Page 11 of Firestorm
The newscaster’s voice crackled as the connection frayed slightly and I frowned. The TV was too new to be having problems, and the storm outside wasn’t nearly strong enough to be causing interference with the satellite.
“Historic storm,” The newscaster was saying. “Microburst…moving…tsunami alarms triggered.”
My eyes widened as a doppler radar filled the screen, showing a large storm moving across the ocean right toward our atoll. At the same moment, my phone alarm blared loudly, along with a few others in the café, with the same tsunami warning.
Zephyr,I projected out to my brother. I could feel him just inside the apartment, probably near his bathroom.
Sorry, I’m almost ready,he sounded breathless even in his thoughts.Don’t tell me that prick came back.
I snorted.No, worse. Microburst storm on the news.They’re–Icut off abruptly as the screen flashed back to the weather doppler. As if on cue, the rain outside grew heavier.
“Holy fuck,” Zephyr breathed. He was next to me now, having run to meet me when I cut off in our minds. “That’s crazy!”
“I know,” I agreed, staring at the massive storm moving across the ocean toward our coast. We were usually safe along the Gulf coast. Microbursts were like mini hurricanes that usually happened during our rainy season, not the beginning of fall.
Thunder cracked outside, and I jolted, bumping into my brother who didn’t hesitate to hold me.
“You think someone is doing this?” I whispered the question.
She’s in prison…Zephyr trailed off as we watched the storm grow in real time.We watched her go to prison. She’s the only weather affinate of the last century.
Prison. She was in prison. We’d watched her go to prison. There was no way–
I jumped again as thunder boomed so loud outside that car alarms began going off. The café was empty, most of our customers taking off as soon as the tsunami alert had come in.
Everything’s okay, Skye. Try to relax.Zephyr’s voice broke through the panic threatening to overtake me. Every roll of thunder had a violent memory pulsing through my mind.
I glanced out our wall of windows, cringing when I saw the waves crashing up against the pier and spilling over onto the walkway.
Our front doors were twelve feet from that walkway.
“If you’re just joining us now, we’re reporting on a microburst storm that has spun out in the Gulf Islands, we have tornado and tsunami warnings all along thecoast,” the newscaster went on.
“Is there any chance this isn’t natural?” a producer behind the camera asked. “I haven’t seen a microburst crop up like this in decades.”
“Me either.My contact within the government says it’s already being investigated, but this is a fast-moving, fluid situation, and the focus right now is on saving lives.”
“Zephyr…” I trailed off, not knowing what to say. If things flooded, we’d be fucked. Our apartment would flood. All our things, our furniture, and–
The utility room, we thought at the same time.
“Downstairs,” Zephyr said, immediately taking charge. “I’ll see if I can seal off the windows and doors. That shit’s only going to get worse.”
“Zephyr,” I said slowly. “I can–”
“No, you can’t. Go.” he snapped.
With a groan, I sprinted away. Only my brother would tease me over not cooling off a cup of coffee, then refuse to let me aid in a potentially life-threatening situation.
People were leaving the pier in droves. The steady drizzle from this morning was now a torrential downpour. The boutique owner next door was outside, handing her husband nails as he tried to quickly board up the windows. On the other side, someone was already trapped in their car, climbing out of the window before jumping into the freezing water.
I dashed through the back of the café, into our apartment. My feet thudded along the ground heavily, which would communicate my urgency before I even made it to the utility room.
I skidded to a stop, flicking my wrist to pull open the heavy door. I made my way to the unfinished side of the large room, using my affinity to drag several of our sandbags toward the stairs.
There’s a microburst,I explained quickly.The pier is already flooding, storm is moving in as we speak.
I ignored the pang through my chest at the continued lack of response, then pushed the remainder of the bags up the stairs before pushing my hand outward and sending the bags to the door leading into the café. Zephyr was there the next moment, drenched and shivering. I dried his clothes with a burst of air while he started pulling bags.
