Page 49 of When Storms Awaken

I had done it.I had really done it. I might not be able to call on a powerful storm yet, but I had tapped into my storm magic and created the tornado that now spun at our feet. What else could I do with this magic? With a snap of my fingers the tornado extinguished, and the wildflowers floated back down to the ground at our feet.

I spread my arms wide, the palms of my hands facing up towards the sky, as I called on my storm magic once more. A crack of thunder sounded overhead, and though it was my magic that had created it, I still startled. I jumped as the sound reverberated through me. The clouds began to darken overhead as I funneled more magic into them, they slowly became black and furious. The meadow was no longer blanketed in sunshine, but rather enveloped within the dark clouds I had created.

I felt the first drop of rain hit my cheek as I turned my face towards the sky, a smile on my lips as the storm energy surrounded me in its embrace. I felt another rain drop hit my skin, then another, as the fat droplets began to pour from the sky. Nik’s face was lit with wonder, his eyes on me with a heated gaze.

“You’re incredible,” he breathed, taking a step towards me.

I lowered my hands back to my sides as the rain pelted down on us, the rainstorm taking on an energy all its own. It rained harder, soaking through my hair and my clothes as I turned towards the sky again and laughed.

I was a Stormshade,and I was powerful.

I could sense the energy of the storm, calling to me from its place in the sky. If I reached out to that energy, would I be able to harness it as my own? With my face still turned towards the sky I peered at the clouds, reaching out to them with my own magic. They responded instantly. I felt a lightning-like surge of energy fill my core, but it wasn’t my own, it was that of the storm.

The storm I had createdhad its own magic, and I was able to use it as if it were my own. The feeling of power inside of me raised the hair on my arms and brought goosebumps to my flesh as the storm whipped the hair back from my face. My clothes stuck to me mercilessly, and I wished that I hadn’t worn jeans today. All I could do was laugh as the rain came down around us harder, soaking us through.

Nik took another step towards me, and I could feel my breath get caught in my throat. His gaze was molten lava, and I felt as if I would simply melt under it. His pale hair was darkened from the rain, curls of it plastered to his forehead. His black T-shirt clung to his skin in a way that made my mouth dry up. I could see every muscle, every outline. My eyes traveled back up to his, a wicked grin across his lips.

He raised his hand slowly to cup my cheek, wiping the rain from my skin with his thumb. His other hand found my hip and tugged me close, my hands falling to his chest where I could feel his heart beating heavily.

“Incredible,” he whispered again, his mouth so close to mine I could feel his breath on my skin, my stomach tightening.

“I did it,” I breathed, unable to believe it myself. I had thought it would be difficult, but it wasn’t. It was as easy as breathing. It was as if I was born to wield this storm magic, and it effortlessly responded to me in return. I curled my fingers into the front of his soaked T-shirt, pulling him even closer.

“I knew you could, firecracker,” he said before lowering his mouth to mine. His lips were soft and warm, wet with rain as they slid across mine. My lips opened for him as he slid his hand from my hip to the small of my back, pressing himself into me. I could feel every dip and curve of him pressed against me, his other hand moving from my cheek to tangle in my hair. I felt a hot need surge up within me, pooling low in my belly. A small whimper left my lips, and he smiled against my mouth, pressing against me harder.

Kissing Nik was everything I had imagined, and more. His chest was hard beneath my touch, and I moved my hands to explore his abdomen, tucking them beneath the lip of his shirt and feeling the smooth skin there. I ran my hands up his stomach as he let out a low moan against my mouth, biting my lip before pressing his forehead to mine.

“If we keep going, I won’t be able to stop,” he whispered, his breath hot against my face, the rain still falling around us relentlessly.

“Who says we need to stop?” I asked, rounding my hands to his back beneath his shirt and pulling him closer.

“There’s something I wanted to show you,” he breathed, closing his eyes and swallowing hard, “but right now, I can’t even think of what that something might be.” I could feel him laugh against me, our bodies still pressed tightly together, the rain from his wet curls dripping down onto my nose.

“Are you sure about that?” I teased, bringing my lips back to his. I moaned against him as I moved my hands down his back, feeling every taught muscle beneath my fingertips before pulling back again.

“You really had to go and ruin this perfectly sunny day with rain?” He laughed against me, his eyes dark with want as they roamed my face. I had started this storm, and I could stop it just as easily. But I was too distracted with the feel of Nik’s hands all over me.

I gently pushed him away, a smirk across my lips as I sprinted down the hill towards the city made of stone off in the distance. I raised my arms to the sky and threw my head back, laughing as a crack of thunder sounded again in the distance.

“Hey, get back here!” I could hear Nik close on my heels as I ran through the tall grass, my wet jeans thwacking against me with every step. I spun beneath the deluge of rain, letting it drip down my face, plastering my hair to the back of my neck. I was spinning when Nik’s arms found me, enveloping me, and pulling me against him as I danced in the rain. His hand was in my hair again as he pulled me in for one more fierce kiss before turning towards the abandoned city.

“Come with me.” He smiled, his hand held out for me to take. I placed my hand in his as we started walking, focusing on pulling the storm magic back into myself. I pictured the energy as a single point in the clouds, then I imagined it funneling downwards until I could absorb it back into myself.

As we walked, the storm clouds began to dissipate, and the sun started to peak through the clouds once again. The rain had stopped. We were still completely soaked through as we walked towards the city hand in hand, but the sun was once again warm at our backs.

We walked on for several minutes before the city came into clear focus. It was set in ruins, the stone archways were falling apart, rock scattered across the ground where it appeared to have been blasted apart. Nik gave my hand a gentle squeeze as we walked under the first archway, and I could see the city before me clearly. A vision flashed before my eyes, and it was gone just as quickly as it had appeared.

A city in ruin, stone buildings reduced to rubble as smoke rises from the ashes. A woman with blue and white hair, raising a sword high above her head in victory; she turns, and her eyes are endless black pits.

Without Nik having to say anything, I knew this was where the war had occurred all those years ago against the Stormshades and the Dark King. The war where he met his end. This was the site whereso manyStormshades were slain and lost their lives. I turned to Nik and his eyes were filled with sadness as he gave my hand another gentle squeeze. How many of my relatives fought in this war? Died in this war?

I could see that the city was once beautiful. The sun shone through the archways that framed the stone walkways, winding through the city and between the buildings. I could picture what it had once looked like in its glory, vines of ivy climbing up the stone, flower boxes filled with color. Once the streets had been bustling with witches as the shop owners opened their windows to the noises of the street down below.

“I wanted you to see this place for yourself, to understand what happened here.” Nik’s mouth was set in a hard line. “This was our capitol, our holy city. The birthplace of our magic.”

I could feel my connection to this place strongly in the magic that still dwelled here. In the earth, in the stone, it waseverywhere. Nikolai was right when he said he was sure this place would be deserted, it appeared as if nobody had been here in decades. It was completely and utterly deserted, a snapshot in time from the end of the war against Stormshades. It was left exactly how it had been after the great war all those years ago. With such a strong connection to our magic, why had the Nightshade army not bothered to rebuild it after they had won the war? Why had they left it to ruin like this?

“The people?” I turned to Nik, a question in my eyes. It didn’t look as if anyone had come back for them, but there were no skeletons scattered among the rubble. The only thing that remained were the swords and battle leathers of those that had fallen in battle.

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