Page 16 of A Sky of Storms
I was pretty sure Kendra was all cosied up and asleep in her reef before we’d even gotten past the door.
“Where should we start?” I asked once we made our way down the million stairs to the courtyard. There were a few Potentials out and about, enjoying the cooler part of the day.
“Let’s look at the training areas that are modelled on our cities,” she said, walking towards the nearest setup that looked like the Verdant Plateau. The training area had tall trees, lush green grass and even little ponds scattered around.
Crouching beside one of the ponds, I stuck a finger into the water and tickled a tadpole. “Hey cutie.”
“What are you doing?” Fallon asked, a smile on her lips.
“Making friends.”
“Of course you are.” Fallon chuckled, sitting on the grass. “I’d love to live in the Verdant Plateau.”
I dropped down, lying next to her and propping my head up on my wrists. “It’s pretty nice. I reckon it’d be hella peaceful, but why would you want to leave Stormcrest City?”
“The city itself is beautiful. I mean, who wouldn’t want to live in the clouds?” she said, laying down on her back. “The problem isn’t the place though, it’s the people.”
“Home life that bad?” I asked as we stared up at the amber sky.
“It’s not great.” She huffed a laugh. “Couldn’t you tell? Anyway, I’m here now and hopefully, that will change things.”
“You think you have what it takes to become queen?”
She turned to face me, her brows furrowed and jaw set. I had to fight the urge to tickle her and turn that frown upside down, but one of my sisters told me some people don’t like that. Strange, I know. Luckily, a smile spread on Fallon’s lips, so I didn’t have to resort to desperate measures.
“I have to.”
“Me too.”
“Do I have some competition on my hands?” she asked, her smile slipping up on one side, along with an eyebrow. “You gonna beat me to the throne?”
She looked like a sly fox. A sexy sly fox to be exact.
“Of course I am,” I replied with a firm nod. It was my destiny, and you can’t fight that shit. “I’m king material and you know it.”
“Okay, king material,” she said with a laugh as she rose to her feet, dusting off her pants. “Let’s see what the other areas are like.”
We strode along the path until we found ourselves in a mini Damascon Hollow. It was basically gnarly metal scrap in a concrete city, though it was kinda spooky because there were a lot of empty buildings, like some sort of apocalypse. Gave me the heebee jeebees, not that I let my starfish see that.
“I’ve never been to Damascon Hollow before,” I told her, jumping up to grip a steel bar and swinging from it. “But the stuff I’ve seen on TV and the web don’t look like this.”
“Same,” Fallon replied, watching me swing back and forth. “If there are places like this, I also haven’t seen them.”
I jumped, landing in front of her and smiling. “I bet if you had, you wouldn’t have set foot in a place like this anyway. Probably a fancy hotel more like … if they even have those there.” I frowned. “Do they?”
Fallon rolled her eyes and walked away from me. “Maybe you should do some more research, seeing as you think you’re going to be king.”
“I don’t think,I know,” I said, catching up to her.
The next area was modelled on the Crimson Steppes and turned out to be an enormous sand pit with a few red rocks thrown around the place like some giant got drunk and dropped them.
“I’ve never been to the Crimson Steppes before either,” I told her, leaning up against one of the boulders, only to have it move. “Shit!” I jumped back with a scream. “Not a rock!”
“No, you fuckhead,” Kayden growled, turning around. He rolled his shoulders, the rocky surface of his skin smoothing out into its usual tan. “Could you not see my shorts?”
“I wasn’t exactly looking,” I replied, raising my hands as I stepped towards Fallon, my gaze running up and down her figure. She was gorgeous. Like, could dry up all the oceans hot. “Who notices anything when there are babes around?”
“She must have been really impressed with that high-pitched squeal of yours,” he said, snickering.
