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CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

Ryker

I stepped closer to Ellery when the others turned toward her. Their foreheads furrowed and their heads tilted as confusion emanated from them.

If they said or did something to upset her, I’d kill them. They wouldn’t hurt her physically, but she’d exposed herself, and she was raw from that exposure. One wrong thing from them would cut her deep.

When Ellery looked at me, I rested my hand on her hip. I knew she worried they’d turn on her.

Scarlet was irate after learning Ellery had kept her lightning-bearer ability from her and that I’d known about it. She, and everyone else, had just learned we’d kept another secret from them.

I hoped they understood we’d done it to keep Ellery safe. If they rejected her, I’d make them regret it.

“You… you what ?” Scarlet asked.

Ellery gulped. “Please don’t hate me.”

Scarlet’s eyes widened. “You can… you what ?”

“Scarlet,” Ellery breathed.

When she went to reach for her friend, Scarlet took a step back as her eyes raked over Ellery. I sneered at her. I couldn’t kill the girl for being astonished, but I’d make her pay if she rejected Ellery.

Sensing my rising agitation, Ellery rested her hand on my chest. I calmed a little beneath her touch but remained ready to make them regret their actions.

“Wait,” Tucker said. “Are you saying you can control all five of the weathers?”

Ellery’s shoulders went back as she lifted her chin. “Yes, I can.”

“Holy shit,” Callan whispered. “Holy fucking shit.”

Ellery didn’t bother to respond as her gaze remained on Scarlet. Tucker gawked at her before shifting his attention to me; when he saw my stony expression, his shoulders went back.

He opened his mouth to say something before closing it again. Ianto and Callan remained unmoving and paler than normal as they looked from Ellery to the gargoyles and back again.

I settled my hand on the small of Ellery’s back, offering her support while the others recovered. My eyes narrowed on them; if they knew what was good for them, they’d get their shit together and stop staring at her like that.

Her revelation was stunning. I’d endured the shock of it too, but so was the fact we were talking to gargoyles with wind and rain.

And speaking of gargoyles. I shifted my attention back to the statues. “How did you know what she can do?”

“We can sense it,” the third said. “The trees wouldn’t have brought you here without a lightning bearer being present, but we sense it more. There are two lightning bearers here.”

“What the fuck?” Ianto muttered. “What the fuck?”

“This day keeps bringing surprises,” Scarlet murmured.

“And the creeps,” Callan said.

When Ellery winced, I shot him a ferocious look that conveyed exactly what I’d do if he didn’t tread carefully. Callan recoiled a little before edging closer to the giant.

“I didn’t mean Ellery,” he blurted. “You’re not creepy. You’re a little frightening, but not creepy.”

“Callan,” Tucker warned.

When I stepped closer to the dumbass minstrel, Callan held up his hands while retreating from me and the gargoyles.

“I didn’t…. Ellery…. You…. I didn’t?—”

“It’s okay,” Ellery said as she rested her hand on my arm. “It’s okay. I understand.”

Callan didn’t look at all relieved as he stared nervously at me. I wouldn’t kill him… yet. But if he didn’t watch it, I’d gladly kick him back to that town.

“So, the trees do protect you,” Ellery said to the gargoyles.

“We are one with the woods,” the gargoyles said.

“So am I,” Ellery whispered. “Why would the trees bring lightning bearers here?”

“You can bring us the stone,” the third gargoyle said. “Only lightning bearers can handle it.”

“So, a lightning bearer stole it from you,” I said.

The gargoyles’ hesitation before they responded told me they harbored anger about this. “Yes,” they replied together.

“How did you sense she harbors all five weathers?” Tucker asked.

“We’re all connected and a part of the land, amsirah and gargoyles alike. We lived in harmony until the amsirah betrayed us. We’ve been here ever since.”

“You really hate us then,” Ianto said.

The gargoyles didn’t respond, but we all knew the answer.

“ Why does she possess all five weathers?” I asked.

“Why do the realms exist?” the third gargoyle inquired.

“I don’t know.”

“Exactly. There are infinite mysteries throughout life that will never have answers, but some things happen for a reason.”

“What reason could there possibly be for me?” Ellery asked.

“There could be thousands of reasons or only one. There could even be none. Perhaps you’ll discover those reasons, and perhaps you won’t.”

“Has there ever been another amsirah like her?” I asked.

“ No other has ever wielded all five weathers.”

“Has there ever been another female lightning bearer?” Tucker inquired.

“No.”

The patter of rain and the howl of the wind filled the hush until Scarlet spoke again. “A lightning bearer can return the Heart of Stone to you.”

“Yes,” the third replied.

“Why only them?”

“Because hearts require an electrical system to function, and that stone is their heart,” Ellery answered before the gargoyles could. “Only a lightning bearer wouldn’t be electrocuted by it.”

I now understood Ellery’s and my reaction to that thing. If it was electrical, we’d be drawn to it, and if it heightened our powers, then things could get pretty intense between me and Ellery when our lightning combined.

When Ellery looked at me, I saw the same understanding dawning in her eyes. Not only was that stone a part of those gargoyles, but it was also a part of lightning bearers.

“And a lightning bearer will feel more effects from it than anyone else,” I said.

“Yes,” the third said.

The others all looked confused, but Scarlet stared at the two of us with her mouth parted. I was sure Ellery had told her at least some of what happened in the tower.

“If anyone else tries to touch it, outside of a lightning bearer, it would most likely fry their asses,” Ianto said.

“Yes.”

“And that’s what happened to the town,” Tucker said. “Outside of the gargoyles, the power of the Heart builds until it unleashes on the land. When that happens, we get magnetic storms above, and anyone down here is electrocuted until nothing but ash remains.”

We all looked at the gargoyles, but they remained silent.

“Is that true?” I asked.

“Yes,” they answered together.

“But why were their clothes untouched?” Callan asked. “Only their bodies are gone.”

“The Stone seeks blood to survive.”

“That’s not disturbing at all,” Ianto muttered.

“The Stone hasn’t had blood in millennia,” Ellery said. “That town has been there for thousands of years.”

“Tempest is drenched in blood,” the third gargoyle replied. “It hasn’t known peace since our imprisonment.”

I recalled all the blood coating the fields during the Ghoul War. Sometimes it ran so thickly the ground couldn’t absorb it, and the battlegrounds would remain drenched in red puddles for days.

And the Ghoul War was just one of many violent acts Tempest had endured over the years. We’d soaked the ground again while trying to escape the fields with the women.

A conversation I had with Tucker shortly after discovering Ellery was a lightning bearer floated back across my mind…

“Yes, things are bad now, but countless times throughout history, Tempest was endangered, the amsirah were under duress, and we’ve had to fight to keep our home and our lives.

Ghouls, dragons, wendigos, crazed rulers, greedy kings, and other rogue immortals have always sought to steal our realm from us,” he’d said.

“Throughout our history, Tempest has rarely known peace.”

And he’d been right, but one question burned through my mind.

“How do you know that?” I demanded of the gargoyles.