted me for… me.”
His thumb traced gentle circles behind my ear. “On that road, you undid me Ava. You broke through my defenses and saw me for who I truly am. And you did not run.” His thumb slid back to the side of my face. A welcome shiver surged through me. “I have much to atone for. You thought I would only care about you because you were a Stormkind, and I was honor-bound to protect you as such. You thought that was all I would see, and that I would not be able to look past the Stormkind to see the woman beneath.”
Heat flushed my cheeks. I shrugged and smiled sheepishly.
Hadrian leaned down and kissed me.
I was so caught off guard that I didn’t react at first. Then I took a breath and fell into his familiar, salty musk. I unclenched my hands from the table and ran them up Hadrian’s arms, telling myself that he– that
this
– was real.
The ends of his hair tickled the back of my hand. The pads of his thumbs ghosted across my throat and stroked my cheekbones. When he drew back, I almost whimpered.
Hadrian’s face was pressed close to mine, his lips tantalizingly close. His long eyelashes brushed against my face when he looked at me again.
“But I did not fall in love with a storm or her power, or the tether that bound her to me. I fell in love with a woman who showed me kindness and honesty. I fell in love with a woman who gave my knife back to me because she was strong enough without it. I fell in love with a woman who stood in the rain and smiled.”
I melted, my whole body becoming a mess of heat and hope. I smiled until my cheeks hurt.
“Good to know we’re on the same page.”
Hadrian was halfway through his laugh when I kissed him. I wasn’t afraid of what he would or wouldn’t accept from me. I didn’t doubt any longer. Hadrian had seen me as I was, and decided that I was worth a century long retirement.
Since I had no intention to use my gifts ever again, I didn’t know how long I would live, if Stormkind could last as long as their Guardians. Certainly, Hadrian would live longer than I did.