Windburn (The Elemental Series #4) (3 page)

I shrugged. “Spirit boosts my power with the earth. We know that.”

“But this much?”

I had no answer. I didn’t know why I could do what I could do. Maybe because I was the mother goddess’s chosen one.

Or maybe I was a freak, as Petal had said.

Under my fingers rolled the pliable leather bag I’d put the two gemstones in. With a quick look around, I pulled the bag out and peered inside.

“Drop them into your hand. Someone could have switched them,” Peta said. Goddess, I hoped she was wrong.

I spilled the stones onto my palm. They glittered. Swirls of power glimmered and flickered from their depths, sending a scattering of rainbow flecks over my arms. I had no doubt these were the originals.

I sighed, relief washing over me. I stuffed them back into the leather bag and then inside my vest. “I have to hide them again, but where?”

“May I make a rather bold suggestion?” Peta asked.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Please. When do you ask if you can be bold?”

“You are going on a rather dangerous journey in search of your father. What are the chances we run into Blackbird? Or Cassava? Or some new threat?” She paused, but before I could formulate words she went on. “Don’t bother answering. The chances are high; Spirit Elementals draw trouble to them, and we are going to add a Tracker to the mix which will cause a duplication of said trouble.”

I folded my arms over my chest. “All those words, and no actual suggestion yet.”

Her lips twitched. “Keep the smoky diamond close to you in case you need it; hide the pink since you already carry Spirit.”

Her idea held merit, but it bothered me. An Air Elemental had been the one to kill my mother and little brother. I did not want anything to do with that particular element. “Perhaps. I will think on it.”

The crack of a twig spun me around. A fleeting figure was all I could see dashing off into the distance.

“Peta, go!”

From one beat to the next, she was a tiny gray housecat, then a bounding gray and white snow leopard tearing through the forest after the spy. Now was my chance. I took off in the other direction, heading toward the northern lines of the Rim. There was only one place safer for the stones than the blasted fields. Mind you, there was one person who wasn’t going to be happy about my solution.

The trees and bushes, animals and birds blurred as I ran. I tapped into the strength of the earth and used it to boost my speed and agility. The power allowed me to cover the distance between the blasted fields and Griffin’s home in no time.

As a wolf shifter, he was not allowed to live within the Rim with us. But he was welcome to the edge, which was where he stayed. I wasn’t sure if I could call him a friend, but he had helped me more than once.

Skidding to a stop at his door, I didn’t hesitate, but let myself into the rounded hut that was his abode. “Griffin, I’m sorry to barge in on you.” I spoke swiftly, recalling all too clearly his method of teaching someone a lesson.

My eyes adjusted to the dim light; I was alone. Maybe this was better. I strode to the center of the room and went to my knees. At my urging, the hard dirt floor opened a hole big enough for the leather bag that held the two diamonds. I paused, thinking about what Peta had said. If she was right, and I needed the extra help but left the smoky diamond behind, I would be furious with myself. And if I didn’t need it, the stone was as safe with me as anywhere else.

I reached into the leather bag and pulled the smoky diamond out. One quick knot on the bag and I dropped it into the hole. Fifteen feet deep and in the middle of Griffin’s home . . . that had to be safe enough. “Mother goddess, keep it safe.”

Smoothing the dirt over, I took a moment and let my curiosity lead me through the room.

Griffin led a sparse life, with little in the way of knickknacks or personal items. The table held a few clay dishes, leftovers of his last meal. A shirt hung over the single chair. What caught my attention, though, was a single book on the bed. The rumpled bed sheets camouflaged it so I almost missed it. The cover was black with no title, no author’s name. Using one finger, I flipped it open.

Images stared up at me, startling me. I stepped back, then forward again.

These were what the humans called . . . photos . . . I’d heard of them, but never seen them. Like a painting, only clearer and crisper. Crouching, I flipped through the book. Some of the pictures were black and white, others were in color. The ones that stopped me were those of Griffin with his arms around a petite blonde woman, a young boy sitting in front of them. The child was maybe ten or so, and was Griffin’s son without a doubt. They could have been duplicates of one another. A child then . . . perhaps he’d lost his family . . . maybe that was why he hid in the woods.

Feeling like I’d seen something intimate I shouldn’t have, I backed away and slipped out the door. Drawing on the power of the earth once more, I raced to the center of the Rim. I wove my way, deliberately backtracking and changing direction several times.

Just in case more than one person was watching me.

I reached the Enders Barracks when the sun hung mid-sky, beating down on my head as it burned off the last of the morning fog.

Stepping inside the building that had so quickly and naturally become my refuge, I took a deep breath. The smell of leather, oil, and sweat permeated the air. My room was through the main exercise area, and near the far end of the sleeping quarters. I hurried there, wanting nothing more than the quiet of my own space. Once inside my room, I leaned against the door and finally let the task ahead of me crash down.

Finding my father would be an arduous process. I had to nail down a Tracker first, and from what I understood, they could be tricky and temperamental on the best of days. Then I had to persuade the Tracker to help me. Then convince my father to come home.

But worst of all . . . once he was home, I needed to make my father see that not only did he need to name an heir . . . for the sake of our family, he needed to step down as king.

The final topper? I was afraid to see him again. To have him tell me once more how useless I was. That I was the mistake he regretted more than any other. I put a hand over my eyes.

A task I had to do out of duty.

A task I dreaded with all my heart and soul.

I leaned my head against the door. “Mother goddess, help me not screw this up.”

knock on my door snapped me out of my half-hearted prayer. I turned and opened the door. Honey gold eyes locked on mine, and my tongue seemed to tangle on his name. “Ash.”

“Lark, we need to talk about you going after your father.” His eyes softened with concern. For me. My heart warmed more than a few degrees.

“Do you have an idea of where he might have gone?” I stepped back so he could come into my tiny room. I could have lain down twice in either direction, which gave me room for a small bed, desk, and chair, and that was it. I sat on the bed.

Ash didn’t sit. He tucked one thumb into the edge of his belt and ran the other hand through his short blond hair. “I don’t think you should be going after him.”

“What?” That was not what I’d expected—at least not from him. Cactus maybe, or even Niah. But not Ash. As an Ender, he had taken vows to protect and obey the king at all costs.

Somehow those vows had slipped by me during my Ender testing, but I tried not to worry too much.

“Your father left of his own accord, Lark. The Rim guards reported he spoke to several of them. Told them he needed to clear his head and think about his next step in dealing with those who would try to steal his throne.”

I gripped the edge of the bed, the mattress creaking. “And did he give names of those he was concerned about usurping him?”

“Your name came up. So did Raven’s and Belladonna’s.”

“So now, of course, this information is all over the Rim because the damn guards gossip like a bunch of old ladies,” I snapped.

He shrugged. “Like always, some things never change.” His eyes softened. “Lark, he wanted to leave. No one forced him.”

“You don’t know that,” I said. “The power of Spirit is tricky. Cassava—”

“No longer has the ring. And it’s still hidden, right?”

I nodded. He was right, Cassava didn’t control Spirit anymore. That didn’t mean we were out of the woods in that respect. “Blackbird could have done it.”

“But why? You’re grasping, Lark. I know you don’t want to believe ill of your father. He is my king, I don’t want to think he’d abandon us. But it’s obvious he has.”

“Then we need to get him back. We need him to take his place and name his heir.”

Ash cleared his throat and looked at his feet. A pit grew in the center of my belly and spread outward with fear.

“Mother goddess, tell me he didn’t name someone before he left. Or if he did, that it was Bella.”

“Documents were brought to me this morning . . . they look like your father’s handwriting.”

“Who did he name?” Bella, Raven, or even Briar would be reasonable.

Ash shook his head as he spoke. “He named your eldest brother, Vetch.”

Whatever hope I’d held out for my father’s mind disintegrated. Vetch was Cassava’s son through and through. There was no doubt in my mind she was behind this. The only choice I had now was to bring my father home so we could keep Vetch off the throne as long as possible.

“Even more reason for me to go. That has to be wrong.” I refused to believe my father was working within all his capacities if he had named Vetch as heir.

Ash crouched in front of me and placed a hand on each of my thighs. “We can weather this storm, Lark. We’ve managed well until now. This is another squall we need to hunker down and ride out.” His hands warmed my legs through my pants as he squeezed my thighs gently.

“I don’t want to lose you, Lark. I feel like this time we might not make it if you leave. If you go after your father—”

“Don’t say that,” I whispered, finding myself leaning toward him. He took a crouched step closer so my legs were on either side of him and he could slide his hands around my waist.

“Your father would not look for you, Lark, and I cannot bear the thought of him taking another piece of your heart and smashing it in front of you.” His hands slid up my back to my shoulders and then down again.

I bent forward and pressed my lips against his, a tiny moan slipping out of me as I whispered his name. My whole life he’d watched over me, tried to protect me and keep me from harm even when Cassava controlled him with the ring. He’d trained me to be an Ender, helped me grow as a fighter and pushed me to my limits at times.

Under all that was this truth: I loved him because he pushed me to be my best. He never let me wallow in my self-doubt.

Tangling my hands into the short strands of his hair, I held him to me as our hands and mouths began a hungry perusal of one another. He tugged at my vest, then slid my thin undershirt over my head, before shedding his own top.

I slid back onto the bed, the sheets soft against my bare skin. “The door.”

He spun, locked the door, and was on me in the space of perhaps a single heartbeat. A laugh slipped out of me. “Eager much?”