Windburn (The Elemental Series #4) (27 page)

I faced the section of the jungle she approached from. Shazer lowered his head over my shoulder.

“What is it?”

“An old friend calling in a favor, I think,” I said. Relief flowed through me. I did not have to decide between my father and Cassava. Whatever help Elle needed I would give her, and hopefully it would take me far from my own problems.

The bushes parted and there she was, her dark hair longer than before, the swirling eyes marking her as a Tracker the same. Her mouth also the same.

“It’s about bloody fucking time you showed up on the radar again,” she gasped as she pushed her way through the foliage to me.

My jaw dropped when the firelight touched her. Her belly was swollen, huge with child, but the rest of her was thin, as though food had been a tough thing to find.

Where was the vibrant Tracker I’d first met? What had happened to her in the two years I’d been gone?

“Yeah, I got fat since I saw you last.” She grinned, but it was weak. “I’ve been searching for you the last six months. I knew you weren’t dead. Where the fuck have you been hiding?”

“Oubliette,” I said. “Someone tried to kill me.”

“Looks like we have that in common.” She winced and touched her belly. I took her arm and helped her to the fire. Ash was awake, Peta still passed out in the crook of his lap. In the time I’d been away, they’d clearly drawn close.

Elle raised her eyebrows at me. “Two men? Damn, I need lessons. I tried to handle two, almost killed me.” Her eyes filled with tears. It was only then I realized she was missing something very much attached to her.

“Where’s Bram?” I softened my voice, already knowing the answer would not be good.

“Demons. They’ve been on our asses the last year. I don’t know why, but they’ve decided I’d make a good kill. He . . . got in the way.” Her lips trembled. “You were right, Lark. I can’t fucking well do this on my own. I need your help.”

Cassava and my father waited for me. My family waited for me to save them from Cassava. The only one I cared about was Bella, and for the time being she was safe.

“Ash, go to Bella. Get her ready to come home.” I didn’t look at him. “Cactus, go to the Eyrie and wait for me.”

Neither man said anything. I didn’t know if they were letting me boss them around, or if they truly trusted me. Or if they were ignoring me. I wanted to believe they trusted me.

Peta let out a pitiful mew. “What about me?”

I scooped her up. “Do you really need to ask, cat? You are with me. You and the horse are mine through and through.”

Shazer snorted and fluttered his wings. “I am no horse.”

“Manner of speaking.” I paused and looked at Elle. “You want me to kill the demons?”

“No, only a Slayer can do that. I want you to protect my daughter when she is born. Put her somewhere the demons won’t find her. You can do that, right?”

A dark chill swept through the jungle, dampening the flames and casting an eerie shadow on her face. “Yes, I can do that. But what of you?”

“I will draw them away. I’ve kept far enough from the nasty shits that they don’t know I’m with child. As long as we can keep it that way, the fuckers won’t even know she exists.”

Cactus cleared his throat. “Lark, your family needs you. You don’t have time for this.”

I swung my gaze to him, anger making my words harsh. “My family thinks I’m dead. The only one who needs me is Bella, and I am sending her the man I love to watch over her. Is that not enough?”

He blanched and his jaw ticked. I turned from him, unable to be kind in that moment. “I will no longer explain myself or my actions. I will do what I feel is right. Elle needs me. That is all there is to this.”

Cactus jerked to his feet and stomped away into the jungle. Ash wisely said nothing. I stood and helped Elle up. Her hands trembled in mine. “The baby will be here soon. Fuck, Bram left at a rather shitty time.” She choked on the words and then broke down. I caught her in my arms, and ran a hand over her head.

“Hush. Your tears won’t help you. Trust me on that.”

She laughed, but it was a bitter sound, one that resonated in me. “Fuck. You got that right.”

She jerked forward and let out a low moan. “Lark, I think . . . the baby is coming sooner than I thought. Eager little monster. I was not planning on this. I’m not due for another few weeks.”

I helped her back to the ground as Ash worked to get the fire hotter, and boiled water. “Peta, are there any villages close by?”

“Yes.” She bobbed her head. “About three miles to the south.”

“Get Cactus and go. See if there is a midwife or wise woman.”

I didn’t look to see if she did as I asked. I didn’t need to. Elle was on her knees panting. “I don’t think it’s supposed to happen this fast.”

“From what I know, babies come when they want, my friend.” I eased her back and stripped off her pants. A quick look was all I needed. “I can see the head. Be ready to push.”

I directed Ash to Elle’s shoulders. He braced her and she dug her hands into his forearms. The look on his face was priceless; in another time, I would have laughed at the mixture of shock, pain, and horror that flickered through his eyes.

“Breathe, Elle. She’s almost here.”

“Ah, I hate you right now, Bram! You fucking bastard you did this to me piece of shit son of a whoring goblin!” She screamed the words as she bore down. I washed my hands in the hot water, cleaning them the best I could. I grabbed one of the blankets we’d been using and folded it beside me.

“Push, Elle.” I gave her a tiny pulse of Spirit and felt her own connection to the element reach for me.

With her teeth clamped, she gave a final cry as she bore down. The baby slipped out of her and I caught the tiny body. I flipped the kid upside down and swatted her ass.

A full-bellied, indignant screech let loose and I righted the tiny girl. I wrapped her in the blanket and handed her to Elle. “There you go. All done. Easy as peach pie.”

Elle leaned against Ash as she stared down into the face of her daughter. Every harsh line in her face softened. “Oh my.”

I looked up to Ash. He smiled, and I thought of the little boy with golden eyes that could have been mine if I’d stayed in the Rim. Pain shot through my heart. No, that little boy would have suffered war and the loss of his world if I’d taken that route. I had to believe I’d chosen the right path.

Cactus and Peta showed up a few minutes later with a tiny old woman. She tsked over the baby, helped Elle nurse her daughter for the first time, patted them on the head and left.

“Well, that was a waste of time,” Cactus muttered.

“No, it wasn’t. We didn’t know the baby would come easy. We could have needed the midwife,” Ash pointed out.

Cactus didn’t look at me. “I’m going to the Eyrie. I’ll see you when you get there, Lark.”

He was gone before I could say anything. Shazer flipped his head at me.

“You letting him walk?”

I lifted my hand, but still, Cactus wouldn’t look my way. So be it. “He’ll find a way there. I trust him.”

Peta put her paws on Elle’s leg and peered in at the tiny baby. “She’s cute. I like her.”

“Does she have a name?” I asked absently as I stared into the jungle where Cactus had been only a moment before.

“Yes. Her father and I decided on her name before . . . before he left.” She spoke her name and I nodded. It was a good one. A strong name.

I helped her settle with her daughter and she drifted into a deep sleep. I sat by the fire, staring into the flame. Ash sat beside me, saying nothing.

The night faded, morning came, and Elle cared for her daughter. Around us I felt the twist in the air, the feel of the earth, the calls of the birds and animals. The peace was temporary and soon there would be nothing left.

On the fifth day of my release from the oubliette came the shifting of my world yet again.

lle lifted her head as she finished feeding Rylee. From where I stood, her eyes swirled like whirlpools of color. She Tracked someone.

She swaddled the baby. “Lark, hold her for me.”

Before I had a chance to protest, she thrust the child into my arms. I didn’t want to hold her. Didn’t want to feel the softness of the slowly breathing bundle in my arms and want it for myself.

Elle bent and picked up her sword. “Lark, it’s time for you to go. Take her and go.”

“What?” I spat the word out as I stood there holding the baby like an idiot. Elle looked at me her swirling eyes serious . . . and full of tears.

“Take her, Lark. Make sure she’s safe. If I ever can, I’ll find her. You know that. The demons have found me.”

I tapped into the earth and felt the changes there, the shifting of light and dark. I couldn’t be sure Elle was right, but the feeling fit. I took two strides and wrapped an arm around her, holding her to me for a breath. A moment that seemed to go on, stretching into the uncertain future.

“Be safe, Elle. I will make sure she makes it, that she survives no matter what I have to do. Even if she hates me,” I whispered.

“I know,” she whispered back. “That’s why it could only be you to protect her. I knew you were special when I met you, but I didn’t want to believe it.”

I stepped away and mounted Shazer, clutching the baby to me. Ash and Peta leapt up behind me and we launched into the air.

We rose up, Shazer’s wings taking us above the trees in a matter of seconds. I strained to see Elle through the thick canopy.

A shout echoed up to us, then a roar of voices that seemed to sweep in from every part of the jungle. I twitched my heels and rested a hand on Shazer.

“We can’t go back, not with the baby,” Ash said.

I held my hand out, toward our camp. “I can buy her time.”

Peta dug her claws into my leg. “Lark. The demons are no fools. They will know you helped her. They will come looking for you. And then they will find the babe.”

I tipped my head back in an attempt to breathe past the lump in my throat. Pain and grief warred with a rage I struggled to control. “She . . . she did not deserve to die.”

“You don’t know she’s dead,” Ash said, but his voice was hesitant.

Shazer banked to one side. I clutched the baby close to me and made myself look at her. Thick, dark auburn hair and eyes that were the pale gray of most human children. Yet in them was a spark of gold, chocolate and emerald. The spark of colors that would someday lead her down the same path as her mother. I stroked a finger down her cheek. “Sleep, wee one.”

Spirit flickered through me, scaring me until the baby closed her eyes, yawned, fell asleep, and my element retreated.

Below us, Shazer gave a full-body shake. “Where to?”

I made a snap decision. “The Deep.”

We flew without trouble all the way to the hidden island. The early morning sun peeked over the edge of the horizon when we landed on the sandy beaches at the edge of the Deep, home of the Undines.

“Are you sure, Lark?” Ash slid from Shazer’s back and stared up at me from the ground. I gave him a smile that wobbled at the edges.

“Keep Bella safe. Please. I don’t trust anyone else to this.” I’d sent Blossom to watch over Bella two years ago, but I had no idea if she’d followed through. If Cassava had come back and taken over, I had no doubt she would have recalled all her guards and Enders.