Page 150 of Storm Caller

I start telling him about my day. Just the mundane details of what I learned in class and what’s happening in training. What I had for lunch. It’s silly, but it makes me feel like I have a connection to him, even if it’s entirely one-sided.

Journey is also constantly on my mind. Domino has been in contact with her parents, who are obviously worried sick. The Shield is promising trials for the accused, and Journey’s family is trying to find out when she’ll go before a tribunal, but details aren’t forthcoming.

It’s the middle of the night, and I’m tossing and turning in bed when I decide I need some fresh air. It’s stifling in here, and I’m restless. A storm is rolling in, and it’s making me antsy.

I take the stairs, locating the eighth-floor balcony where Edward and I found Trinity last year after she’d failed her first initiation test.

Pulling my jacket tight, I approach the edge and peer up at the sky tumbling with amethyst clouds. I escaped to the outskirts on my own about a week ago, so I’m not desperate for a hit, but the Spark calls to me nonetheless.

Is Rook looking at this same sky right now? Is he thinking about me?

The clouds flash as the wind picks up, tossing my hair and clothing. I should move inside. I’m too exposed out here, but I’m feeling defiant tonight. I’m so sick of hiding. So tired of lying about what I am. I just want to be free. But maybe freedom was always an illusion for me.

A cloudburst explodes overhead, bolts of Spark spreading in every direction. Sometimes I forget how beautiful it really is.

Gripping the railing, I scan the buildings surrounding me. Everything is dark, so maybe I’m safe enough. I reach out my hand and look up, calling to it.

It doesn’t take long.

A jagged spear of light breaks off from the next cloudburst, and it strikes me.

I back up, concealing myself in the shadows as agony rips through me. It breaks apart inside me, tearing me up. My fist squeezes. My eyes close, and I let it take me away. It consumes me in waves, shredding through my limbs, then shifts into euphoria.

My bones become air. My thoughts float into puffs.

I wish he were here with me.

I was alone with this for so long, and then I met Rook and everything changed.

Now he’s been taken from me again, and I’m not sure what to do with that.

I douse the Sparks and then watch the storm for another minute.

I’m desperate to feel closer to Rook, so I head for the basement and our dorm room. It’s cold and dark without someone to start the fire, and I don’t bother as I crawl into his bed, put my face into his pillow, and inhale his scent.

Green apples. Fresh grass. The wind and trees and that raw wildness that has always been him.

I pull the blanket over me, tuck my knees up, and stare into the dark.

At some point, I must drift off, only to be startled awake by a high-pitched ringtone. I check my phone, but it isn’t mine.

I follow the sound to Rook’s desk, open the drawer, and find the other phone he had with him when he returned from the Veil.

“Hello?” I ask as I press the accept button.

“Rook?” comes the deep voice on the other end.

“High Commander,” I say.

“Who’s this? Where’s Rook?”

“It’s Poet,” I answer. I’d completely forgotten Rook had this phone. I should have contacted his parents as soon as he disappeared. “Rook’s gone.”

“What happened? Where is he?” I can practically feel the heat of the high commander’s fury through the line.

I tell Summit what happened and that it’s been almost two weeks since anyone has heard from his son.

“And you have no idea where he is?” Summit asks. “None at all?”