Something overhead obstructed my escape.

Gripping either side of what appeared to be an access opening, I heaved myself up and through. What was this encircling structure? Scaffolding? The platform was only three feet wide and hugged the stack's elegant golden throat like a hideous piece of costume jewelry. I shielded my transformed eyes against a spotlight clipped to the platform's railing.

Somebody was working here just minutes ago, I realized with a start, my eyes finally adjusted enough to take in the abandoned tools: sandblasting equipment. The worker must have gotten down because of the approaching inclement weather. I stepped up to the massive curve of towering gold to peer closely at the lines between the individual bricks. No cement.

Bothered by this, I leaned back. No cement for almost a six-foot by six-foot section. There were only gaps between the surface brick, leaving the secondary concrete block behind that exposed, and I placed a hand against it. I have seen this sort of thing before.

Pushing fingertips into the gaps, my other hand hanging idle at my side tingled, my mother's remembered hand slipping into it. I was suddenly taken back, squinting against a bright yellow sun thirteen years earlier, standing on a street in San Francisco. A hint of her peach essence stirred my taste buds as I looked up at the building I had stopped in mid-sidewalk to stare at. There were gaps between the bricks and sand on the sidewalk. The sand sounded dry beneath my tiny, purple sandals. There was a group of burly men surrounded by yellow tape with black lettering that read: Work Area.

Dark hair fluttered in the sunlight above me, and her rich chocolate eyes crinkled with adoration at my concerned expression when I asked, "Momma, what are they doing to the building? Why are they hurting it?"

"They're not hurting the building, honey. They are 'repointing' the masonry work," I said softly, in sync with my mother's remembered words. I was back in the present moment, thirty- some feet above ground.

Look, see here? Ignoring the glares of the workers on break, she had boldly pulled back the yellow tape and led me over to place my small hand on the gaps between the bricks. Those men in the yellow hardhats are wearing away at the cement with their tools because it is old and the wall is weak. They will mix up new cement and fill in the gaps.

"Then the cement will dry and make the weak structure strong again—oh no." I yanked my hand away from the brick and peered over the railing.

With my eyes focused in spectral sight, I watched a gust of wind brush the ground to leave traces of light, comparable to striking a match. The great ghost bears were gathering en masse at the base. Super. I was surrounded by a mosh pit of atrophy rubbing against brick with mortar aged past its expiration date. A cat chased up a weakened tree. My gaze went to the spot where the cement was sandblasted away. And somebody had gone and chopped a gap in its trunk.

Eyes going wide, I yipped in surprise when one ghost bear took a leap for me. Its great snout passed through the platform floor so all I could momentarily see was a flash of teeth lining a sulfurous red light between my feet. Spinning around, I grabbed hold of a metal rung and climbed.

Of course they can make a thirty-foot jump, I grumbled as the metal ladder rang softly while my feet pounded against it. What's a little thirty-foot jump? It probably hadn't even been trying.

I was almost halfway up the smokestack when I stopped climbing, the wind's friction this far up a faint blue light that buffeted my pure white glow. I clenched my teeth and gazed at the ground such a dizzying distance below. I had been thinking over my situation with Micah and Alex, and dredging up old memories of Mom's manic episodes, when my aura became visible again.

This is total crap! I put my hand to my stomach. Alex's power was still there, nicely spindled into a ball with the one soul settled around it. So, I couldn't even think about emotional stuff without making myself a tasty hotspot on the astral plane? Was I going to have to take up meditation to control my radiance? Assume the lotus position and hum Kumbaya every time I broke a nail. Yeah, wouldn't that be ridiculous?

Staring at the ground again, I fought off the immature urge to stick out my tongue at the agitated umbrae—nah-nah, nah-nah, naaah, nah. Yep, ridiculous. Just like this situation.

What can I do? Mulling over my limited options, I flexed my hand and thought about Alex showing me how to use the power I was storing. Maybe I should fire off a few rounds into the crowd below? I stretched out my arm and aimed, one eye closing. What could go wrong? Except I had never fired off a shot myself—I only knew the theory behind it—and I would be hurling fire into an oil refinery. That didn't sound too smart.

With a heavy sigh, I placed my hand back on the ladder. My gaze went to the sky, my eyes squinting against its blue burn. Guess it must be extremely windy that high up. I blinked my sight back to normal. The blue light in the sky flickered away to a nice, comfortable black.

With my human sight, I could no longer see the umbrae on the ground. But just because I couldn't see them, didn't mean they weren't still there, making thirty-foot jumps to strike their paws against the weakened spot. Would the structure withstand all of the pounding until Micah finished with the storm and came to find me?

Leaning my forehead against the brick, I closed my eyes and let out a ragged sigh, edging on the hoarseness of a sob. I really want my sky lion.

"I've located her! She's here!" An excited shout came from the winds.

I lifted my head and searched the darkness. I couldn't see anyone and didn't recognize the voice.

The next one I did recognize, the person's identity a vague apparition dancing on the edge of my memory. It had been a couple of weeks since the movie incident, but I recalled the name Justix when the wind devvi shouted back, "How could you not find her. She's shining like a bloody lighthouse beacon."

"We can get her down, Captain. I can organize a group to fly her to safety."

Down. Safety. These were both good words.

There was a pause before the other spoke his turn. "Ai," Justix finally began, that name also triggering remembrance in me.

Ai! The wind devvi who had been charged with ensuring Reese arrived home safely from the movies.

"Ai, I know that you mean well. You are a vigilant wind warrior," the wind captain continued. "However, we have more pressing issues."

More pressing issues, other than saving me? What the...what in the hell was going on?

"But Captain," Ai said, the tone of his voice challenging. "Master Alexander ordered that we protect the girl at all cost. I for one don't want to be the devvi to face him when—"

"Master Alexander is a fool!" Justix barked. "Look at her! Look at how brightly she glows. Brilliantly enough I bet she can even see it. It is an abomination to be able to glimpse one's own aura. This half-human, half-devvi fluke of nature." He spat, and my eyes went wide at the disdain that blew in my direction, sour and scalding. The outright hatred. "Her life is an unholy contradiction to the way the great Goddess has dreamt it. She should not exist. I am through protecting her."

So then last night, when the patrolling wind devvis left while Sheeshoe was stalking me hadn't been a miscommunication. They left on purpose. Justix was no longer following Alex's orders.

"But we are to protect all who live in our valley," Ai said in a hesitant voice. "The contract between our queen and Master Alexander commands this, overall. Our hive protects the valley. We protect our home."

"I am protecting us. She is a danger. Her existence in this valley puts us all at risk. Come now, Ai. Let us leave."

I couldn't breathe, couldn't think. They were leaving me here, and I wasn't sure I could hold on much longer. Would it be better for everyone if I just let go? A tear rolled down my cheek as I entertained that thought.

"There is trouble at the northern gate," Justix's voice gusted on. "The sun devvi we've been after has grown bold. We suspect he'll make a charge for the gate during the peak of the storm."

Wait a minute, a sun devvi? "Eelios," I croaked, my voice choked with the thick, cloying taste of Justix's hatred. "Eelios is here?"

No one was listening to me. The roar of the wind became loud in my ears, along with the shrieks of umbrae circling below. The beginnings of a light rain were stinging splats striking my face.

"Nobody need ever know that we were aware the girl was in danger," Justix insisted. "We were at the northern gate when she fell."

"No! I will not leave Miss Aurora," Ai burst back with a rush of air. "With all due respect, Captain Justix, you can take your apocalyptic convictions and shove 'em up your wind hole. I am staying right here. You can handle the problem at the northern gate with one less devvi."

"One less devvi, indeed," Justix said, his menacing voice holding in it an unspoken threat. "Well, if that is your decision, Lieutenant."

"It is."

The conversation in the wind then subsided. I could only assume Justix had gone.

Two shining eyes the color of liquid silver appeared in front of my face. Startled, I lashed out and nearly lost hold of the bar.

"It's okay, Miss Aurora. Master Alexander sent us to help guide you out of the factory." The voice that accompanied the silver eyes reassured me.

The adolescent face of a boy, oval with a touch of youthful gauntness, materialized from the wind. Next his upper torso was discernible, but just barely so. I had a face to connect with the friendlier voice of Ai.

"Can you fly me off here?" I shouted to be heard over a strong gust of wind.

He shook his head. His see-through hands came up to make fists across his chest. "No, not on my own. I am not strong enough to carry a being as dense as you."

"Can you fly below and drive the umbrae away?"

Letting out an airy snort, he said, "If there were only one or two, maybe. They won't pay me any attention. I'm not a big enough force of nature to chase them off."

"Is Eelios really at the northern gate?"

"That's what the reports are saying. The valley is under high alert."

"But he hasn't breeched security."

"Not that I know of."

"Then leave me." I gestured in the direction where I could sense Micah. "Head northwest and find Micah. Tell him I am in trouble."

"You'll be okay if I leave?"

"I will."

He ghosted closer, his liquid-silver gaze adamant. "You promise me you'll hold on, and I'll go get your guardian."

"I will. I swear," I promised, and he took off with a gusty burst of speed.

I had to hold on. Just for a little while longer. I flexed my aching fingers and then hooked an elbow around the step to give my tired hands a break as an exceptionally fierce wind kicked up from across the valley.

Minutes ticked by. I was startled out of my hanging slump when I felt a drop in atmospheric pressure. I straightened as a wave of rain hit the other side of the valley. A few brilliant flashes brought everything into sharp focus. Holy cheddar, what just happened? It was if a bubble of protection that Micah had thrown over the valley had suddenly burst.

Maybe Ai had reached my guardian. Was he coming for me now? Could that be why the front was sweeping in, because he was no longer holding it back?

"Micah," I croaked, my gaze searching the sky. The harder rain drenched me. I fought with my bangs to keep them out of my eyes, and out in the darkness, still very far off, a glimmering light pierced the storm.

My heart was in my throat as a wave of rain overtook the light for an instant. Then it was back again—bright and yellow—speeding my way.

"Sunshine," I whispered, and I jerked into motion, having nowhere else to go but up.

I climbed higher and higher without losing sight of the hidden sun. A brilliant light, pure and concentrated, glimpses of it betrayed the sun devvi's location as his shine flashed out around his flapping, storm-tattered cloak.

"Stay away from me," I screamed as the smokestack trembled with a hard snap, and the entire thing tilted for the ground.

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