Page 81 of Winds of Destiny

They do. They’re here, and they have me, and if I get any say in it, they’ll never leave me again, ever.

I get a sense of being towered over, and a moment later Carnuatu ruffles my hair with his breath. Rhianan is standing right beside him, still enormously tall, silver specks in her fur and an understanding light in her eyes.

“She’s happy you saved her,” Turo offers on his god’s behalf. “She didn’t really want to be the lead head on a chimera.”

Kai looks at his god. “You shouldn’t have come for me,” he says, something broken in his voice. “I’m not worth the risk.”

Carnuatu bumps their foreheads together, a clear message:You are if I say you are.Then he turns and walks away down the long central hall of the temple, and just like that, he’s gone.

“Well… That’s very final, I suppose.” Kai blinks and looks from where Carnuatu just vanished back to us. “Um. So, is that it? Is it all over, then?”

I tilt my head and smile at my men. “It does seem a bit…anticlimactic, doesn’t it?”

Turo rolls his eyes. “What do the pair of you want, trumpets? A choir? For the air to change color or the ground to shake or—”

The rumble that suddenly starts up under our feet cuts Turo off for a second. “That wasn’t a suggestion!” he shouts, but the rumbling intensifies and the temple itself feels like it’s suddenly being thrust into the air. We tumble to the ground, grabbing each other and holding on with desperate strength as the world rocks and shakes like it’s ripping itself apart. The temple holds firm, though, and after a few interminable minutes—or possibly seconds, it’s hard to say—the sound grinds to a halt.

It’s so much lighter. That’s the first thing I notice, the way the shadows have all changed. Instead of a few rays of sunshine squeezing through the temple ceiling, there’s light all around us, casting long shadows from the columns that nonetheless seem insignificant. I get to my feet first, helping up Kai, then Turo. Turo’s cat god is gone—where, I don’t know, but I have the feeling she’s not far. I pull my men with me, heading for the end of the rainbow hall.

When we finally step outside…

Everything is different.

The entire city of Inarime has risen, settling back into place on top of the water instead of inside a sinkhole. The temple, as the highest point in the city, has a perfect view of the sea beyond it—not glassy and smooth anymore, but rippling from the force of the winds blowing all around us.

“They’re back,” I murmur at first, and then yell. “The everwinds are back!”

We’re not in danger of being blown away, but it’s more wind than I’ve ever felt before that didn’t come from me. It seems to spread out from the temple itself, whirling out in all directions. This isn’t a return to the past. This is something entirely new.

I lift my hands, and the wind shapes itself around me, playful and intuitive. It’s so easy to use when I don’t have to generate it all myself. I close my eyes and dance with it, let it support me, embrace me. It feels like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. I’m so—

“Camrael!”

I open my eyes and look around, but I don’t see anyone.

With a sinking stomach, I glance down.

Turo and Kai are staring up at me in a mix of awe and horror.

I suppose that makes sense since I’m probably fifty feet above the ground.

The moment I let my thoughts interrupt the feel of playing in the wind, my control evaporates. The winds become nothing more than air moving past me again.

And then I’m falling.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Kai

I didn’t think this day could get any worse than a fight to the death over the fate of our gods, but I was wrong. Watching Camrael fall out of the sky isdefinitelyworse. Seeing the pleasure on his face turn to puzzlement, then to fear, makes me wish I’d never opened my damn mouth. I run toward where he’s falling—the least I can do is lessen the impact with my body. Turo is right with me, praying for his god to help, but then—

A golden shape darts past us, stronger and faster than any human.

Laigha and Dian get to Camrael before either of us can, before he falls even half the distance to the ground, and catch him.

I breathe again. My hands are shaking, and a glance at Turo shows me that he’s no better. He’s bent over with his hands on his knees, staring at Camrael like he’s trying to summon him with the power of his glare. His god, tiny once more, is sitting at his feet, calmly licking her paw and washing her ears.

“I’m going to tie him to me,” Turo growls. “Tether him so that he doesn’t let his new power fly off with him. What thefuckwas he thinking?”

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