The Fire and the Sky (Book 3 of the... - Chapter 40: Chapter 40

May was slouched low in her seat, examining the finer intricacies of the Star cannon in the creeping light of morning, when the vehicle slowed to a stop. Lety cut the engine, and the silence that followed was heavy.
The sun's first rays were blazing over the horizon, chasing away the night. Drawing herself up, May peered out the window. They were parked at one end of a long gravel drive that lead to an old two storey farmhouse, standing like a sentinel in the middle of an empty field. All the lights in the house were off, and with the early morning mist drifting across the land, it looked rather haunted.
"Where are we?" May asked. Her throat was parched and her voice croaked.
"WIND HQ," Dom answered. He was holding a stack of folded clothes out to Lety, who was taking one item at a time. She shimmied into them as best she could from the driver's seat.
"I've been driving all over this barren wasteland for the last three hours," Lety grunted as she pulled a sports bra over her head. "If we were ever being followed, I've definitely lost 'em by now."
May glanced over to where Welkin and Jeremy sat in stony silence. Dark circles hung under Jeremy's eyes. Arms crossed, he slumped against the door with an expression of exhaustion and defeat on his face. Beside him, Welkin's posture was rigid. They appeared as fresh as always, but there was an undeniable hint of anxiety playing behind their golden eyes. May recognized the way that look reflected the jittery feeling in her own heart.
"So, what do we do now?" she asked.
Dom twisted in his seat. He looked confused.
"We're going inside." He looked at Jeremy, seeking confirmation, which he received in the form of a weak shrug.
"Priva doesn't sleep much, so she'll probably be on guard right now." He peered at the house. His eyes searched the windows for signs of life. "I'll bet she has the whole house up by the time we get down the driveway."
May's breath hitched. Her eyes followed Jeremy's and raked over the creepy little house in the field. Em was in there, somewhere behind those peeling clapboard walls and dusty windows. Maybe she was already awake; maybe she was looking back at that very moment. After all these weeks and miles, now only minutes separated the two of them. May was surprised to find herself wrestling with both desperate excitement and overwhelming apprehension.
She wanted to see Em so badly that her chest actually ached. But when she thought about reaching out and laying her hands on her, she wasn't sure if it would be to embrace Em or shake her.
The sound of Welkin clearing their throat pulled her from her waking dream.
"Would one of you mind letting me out of the vehicle?"
"Where are you going?" May asked.
"You don't need to walk there," Lety said. "I'm gonna drive us down."
Welkin sighed. Their shoulders sank. "I'm sorry, but I can't go with you."
Jeremy lurched forward with such force that his seat belt seized with a snap, trapping him into place. "No fucking way. You're not taking off now. She needs you!"
"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but... I agree with Jeremy." May reached out and clutched Welkin's wrist. "Em has been searching for you for so long. You can't just leave."
The Star's features pinched as tears welled in their golden eyes. They drew in a quivering breath and looked down, ashamed. "I wish I could explain, but I can't. That I'm here is bad enough. Please don't make me feel worse than I already do."
May and Jeremy locked eyes from opposite sides of the back seat, one looking just as confused as the other and just as unwilling to budge.
"Where are you going to go?" Dom asked. "We're kind of in the middle of nowhere."
"Don't worry about me," Welkin replied with a shake of their head that let loose a few sparkling tears. May watched them track down their high cheekbones with an ache in her heart. "I won't be far, I promise."
May found she couldn't let go of their arm. Her fingers tightened out of desperation.
"What are we supposed to tell her?" Her voice was small.
This was more than Welkin could take. With a delicate gasp, they began to cry openly and for a few moments, time stood still. No one in the vehicle knew how to handle a weeping Star. Welkin was always so sure and sturdy that this left the rest of them feeling uncertain and hopeless in the face of their sorrow.
"Please tell her how deeply sorry I am," they said, wiping their cheeks with their sleeve. "And that I love her so very much. Will you do that for me?"
May didn't like it — she could still clearly call to mind Em's anguish and guilt over losing Welkin once already. How was she supposed to tell her that Welkin was back, but refused to see her?
Welkin clearly read the apprehension in her expression. They placed a hand gently at her cheek and leaned in close. "I know it's unfair, and I hope I can find a way to explain soon. But you must trust me."
Closing her eyes, May leaned into Welkin's touch and sighed. "Okay, fine. I'll tell her."
Jeremy let out a noise of disgust. He unlatched his seat belt with one hand and shoved open his door with the other. Fargus, who had come to perch on the roof of the truck, let out a startled squawk and flapped his wings to regain composure.
"Just go," Jeremy snapped as he slid out the door, making room for Welkin to follow.
Welkin pursed their trembling lips and turned back to May. She wondered how anyone could look so lovely even in tears.
"I know I'm not in a position to ask any more of you, but I'm hopeful you'll find it in your heart to forgive her for what she did. If not today, then some day."
May gaped. Her mind went blank as any decent response evaded her.
But in the end it didn't matter. Welkin undid their seat belt and planted a soft kiss on her forehead before sliding wordlessly from the vehicle. With a few long strides, they vanished into the fog. They didn't look back.
"I hope they're okay," Dom said, staring intently at the empty air into which Welkin vanished.
"Whatever." Jeremy dropped back into his seat with the air of a petulant teenager and slammed the door closed. "They've always been a fucking coward."
"Jeremy!" May admonished. "What is your problem?"
"It doesn't matter. Let's just get there already."
Lety didn't argue. Now fully clothed, she turned the ignition and eased the vehicle down the long driveway. Though the air in the cabin was thick with tension, May found her flurry of competing feelings slowly give way to the flutter of anxiety in her stomach that grew the closer they got to the house. By the time Lety pulled onto the grass and put the vehicle back into park, May was sure she was going to be sick from the nerves.
In the shadows of the sagging porch overhang, the wooden front door opened. Behind the outer screen door, Connor stepped into view wearing only a pair of sweatpants. Under a tightly furrowed brow, his eyes were narrowed dangerously at the car. He stepped barefoot onto the porch, an absurdly large industrial wrench gripped tightly in one hand. May swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat as her eyes traced over the many scars that hatched over his muscled torso. She wondered if having known great physical pain made him particularly adept at inflicting it, and she felt a swell of gratitude at knowing he was on their side.
Jeremy opened his door and rose up on the running board so he could jump up and over the roof of the vehicle.
"Stand down, big guy. It's just me."
Connor's stance relaxed at once. Behind him, the screen door squeaked open again and Priva hurried out. May caught the glint of a steel blade in her hand. They had been ready for a fight.
"What's wrong with you?" Priva hissed, pointing the knife in Jeremy's direction. "You couldn't give us a heads up that you were on your way back?"
"Give me a break, P. It's been a long twenty-four hours." Jeremy's previous bitterness had given way to dispondance. He sounded, May thought, sad and perhaps even a little defeated.
By now, Rue had joined the others on the porch. Unlike her friends, however, the only thing clutched in her hands was a sweatshirt that appeared to belong to her husband. She pulled it over her head and down over her pajamas, staring at the car with concern.
"Who's with you?" she asked, peering at the deeply tinted windows of Lety's SUV with suspicion.
"I think that's our cue," Dom said, glancing around the cabin.
Three seat belts unclicked in short succession of one another. But while Dom and Lety exited the vehicle in unison, May's hand sat frozen on the door handle. Her body seized as her heart hammered; she couldn't seem to make herself move.
Her door opened, seemingly of its own volition. Though it was still gloomy outside, May found she had to squint up at Connor's backlit form.
"May," he gasped when his green eyes found her.
The sound of her name seemed to break the spell she had fallen under. When he reached a hand down to her, she found she was able to accept it, letting him pull her up onto shaky legs. In an instant she was surrounded, first by Rue's embrace, followed by the others who hovered around them talking over one another in a blur of voices and questions. May had to keep reminding herself that she wasn't dreaming.
The screen door squeaked and slammed back into its aluminum frame. Everyone fell silent in an instant, and turned back to the porch the way a flock of birds shifts directions: as one.
And when Rue pulled away, May could see what they did.
Standing on the top step, pale and ghostlike.
Staring back with wide, diamond eyes.
May's lips parted, and her voice was barely a whisper.
"Em."