Windburn (The Elemental Series Book 4) Read online

  “Blackbird.”

  Him wanting the two gemstones didn’t make sense. Blackbird was the only elemental who carried all five elements. He was the child Requiem had been trying to breed in the Deep. A monstrosity of power and destruction.

  “Explain what is hidden and why Blackbird wants it.” Peta trotted in front of me, her gray fur blending with the ashen earth, creating a strange camouflage where moment to moment she almost disappeared.

  “I have two of the stones from the legend of the five.”

  She stopped with her paw mid-air, and her head swivelled to look at me. “Come again.”

  “I have the pink diamond and the smoky diamond. Spirit and Air.”

  Carefully she lowered her paw and sat. “And someone knows where they are hidden besides you?”

  “I told no one.” I headed for the boulder I’d buried them under, far deeper than I needed to, probably. At least that was what I thought when I’d done it. Now I wasn’t so sure.

  I dropped to my knees and buried my hands into the loose, dead soil. I dug down through the layers of the blasted earth with my power. Peta stood beside me with her front paws on my thighs. “You know, you should not be able to do that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The soil is dead, Lark. Nothing can grow here. There is nothing left to be manipulated. There is no power in it.”

  It took a full minute for the bag I’d buried to be pulled up through the ground. “Must be another quirk of mine.” I gave her a grin and she shook her head.

  “Quirk? You’re just plain weird, Dirt Girl. You do supposedly impossible things without any problem.”

  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 again
st the door. “Mother goddess, help me not screw this up.”

  CHAPTER 3

  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?”

  “You have no idea,” he whispered into my ear. His teeth grazed its edge as his hands explored my body and I returned the favor. I helped him remove his pants and then mine. Our bodies were hard with muscle, scarred and bruised, yet I felt none of that as he slid into my warmth.

  Home. This was home.

  Our hearts beat in time with one another, our mouths breathed as one, our bodies tangled until there was no telling where one of us began and the other ended.

  In all my years, even with Coal, nothing had prepared me for this feeling of unity. Of knowing the person I was with would always stand with me. Even when he didn’t agree with me. Maybe even more so in those moments.

  Trust. Love. Faith. They were all bound in the heat between us.

  Ash was one of the few people in my life who knew me, and my secrets, and loved me still.

  I linked my fingers with his, reached above our heads and pressed our joined hands against the wall. “Don’t stop.” The words from my mouth in a whispered plea.

  The cadence of our joining never faltered, never became frantic as we stared into each other’s eyes. A glimmer of possibility spun in front of me, and I knew it for what it was, even if I didn’t understand it wholly.

  Spirit wove through us, showing me what could be if I stayed. If I forsook my father and stayed here, with Ash.

  Laughter, love, a home.

  A child with golden eyes and blond hair who carried his father’s smile as he held my fingertip with his tiny hand.

  Ash’s hands . . . he would fight for me, hold me tight when I fell, lift me in the dark hours. A companion who would never turn from me, or the battles I chose.

  The Rim, empty of life, desolate and barren. Our family wiped out.

  That last confused me. What would happen if I didn’t stay? If I went after my father? The question spun out another possibility.

  Blood pooled on the dead soil, the tip of my spear buried in it to the wooden haft.

  Bodies littered the ground.

  My father’s face twisted with anger.

  Standing alone in the middle of the Rim.

  My people alive, battered and bruised, but alive.

  Survival for my world even while I lost all I held dear.

  I closed my eyes, but the images were there. They started a flood of tears I couldn’t hold back as I reached my peak. Climax of the body, and a piercing of the soul at the same time tore a cry from my lips. I untangled my hands from Ash’s and wrapped my arms around him, clinging to him as I sobbed. He spoke, but his words were the buzzing of a bee’s nest in my ears as Spirit throbbed through me, ebbing as though a tide receding on the sand.

  “Larkspur, look at me.” Ash’s voice was hard and finally cut through the emotional storm raging inside.

  I blinked several times and did as he asked. He’d rolled us to our sides, his right arm tucked under us as he kept me pulled tightly to him. “I’m sorry, it . . . it was Spirit.”

  His turn to blink several times, confusion clouding his eyes. “What do you mean?”

 
; “It showed me a possibility.” I made as if to move away from him and he tightened his arm around me.

  “No. Talk to me, Lark. Any problems we’ve had have been because of piss-poor communication.”

  Mother goddess, how could I tell him what I saw? It would only reinforce that he was right and I should stay. The problem? I saw all too clearly the child with his father’s smile and golden eyes. Yet that path would lead to the destruction of the Rim.

  As would the second; though it at least left life to start again.

  “I think I saw what would happen if I stayed. And if I left.” I paused and he touched the side of my face.

  “Tell me.”

  “Neither option ended well.” I trailed a hand down the side of his face.

  This. I wanted this and I wanted him. I wanted the little boy who would call me mama. My heart felt as though it would burst. Ash dropped his lips to mine.

  “I don’t want to lose this, Lark.”

  “We won’t.” I had to believe I could have it. To believe I could go after my father and have the fairy tale of Ash at my side and a future together.

  A soft scratching at the door turned my head.

  Peta spoke as though she had her mouth pressed against the wood. “Lark, you and Ash better get your clothes on. Cactus is on his way.”

  Cactus.

  His name shot through me, reminding me that my heart was torn in two, even if at the moment it leaned precipitously toward Ash. Scrambling to get my clothes on, I noticed Ash lying on the bed, stretched out like some sort of languorous cat who’d filled his belly with warm milk. Almost like he wanted Cactus to catch him.

  Damn man. Damn me for sleeping with him.

  No. I would not regret Ash. But I couldn’t stop the guilt that cascaded through me. I couldn’t tell Cactus. Not yet. Maybe not ever, if I wanted to remain friends with him.

  But it wasn’t fair to string him along either.

  Still, I knew I wasn’t ready to let him go.

  “Get your clothes on!” I threw Ash’s pants at him.

  He laughed and shook his head. “You think I don’t know you have feelings for Cactus? I would share you, if you asked it of me. But he won’t, Larkspur. We both know that. He has too much Salamander in him. Jealous bastards that they are.”