Peta squirmed into my lap. “Bastard, I have worked with you before.”
“You are not an elemental, Peta. You are a familiar and a child of the goddess. That I can respect. The elementals are a spineless lot who cower in their homes like ostriches with their heads buried in the sand and their asses in the air.”
His words were not untrue, which made them sting all the more.
“Lark is not like the others,” Peta said. “It is why . . . why she is worth fighting for.” Her green eyes locked with mine. “She is different.”
The Bastard snorted. “All that means is she will be killed. Or banished, which is the same thing.”
“How do you know so much about elementals?” Cactus beat me to the question on the tip of my tongue.
Peta shook her head, but The Bastard answered. “Elementals were what the humans thought were the Grecian gods. They set themselves up to rule. They were petty and cruel and thought nothing of manipulating people.”
My jaw dropped, I’ll admit it. “That can’t be.”
“I was there, Elemental. I saw it with my own eyes and lived through it.” His wings stilled as we coasted high above the treetops and then over the ocean. “Your kind . . . they have done far more harm than good to this world because of their pride.”
His words shouldn’t have stunned me, yet they did. I wanted to believe my people weren’t the problem. That it was the humans who’d caused all the destruction of the earth and the elements . . . but maybe if we’d shown them the way. If we’d been a part of their world instead of separating them, things would be different. Cactus slipped an arm around my waist. “He’s wrong.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think he is, Cactus. Where would we be if we had helped the humans? If we’d shown them how to care for the elements and our world?”
He sucked in a sharp breath. “That would mean exposing ourselves to them.”
I said nothing more, feeling the weight of The Bastard’s words on my soul. He was right.
The elementals had been selfish. They had caused harm to the world, and now they acted as though it was not their place to fix anything.
Hours passed, the day came, the sun rose and waned, and as the west lit up with the final rays of the day, we reached the Namib Sea.
The sand dunes reared out of the desert into the sea, the triangular dunes mimicking that of a dragon’s head in an eerie replica.
Below me, The Bastard shivered. “I smell a dragon. This does not bode well. Breeding season is on us and it makes them moodier than usual.”
Cactus twisted around. “I don’t see any dragons. And even I couldn’t miss that.”
A laugh burst out of The Bastard. “How many dragons have you dealt with, boy?”
My shoulders twitched as though we had eyes on us. I slowly turned my head, searching the skies around us. If I were a dragon, and so large as to be seen from miles away, I would not swoop in from the side or behind my prey. I tipped my head back and stared into the sky above us.
The body of a dragon swept downward, silent on its leathery wings, its mouth open in a soundless roar. “Above us!”
The Bastard dropped, tucking his wings tightly as he spiraled to one side. The dragon whooshed past, sending out a wave of air in its wake.
“I cannot avoid her in the air. We have to land,” The Bastard hollered.
He didn’t waste any more time or words, but barreled straight toward the closest dune. We hit the ground hard enough that the three of us were bucked off and into the loose sand. I scrambled to my feet, as did Peta and Cactus. From above, the dragon roared and spat a straight blast of fire at us. Cactus lifted his hands and deflected it before it could do any damage.
The sound of feet running on the sand spun me around. The Bastard pranced, then reared up as a whip curled around his neck right behind his jaw. I rushed forward, swung my spear in a wide arc and cut through the leather. There was an “oomph” on the other end of the line and the sound of someone hitting the sand.
A flash of white fur and Peta put herself between whoever wielded the whip and me, blocking my view of them.
The Bastard shook his head, his long mane flipping in the air. “Damn Trackers, always so touchy about every little thing. I didn’t mean to step on you.”
“Fuck you, horse!” someone yelled back from what seemed like a far greater distance than she should have been. Wait . . .Tracker . . . then we’d found her.
Peta stayed where she was, crouched with her belly pressed into the sand, ready to leap on whoever was attacking. I stepped beside her and saw why I’d not been able to see the Tracker sooner. She had tumbled down the edge of the sand dune into a shallow valley perhaps thirty feet in depth. I spun my spear and buried the haft into the sand.
The Tracker stood and stared up at us, covered in sand, her eyes flashing with anger visible even at a distance. Her hair was cut short, barely brushing the edges of her shoulders; it was the color of obsidian. Her eyes narrowed. “You want to fight? Then get your ass down here and we’ll fight, witch.”
I did not correct her as to my designation. “Tracker, I want only to talk to you. I’d like to employ your services.”
“That’s more than talking then, isn’t it?”
Above us the dragon roared. I flattened myself to the sand out of instinct. Claw tips raked either side of me, missing me by mere inches. Peta screamed, and I rolled in time to see her scooped into the air. From my knees I snapped my arm back and threw my spear with everything I had. The blade buried into the dragon’s leg, right above the claw that held Peta in a death grip.
The red dragon roared and its claw opened. Peta fell, but like any self-respecting cat, landed on her feet. My spear fell beside her, blade in the sand.
I ran to her side and crouched so I could put a hand on her back. My familiar’s bond with me was humming with energy so intense it felt as though she would fly away at the drop of a leaf. She shifted into her housecat form and I lifted her to my shoulder.
“Thanks, Dirt Girl.”
“Any time, cat.” I spoke to her, but my eyes were glued to the Tracker. She had stepped back and waved at the space around her.
“If you want to talk, then fucking well spit it out,” she yelled up at me.
I scooped up my spear and started down the slope, taking my time. “Call off your dragon.”
“Ophelia,” she waved a hand above her head, “ease off, you big bitch.”
The dragon dropped like a giant red rock, thumping into the sand and sending up a wave as if it were water and not earth. I made myself not look at the enormous creature. But even from the corner of my eye I couldn’t help but pick up details. The dragon was easily twice the size of the adult Firewyrms I’d encountered in the Pit, and her wingspan was impressive. Not to mention the size of her teeth and claws. Her hide caught the sun, sending flickers of red light dancing across the sand like a prism.
A formidable creature indeed.
I reached out to the power of the earth and tugged it to me. In case this discussion with the Tracker went in a direction I did not like.
“You know,” Peta said, her body swaying with each step I took, “I can’t help but think this is a crossroads for you.”
“Why?” The question escaped me before I thought better of it.
“You mean besides the fact that you’re willfully breaking rules?”
We were halfway down the slope. “Yeah, besides that.”
Her whiskers tickled my cheek as she spoke. “Trackers bring chaos to all they do. Like you, they can’t help it.” She blinked several times. “It’s because of their heritage. Add a Tracker to your own tendency to cause problems . . .”
A chill swept through me. I had a feeling I knew what she was going to say. “Should I guess, or are you going to tell me?”
With a shrug and her tiny cat smile, she shook her head. “You know already, I see it in your eyes. The Tracker has Spirit Elemental blood running through her veins, as do they all.”
The dark-haired Tracker arched an eyebrow at me. Her eyes were tri-colored: emerald green, chocolate brown, and a deep gold that swirled within and around one another. She didn’t hold her hand out, only tipped her head ever so slightly forward as her eyes narrowed.
“My name is Elle, and you already know I’m a Tracker. But what the fuck are you?”
CHAPTER 13
eeth and muscles clenched, I had to fight the response that rose to the tip of my tongue.
“Tell her you’re a witch. It will explain any usage of your elemental power around her,” Peta said.
Elle’s eyes never wavered from my face. I mimicked her head-tipping motion. “I’m a magic user, as you thought.”
“Weird fucking way to say witch.” Her eyes narrowed until they were mere slits.
“Not as strange as a Tracker having a Slayer’s dragon with her as protection,” I countered.
She grinned, a flash of white teeth and a smile that softened her face immensely. “Ah, Ophelia isn’t mine. She belongs to my husband, Bram.”
Bram . . . could it be? No, I must have heard wrong. “What is his name?”
The smile disappeared and her gaze darkened once more. “Bram.”
I gripped the spear until I was sure I would break it in half. “Is he here?”
Her frown deepened. “Why?”
Calm, I had to remain calm. The chances that my brother had somehow survived Cassava’s attack were slim, and the rational part of my mind knew that. But my heart . . . ahhh how my heart hoped it was possible. “I knew someone by that name. It is an uncommon one. I wonder if he is the same Bram.”
“A lover?” Her eyebrows went up at the same time. She tried too hard to look like it wouldn’t bother her if that were the case. I shook my head and laughed quietly.
“No. Someone I knew a long time ago.”
“Couldn’t have been that fucking long, you aren’t much older than me.” She turned as she spoke. It was only then I realized I’d lost Cactus somewhere along the way.
I turned to see both Ophelia the dragon and The Bastard staring toward the water’s edge, away from Elle and me. Shit on green sticks . . . I had a bad feeling about what exactly they were staring at. A shout floated down to us. I looked at Elle, our eyes met, and we scrambled up the slippery slope at the same time.
We reached the top, me a few steps ahead of the Tracker. Cactus and the man I assumed was Bram circled one another with their fists up.
“Bram, what the fuck are you doing?” Elle hollered. Bram glanced at her and it was enough of a distraction. Cactus shot out a fist that caught Bram in the side of the head and he went down in a heap. “Hah! You owe me.”
What in all that was holy was this nonsense?
“Cactus,” I strode toward him, “what is going on?”
“Oh, well, it’s funny really.”
Bram let out a groan from where he lay in the wet sand. “Not all that funny, if you ask me.”
I allowed myself to really look at him now that I was closer. His hair was a dark auburn, and his eyes were hazel. Nothing like my Bramley, who’d been blond-haired and blue-eyed. Disappointment, and at the same time relief, flooded me.
Introductions were made all around.
“Cactus, what were you two doing?”
He grinned at me. “It’s funny, really.”
“That’s what you said, but I doubt it.” My tone was about as dry as the desert sand we stood on.
Not that it stopped Cactus from grinning like a fool. “I could have killed him, but I knew you wouldn’t want that. He really wanted to fight. I suggested fists only. Loser buys drinks.”
Elle rolled her eyes heavenward. “Bram, seriously?”
He shrugged. “He’s scrawny, I figured I could take him. Little buggar is fast, though.”
Little was not the word I would use for Cactus. Then again, Bram was a big man, solid muscle, and probably had two stones on Cactus and a good four inches.
“Fine, we’re all getting along now,” I said. “Elle, I need you to Track for me.”
She folded her arms and squinted her eyes. “Your father is missing, that’s what you said.”
“Yes.”
She held a hand out, palm up. “Fees are steep. A thousand dollars a day, bonus for bringing him home alive. No deductions if he’s dead.” Her eyes were hard with no sign of mercy in them. That was not going to be good, since I had no idea what she was even talking about, dollars and bonuses.
“A way of paying for things, Lark,” Peta said, and from my other side Cactus nodded.
“I have no money or bonuses to give you, but—”
Elle shrugged and walked away, speaking over her shoulder. “Then you’re wasting my fucking time and yours.”
Damn her and her greed. Obviously she had too much human blood running in her veins, and whatever Spirit she had in her was not enough to combat it. But I needed her, which meant I had to play by her rules.
“I’ll give you something better than money.”
She stopped, turned, and looked at me. Between us something shifted, like a cog slipping loose. Spirit flickered through me, reaching for her. As if it recognized one of its own. I did not want to use Spirit on Elle to get her to do what I wanted. I fought the panic and Spirit at the same time; neither listened to me. This was not in the plan, and yet I couldn’t seem to rein in the damn element. It wrapped around her and slid past whatever defense she might have had.
Worm shit. I held my breath, praying Spirit didn’t rape her mind as it had done to my sister Keeda.
Elle’s face softened and her lower lip trembled so slightly I would have missed it if I hadn’t been staring at her. Yet Spirit did not force her hand. I let out the breath I’d been holding.
She took a step toward me, her fists raised. “What could possibly be better than money? Let me tell you, not all that fucking much, Larkspur.” Her tri-colored eyes welled with tears. “You grow up without food, without anything but the clothes on your back, your family and the fucking world trying to take you out at every turn and you’ll learn fast enough. You’ll learn the only thing that will keep you safe is money.”
Bram slipped an arm around her waist and whispered in her ear. She pressed herself against him.
Keeping my voice below a whisper, I barely moved my lips as I spoke to Peta. “What just happened?”
“Spirit opened her and she spilled her beliefs,” Peta said. “Spirit sometimes acts on its own, at least until you figure out how to make it work for you. That’s what . . . my other charge always said, anyway. Use it, Lark.”
Fantastic, that was just what I needed. An element that acted out on its own. “Elle, if you help me, I will owe you a favor. I know that may not sound like much perhaps in comparison to—”
“You’re right, it doesn’t. It isn’t. A favor is worth shit in this world,” she snapped.
I barreled ahead, knowing I had one shot at this. “I am the strongest of my people, Elle. If you are ever in real trouble, I will get you out of it. Is that not worth something to you? Money won’t always buy your way out of a tangle of thorns.”
She shook her head, her face closing off. “No.”
There was no one else who could help me, if the other Tracker had been telling the truth about his abilities.
I needed her . . . but she needed me too. A different tack, then.
“We killed a troll looking for you. If you have trolls after you, then they are working for someone. Which means you are going to need that favor sooner rather than later. Whether you want to believe it or not, Tracker.”
I lifted my spear from the ground and turned away. “Cactus, let’s go.”
From behind me Bram argued with her. “Take the offer. We need to move on anyway, and why not do a job on the side?”
“You can’t be serious?
”
“I know you don’t want to believe her, but I think she’s right. A favor from someone powerful is not a bad thing.”
It took everything in me not to turn around, but to keep walking and act as though I couldn’t hear their discussion. Cactus fell into step beside me. “We aren’t really leaving, are we?”
“What choice do we have? If she refuses to help, you know what the other Tracker said. He can’t find someone without a picture, and neither can the other Tracker he mentioned. She is the only one who can find my father.”
Peta swayed on my shoulder. “Be quiet, they are coming.”
I slowed my steps as Elle called out, “Prove it.”
Eyebrows high, I turned to face her. “Prove what?”
“Prove you’re as strong as you say. I see a weapon, and a friend who can control fire, but I’ve seen no magic from your fingers. I think you’re a fucking liar.”
A low hiss escaped Peta, but she otherwise kept her thoughts to herself. A liar, was I?
I glanced to where the dragon sat, dozing in the sun on the high ridge of sand. I could sink Ophelia under the sands, bury her and then bring her back up, or I could create an oasis on the sands as I had done in the Pit.
The chance to do either was taken from me.
Ophelia snapped her head up, and her mouth dropped open as she let out a roar along with a burst of flame. War cries cut through the air along with bursts of lightning, flame, and power bolts.
“They found us, Elle.” Bram spun and ran toward Ophelia, Elle on his heels.
I didn’t move an inch. This was my chance to do exactly what Elle needed to see. The Bastard bolted to my side and pushed me with his big nose. “Time to go. Those witches aren’t playing around.”
“Cactus, you first. And don’t help me. Elle needs to see what I can do. Unless, of course, I ask.” I shoved him onto The Bastard’s back, then handed him my spear. She wanted magic, I would show her nothing but. “Hang onto this for me.” Cactus frowned as I stepped back. “Take him out of range, Bastard.”
“Wait, stop!” Cactus yelled, but The Bastard was already galloping away, his wings taking them into the air within a few strides.
Windburn (The Elemental Series Book 4) Page 12