Tempest Unleashed (17 page)

I was in my room half an hour later, sitting cross-legged on my bed while combing out my hair—and the snarls that two days of hell had caused—when Kona finally caught up to me.

He didn’t bother knocking, just flung open the door and stormed in like he had the right to be there. Which only ratcheted up my anger another three hundred notches. Normally, I had no problem with him coming right in, but that courtesy definitely did not extend to him when he was acting like a crazy person.

Get out!
I said.

Not until we settle this.
He stalked toward me, eyes blazing with a crazy kaleidoscope of colors.

I didn’t realize there was anything to settle. You acted like a maniac out there.

You don’t know Sabyn like I do. You can’t trust him.

First of all, isn’t that up to me to decide?

He gritted his teeth.
Not in this case. I know more than you do—

Excuse me?
I swear I thought my head was going to explode.

I’ve lived down here my whole life. I know things about Sabyn that would completely freak you out.

Like what? If you’re going to go around beating your chest, you need to at least tell me why.

I—He
—For a second I thought he was going to lose it all over again. But he pulled back at the last minute. Gritted his teeth and curled his hands into fists.

Look, I’m already freaked out.
I gestured to the window.
In case you haven’t noticed, things are completely screwed up around here and the last thing I need is for you to lose your mind along with everyone else.

I don’t want you training with Sabyn.

You don’t get to make that decision.

He snarled,
Don’t push me on this, Tempest.

No, Kona, don’t you push me. I don’t know who you think you are that you can barge in and nearly kill my trainer. I don’t know who you think you are that you come up here and start issuing orders like I’m supposed to jump just because you said so.

You know, you could give me the benefit of the doubt, Tempest. I’m acting like this because I don’t want that bastard anywhere near you. He’s bad news.

Kona stalked straight up to me, until only an inch or two separated us, and glowered.

Don’t try to intimidate me.
I shoved him away, hard.

He moved back a little, but made it abundantly clear that it was his choice, not mine.
Jesus, Tempest, do you know me at all?

I’m not sure. You’ve been growling and snarling like an animal since you showed up. And what are you doing here, anyway? I thought you were preparing for the Bringue
.

It’s canceled in light of what’s happened. My family and I came to help. With Stormy Point
, he clarified when I looked lost.

Oh, right.
I felt awful for getting so wrapped up in my own angst that I’d forgotten the refugees.

He sighed, ran a hand over his face before asking,
Can you at least try to look at it from my perspective? I’m already worried about you—it was only yesterday that you were at death’s door, remember—and the first thing I see is that jerk leaning over you, preparing to deliver a killing blow. Was I supposed to just stand there and watch it happen?

You were supposed to trust me!

I do trust you. It’s him I don’t trust.

My mouth dropped open.
Did you really just say that? How old are you? Ninety?

More like two hundred, but who’s counting?

Ugh. You know what I meant. That sounds like something my father would say.

And he would be right.

I narrowed my eyes.
I really want to punch you right now.

The last of his anger dissipated and he grinned.
Go ahead.
He leaned down to give me a free shot.

I didn’t take it, not because he didn’t deserve it but because in the space between one blink and the next, he went from a seething animal on the brink of losing control to the charming guy I’d grown used to. It was strange to witness the transformation, and though I wanted to relax, I couldn’t forget the darkness I’d seen in him.

Where did all that power come from, anyway?
I demanded.
I’ve never seen you like that.

What do you mean? You’ve seen me wield energy before.

Yeah, but not to that extent. Sabyn kicked my ass earlier and you took him on like it was nothing.

You lost half your blood volume yesterday—that’s the only reason Sabyn could take you.

That’s not true. I hit him with everything I had earlier and he rolled right over me. He’s got a lot of power.

Not as much as you do.
Kona seemed convinced of it.

In that case, you should have had more faith in me. Do I really look stupid to you?

Of course not.
The fact that I was still furious must have finally gotten through to him, because he reached for me placatingly.
Tempest—

Don’t Tempest me. Did it ever occur to you to ask me what was going
on before losing your mind out there? Of course I don’t trust Sabyn. I’m working with him because Hailana ordered me to, not because I want to.

Still, it’s dangerous.
He shook his head.
You don’t know—

You can’t have it both ways. Either he’s a poser without any power or he’s dangerous.

The two aren’t mutually exclusive, you know. He’s sneaky and he doesn’t care about anyone but himself. He’ll do whatever it takes to get ahead.

But we’re on the same side.

Are you? Really?

He was
helping
me, Kona, showing me how to focus. How to shield better than I’ve ever been able to before.

And what’s in it for him?

Oh, I don’t know. Maybe not being ripped into pieces by Tiamat? For a start?

You’re being naive, Tempest.

And you’re being insane. Find one more way to call me stupid and you can look for somewhere else to spend the night.

Seriously? You’d pick him over me?

Are you kidding?
I rolled my eyes.
It’s not a competition. You’re my boyfriend—he’s just some guy who’s supposed to teach me how to use my powers.

Then why are we fighting about him? If he’s
just
a guy?

We’re fighting because you seem to think you have the right to tell me what to do. We’re dating, but you don’t own me.

Dating? A minute ago I was your boyfriend. Did I just get downgraded?

Are we seriously having this conversation?
I yelled.
I can’t figure out if you’re being deliberately obtuse or if you’re just trying to make me insane!

Jaw clenched, eyes darker than I had ever seen them, Kona said,
I’m trying to keep you safe. I don’t understand what’s wrong with that.

Nothing, except that it’s not your job.

I think it is.

Well, then, I’m not sure what to tell you. Except that we have a problem.

For long seconds he didn’t say anything, just stared me down. His hands were curled into fists and his throat was working overtime, like it took every ounce of self-control he had to swallow back the words burning inside of him.

I waited for him to speak, to say something else, but he didn’t. He just looked at me, completely implacable. Completely immovable. It scared me, because I felt exactly the same way.

Finally, he turned away. Walked over to stare out the window.

I watched him and wondered what he was looking at, considering it was after two in the morning and pitch black outside except for the bright balls of energy lighting up the temporary housing. Maybe he was looking at that, picturing the training circles that used to be there. Picturing his clan or mine dispossessed.

He didn’t move for the longest time. Didn’t so much as glance at me to indicate that he knew I was still in the room. It frightened me a little, this ability he seemed to have to completely tune me out. I’d never seen it before, but then, we’d never been in quite this situation.

Now that the actual yelling was over, it seemed worse somehow. I didn’t know what to do, how to act, what to say to make him understand. I wondered if he felt the same way.

The thought galvanized me, had me moving toward him before I’d even made the decision to do so. I put a hand on his shoulder, though I didn’t have a clue what I was supposed to do next. On land, Mark had always made the first move.

Kona’s hand came up to cover mine.

Do you love me, Tempest?
he asked evenly, never turning away from the window. The only indication I had that the question mattered to him at all was the way his shoulders tensed beneath my hand and his fingers clutched at mine. His grip was tight enough that I would have winced had the pressure not felt so good, so reassuring.

Of course I love you. You know that.

I love you too.

I know. It’s why I
—I broke off, not willing to finish the sentence truthfully. Not willing to admit, even to myself, that he was the reason I’d given up everything. Not the only reason, but definitely the most important. Standing there, waiting for him to turn to me, I wondered for the first time if it was enough.

Kona didn’t seem to notice my lapse. He was as locked in his head as I was in mine.
Do you trust me?

Yes.
Kona would never deliberately hurt me. I knew that.

He turned from the window then, caught my face in his hands. Looked deep into my eyes.
Do you really?

Yes.

Then will you trust me on
this?
Sabyn is bad for you, Tempest.

How do you know?

Again with the jaw clenching. But at least this time, he unlocked it enough to speak.
He hurts girls just because he can. Because he likes it. He acts all smooth and charming, but there have been a lot of girls who end up injured around him. He always has an excuse, an explanation, but that only works so many times before it doesn’t.

He took a deep breath, blew it out slowly.
He’s dangerous. I swear to you, he’s dangerous, and if you’re not careful, he
will
turn on you. He
will
hurt you. Please, please, please, watch yourself with him. Never lower your guard.

I haven’t
, I said, still reeling from what he’d told me.
I won’t.

Don’t let him get you on the ground again.

We were
training.

It doesn’t matter. He could have killed you.

It was my turn to move away from him.
Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Not because he’s better than you, but because he’ll come at you when you least expect it. He’ll hit you when you’ve lowered your guard and are at your most vulnerable.

Sabyn’s mer. How do you know so much about him anyway?

Because he used to be my best friend.

Wow.
I felt my eyes widen in shock.
I didn’t see that coming.

His laugh was ironic.
Yeah, no one ever does
.

What happened?

I trusted him.

And?

He killed my youngest sister.

Chapter 14

I awoke early the next morning with a headache and a stomach so unsettled that I was sure I was going to throw up. Of course, it was no more than I deserved after tossing and turning all night while Kona’s words dogged my dreams.

I wanted to know specifically what had happened. But after telling me about his sister’s death, Kona had shut down completely. Refused to say anything more. And I hadn’t felt comfortable pushing. Not after our fight. And not about this.

Was it true? I wondered. Was Sabyn a murderer?

Oh, I had no doubt that in Kona’s mind he was, no doubt that he had somehow been involved in Annalise’s death. But down here, there were a lot of ways to die—I’d seen a bunch of them firsthand. Had Sabyn actually killed her or had he simply been a party to her death?

Then again, Kona had said that a number of girls had been hurt around Sabyn. I agreed that didn’t sound like a coincidence.

Which only made my forced association with him worse. I understood Kona’s anger now. Understood his irrationality when it came to me training with Sabyn. I just didn’t know if I could do anything about it.

I’d already pissed off Hailana enough with my defiance. If I refused to work with Sabyn, what would she do? And worse, what would I lose by not letting Sabyn train me? She had to have put us together for a reason. Plus, he’d already taught me more than any other trainer had.